Lebanon deal on terror suspects

Most of the UK's terror detainees are held at Belmarsh prison

A deal allowing terror suspects to be deported from the UK to Lebanon has been signed by the British government.

Lebanon has pledged in a memorandum of understanding that deportees returned there will not be mistreated.

Britain had been prevented from deporting suspects back to countries like Lebanon with records of torture.

Human rights groups said this pledge - like similar agreements in place with Jordan and Libya - does not guarantee the good treatment of deportees.

It's dangerously misguided to expect countries with a known record of torturing people to respect bits of paper promising not to torture Mike Blakemore Amnesty International UK

But ministers insist it is right to return suspects who cannot be tried in the UK if their safety is guaranteed by the agreements.

The government said a monitoring body would keep track of a suspect's circumstances following deportation.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: "We are in the process of identifying a suitable body, and discussions with the Lebanese authorities are ongoing."

The deal was signed in Beirut by Lebanese Minister of Justice Charles Rizk and Britain's ambassador there, James Watt.

Back in August, 10 terror suspects deemed by the Home Secretary a threat to national security were rounded up and taken into custody - many of them at Belmarsh prison in London.

Britain had intended to deport them back to their countries of origin but it soon became clear that deportations to Lebanon and other countries could be blocked on the grounds that suspects could face torture when they returned home.

Unenforceable

The UK government then moved to undertake agreements with the governments involved, in an attempt to guarantee suspects' safety on their return.

But rights groups such as Amnesty International say the agreements are unenforceable.

Amnesty's UK media director Mike Blakemore said: "Torture, suspicious deaths in custody and the use of the death penalty are all matters of serious concern in Lebanon.

"It's dangerously misguided to expect countries with a known record of torturing people to respect bits of paper promising not to torture."

The UK should condemn torture rather than try to find a way round the international ban on it, he added.