Police investigation into UK's alleged breach of torture ban does not go far enough

27th March 2009

A police investigation into MI5's alleged complicity in torture does not go far enough, warns the Medical Foundation, which says that only a full judicial inquiry, as well as scrutiny by international mechanisms, will restore confidence in Britain's commitment to the absolute ban on torture.

While the Attorney General's decision to launch a police investigation into allegations of MI5 complicity in the torture of former Guantánamo Bay detainee Binyam Mohamed is welcome news, this does not fully address the need for a full inquiry into the Government's policies and practices.

MF Policy and Advocacy Officer Sonya Sceats said: "The Government insists that it does not condone torture but there are credible allegations of complicity by its intelligence officers. These demand a full national judicial inquiry and scrutiny by an international body. Otherwise these promises ring hollow."

In its recently released annual report on human rights, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office states that the UK does not practise or condone torture, but it also maintains that torture presents the Government with a "very real dilemma."

Speaking at the launch of the report, Ms Sceats challenged Foreign Secretary David Miliband to take further action to repair the damage to the UK's reputation at home and abroad as a result of a growing number of allegations that it played a part in the torture of a number of suspects arrested in the "war on terror".

Ms Sceats said: "The FCO's assertion that it cannot reject intelligence which reveals a threat to national security falls short of the full and unequivocal rejection of any British role in torture and extraordinary rendition."

The MF pressed the Government to sign up to the individual complaints procedure provided by the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which would enable individuals to bring complaints against the UK government if national remedies are not satisfactory.