Britain's MI5 & MI6 accused of colluding in torture of terrorist suspects

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MI5 accused of colluding in torture of terrorist suspects

April 29, 2008 -- Officers of the Security Service, MI5, are being accused of "outsourcing" the torture of British citizens to a notorious Pakistani intelligence agency in an attempt to obtain information about terrorist plots and to secure convictions against al-Qaida suspects.

A number of British terrorism suspects who have been arrested in Pakistan at the request of UK authorities say their interrogation by Security Service officers, shortly after brutal torture at the hands of agents of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI), has convinced them that MI5 colluded in the mistreatment.

Those men have given detailed accounts of their alleged ordeals at the hands of the ISI over the last four years. Some of them appear to have been taken to the same secret interrogation centre in Rawalpindi, where they say they were repeatedly tortured before being questioned by MI5.

Tayab Ali, a London-based lawyer for two of the men, said: "I am left with no doubt that, at the very worst, the British Security Service instigates the illegal detention and torture of British citizens, and at the very best turns a blind eye to torture."

One man from Manchester says that in 2006 he was beaten, whipped, deprived of sleep and had three fingernails slowly extracted by ISI agents at the Rawalpindi centre before being interrogated by two MI5 officers. A number of his alleged associates were questioned in Manchester at the same time and two were subsequently charged. This man's lawyers say his fingernails were missing when they were eventually allowed to see him, more than a year after he was first detained. They say they have pathology reports that prove the nails were forcibly removed.

A second man, from Luton, Bedfordshire, alleges that two years earlier he was whipped, suspended by his wrists and beaten, and threatened with an electric drill, possibly at the same torture centre. His interrogation was coordinated with the questioning of several associates at Paddington Green police station, west London, and the questioning of a further suspect in Canada.

MI5 does not dispute questioning him several times during his 10 months' detention in Pakistan. At his trial, the judge accepted he had been mistreated but said he believed the claims were exaggerated.

No attempt was made to extradite either man to be questioned by police officers in the UK, and they received no assistance from British consular officials. They were eventually arrested on arrival in Britain after being placed aboard aircraft and flown in without extradition hearings.

The accusation that MI5 is at the very least turning a blind eye to the torture of British citizens - and may have actually colluded in their torture - is to surface in a number of forthcoming court cases, including the trial of the man who lost his fingernails, an appeal lodged by the man from Luton after he was convicted of terrorism offences, and a separate civil action being pursued on his behalf.

MI5 is thought to be considering a defence based on its officers' insistence that they had no reason to know that the ISI might have been torturing the men - a position that Pakistani lawyers and human rights activists in Pakistan and the UK say beggars belief. Even a high-ranking Scotland Yard counter-terrorism detective has conceded privately that there is little doubt that the Luton man was tortured.

The Guardian is aware of claims by a number of other British citizens that they were tortured after being detained as terrorism suspects in Pakistan.

The allegations being made by these men and their lawyers, which are detailed in today's Guardian, are expected to be raised by human rights groups. Andrew Tyrie, Conservative MP for Chichester and a campaigner against the abuse of the human rights of terrorism suspects, is considering asking a series of questions about the matter in the Commons.

Under the Criminal Justice Act 1988 it is an offence for British officials to instigate or consent to the inflicting of "severe pain or suffering" on any person, anywhere in the world, or even to acquiesce in such treatment. Any such offence could be punished by life imprisonment.

Last week it was disclosed that eight men freed from US custody at Guantánamo Bay had issued writs against MI5 and the Secret Intelligence Service, MI6, alleging they were complicit in their illegal detention and subsequent abuse.

The Security Service declined to comment on the allegations, but pointed to recent reports by the all-party Intelligence and Security Committee, which said all MI5 officers receive training about possible mistreatment of detainees held by foreign intelligence agencies.

The Foreign Office said it was aware of five British citizens being detained in Pakistan over the last four years for questioning about alleged terrorism offences, but would not say how many were detained before 2004. It admitted it had attempted to seek consular access to only two of these people, but declined to say how many had been seen by other British officials.

The FO also declined to say how many had complained of mistreatment, saying: "We have a duty to respect the privacy of the individuals concerned."

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'Questions, answers, months of brutality'

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'Endemic, widespread and systematic' use of torture

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MPs to hear claims that Britain colluded in torture of suspects

February 2, 2009 -- A committee of MPs is to consider allegations tomorrow that British security services colluded in the torture of terrorism suspects.

