On Thursday, the findings of an aborted inquiry into the complicity of British intelligence agencies in torture and kidnapping were published by Sir Peter Gibson, a senior Conservative backbencher and retired judge, who described the involvement as “truly shocking.”
The probe found 27 areas that need further investigation in relation to interrogation, rendition and the way officers were trained. In some cases, according to the findings, agents did not raise the issue in order not to jeopardize the UK’s relations with other countries.
The inquiry was axed earlier this year after fresh criminal investigations were launched into allegations involving Libyan victims.
Andrew Tyrie, the chairman of the Treasury Select Committee, who established the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Extraordinary Rendition, said the truth needed to be uncovered.
"It is truly shocking that Britain has facilitated kidnap and torture and the decision to abandon this judge-led inquiry will come to be seen as a mistake," he said.The inquiry also said that British officers had failed to report the torture methods like sleep deprivation as well as hooding and water-boarding of the detainees.
"A theme that runs through a number of the lead cases considered by the inquiry is whether treatment issues - such as sleep deprivation, hooding, and media reports of water-boarding - were raised appropriately with the relevant liaison partners responsible for the detention and treatment in question,” the report said.
"Documents provided to the inquiry show that in some instances there was a reluctance to raise treatment issues for fear of damaging liaison relationships or that when these issues were raised, only limited details were provided," it added.
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