Angus McCullough QC, acted as Special Advocate for Ahmad Faraz Khan in his appeal against deportation in the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC). The Home Secretary had sought deportation following Khan’s arrest last April along with 9 other Pakistani men as part of a counter-terrorism operation in Liverpool and Manchester. Five of those arrested appealed against deportation or exclusion from the UK. Two lost their appeals, having returned to Pakistan and challenged their exclusion from the UK from there, but in the cases of Abid Naseer and Ahmad Faraz Khan, Mr Justice Mitting said it was impossible to return the men to Pakistan:
“There is a long and well-documented history of disappearances, illegal detention and of the torture and ill-treatment of those detained, usually to produce information, a confession or compliance,” SIAC found.
The Human Rights Act prevents people from being sent back to places where they would be “subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”. Much of the case detail was presented to SIAC in secret during the past three weeks. The Home Secretary has indicated that she would not appeal the ruling.
