**The government has not done enough to investigate the transfer of terror suspects through British territories, a report by MPs has said.**The study found there was inadequate investigation into the transportation of two men through the small British Indian Ocean territory of Diego Garcia.
The Foreign Affairs Select Committee also had grave concerns that British officers were complicit in torture.
The Foreign Office said ministers would respond to Parliament in due course.
The committee said there was a “moral and legal obligation” on ministers to ensure UK airspace and airports were not used as part of the “rendition circuit”.
Risk of complicity
It also expressed concern that allegations continued to be made about the use of the giant American airbase on Diego Garcia for US “rendition” flights carrying terrorist suspects.
The cross-party group of MPs urged ministers to pile pressure on the US to carry out a comprehensive check of its records to establish whether there have been other cases beyond two from 2002 it admitted last year.
The committee also said it was “imperative” the government was faithful to its legal requirement to actively prevent torture and to investigate allegations it had taken place.
“The fact that Saudi Arabia is a strategic ally of the UK should not lead to an official policy of turning a blind eye to its human rights failings”
Foreign Affairs Select Committee
The report said there was a danger the UK could be complicit in torture if it turned a blind eye while using information obtained in countries known for their human rights abuses.
The committee said: “There is a risk that use of evidence which may have been obtained under torture on a regular basis, especially where it is not clear that protestations about mistreatment have elicited any change in behaviour by foreign intelligence services, could be construed as complicity in such behaviour.”
‘Pulling punches’
Committee chairman Mike Gapes said: "The government has a duty to use information that comes into its possession, from whatever source and however obtained, if it believes this will avert the loss of life.
“At the same time, we strongly recommend that the government should continue to exert as much persuasion and pressure as possible to try to ensure world-wide that torture is not employed as a method of interrogation.”
The committee had particular concerns over Britain’s relationship with Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency, and it accused the Foreign Office of “pulling its punches” over the “massive scale” of human rights abuses in Saudi Arabia.
“The fact that Saudi Arabia is a strategic ally of the UK should not lead to an official policy of turning a blind eye to its human rights failings,” the committee said.
“Britain should stand firm in its opposition to torture, both through our words and our actions”
Tim Hancock
Amnesty International
The report comes as Scotland Yard is conducting a criminal investigation into claims that MI5 was complicit in the abuse of Binyam Mohamed, a British resident who says he was tortured while being held at sites in Pakistan, Morocco and Afghanistan.
Amnesty International UK campaigns director Tim Hancock described the report as “yet another voice in a growing chorus demanding greater transparency over the UK’s involvement in ‘war on terror’ human rights abuses”, and demanded a full, independent inquiry.
“The committee rightly asks some very pointed questions about the use of UK airspace and territory, particularly Diego Garcia, in US rendition operations,” he said.
“Britain should stand firm in its opposition to torture, both through our words and our actions.”
Andrew Tyrie, the Tory MP who chairs the All Party Parliamentary Group on Extraordinary Rendition, said an inquiry should be held immediately.
“The… committee is mistaken to suggest that an independent judicial inquiry into allegations of UK complicity in torture should await a conclusion to ‘current court cases’,” he said.
"Neither the investigation by the police into the Binyam Mohamed case nor the other civil actions brought should stand in the way of getting to the bottom of this.
“It is the only way to give the public confidence that we have got to the bottom of all of this, to draw a line under it and to move on.”