The claims, which were first reported in the Guardian last year, relate to a number of suspects arrested in Pakistan at the request of British authorities between 2003 and 2007. The men say they were repeatedly tortured by agents of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI), before being questioned by MI5.

Yesterday Andrew Dismore, chair of the joint committee on human rights, said: "The fact that we are holding this hearing underlines the seriousness of these allegations."

The men, or their legal representatives, have detailed accounts of their alleged ordeal at the hands of the ISI. Some appeared to have been taken to the same secret interrogation centre in Rawalpindi, where they say they were repeatedly tortured by ISI agents before being questioned by British security services.

In an editorial last year the Guardian, which will give evidence to the committee, described the allegations as being "at the heart of the difficulties which terrorism poses for democracies". It also said that an investigation by the bodies responsible for the oversight of the country's intelligence agencies is "the least a democracy expects".

The committee will also hear from the campaign group Human Rights Watch. Brad Adams, the charity's Asia director, said: "What is most disturbing about these accounts is that the British government knew full well the techniques the ISI and Pakistani law enforcement agencies use in interrogations, particularly in terror investigations."

One of the alleged victims, Rangzieb Ahmed, from Manchester, says that in 2006 he was beaten, whipped, deprived of sleep and had three fingernails extracted by ISI agents at the Rawalpindi centre before being interrogated by two MI5 officers. In December a jury at Manchester crown court convicted Ahmed of being a member of al-Qaida and of directing a terrorist organisation. But it was not told that three fingernails of his left hand had been removed.

Ahmed, 33, says the nails were removed slowly with a pair of pliers over three consecutive days at a secret ISI prison, and alleged that on the fourth day he was hooded and bound and taken to a place where he was questioned by two MI5 officers. Before Ahmed's trial began, the judge ruled that he did not believe the fingernails were taken out before the meeting with MI5. Part of the judges ruling is being kept secret.

A second man, from Luton, Bedfordshire, alleges that he was whipped, suspended by his wrists and beaten, and threatened with an electric drill, possibly at the same torture centre. His interrogation was coordinated with the questioning of several associates at Paddington Green police station, west London, and the questioning of a further suspect in Canada.

Another man, who is accused of being an al-Qaida terrorist from the West Midlands, claimed he was tortured after being detained in Pakistan during a British-led counter-terrorism investigation. He says that for several months the ISI kept him in a pitch-black cell not much bigger than a coffin, and that he was brought out to be beaten, whipped and subjected to electric shocks. On one occasion, he alleges, he was kept hooded and interrogated by people speaking English, with British and American accents.

The hearing is part of the JCHR's ongoing inquiry into the UN charter against torture. If the MPs decide the issues need further investigation they can hold further hearings, calling more witnesses and may produce a written report.

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Smith faces questions on MI5 torture collusion

February 4, 2009 -- Jacqui Smith, the home secretary, is to be questioned over allegations that British security services colluded in the torture of terrorism suspects and operated under a "James Bond-style get-out clause".

The allegations, first reported in the Guardian last year, relate to a number of suspects arrested in Pakistan at the request of British authorities between 2003 and 2007. The men say they were repeatedly tortured by agents of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence Agency (ISI) before being questioned by MI5.

Yesterday members of the joint committee on human rights (JCHR) heard that British officials put pressure on the Pakistani authorities to get information and "knew very well" they were using torture during their investigations.

Ali Dayan Hasan, from Human Rights Watch, said: "Pakistani government officials and security officials in particular were very open about this. In many private conversations they have told me they were asked to do this by the UK - this is what they say, not once but repeatedly."

The hearing, which also heard evidence from the Guardian, was told that UK security services had operated outside the law.

Andrew Dismore, chair of the JCHR, said a combination of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 and the Intelligence Services Act 1994 led him to conclude "that the security services may be operating under a James Bond-style get-out clause".

He added that the allegations were so serious that the committee would call the home secretary to give evidence.

"We have got a number of issues we now want the home secretary to come and answer," he said.

The Guardian's original reports were based on detailed accounts of several suspects who say they were tortured by members of the Pakistani security services before being questioned by the British. Some appeared to have been taken to the same secret interrogation centre in Rawalpindi, where they say they were repeatedly tortured before being questioned by British security services.

One of the alleged victims, Rangzieb Ahmed, from Manchester, says that in 2006 he was beaten, whipped, deprived of sleep and had three fingernails extracted by ISI agents at the Rawalpindi centre before being interrogated by two MI5 officers. In December a jury at Manchester crown court convicted him of being a member of al-Qaida and of directing a terrorist organisation. But it was not told that he had had fingernails removed.

