Civil liberties - new material (75)
01 July 2009
Allegations of UK Complicity in Torture Joint Committee on Human Rights. Report 23, House of Commons, 21 July 2009, pp 140. Noting that “complicity in torture is a direct breach of the UK’s international human rights obligations”, this report examines the evidence showing that UK security services have been complicit in the torture of UK nationals and residents held in Pakistan and elsewhere. It concludes that the government “appears to have been determined to avoid parliamentary scrutiny on this issue” and argues that: “In order to restore public confidence and to improve compliance with our human rights obligations, the Government must take measures to improve the system of accountability for the intelligence and security services.” It asserts that the Government should: “Publish all versions of guidance given to intelligence and security service personnel about detaining and interviewing individuals overseas, to allow others to ensure that it complies with the UK’s human rights obligations.” It should also “make public all relevant legal opinions provided to ministers” and establish “an independent inquiry into the allegations about the UK’s complicity in torture.” Available as a free download: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/jt200809/jtselect/jtrights/152/152.pdf
Shaker Aamer’s long wait for justice, Moazzem Begg. Guardian 4.9.09. The former Guantanamo prisoner, Moazzem Begg, discusses the case of Shaker Aamer who has been held at the illegal US detention centre, without charge or trial, for eight years. Many expected Shaker to be released after the British government requested his return along with that of other UK-based prisoners in 2007. Begg offers a plausible explanation regarding this delay: “Shaker Aamer...maintains that one British intelligence officer was present while his head was allegedly repeatedly hit against a cell wall during interrogation in 2002 at Bagram air base in Afghanistan. Perhaps there’s more to this allegation – more that some people don’t want released in public. Perhaps one criminal investigation of our intelligence services is quite enough. Perhaps that’s why Shaker Aamer is not being reunited with his wife and young children.”
Human Rights Annual Report 2008, Foreign Affairs Committee. Report 7, House of Commons, 9 August 2009, pp. 271. This report considers, among others, Rendition, the UK government’s complicity in torture, the ill-treatment of prisoners during the transfer from UK custody in Iraq and Afghanistan and the use of private security companies in Iraq. On rendition, the committee concludes “that the use of Diego Garcia for US rendition flights without the knowledge or consent of the British Government raises disquieting questions about the effectiveness of the Government’s exercise of its responsibilities in relation to this territory. We recommend that in its response to this Report, the Government indicates whether it considers that UK law has effect in British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT), and whether it considers that either UK law or the agreements between the US and UK over the use of BIOT were broken by the admitted US rendition flights in 2002.” On torture the FAC expresses its concern at allegations that the British were complicit with Pakistan’s ISI in torture: “We recommend that the Government supplies us [the FAC] with details of the investigations it has carried out into the specific allegations of UK complicity in torture in Pakistan brought to public attention by Reprieve and Human Rights Watch”. Available at: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200809/cmselect/cmfaff/557/557.pdf
Children’s rights: rhetoric or reality? D. Haydon and P. Scraton Criminal Justice Matters (Special Issue on Children and Young People) No. 76, June 2009 pp16-18. The authors consider the October 2008 UN Committee on the Rights of the Child’s Concluding Observations in response to the third and fourth periodic report submitted by the UK and Northern Ireland and explore the deficit in effective implementation of children’s rights. They argue that a positive rights’ agenda can be achieved only through a fundamental shift in the determining contexts of power.
Closing the Impunity Gap: UK law on genocide (and related crimes) and redress for torture victims, Joint Committee on Human Rights. Report 24, House of Commons, 21 July 2009, pp 95. This report observes that: “International conventions allow and in some cases oblige the Government to give our courts criminal jurisdiction over the world’s most heinous crimes, including genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, torture, and hostage-taking. However, the Government has chosen not to implement international conventions to the full extent possible, leaving inconsistencies and gaps in the law. These gaps effectively provide impunity to international criminals, allowing them to visit and in some cases stay in the UK without fear of prosecution.” Available as a free download at: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/jt200809/jtselect/jtrights/153/153.pdf
ACLU Obtains Detailed Official Record Of CIA Torture Program: Justice Department documents describe enhanced interrogation techniques used as late as 2007. American Civil Liberties Union press statement 24.8.09. The US government has provided the American Civil Liberties Union a detailed official description of the CIA's interrogation programme following Freedom of Information Act lawsuits. The document provides an official account of the CIA's detention, interrogation and rendition programmes and describes the use of abusive, inhumane and degrading interrogation techniques including forced nudity, sleep deprivation, dietary manipulation and the use of stress positions. The Office of Legal Counsel documents: www.aclu.org/safefree/torture/40833res20090824.html and www.aclu.org/safefree/torture/40834res20090824.html
The CIA Inspector General’s report on the agency's "enhanced interrogation" or torture programme and related documents, see: www.aclu.org/safefree/torture/40832res20090824.html