UK agents 'colluded with torture in Pakistan'

REPORTED BY Juma Baloch


Intelligence sources 'confirm abuse'• Extent of Mohamed injuries revealed* Mark Townsend* The Observer, Sunday 22 February 2009* Article historyA shocking new report alleges widespread complicity between British securityagents and their Pakistani counterparts who have routinely engaged in thetorture of suspects.In the study, which will be published next month by the civil liberties groupHuman Rights Watch, at least 10 Britons are identified who have been allegedlytortured in Pakistan and subsequently questioned by UK intelligence officials.It warns that more British cases may surface and that the issue of Pakistaniterrorism suspects interrogated by British agents is likely to "run muchdeeper".The report will further embarrass the foreign secretary, David Miliband, who hasrepeatedly said the UK does not condone torture. He has been under fire forrefusing to disclose US documents relating to the treatment of Guantánamodetainee and former British resident Binyam Mohamed. The documents are believedto contain evidence about the torture of Mohamed and British complicity in hismaltreatment. Mohamed will return to Britain this week. Doctors who examined himin Guantánamo found evidence of prolonged physical and mental mistreatment.Ali Dayan Hasan, who led the Pakistan-based inquiry, said sources within thecountry's Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI), the Intelligence Bureau andthe military security services had provided "confirmation and information"relating to British collusion in the interrogation of terrorism suspects.Hasan said the Human Rights Watch (HRW) evidence collated from Pakistanintelligence officials indicated a "systemic" modus operandi among Britishsecurity services, involving a significant number of UK agents from MI5 ratherthan maverick elements. Different agents were deployed to interview differentsuspects, many of whom alleged that prior to interrogation by British officialsthey were tortured by Pakistani agents.Among the 10 identified cases of British citizens and residents mentioned in thereport is Rangzieb Ahmed, 33, from Rochdale, who claims he was tortured byPakistani intelligence agents before being questioned by two MI5 officers. Ahmedwas convicted of being a member of al-Qaida at Manchester crown court, yet thejury was not told that three of the fingernails of his left hand had beenremoved. The response from MI5 to the allegations that it had colluded inAhmed's torture were heard in camera, however, after the press and the publicwere excluded from the proceedings. Ahmed's description of the cell in which heclaims he was tortured closely matches that where Salahuddin Amin, 33, fromLuton, says he was tortured by ISI officers between interviews with MI5officers.Zeeshan Siddiqui, 25, from London, who was detained in Pakistan in 2005, alsoclaims he was interviewed by British intelligence agents during a period inwhich he was tortured.Other cases include that of a London medical student who was detained in Karachiand tortured after the July 2005 attacks in London. Another case involvingBritons allegedly tortured in Pakistan and questioned by UK agents involves aBritish Hizb ut-Tahrir supporter.Rashid Rauf, from Birmingham, was detained in Pakistan and questioned oversuspected terrorist activity in 2006. He was reportedly killed after a US droneattack in Pakistan's tribal regions, though his body has never been found.Hasan said: "What the research suggests is that these are not incidentsinvolving one particular rogue officer or two, but rather an array ofindividuals involved over a period of several years."The issue is not just British complicity in the torture of British citizens, itis the issue of British complicity in the torture period. We know of at least 10cases, but the complicity probably runs much deeper because it involves a seriesof terrorism suspects who are Pakistani. This is the heart of the matter."They are not the same individuals [MI5 officers] all the time. I know that thepeople who have gone to see Siddiqui in Peshawar are not the same people whohave seen Ahmed in Rawalpindi."Last night the government faced calls to clarify precisely its relationship withPakistan's intelligence agencies, which are known to routinely use torture.A Foreign Office spokesman said that an investigation by the British securityservices had revealed "there is nothing to suggest they have engaged in torturein Pakistan". He added: "Our policy is not to participate in, solicit, encourageor condone the use of torture, or inhumane or degrading treatment, for anypurpose."But former shadow home secretary David Davis said the claims from Pakistanserved to "reinforce" allegations that UK authorities, at the very least,ignored Pakistani torture techniques."The British agencies can no longer pretend that 'Hear no evil, see no evil' isapplicable in the modern world," he added.Last week HRW submitted evidence to parliament's Joint Committee on HumanRights. The committee is to question Miliband and Jacqui Smith, the homesecretary, over a legal loophole which appears to offer British intelligenceofficers immunity in the UK for any crimes committed overseas.It has also emerged that New York-based HRW detailed its concerns in a letter tothe UK government last October but has yet to receive a response.The letter arrived at the same time that the Attorney General was tasked withdeciding if Scotland Yard should begin a criminal investigation into Britishsecurity agents' treatment of Binyam Mohamed. Crown prosecutors are currentlyweighing up the evidence.Hasan said that evidence indicated a considerable number of UK officers wereinvolved in interviewing terrorism suspects after they were allegedly tortured.He told the Observer: "We don't know who the individuals [British intelligenceofficers] were, but when you have different personnel coming in and behaving ina similar fashion it implies some level of systemic approach to the situation,rather than one eager beaver deciding it is absolutely fine for someone to bebeaten or hung upside down."He accused British intelligence officers of turning a blind eye as UK citizensendured torture at the hands of Pakistan's intelligence agencies."They [the British] have met the suspect ... and have conspicuously failed tonotice that someone is in a state of high physical distress, showing signs ofinjury. If you are a secret service agent and fail to notice that theirfingernails are missing, you ought to be fired."Britain's former chief legal adviser, Lord Goldsmith, said that the ForeignOffice would want to examine any British involvement in torture allegations verycarefully and, if necessary, bring individuals "to book" to ensure suchbehaviour was "eradicated".http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/ ... ure-pakistan-human-rights