[JURIST] Australian Attorney General Philip Ruddock [official website] said Friday that there is no evidence for allegations made in an Australian magazine that accused Taliban member David Hicks [JURIST news archive] has been tortured during his four-year detention at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba [JURIST news archive]. The allegations were made in an article in the Monthly Magazine by Alfred McCoy, a history professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Ruddock said Hick's alleged eight-month solitary isolation [Brisbane Courier-Mail report], a prime focus of McCoy's article, is part of the normal course of detention. AAP has more.

Meanwhile Friday, members of the prestigious Law Council of Australia [profession website] called on the British government to quickly process Hick's claim for UK citizenship [press release] so that it can press directly for his release. The UK Court of Appeal has ruled that Hicks is entitled to UK citizenship [JURIST report] because his mother was British, and he hopes that the UK government will petition for his removal from Guantanamo Bay as they have done for 9 other UK citizens. Australia itself has refused to petition for Hick's release. AFP has more.