FORMER Gauntanamo Bay inmate Moazzam Begg told an audience in Malvern that it was thinking about what he would do when he got out that helped him cope during his imprisonment.

And one of those things was visiting the Malvern Hills with his family, something he did do when he was finally released.

Moazzam Begg was speaking at a talk at Malvern Baptist Church organised by the Malvern branch of Amnesty International.

Mr Begg talked about his experiences as a prisoner of the Americans, of what “extra-ordinary rendition” really means and what does and does not count as torture, which is different depending upon whether you are the victim or a legal advisor to the Bush administration.

He spoke also of the problem of confessions extracted under torture, their unreliability and the problems such unreliable and untrue confessions create.

“Under torture people will say anything, it is that simply. Nothing said under torture can be relied upon,” he said.

Mr Begg was imprisoned without charge for more than three years at Guantanamo and he spoke of the complicity of the British security services in what he likened to official kidnapping. He spoke of the suffering of other prisoners, including a 14-year-old boy, about the ill-treatment and total lack of any human rights.

In Cuba, he told the audience in Malvern, the iguana is a protected species and has more rights than the human inmates of the American prison.

But he also spoke about the “very ordinary” American soldiers, men just doing a job, with whom he had many discussions.

Mr Begg has written about his expereinces in a book, Enemy Combatant, and recommended the Oscar-winning film Taxi To The Dark Side, a film that tells the story of another wrongly imprisoned victim like himself.

Mr Begg also praised the work of Amnesty International, which championed the cases of prisoners at Guantanamo.

The Malvern branch of Amnesty meet regularly on the first Thursday of every month at 7.30pm at Abbey Road Baptist Church and anyone who wants to get involved is welcome. For details of events and campaigns email elaine.bass@virgin.net.