Conclusions and recommendations
1. We
conclude that the Government was right to ensure that persons
detained by UK Armed Forces in Afghanistan and transferred to
the Afghan authorities cannot be further transferred to the authority
of another state, or detained in another country, without the
prior written agreement of the United Kingdom. We recommend that
the Government in its response to this Report state whether the
requirement for such prior written agreement would apply to the
transfer to Guantánamo Bay of any person originally detained
by UK Armed Forces in Afghanistan including any who may be transferred
directly or indirectly to US Forces or agencies. We further recommend
that the FCO also set out in its response what steps it is taking
to ensure that those detained by UK Armed Forces in other countries
cannot be transferred to Guantánamo Bay without the prior
written agreement of the United Kingdom. (Paragraph 5)
2. We conclude that,
having visited both Guantánamo and Belmarsh, the facilities
at Guantánamo are broadly comparable with those at the
United Kingdom's only maximum security detention facility, but
the conditions are not. Guantánamo scores highly on diet
and on health provision; but it fails to achieve minimum United
Kingdom standards on access to exercise and recreation, to lawyers,
and to the outside world through educational facilities and the
media. (Paragraph 46)
3. We conclude that
publication of the US Army Field Manual for Human Intelligence
Collector Operations is a very positive development. We recommend
that the Government work both bilaterally and through international
fora to press the US Administration to ensure that its interrogation
practices do not contravene international law. (Paragraph 55)
4. We conclude that
abuse of detainees at Guantánamo Bay has almost certainly
taken place in the past, but we believe it is unlikely to be taking
place now. Although violence and low-level abuse are endemic in
any high-security prison situation, it is the duty of the detaining
authority to strive to its utmost to minimise them. We recommend
that the Government continue to raise with the United States authorities
human rights concerns about the treatment of detainees. (Paragraph
70)
5. We conclude that,
in choosing unilaterally to interpret terms and provisions of
the Geneva Conventions, the United States risks undermining this
important body of international law. (Paragraph 83)
6. We conclude that,
by its own test, the Government should recognise that the Geneva
Conventions are failing to provide necessary protection because
they lack clarity and are out of date. We recommend that the Government
work with other signatories to the Geneva Conventions and with
the International Committee of the Red Cross to update the Conventions
in a way that deals more satisfactorily with asymmetric warfare,
with international terrorism, with the status of irregular combatants,
and with the treatment of detainees. (Paragraph 85)
7. We conclude that
the Government is right to stick to its established policy of
not accepting consular responsibility for non-British nationals.
We recommend that the Government maintain its current position
with respect to the return to the United Kingdom of the former
British residents presently detained at Guantánamo Bay.
(Paragraph 92)
8. We conclude that,
although some aspects of the Military Commissions Act are welcome,
others give cause for concern. We welcome the Government's undertaking
to study the procedures proposed by the Act. We recommend that
the Government carry out that study without delay and that it
share the full findings of the study with this Committee. If the
Government's study finds that the procedures proposed in the Military
Commissions Act or in any subsequent elaboration are inconsistent
with international law or human rights norms, it should make strong
representations to the United States Administration. (Paragraph
103)
9. We conclude, in
line with our previous Reports, that those detained at Guantánamo
must be dealt with transparently and in full conformity with all
applicable national and international law. But we recognise too,
as we have before, that many of those detained present a real
threat to public safety and that all states are under an obligation
to protect their citizens and those of other countries from that
threat. At present, that obligation is being discharged by the
United States alone, in ways that have attracted strong criticism,
but we conclude that the international community as a whole needs
to shoulder its responsibility in finding a longer-term solution.
We recommend that the Government engage actively with the US Administration
and with the international community to assist the process of
closing Guantánamo as soon as may be consistent with the
overriding need to protect the public from terrorist threats.
(Paragraph 116)
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