Remember those held in Kuwait : LETTERS

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From Mr Martin Godfrey Sir: Faisal al-Sabah's request (letter, 17 January) to remember Kuwaiti prisoners wrongfully held in Iraq prompts me to write on behalf of prisoners wrongfully held in Kuwait. Those convicted by the Martial Law Court in mid-1991 suffered manifestly unfair trials. They were held for up to four months without access to family or lawyers; many were not informed of the charges against them and some were tortured. Many had no legal representation at their trials and were unable to cross-examine prosecution witnesses. No appeal was permitted to a higher court.

The BBC's Prisoner of Conscience programme in autumn 1992 featured one of these prisoners in Kuwait, a newspaper worker named Osamah Suhail Hussain. I responded to the request to write to the Kuwaiti authorities on his behalf and have now written 103 letters to 10 ministers and officials. I have not received a single acknowledgement or reply.

Yours sincerely, Martin Godfrey Truro, Cornwall 19 January