HR 128: Letter to the Chairman from the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs

 

 

Binyam Mohamed and other topics: request to give oral evidence

 

Thank you for your letter of 13 February 2009 and your invitation to give evidence to the Foreign Affairs Committee on the case of Binyam Mohamed and a number of other issues.

 

I would be happy to give evidence to you and your colleagues in the context of your consideration of the FCO's Annual Human Rights Report 2008. As you know, this evidence session would normally be taken by one of my ministerial team, but in view of the significance of the issues to be covered we have agreed that I will attend this year. This session will provide an opportunity to discuss the issues you identify as well as others arising from the Report. I do not consider that a separate session will be necessary.

 

You will be aware that there will be limits to the information I will be able to put into the public domain. This is particularly the case with regard to those issues touching on the work of the intelligence and security agencies. To put it simply, I will not be able to answer questions that enter into operational detail. The Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) remains the appropriate body to provide Parliamentary scrutiny of issues in relation to those bodies.

 

Accordingly, to avoid my being unable to answer some of your Committee's questions, I suggest that my officials hold a preparatory discussion with your Committee's secretariat to ensure that we have an agreed understanding as to the areas I will be able to cover in the session. If you agree that this would be helpful, I will ask my officials to organise a suitable date.

 

I look forward to attending your meeting and answering your questions.

 

 

26 February 2009

 

 

Letter to the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs from the Chairman

 

At its most recent meeting the Foreign Affairs Committee discussed recent developments in the case of Binyam Mohamed.

 

My colleagues and I decided to invite you to give oral evidence to the Committee on this matter, and on a number of other topics on which the Committee has received evidence from the FCO, and which relate, like the Binyam Mohamed case, to the responsibilities of the FCO for securing the human rights of British citizens and others overseas.

 

The specific topics are as follows:

 

· The case of Binyam Mohamed

· Allegations of UK complicity in torture in Pakistan

· Rendition

· Transfer of prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan

· Allegations of abuse at the British Embassy in Iraq

· The oversight of overseas contractors employed by UK Posts.

 

We would envisage dealing with these matters in a single evidence session. This would form part of the Committee's annual Human Rights inquiry, but would be separate from and in addition to our usual session with the Minister of State to discuss the human rights records of other governments.

 

I would be grateful if you could confirm that you are willing to accede to this proposal. If so, our two offices will liaise to arrange a suitable date.

 

I am copying this letter to Andrew Dismore as Chairman of the Joint Committee on Human Rights and James Arbuthnot as Chairman of the Defence Committee.

 

I look forward to your response.

 

 

13 February 2009