OT 277: Letter to the Chairman from the Secretary of State

for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs: Diego Garcia

 

My letter of 3 July updated the Committee on my Written Ministerial Statement tabled that day regarding rendition. I know that the Committee has recently published its Human Rights Annual Report and that your conclusions include recommendations on rendition. We will be responding to this shortly, together with the other conclusions and recommendations. However, I promised in my letter of 3 July to write regarding any outstanding points from our earlier correspondence.

 

Firstly, you asked in your letter of 28 February on behalf of the Committee, and in questions to Meg Munn during her evidence session with you in March, about whether we had sought reassurances from the US regarding allegations relating to ships in and around the territorial waters of Diego Garcia. As I set out in my letter of 3 July, the US have assured us in the course of our recent exchanges that no detainees have been held on ships within Diego Garcia's territorial waters since 11 September 2001. They have also informed us that they do not operate detention facilities for terrorist suspects onboard ships, although US Naval vessels were used in the early days of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan to screen and temporarily hold a very small number of individuals pending their transfer to land-based detention facilities. The US have informed us that these ships were not located within the territorial waters of Diego Garcia.

 

In a matter unrelated to terrorist suspects, the US have informed us that they apprehended pirates on ships in the vicinity of the horn of Africa and that these individuals were detained on US Naval vessels pending their delivery to the land of a nation with jurisdiction to try them.

 

Secondly, you have asked previously about whether the US has to give notice of flights to and from Diego Garcia. The Exchange of Notes of 1966 and 1977 (which we have sent to you previously) explains that, in normal circumstances, the UK Officer in Charge should be informed of any intended movement of ships and aircraft. It also explains that in other circumstances, which we consider would include any proposed rendition, this shall be a matter for the joint decision of the two governments.

 

The British Representative on Diego Garcia (BritRep) is provided with a rolling flight schedule by the US at least daily which has the following week's flights detailed (including date, tail number, and where the flight has arrived from and is travelling to). This is used for short-term administration and is not retained for record keeping purposes. Flights arriving on the island are also recorded in the General Declarations made by all aircraft on arrival and in the Customs and Immigration Daily Occurrence Logs. These are generally held for 3 and 5 years respectively and are therefore no longer held for the period in 2002 when the two cases of rendition occurred. Following the new information provided to us in February, my officials have asked all Overseas Territories to maintain all existing flight records until further notice.

 

I hope that this letter provides helpful information for the Committee and I wish you a good summer break.

 

31 July 2008