Libyan torture survivor wins right to sue Jack Straw for complicity in his torture

Today the highest court in the UK threw out attempts by the UK government to block Libyan politician and military leader, Abdul-Hakim Belhaj, from suing the former Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw MP, the former head of MI6 and the UK government itself for their involvement in his rendition to Libya and torture during the so-called "war on terror".

The Supreme Court rejected arguments by the defendants that Mr Belhaj's civil claim should be barred by the principle of state immunity, protecting states from being sued in the courts of other states, and the "foreign act of state" doctrine, which bars scrutiny by UK courts of acts committed by another state on its territory.

Freedom from Torture Director of Policy and Advocacy, Sonya Sceats, said:

"This is a proud day for British justice. Our legal system led the way in establishing the absolute torture ban and today the Supreme Court carried on this tradition by affirming the importance of redress for survivors, regardless of how senior in government those authorising wrongdoing may be.

Today's ruling is a victory not only for Mr Belhaj and his family but also for other survivors of torture facilitated by joint operations between British and foreign intelligence agents.

Many others among these survivors will not be fighting cases in the courts but the truth about the wider pattern of UK complicity in torture still needs to be exposed. To discharge the UK's international legal obligations and ensure lessons are learned to prevent any repeat of these lamentable lapses, the government should finally launch the judicial inquiry that it previously admitted is necessary to remove this dreadful stain on the UK's reputation."

Belhaj's case is one of the strongest alleging UK complicity in torture in the counter-terrorism context because of correspondence found in a bombed-out office in Tripoli from the head of MI6, Sir Mark Allen, to the Libyan intelligence chief, boasting about the UK's role in facilitating Belhaj's rendition from Malaysia to Libya, where he endured long periods of torture. 

Today's judgment follows a decision by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in 2016 not to press criminal charges despite finding that "a suspect", almost certainly Sir Mark, was involved in the rendition and “sought political authority” for some of his actions, presumably from the Foreign Secretary at the time, Jack Straw.

Read Sonya's response to the CPS decision in this opinion piece for the Guardian and follow @sonyasceats on Twitter for further comment.