Letter to Rt Hon Sir John Stanley MP from
the Secretary of State for Defence
UK DETENTION OPERATIONS
IN IRAQ
AND AFGHANISTAN
As you will recall, my officials briefed you
and other members of the Foreign Affairs Committee on 11 November
2008, detailing the preliminary findings of a comprehensive detention
review. This review was instigated following a series of allegations
by Mr Ben Griffin, a former member of the Armed Forces, who accused
the MOD of being complicit in torture and rendition as part of
operations in Iraq. As you will be aware from the briefing, this
review exposed the difficulties in detainee record-keeping and
also exposed the fact that the MOD had inadvertently answered
several PQs incorrectly, having overstated the number of detainees
taken in southern Iraq.
I have attached the statement[107]
I intend to make to Parliament later today outlining the issues
surrounding detainee numbers—as you were briefed—and
the status of our international agreements on detainee treatment
and handling.
Following the briefing my officials gave you,
information was brought to their attention to suggest that in
one case, two detainees, originally captured by UK Forces and
transferred to US detention, were subsequently moved to Afghanistan
by the US. I instigated an immediate follow-up to clarify whether
this was fact or speculation.
I am now in a position to report that, unfortunately,
this has been confirmed and that two detainees were transferred
out of Iraq to Afghanistan by the US. The two detainees remain
in US custody in Afghanistan. I have outlined this case in the
statement.
I apologise that the briefing to you and the
other members did not cover this—information came to the
team late in the review, following that briefing, and was investigated
as a matter of urgency.
I hope this statement sets the record straight
in relation to correspondence between you and my Department. In
particular, the statement corrects some inaccuracies in the following
responses from the MOD:
MOD letter dated 19 March 2008, ref MSU 4/5/2K.
MOD letter dated 5 June 2008, ref D/S of S/DB
MC02699/2008.
In addition, I regret that a holding answer
you received to a Parliamentary Question in December 2006 (PQ
109284/5) contained a minor inaccuracy that has only recently
come to light. You asked the following question:
Sir John Stanley: To ask the Secretary
of State for Defence.
(1) whether the requirement in paragraph
5.1 of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Government
of the UK and the Government of Afghanistan on the transfer of
detainees for the UK armed forces to notify the International
Committee of the Red Cross and the Afghan Independent Human Rights
Commission, normally within 24 hours, and if not, as soon as possible
after, of when a person has been transferred to Afghan authorities
has been complied with fully in respect of all the detainees concerned;
and if he will make a statement; [109284]
(2) how many individuals arrested and detained
in Afghanistan by UK armed forces have been transferred to the
authorities of Afghanistan since the date on which the Memorandum
of Understanding between the Government of the UK and the Government
of Afghanistan on the transfer of detainees came into effect?
[109285]
In our response to the above question, we incorrectly
stated that the Memorandum of Understanding between the Government
of the UK and the Government of Afghanistan on the transfer of
detainees was signed on 30 September 2006. The date of the signing
of this Memorandum of Understanding was actually 23 April 2006.
I apologise for this inaccuracy and trust that
this letter, a copy of which I am placing in the library of the
House, sets the record straight.
Rt Hon John Hutton MP
26 February 2009
107 Not published. Back
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