Ahmed, 33, says the nails were taken out slowly with a pair of pliers over three consecutive days at a secret ISI prison, and alleged that on the fourth day he was hooded and bound and taken to a place where he was questioned by two MI5 officers. Before Ahmed's trial began, the judge ruled that he did not believe the fingernails had been taken out before the meeting with MI5. Part of the judge's ruling is being kept secret.

A second man, from Luton, alleges that he was whipped, suspended by his wrists and beaten, and threatened with an electric drill, possibly at the same torture centre. His interrogation was coordinated with the questioning of several associates at Paddington Green police station, west London, and the questioning of a further suspect in Canada.

Another man, accused of being an al-Qaida terrorist from the West Midlands, claimed he was tortured after being detained in Pakistan during a British-led counterterrorism investigation. He says for several months the ISI kept him in a pitch-black cell not much bigger than a coffin, and that he was brought out to be beaten, whipped and subjected to electric shocks. Once, he alleges, he was hooded and interrogated by people speaking English, with British and American accents.

Yesterday's hearing was part of the JCHR's continuing inquiry into the UN charter against torture.

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Foreign Office link to torture cover-up

February 15, 2009 -- The Foreign Office (FCO) solicited the letter from the U.S. State Department that forced British judges to block the disclosure of CIA files documenting the torture of a British resident held in Guantánamo Bay, the Observer can reveal.

The letter said that the release of papers relating to Binyam Mohamed would damage future intelligence sharing between the two countries.

A former senior State Department official said that it was the Foreign Office that initiated the "cover-up" by asking the State Department to send the letter so that it could be introduced into the court proceedings.

The revelation sparked fresh claims that the government is trying to suppress torture evidence relating to Mohamed, who is expected to be released this week after four years and flown to RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire.

The former senior State Department official said: "Far from being a threat, it was solicited [by the Foreign Office]." The Foreign Office asked for it in writing. They said: 'Give us something in writing so that we can put it on the record.' If you give us a letter explaining you are opposed to this, then we can provide that to the court."

The letter, sent by the State Department's top legal adviser John Bellinger to foreign secretary David Miliband's legal adviser, Daniel Bethlehem, on 21 August last year, said: "We want to affirm in the clearest terms that the public disclosure of these documents or of the information contained therein is likely to result in serious damage to U.S. national security and could harm existing intelligence-sharing arrangements."

The letter provoked uproar when the judges in the case said it amounted to a clear threat from the U.S. government to Britain.

David Davis, the former shadow home secretary, said the revelation that the Foreign Office solicited the letter contradicted Miliband's statement that Britain was responding to American pressure.

Davis accused Miliband of acting to "prevent his own government's embarrassment", amid allegations that the files contain evidence that UK intelligence agencies may have been complicit in Mohamed's torture.

Clive Stafford Smith, director of the legal charity Reprieve, said: "With each twist and turn, it becomes obvious that the U.S. and the UK have to release this information."

The Foreign Office last night confirmed that it had requested the letter from the State Department, but said it was "sensible and proper" that they wanted a U.S. statement on the case for the legal proceedings.

A Scotland Yard doctor yesterday visited Mohamed, 30, at Guantánamo's Camp Delta to ascertain whether he was fit enough to fly home.

Mohamed was seized by Pakistani authorities in 2002 and turned over to U.S. intelligence officials as a suspected terrorist. He was shuttled between CIA-operated facilities in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Morocco before arriving at Guantánamo in 2004.

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Whitehall devised torture policy for terror detainees

February 16, 2009 -- A policy governing the interrogation of terrorism suspects in Pakistan that led to British citizens and residents being tortured was devised by MI5 lawyers and figures in government, according to evidence heard in court.

A number of British terrorism suspects who have been detained without trial in Pakistan say they were tortured by Pakistani intelligence agents before being questioned by MI5. In some cases their accusations are supported by medical evidence.

The existence of an official interrogation policy emerged during cross-examination in the high court in London of an MI5 officer who had questioned one of the detainees, Binyam Mohamed, the British resident currently held in Guantánamo Bay. The officer, who can be identified only as Witness B, admitted that although Mohamed had been in Pakistani custody for five weeks, and he knew the country to have a poor human rights record, he did not ask whether he had been tortured or mistreated, did not inquire why he had lost weight, and did not consider whether his detention without trial was illegal.

Mohamed is expected to return to Britain soon after ending a five-week hunger strike at Guantánamo Bay, where he was being force-fed. After he was seen by British officials and a doctor over the weekend, the Foreign Office said he was medically fit to travel.

