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MPs refused the facts on UK's part in rendition cases
The British government is accused of blocking investigations into allegations of UK involvement in torture and rendition, contrary to its proclaimed wish to get to the bottom of the charges.
In July, the coalition announced a judge-led inquiry on torture and rendition, the moving of prisoners from one country to another for interrogation. In practice, however, the coalition has refused to release information regarding the UK's complicity in torture and rendition flights to the All Party Parliamentary Group on Extraordinary Rendition, even though it relates to decisions made under Labor. The all-party group put in Freedom of Information requests on the issue to the Ministry of Defense in 2008; these were rejected as were two subsequent appeals for the material.
The group requested details of diplomatic assurances between UK, US, Iraqi and Afghan governments on the handling of detainees, but was given material relating only to agreements between the UK and Afghanistan in 2006. Also, a request to see a review of detention practices in Iraq and Afghanistan following allegations that detainees had been handed to Americans to avoid responsibility for torture, was met with the release of just 17 per cent of the review material.
Many of the requests were attempts to find documentary evidence to back up revelations made by Ben Griffin, a former UK Special Forces member. Griffin has said that detainees in Iraq and Afghanistan were routinely detained but not arrested so that they could be dealt with by the Americans.