By IRNA,
London : Two prominent opposition Conservative MPs Monday have added their voices to calls for a judicial inquiry into the torture of former Guantanamo detainee Binyam Mohamed case.
Former shadow home secretary David Davis and the chairman of the all-party group on extraordinary rendition, Andrew Tyrie, said the circumstances surrounding the treatment of the Ethiopean-born British resident should be investigated by a senior judge.
Last week, Foreign Secretary David Miliband was ordered by three top judges to publish a seven-paragraph CIA summary showing that Mohammed’s treatment in Pakistan after his arrest in 2002 was “cruel, inhuman and degrading.”
Since then Miliband has insisted that Britain has a clear policy “not to participate in, solicit, encourage or condone the use of torture” warning that accusations of the security and intelligence agencies being complicit in torture were “dangerous for the country.”
But Davis said that a judicial inquiry was needed to clarify issues regarding Mohammad, who was subjected to rendition to Morocco and Afghanistan before being confined to Guantanamo Bay in 2004 until his release without any charge last year.
“It would be possible to reach a conclusion to what was done firstly without naming agents or officers; secondly to establish whether it was individuals or policies at fault; and thirdly so that guidelines for how to proceed can be drawn up,” he said.
A particular concern also raised by Tyrie was that the parliamentary watchdog charged with overseeing the security services – the intelligence and security committee (ISC) – “has not been able to do its job properly”.
A total of 42 documents, including the CIA memo, about Mohammed’s treatment were sent to MI5, but were apparently not made available to the ISC.
“The ISC is not getting, nor able to get to the truth. Therefore, reform is needed to restore public confidence,” Tyrie told the Guardian.
“An immediate step should be the reform of the method of appointment of the chairman to this committee. At the moment he or she is a prime ministerial appointee,” he said.
Calls for an inquiry into whether the UK’s intelligence agencies or government were complicit in the torture of British terror suspects abroad have been led by former attorney general Lord Goldsmith.
Goldsmith said issues needed to be clarified “in the interests of the public and the intelligence agencies” and that he looked forward to “hearing how the government proposes that should be done.”
Accusations of Britain’s alleged collusion in torture have been raised in more than two dozen cases surrounding British residents and nationals, including several cases going to court to seek redress.
Reprieve, the legal firm representing Mohamed, has warned that the CIA evidence was “only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to British complicity in torture” and that there was “much more is to come.”