Dennis the 'Bloody Peasant'
19th December 2013, 12:46
Nothing we didn't already know, but will be interesting / depressing to see what actually comes out of this (Straw will deny all knowledge, along with Blair et al, no charges will be brought against anyone except perhaps a few rank and file subordinates who were doing as they were told...basically like it was with Abu Ghraib etc)
There is evidence Britain was inappropriately involved in the rendition and ill-treatment of terror suspects, an inquiry has revealed.
Ken Clarke is briefing MPs on the findings of an inquiry into allegation of wrongdoing in MI5 and MI6 in the wake of 9/11.
There is no evidence British officers were directly involved in torture, said Mr Clarke.
Retired judge Sir Peter Gibson has reviewed 20,000 top secret documents.
Sir Peter told reporters: "It does appear from the documents that the United Kingdom may have been inappropriately involved in some renditions. That is a very serious matter. And no doubt any future inquiry would want to look at that."
Jack Straw, who was foreign secretary during the period covered by the report, welcomed Mr Clarke's announcement of a further investigation by a committee of MPs and peers, at which he and other witnesses will be able to give evidence.
But he stressed that he never condoned the ill-treatment of terror suspects during his time in office.
"I was never in any way complicit in the unlawful rendition or detention of individuals by the United States or any other states," he told MPs.
He said he had agreed to the transfer of British nationals being held in the US to Guantanamo Bay but added: "We never agreed in any way to the mistreatment of those detainees or to the denial of their rights."
He urged MPs to accept "that we made repeated objections to the United States government about these matters and that I was able to secure the release of all British detainees from Guantanamo Bay by January 2005".
Sir Peter's report does not offer final conclusions because it did not have the chance to interview witnesses. Instead it sets out the issues Mr Gibson feels need to be examined further.
It identifies 200 possible instances of involvement or awareness of mistreatment - of these 40 cases were investigated in depth as considered most illustrative of the issues.
There are no details of individual cases - just the issues raised by them collectively. They point to awareness and possible complicity in mistreatment but not direct torture or mistreatment by British intelligence officers.
(BBC News)
There is evidence Britain was inappropriately involved in the rendition and ill-treatment of terror suspects, an inquiry has revealed.
Ken Clarke is briefing MPs on the findings of an inquiry into allegation of wrongdoing in MI5 and MI6 in the wake of 9/11.
There is no evidence British officers were directly involved in torture, said Mr Clarke.
Retired judge Sir Peter Gibson has reviewed 20,000 top secret documents.
Sir Peter told reporters: "It does appear from the documents that the United Kingdom may have been inappropriately involved in some renditions. That is a very serious matter. And no doubt any future inquiry would want to look at that."
Jack Straw, who was foreign secretary during the period covered by the report, welcomed Mr Clarke's announcement of a further investigation by a committee of MPs and peers, at which he and other witnesses will be able to give evidence.
But he stressed that he never condoned the ill-treatment of terror suspects during his time in office.
"I was never in any way complicit in the unlawful rendition or detention of individuals by the United States or any other states," he told MPs.
He said he had agreed to the transfer of British nationals being held in the US to Guantanamo Bay but added: "We never agreed in any way to the mistreatment of those detainees or to the denial of their rights."
He urged MPs to accept "that we made repeated objections to the United States government about these matters and that I was able to secure the release of all British detainees from Guantanamo Bay by January 2005".
Sir Peter's report does not offer final conclusions because it did not have the chance to interview witnesses. Instead it sets out the issues Mr Gibson feels need to be examined further.
It identifies 200 possible instances of involvement or awareness of mistreatment - of these 40 cases were investigated in depth as considered most illustrative of the issues.
There are no details of individual cases - just the issues raised by them collectively. They point to awareness and possible complicity in mistreatment but not direct torture or mistreatment by British intelligence officers.
(BBC News)