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Thursday February 23rd 2012


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Decision Due On Torture Charges Against MI5 & MI6


Thursday, January 12, 2012

British spies are expected to find out whether they will face charges over their alleged complicity in the torture of terror suspects.

Several MI5 and MI6 agents are understood to be at the centre of criminal investigations into the treatment of former detainees including UK resident Binyam Mohamed. Prisoners at Guantánamo Bay have claimed British security and intelligence officials colluded in their torture and abuse.

The Crown Prosecution Service will issue a statement on Thursday "announcing a number of decisions in relation to the investigations into the alleged ill treatment of detainees". The announcement comes after human rights campaigners condemned the US government's failure to close Guantánamo, 10 years after the arrival of its first inmates.

An inquiry into British complicity in torture and rendition is expected to begin after the police investigation delivers its report.

The foreign secretary, William Hague, has said the government is committed to "drawing a line" under the alleged involvement of intelligence agencies in the torture of terror suspects held overseas.

But human rights groups and lawyers are refusing to give evidence or attend any meetings with the inquiry team, saying it does not have credibility or transparency.

A number of British Muslims have complained they were questioned by agents after being tortured in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Guantánamo.

Others say they were tortured in places such as Egypt, Dubai, Morocco and Syria, while being interrogated on the basis of information that could only have been supplied by the UK.

In November 2010 the justice secretary, Kenneth Clarke, announced that secret payouts to 16 former detainees at Guantánamo were being made to pave the way for the inquiry into allegations of torture.

Mohamed, Bishar al-Rawi, Jamil el-Banna, Richard Belmar, Omar Deghayes, Moazzam Begg and Martin Mubanga are said to be among those who received settlements.

Mohamed was granted refugee status in Britain in 1994 after seeking asylum from Ethiopia. He travelled to Pakistan in 2001 – the year he converted to Islam – and was arrested there a year later on suspicion of involvement in terrorism, before being "rendered" to Morocco and Afghanistan.

After being subjected to alleged torture by his US captors, he was sent to Guantánamo Bay in 2004. In October 2008 the US government dropped all charges against him. Mohamed was released and returned to Britain in February 2009.

In November Hague acknowledged Britain's reputation had been damaged by claims that MI5 and MI6 officers were complicit. "The very making of these allegations undermined Britain's standing in the world as a country that upholds international law and abhors torture," he said.

Both the detainee inquiry under Sir Peter Gibson and green paper proposals to enable the greater use of secret intelligence material in court cases have prompted controversy.

Human rights groups have warned the green paper would lead to greater secrecy in the justice system, making it more difficult to hold the authorities to account.

 

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