Man Charged for Refusing to Give Authorities His Passwords

The director of CAGE, Muhammad Rabbani, refused to give British authorities the password to his phone and laptop “about 20 times.” The last time, though, British police at Heathrow airport arrested the man for violating anti-terror laws. Rabbani claimed his devices contained confidential information and testimonies about torture in Afghanistan. London’s Metropolitan Police recently charged Rabbani for intentionally obstructing a police investigation.

CAGE, formerly known as Cageprisoners Ltd, describes itself as “an independent advocacy organisation working to empower communities impacted by the War on Terror.” However, their movements and idealistic principles placed them in a position where governments called the group “apologists for terror.” They also have an inherent proximity to terror. For instance, Moazzam Begg, the group’s outreach director, spent time in the infamous Guantanamo Bay detention camp.

The group of four, regardless of their actual moral compass, became prime targets for searches by police under the antiterror laws established by the Blair administration. Looking at the situation from a perspective that ignores CAGE and a relationship with terror, Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000 becomes a non-factor. When the administration implemented the law, they said the searches would only be used in the most extreme terrorism cases (according to The Register).

However, they leave open a very gray area, one similar to controversial search laws within the United States. The need for probable cause, to a degree, disappears. Or, at the very least, becomes disputable. For example: the law allowed police to detain David Miranda—the partner of Glenn Greenwald, the Guardian journalist who interviewed Edward Snowden.

“On 20 November 2016, at Heathrow Airport, he [Muhammad Rabbani] did willfully obstruct, or sought to frustrate, an examination or search under Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000, contrary to paragraph 18(1)(c) of that Schedule. He is due to appear in Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 20 June.”

Schedule 7 18(1)(c): “A person commits an offence if he wilfully obstructs, or seeks to frustrate, a search or examination under or by virtue of this Schedule.”

The law allows police to effectively detain and search anyone without any probable cause. And, although limitations do exist – i.e., the officers can only detain sometime for nine hours and keep their possessions for seven days, the scope of the law creates a dangerously wide opening for law enforcement to act however they see fit.

Moazzam Begg, the CAGE Outreach Director, said in a press release:

“I know what it is like to be forced to give your password to the authorities. In Bagram, I was tortured into surrendering my password. My colleague Rabbani was safeguarding vital and sensitive testimony, given to him by a victim of torture. Considering both the US and British Governments have been found complicit and responsible for the torture and abuse of hundreds of individuals, it is perfectly right that Rabbani does everything he can to ensure these crimes are accounted for.”

CAGE created a site, “passwithprivacy.com,” that raised valid arguments regarding the aforementioned search laws.