UK rights groups reject official inquiry into post-September 11 rendition

Clare Algar, executive director of Reprieve: 'What little credibility the ISC had left is rapidly evaporating.' Photograph: Suki Dhanda for the Observer

Britains leading human rights groups are to boycott the official investigation into the UKs involvement in torture and rendition in the years after 9/11, grievously undermining the controversial inquiry.

Nine organisations have announced that they want nothing to do with the parliamentary inquiry by the intelligence and security committee (ISC) into Britains alleged role in the ill-treatment of detainees.

A strongly worded letter to the committee team investigating detainee allegations says that, despite raising concerns with the government more than six months ago over whether its decision to allow the ISC to lead the inquiry was lawful or appropriate, their concerns of an establishment cover-up remained unanswered.

The letter, obtained by the Observer, says the coalition of groups including Reprieve, Amnesty International and Liberty have lost all trust in the committees ability to uncover the truth. Consequently, we as a collective of domestic and international non-governmental organisations do not propose to play a substantive role in the conduct of this inquiry, the letter states.

Other signatories of the letter include Cage, Rights Watch UK, Freedom From Torture, Redress, Justice and the legal charity the Aire Centre. Their anger follows assurances by David Cameron that the inquiry into whether MI5 and MI6 were actively involved in the secret rendition and torture of UK citizens and residents would be headed by a senior judge.

When the coalition government came to power, Cameron told MPs that no other arrangement would command public confidence, and vehemently rejected suggestions that the ISC should conduct the investigation. He said that only a judge-led inquiry could get to the bottom of the case.

The boycott follows the debacle of the independent inquiry into child abuse, which has been dogged by whitewash claims and recently lost its second chair, Fiona Woolf, after she accepted that abuse survivors had lost confidence in her ability to conduct the investigation impartially.

The ISC has faced years of criticism as evidence of UK involvement in rendition has emerged, and was also condemned for failing to report on the bulk surveillance being conducted by the UKs signals intelligence agency, GCHQ, until after it became public.

After an initial inquiry by retired appeal court judge Sir Peter Gibson was cut short two years ago as further evidence came to light of British complicity in rendition and torture, the governments decision to hand the inquiry to the ISC was widely condemned.

Original post:
UK rights groups reject official inquiry into post-September 11 rendition