Letter from the Chairman of the Committee
to the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
OVERSEAS TERRITORIES: TERRORIST SUSPECTS
(RENDITIONS)
I am writing further to your statement in the
House last Thursday on terrorist suspects (renditions). During
our subsequent exchange I referred to the Government Response
to the Foreign Affairs Committee's Human Rights Annual Report
2006, published on 29 June 2007, in which the Government stated:
"We are clear that the US would not render
anyone through UK airspace (including the Overseas Territories)
without our permission".[280]
Since your statement is of course relevant to
our present inquiry into Overseas Territories, the Committee has
asked me to write to you with a number of questions arising. I
would be most grateful to have your response to the questions
listed below as soon as possible. It would be particularly useful
to the Committee if it was to receive a response by Wednesday
19 March.
DIEGO GARCIA
— The Committee would like to be given
the identities of the two men admitted to have been rendered through
Diego Garcia and the dates when these flights occurred. The Committee
would also like details of where these men were held prior to
their transfer from Diego Garcia, including whether either of
them were held on the island itself or on ships off Diego Garcia
prior to their transfer; where these men were taken having been
transferred from Diego Garcia; and how they were subsequently
treated. The Committee would also like to be given full flight
logs, data strings and passenger manifests of the planes on which
these men were transported.
— The Committee would like to know
whether permissions were sought by the US from the British Government
in respect to these renditions of individuals and what follow-up
the British Government has made in respect of the conditions in
which these men have been held by the US or any other state.
— The Committee would also like to
know whether the UK has previously sought reassurances from the
US about allegations relating to ships serviced from Diego Garcia
and possibly stationed within UK territorial waters; and whether
the Government plans to include these allegations among the allegations
about which it will now be seeking specific reassurances from
the US.
— Further to its previous letter to
Richard Cooke, head of the FCO's Parliamentary Relations Team
on 25 January 2008, about the terms of the agreement between the
UK and US on Diego Garcia, the Committee would like to be sent
full copies of the initial agreement of 1966 and the subsequent
agreement of 1976. The Committee would also like details of the
extent of UK supervision of activities on Diego Garcia, including
the numbers and ranks of UK military personnel on the island,
the notice which the US has to give the UK regarding flights going
in and out of the island, to whom such notice has to be given,
and whether it includes details of the prior and ongoing destinations
of these flights and their passengers.
TURKS AND
CAICOS ISLANDS
— The Committee would like to know
whether the UK has previously sought reassurances from the US
about allegations of stopovers on the Turks and Caicos Islands
of rendition planes; and whether the Government plans to include
these allegations among the allegations about which it will now
be seeking specific reassurances from the US.
LIST OF
ALL FLIGHTS
BEING SENT
TO THE
US
— The Committee would like to know
when the list of all flights where the Government has been alerted
about concerns regarding rendition will be sent to the United
States.
— The Committee would like to know
whether this list will include allegations about flights through
UK airspace of planes alleged to have been on their way to or
from carrying out a rendition, as well as allegations about flights
carrying detainees at the time of transit through UK airspace.
— The Committee would also like to
know whether this list will include reports about the following
prisoners: Muhammed Saad Iqbal Madni, Sheikh Al-Libi, Ramzi Bin
Al-Shibh, Hambali aka Riduan Isamuddin, Abu Zubaydah, and Khalid
Shaikh Mohammed.
— The Committee would be most grateful
if it could be sent the list as soon as it is passed to the US
and to receive a copy of the reply.
I thank you for drawing the new information
on rendition flights to the House's attention as soon as it had
come to light and look forward to receiving your response.
28 February 2008
280 Response of the Secretary of State for Foreign
and Commonwealth Affairs to the Third Report from the Foreign
Affairs Committee Session 2006-07: Annual Report on Human Rights
2006, Cm 7127, para 44. Back
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