Cross-examined in the high court last year, Witness B acknowledged that Mohamed was in "an extremely vulnerable position" when he questioned him in Karachi in 2002. The MI5 officer admitted telling him that "he would get more lenient treatment if he cooperated", and said that he knew he was to be transferred to U.S. custody.

Witness B was asked by Dinah Rose QC, for Mohamed: "Was it your understanding that it was lawful for Mr Mohamed to be transferred to the U.S. authorities in this way?" Witness B replied: "I consider that to be a matter for the security service top management and for government."

Asked then whether the transfer concerned him, Witness B replied: "I was aware that the general question of interviewing detainees had been discussed at length by security service management legal advisers and government, and I acted in this case, as in others, under the strong impression that it was considered to be proper and lawful." He denied that he had threatened Mohamed and said the prisoner appeared well enough to be questioned.

Mohamed was eventually able to tell lawyers that before being questioned by MI5 he had been hung from leather straps, beaten and threatened with a firearm by Pakistani intelligence officers. After the meeting with MI5 he was "rendered" to Morocco where he endured 18 months of even more brutal torture, including having his genitals slashed with a scalpel. Some of the questions put to him under torture in Morocco were based on information passed by MI5 to the U.S.

The Guardian has learned from other sources that the interrogation policy was directed at a high level within Whitehall and that it has been further developed since Mohamed's detention in Pakistan. Evidence of this might emerge from 42 undisclosed US documents seen by the high court and sent to the MPs and peers on the intelligence and security committee (ISC).

Lawyers representing Mohamed went to the high court in an attempt to secure the disclosure of the documents, but the court reluctantly refused earlier this month after David Miliband, the foreign secretary, said such a move would damage national security and UK-U.S. relations.

Miliband's position in the affair came under renewed attack yesterday after it emerged that his officials solicited a letter from the U.S. State Department to back up his claim that if the evidence was disclosed, Washington might stop sharing intelligence with Britain. The claim persuaded the high court judges to suppress what they called "powerful evidence" relating to Mohamed's ill-treatment.

Edward Davey, the Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman, today described the move as possibly "one of the most outrageous deceptions of parliament, the judiciary and the British people. There must be an immediate investigation, with all related correspondence made public."

The FCO said it asked the U.S. to make its position clear in writing "to inform both us and the court". It said it was "both perfectly sensible and the correct thing to do".

The high court said it was now up to the ISC to "hold those in charge of the secret intelligence service and security service and her majesty's government to account".

In a letter to the committee, Clive Stafford Smith, the director of Reprieve, says: "The ISC would want to know whether the intelligence services brought the issue of Mr Mohamed's abuse to the attention of the prime minister (then Mr Blair) – and, if not, why not." He said if the evidence had been brought to Blair's attention, "the ISC would want to know what, if anything, was done about it. If nothing was done, that would raise serious questions about the respect that the UK government has for its obligations under the convention against torture."

Evidence heard by the court in-camera – once the public and the media had been excluded – resulted in Jacqui Smith, the home secretary, asking the attorney general, Lady Scotland, to investigate "possible criminal wrongdoing" by both American and British security and intelligence officers.

Witness B's testimony is expected to be considered by MPs and peers on parliament's joint committee on human rights, which has begun an inquiry into allegations of British collusion in the torture of detainees in Pakistan, and is asking Miliband and Smith to give evidence.

A number of British terrorism suspects have been questioned by British intelligence officials, including MI5 officers, after periods of alleged torture by Pakistani interrogators. Last year Manchester crown court heard that MI5 and Greater Manchester police passed questions to Pakistani interrogators so they could be put to Rangzieb Ahmed, 35, from Rochdale. MI5 officers also interviewed him while he was in custody, although the head of the consular division at the British high commission was not informed about his detention for nine months. By the time Ahmed was deported to the UK 13 months later, and successfully prosecuted for terrorism offences, three of his fingernails had disappeared from his left hand. He says they were removed with pliers while he was being questioned about his associates in Pakistan, the July 2005 terrorist attacks in London, and an alleged plot against the United States.

While other detainees have also subsequently been prosecuted or deported to the UK and made subject to control orders, one vanished in bizarre circumstances and was subsequently said to have been killed in a U.S. missile attack, although his family has not been given his body. A number have been released without charge.

A medical student from London who was held for almost two months in a building opposite the offices of the British deputy high commission in Karachi says he was tortured while being questioned about the 2005 London bombings before being questioned by British intelligence officers. He was released without charge and is now working at a hospital on the south coast of England, but is thought to remain deeply traumatised.