The Guardian reports:
David Cameron today announced a judicial inquiry into Britain’s role in torture and rendition since the al-Qaida attacks of September 2001. … it would be expected to conclude its investigations with 12 months. …
A three-person inquiry panel will be headed by Sir Peter Gibson, a former appeal court judge who is currently commissioner for the intelligence services. He will be assisted by Dame Janet Paraskeva, the head of the civil service commissioners, and Peter Riddell, the former Times political commentator who is now a senior fellow at the Institute for Government.
Most of the inquiry will be held in secret, but victims of torture and their representatives will be able to give evidence during open sessions, as will representatives of human rights groups.
The Coalition Government’s move was welcomed by Lib Dem MP Tom Brake, Co-Chair of the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Committee for Home Affairs, Justice and Equality, who commented:
At long last we can hope to see an end to Labour’s shameful legacy on human rights. This Inquiry will be the coalition Government’s opportunity to get to the bottom of what are very serious allegations levelled at our security services.
“From Iraq to accusations of Government complicity in torture, Labour has left Britain’s international reputation in tatters.
“Hopefully, the implementation of this key Liberal Democrat manifesto pledge, with access to all relevant material and people, will start the process of restoring Britain’s standing in the world.”
The Lib Dems were the only party to make it a manifesto pledge to hold an inquiry into allegations of British Government complicity in torture.
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3 Comments
It’s a start. It’s going to take more than a secret inquiry though. We know that the civil service spooks just classify anything embarrassing until after they’ve retired, while making up excuses about “protecting national security” (meaning their job security). We need the government to stop letting the civil service tell it what to do, and to let a court declassify all the not-really-secret material and prosecute those responsible.
Labour’s shameful legacy on HR? Like the HRA? Nice yougov poll today, though.
the next time a tyrant from china or saudi arabia swans in to london i’ll be interested to see how nick and dave react.