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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings & Torture |
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February 20th,
2010 - Tell Us the Truth About Torture, Watchdog Insists |
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Tell Us the Truth About Torture,
Watchdog Insists By Frances Gibb The Times February 20, 2010 Pressure is mounting on
ministers to disclose what the Security Service knew about the alleged
torture of Britons abroad. Last week the Court of
Appeal ordered the disclosure of seven paragraphs of evidence showing that
MI5 was aware that Binyam Mohamed, a former Guantánamo Bay detainee, was
being mistreated by the CIA. Now Jack Straw faces calls
for an investigation, this time from the Government’s own human rights
watchdog. The Equality and Human Rights Commission wants an independent
inquiry into more than 20 cases alleging that the Government was complicit in
the torture of Britons abroad. The ECHR is concerned about
reported cases of 25 people who have complained of ill treatment, illegal
detention and torture that they allege were condoned by British agencies. The
commission says that the dossier shows that the case of Mr Mohamed, who is
bringing legal proceedings against the Government over his alleged torture,
is not an isolated instance. Last week’s evidence disclosed that he had
suffered sleep deprivation, threat of rendition and shackled interrogation.
David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, had fought against publication of the
material, arguing that it was given in confidence by the US authorities and
was not its to disclose. Court of Appeal judges are
considering whether to release a paragraph containing the most damning
criticism of the Security Service, which they removed from the final version
of their judgment after representations from Mr Miliband’s lawyers. Trevor Phillips, chairman of
the commission, told The Times that the Government must hold an open review
into the latest allegations. “Torture contravenes UK and international law
and the values that Britain upholds,” he said. “The Government must take the
opportunity of an independent review to be as transparent with the public as
possible.” Mr Phillips said: “Ministers
and government agencies are facing very serious allegations of knowing that
UK citizens were being tortured, failing to take action to stop that torture
and supplying questions to be used in the interrogation of men who were
subjected to a high level of ill treatment. “Given the UK’s role as a
world leader on human rights, it would be inexplicable for the Government not
to urgently put in place an independent review process to assess the truth,
or otherwise, of these allegations.” The dossier is drawn up from
reports by the UN, Parliament’s Joint Committee on Human Rights and
international human rights organisations, including a UN Human Rights Council
report last month that alleged that the UK was complicit in the use of
torture in interrogations. Two cases of alleged
complicity are being investigated by the police and although no charges have
been brought, the commission has concerns that any corroborative evidence
lies in the hands of the Government’s own agencies and in particular the
security and intelligence services. It details allegations that British
officials were involved in interrogation of detained suspects in breach of
human rights provisions. It also alleges mistreatment, in some cases of a
level that may amount to torture, by other non-British agents but claims that
UK officials were aware of that treatment at the time. The Government has stated
unequivocally that the allegations are unsubstantiated and that it does not
condone or support torture by foreign agencies. But in its letter to Mr Straw
the commission says that it “does not believe that the Government’s response
to these allegations is sufficient” and states that “not enough has been done
to reassure the commission and the public that these allegations are
unfounded”. It calls for an urgent
review to assess the truth of the allegations. It must be completely
independent, transparent and must hold public hearings and put material in
the public domain as far as is possible, the commission says. Mr Phillips points out that
the commission is expected to participate at UN level about the UK’s
compliance with its international legal obligations. It would be
“inexplicable”, he says, for the commission to ignore the human rights
reports, particularly in the context of the Binyan Mohamed ruling. Jonathan Evans,
Director-General of MI5, has said that the criticisms said to have been made
by the judges are “the precise opposite of the truth”. Such accusations over
alleged human rights abuses would be used by “our enemies” as “propaganda to
undermine our will and ability to confront them”, he said. Some of the allegations in
the dossier have been covered by parliamentary reports. But none of the
processes has established whether the allegations are true, the commission
says. External link: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article7034418.ece |