Mahmoud Abu Rideh is a stateless Palestinian who came to Britain as a refugee and in 1998 was granted indefinite leave to remain.
One of the 20 mostly anonymous men now held under a control order, he has been detained for more than four years — longer than any other suspect under the regime. Before that, he was held in prison without being charged or put on trial under anti-terrorism laws since deemed unlawful. Psychiatrists’ reports show that he has become deeply paranoid, isolated and depressed, and has repeatedly self-harmed and threatened to end his life. He is in a wheelchair.
Last year he was in a critical condition after a hunger strike for 31 days in protest against his conditions: telephone reporting three times every 24 hours, daily reporting in person to a police station, electronic tagging (initially), a 12-hour daily curfew, a ban on meetings outside his home and visits except where cleared by the Home Office, and no internet access.
A year earlier, when lawyers challenged his control order as “inhuman and degrading”, he threatened to kill himself in front of the High Court judge. He said: “I have no human rights in this country. Kill me like they killed Saddam. See how many people Blair and Bush have killed. Do you want me to kill myself?”
His lawyers have not been shown evidence of why he is considered a risk. In 2005, the Special Immigration Appeals Commission ruled that he “remains rightly certified as a suspected international terrorist who is, on sound grounds, believed to be a risk to national security”.
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Last month his family left Britain for Jordan to live with his wife’s parents. Supporters say that, denied the opportunity of bidding them farewell at the airport, he now despairs of seeing his family, including six children, again. They were told that, despite being British citizens, they had no right to return to Britain.
Mr Abu Rideh was given assurances by the previous Home Secretary and Tony Blair that he would be allowed to leave Britain. He said in a recent interview: “I am already dead. My soul, my life, my heart — every part of me is dead. I am just like a machine walking, with no other feeling. I have nothing left.”