‘Why did William Hague refuse to help me?’
The mother of Dr Abbas Khan – unlawfully killed in Syria, according to an inquest jury – says William Hague refused to help her and British intelligence did not want him back in the UK.
Mrs Khan was speaking after her family said it had been vindicated by an inquest finding that her son had been unlawfully killed in a Syrian jail in 2012.
The Syrian regime claims he committed suicide, but his family believes he was murdered.
The jury also found that Dr Abbas had not travelled to Syria to fight, with the chief coroner, Judge Peter Thornton, saying it was clear “he wanted to use his medical skills to help others, and that included helping others in conflict-torn Syria”.
I trusted judges, lawyers and minister but everyone lied to me Fatima Khan, Abbas Khan’s mother
Outside court, Dr Khan’s brother, Afroze Khan, said he and his family had been vindicated in their belief that he had travelled to Syria “for no other reason than helping injured civilians in the conflict”.
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Afroze Khan, Abbas Khan’s brother
“We have always maintained that he was mistreated, maltreated and tortured by the Syrian authorities and that he was murdered by the Syrians,” he added.
“All the allegations against my brother – that he had gone for any other reason – have been disproved today.”
‘No justice’ in Syria
Abbas Khan, a 32-year-old father-of-two from London, died on 16 December 2013 while in custody in Damascus.
The Syrian government has always maintained that the orthopaedic surgeon killed himself and was found hanging in a jail cell.
What this jury has done is uncover the truth – that it was never suicide Dr Khan’s brother, Afroze Khan
His mother, Fatima Khan, travelled to Syria alone to lobby for his release, while Respect MP George Galloway, former British National Party leader Nick Griffin and a delegation of Parliamentarians were also involved in unsuccessful bids to free him.
Mrs Khan said there was “no justice in Syria like we have British justice here – no court, no justice – otherwise my son would have been released”.
“I couldn’t save my son,” she added. “I trusted judges, lawyers and minister but everyone lied to me. They stabbed me in my back.”
Foreign Office ‘dragged its feet’
The family’s counsel, Michael Mansfield QC, said the case laid down a marker and should now go forward to the International Criminal Court.
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Fatima Khan, Abbas Khan’s mother
“What this jury has done is uncover the truth – that it was never suicide,” he added.
Dr Khan travelled to Syria to help provide emergency medical relief during the conflict, but was seized by government troops in the rebel-held city of Aleppo in November 2012 after he entered the country on a humanitarian mission without a visa.
His release had been promised by the Syrian government in December 2013, but his brother Afroze said the family was angry at the Foreign Office for “dragging their feet” for more than a year over the release of the orthopaedic surgeon from Streatham, south London.
รข?? Torture and ill-treatment of detainees, including children, is said to be widespread by government forces and associated militias, in an attempt to extract information or “confessions”.
Amnesty says detainees are often held in cramped, unsanitary conditions often suffer beatings, suspension by the limbs, being hung in a tyre, electric shocks and sexual abuse.