Letter to the Chairman of the Committee
from the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
ALLEGED COMPLICITY
IN TORTURE
BY THE
SECURITY SERVICE
AND SIS
Thank you for your letter of 2 April regarding
an article published in the Daily Telegraph on 28 March.
Let me first state clearly that the Government takes
all allegations of mistreatment very seriously, and investigates
them as appropriate. If any cases of potential criminal wrongdoing
come to light, the Government will refer them to the Attorney
General to consider whether there is a basis for inviting the
police to conduct a criminal investigation. In addition, individuals
who believe their human rights have been infringed as a result
of actions carried out by or on behalf of any of the intelligence
Agencies can of course take their cases to the Investigatory Powers
Tribunal.
You ask when FCO officials and Ministers first became
aware of the cases discussed in the Daily Telegraph article
of 28 March. Much of the information outlined in the article is
contained in the Intelligence and Security Committee's (ISC) 2005
report into the handling of detainees by UK intelligence personnel
in Afghanistan, Guantanamo Bay and Iraq. As outlined in his Statement
to the House of Commons of 18 March 2009, the Prime Minister has
asked the ISC to consider any new developments and relevant information
since this report and their 2007 Report on Rendition. Beyond the
information contained in the 2005 report, it is not clear from
the article to which specific cases it may be referring.
More generally, it would inappropriate to enter
into speculation or commentary on the work of the Attorney General
or the police.
I look forward to appearing before your Committee
next month.
19 April 2009
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