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UK 'can't rely on American promises'

20/07/2008

American assurances they do not torture terrorist suspects can no longer be trusted by the British government, an influential group of MPs has said.

In a damning report by the government's main foreign policy committee, MPs told the government to disregard promises from the US about its use of torture and urged the UK government to step up its attempts to ensure no rendition flights enter UK airspace.

"We conclude that, given the recent US practice of water-boarding, the British government can no longer rely on US assurances that it does not use torture," said committee chair Mike Gapes.

The statement pushes UK objections to American counterterrorism strategy to their highest level yet. It is almost unprecedented for senior UK figures to say the assurances of the UK's closest ally cannot be trusted.

The report continues: "We conclude that the foreign secretary's view that water-boarding is an instrument of torture is to be welcomed. However, given the recent practice of water-boarding by the US, there are serious implications arising from the foreign secretary's stated position.

"We conclude that, given the clear differences in definition, the UK can no longer rely on US assurances that it does not use torture, and we recommend that the government does not rely on such assurances in the future."

Amnesty International UK's head of policy Jeremy Croft said: "While we have always stressed the need to combat terrorism, we share the committee’s concerns over the UK government and its current counterterrorism policy.

"In particular, the UK government needs to take allegations of torture at Guantánamo and other US detention centres altogether more seriously."

Waterboarding is a practice whereby a person is immobilised with their head inclined backwards and water poured over the face and into the breathing passages, creating the sensation of drowning and imminent death. While it usually causes no long-term physical damage, victims can suffer psychological reprecussions for years afterwards, as well brain damage or injury through struggling against their restraints.

The CIA is known to have waterboarded at least three al-Qaida suspects: Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Abu Zubaydah and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri.

The committee's suspicion of US statements on their counterterrorism activities extends beyond that particular practice, however. The MPs called on the government to live up to its "moral and legal" obligations to ensure flights entering US airspace or landing at UK airports are not part of a 'rendition circuit'.

"We recommend that the government should immediately raise questions about such flights with the US authorities in order to ascertain the full scale of the rendition problem, and inform the committee of the replies it," the report continues.

The foreign secretary, David Miliband, was embarrassed into admitting he had spoken misleadingly to the House of Commons after he promised no American rendition flights had landed on UK soil. It transpired two flights had landed at Diego Garcia, the British Indian Ocean territory where the US has a large air base, in 2002.

The flights had apparently been overlooked in previous US internal inquiries carried out due to UK requests.

"This report should now add weight to our call for an independent and thorough investigation into any UK involvement in 'rendition' and torture in the 'war on terror'," Mr Croft said.