Torture complicity claims: David Cameron announces inquiry

The Medical Foundation had long called for a separate inquiry into allegations of British complicity in the torture of detainees held abroad in the context of the ‘war on terror’.

With a new coalition government taking up office in May the announcement did eventually come, as newly-elected Prime Minister, David Cameron, told MPs in July that Sir Peter Gibson would chair an inquiry which was necessary “to restore Britain's moral leadership in the world”. In September, the Medical Foundation – as part of a coalition of NGOs – wrote an open letter to Gibson with detailed recommendations for the scope and conduct of the inquiry, including the need for enabling full participation for survivors.

A barrier to the torture inquiry getting underway was the ongoing civil and criminal proceedings on the same issue. In November, the government settled claims brought by 16 former Guantánamo inmates in a move widely seen as paving the way for the Gibson Inquiry to begin, whilst at the same time halting the flow of damaging documents being disclosed as part of the claimants’ High Court claims. Whilst welcoming the payments as marking the first step in the quest for redress by the survivors, the Medical Foundation did note caution that this was just the beginning of a long road to holding those responsible to account. Indeed, the Justice Secretary Ken Clarke had been at pains to tell MPs that the undisclosed payments did not amount to an admission of guilt, but were instead a way to avoid “protracted and extremely expensive litigation”.

The compensation payments were followed the very next day by the news that an MI5 officer who stood accused of being involved in the torture of Binyam Mohamed would not face prosecution – after the Crown Prosecution Service decided there was insufficient evidence against him. The Met police’s investigation of an MI6 officer over a separate incident is continuing, with this seen as the final case to conclude before the torture inquiry can commence in 2011.