Conspiracy to torture

A year ago, we learned that the UK had actively colluded in the torture of Binyam Mohamed, forwarding questions to the Pakistani, Moroccan and American interrogators who systematically and repeatedly tortured him, while turning a blind eye to the abuse. Since then, others have alleged similar treatment. But the exact details of the UK's guilt have remained hidden behind court suppression. But not any more. last night, Conservative MP David Davis - who resigned and fought a by-election over the issue of 42 days detention without trial - used Parliamentary privilege to reveal the depths of British collusion in detail. And they're not pretty:

Davis told MPs that although sufficient evidence had been gathered to ensure [Rangzieb] Ahmed could be prosecuted for serious terrorism offences, he was permitted to fly from Manchester to Islamabad, the Pakistani capital, in 2006 while under surveillance. He then detailed the way in which the British authorities:

• Tipped off the ISI that Ahmed was on his way.
• Told the ISI he was a terrorist and suggested that he should be detained.
• Were aware of the methods used by the ISI while questioning terrorism suspects.
• Drew up a list of questions for the ISI to put to Ahmed.
• Questioned him themselves after he had been in ISI custody for around 13 days.

The officers from MI5 and MI6 who interrogated Ahmed should have known his detention was unlawful because he had not been brought before a court. Ahmed says he told these officers he was being tortured and that signs of his mistreatment would have been evident.

He says he was whipped, beaten, deprived of sleep and sexually humiliated. At one point three fingernails were ripped out of his left hand. He says this was done slowly, over a period of days, while he was being asked questions which he believes were handed to the ISI by British and US authorities.

Oh - and then when he went public, they tried to pervert the course of justice by buying his silence. Another example of how torture rots the system.

The UK has spun allegations of collusion by suggesting it was opportunistic and the fault of the people on the ground - another country fortunately arrested someone the UK was interested in, so they questioned them; the torture was incidental. But from the above, it seems that it was planned at a senior level, and torture was the intended outcome of the whole exercise. This isn't "collusion" - it's conspiracy. And the people involved should be prosecuted and jailed for it.