12 January 2012 Last updated at 13:04
British police are to investigate claims that UK secret services helped in the rendition of a man to Libya.
The Metropolitan Police and Crown Prosecution Service said MI5 and MI6 officers would not be charged over separate torture collusion claims.
One of the leaders of the anti-Gaddafi forces is suing the UK over his transfer to Libya and subsequent torture.
The government has set up an inquiry into claims of rendition.
In the statement, the Metropolitan Police said that it had received a complaint from a detainee relating to his rendition to Libya and information relating to a second similar case.
The statement said: "The allegations raised in the two specific cases concerning the alleged rendition of named individuals to Libya and the alleged ill-treatment of them in Libya are so serious that it is in the public interest for them to be investigated now rather than at the conclusion of the Detainee Inquiry."
Abdel Hakin Belhaj, a commander of the rebel forces in Libya, says he was tortured after being arrested in 2004. He says that he was taken from Bangkok to Libya by a joint CIA and MI6 operation which was set up to help Col Muammar Gaddafi round up his enemies.
Last year, Mr Belhaj told the BBC that he deserved an apology from the UK.
Binyam Mohamed allegations
The investigations into allegations of collusion began after a former Guantanamo detainee, Binyam Mohamed, told the courts that London knew that he was being abused while held in Pakistan in 2002.
An MI5 officer known only as Witness B, who interviewed Mr Mohamed in Pakistan, was cleared of wrongdoing.
The investigation then looked into whether the Security Service had colluded in Mr Mohamed's later torture in Morocco, prior to his transfer to Guantanamo.
In the joint statement, the Crown Prosecution Service and Metropolitan Police said that there was insufficient evidence to show that any British officer had supplied questions for interrogation knowing that Mr Mohamed could be tortured.
The second case related to an MI6 officer that the service itself referred to investigators.
The officer interviewed a detainee who was being held at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan in January 2002.
The CPS said that despite "strenuous efforts" it had not been able to get an account of what happened from the detainee or potential eye witnesses who were not British officials. Given the lack of evidence, the CPS said that there was insufficient evidence to launch a prosecution.
Related Stories From BBC:
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No charges for MI5 Binyam officer 17 NOVEMBER 2010, UK
Torture 'abhorrent' says MI6 head 28 OCTOBER 2010, UK
Guantanamo papers reveal UK role 15 JULY 2010, UK
Profiles: Guantanamo Bay Britons 16 NOVEMBER 2010, UK
12 Jan 2012
Responding to today's joint statement by the Crown Prosecution Service and the Metropolitan Police on investigations into UK complicity in the torture of detainees, Reprieve's Director Clive Stafford Smith said:
“I have nothing but praise for the line police who have been investigating the case, but they are being hobbled, just as they were in the hacking inquiry. They know as well as I do that Shaker Aamer is key to this case, and it goes without saying that they need to interview him. But there seems to be political pressure to move forward with the sham Gibson Inquiry, at the cost of a proper police investigation.
“Today’s statement by the Crown Prosecution Service and the Metropolitan Police on the abuse of detainees makes a number of things clear:
“First, it shows that evidence of British complicity in the torture of Libyans Sami al Saadi and Abdulhakim Belhaj by the Gaddafi regime is so blatant that a criminal inquiry must go ahead before the Government’s deeply flawed Gibson Inquiry can get started.
“Second, the decision to set up a panel to look at other allegations is clearly aimed at the case of Shaker Aamer, the last British resident in Guantanamo Bay. Reprieve has provided the Police with information on his abuse.
“Third, this is the first time any official in any country has conceded that Binyam Mohamed was tortured – and it is clear from this statement that the CPS accepts that Mr Mohamed was tortured and it was a criminal offence.
“Finally, it is unsurprising that they have decided not to prosecute ‘Witness B’. MI5 and MI6 should of course discipline any staff involved, even if there is no criminal inquiry. But the main focus of all this should not be the rank and file, but those who were signing off the torture policy at the top. In that sense, there remain very real questions for Tony Blair, Jack Straw, and David Miliband, who were in power when these dreadful abuses took place.
“Sadly, the current Government’s Gibson Inquiry simply has neither the clout nor the independence it needs to get to the bottom of this, and as a result is set to be little more than a whitewash. Meanwhile, current Government proposals to bury our justice system under a blanket of secrecy when intelligence issues are involved look set to hamstring any future accountability in the courts.”
ENDS
Notes to editors
1. For further information, please contact Donald Campbell in Reprieve’s press office: +44 (0) 207 427 1082 / (0) 7791 755 415
2. The full text of the statement can be found on the Crown Prosecution Service's website.
3. Reprieve, a legal action charity, uses the law to deliver justice and save lives, from death row to Guantánamo Bay. Reprieve investigates, litigates and educates, working on the frontline, to provide legal support to prisoners unable to pay for it themselves. Reprieve promotes the rule of law around the world, securing each person’s right to a fair trial and saving lives. Clive Stafford Smith is the founder of Reprieve and has spent 25 years working on behalf of people facing the death penalty in the USA.Reprieve’s current casework involves representing 15 prisoners in the US prison at Guantánamo Bay, assisting over 70 prisoners facing the death penalty around the world, and conducting ongoing investigations into the rendition and the secret detention of ‘ghost prisoners’ in the so-called ‘war on terror.’ Follow Reprieve on twitter: @ReprieveUK; if you were forwarded this release, sign up to join our press mailing list.
RT:
Majority of Gitmo prisoners innocent
http://rt.com/news/innocent-guantanamo-prisoners-protest-585/
Guardian:
Guantanamo's Last British Inmate, Shaker Aamer
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jan/11/shaker-aamer-guantanamo
Reuters:
Libyan Islamist sues UK over rendition claims
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/12/19/uk-libya-islamist-rendition-idUKTRE7BI1MB20111219
From the archives - Abu Ghraib sexual abuse of prisoners
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/5395830/Abu-Ghraib-abuse-photos-show-rape.html
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