Delivered Into Enemy Hands - Human Rights Watch

However, despite overwhelming evidence that senior officials in the Bush administration
were responsible for policies that led to torture and abuse against numerous individuals in
US custody, there has been no criminal investigation into these alleged crimes. 469 Additionally,
since the September 11 attacks, no federal court has granted a judicial remedy to
victims of alleged US torture or rendition to torture. 470
In the United Kingdom, more efforts have been undertaken to examine the government’s
role in torture and to compensate for abuse. The Tripoli Documents exposed MI6’s role in
the torture and rendition of two Libyans discussed in this report—Abdul Hakim Belhadj and
Sami al-Saadi. The documents have, appropriately, led to a criminal inquiry. 471 Two earlier
criminal investigations into alleged complicity in torture by MI5 and MI6 were concluded
without anyone being charged.
In June 2010, British Prime Minister David Cameron announced a broader inquiry into
policy failures that led to UK complicity in abuse, known as the “Gibson Inquiry” (after the
retired judge who chaired it, Sir Peter Gibson). Human Rights Watch, which had called for
such an inquiry, hoped that it would be capable of uncovering a full and accurate picture of
UK involvement in overseas abuse. But when the terms of reference for the inquiry were
published in July 2011, it became clear that the inquiry lacked the necessary independence
and transparency to achieve this. As a result, Human Rights Watch and other nongovernmental
organizations decided not to participate in the inquiry. 472
The British government had always intended that the inquiry would only start work after
the conclusion of any criminal cases. In January 2012, when the criminal investigations
into the cases of Belhadj and Saadi were announced, the UK government stated it was
469 See, generally, Human Rights Watch, Getting Away with Torture: The Bush Administration and Mistreatment of Detainees,
July 11, 2011, http://www.hrw.org/reports/2011/07/12/getting-away-torture-0 (accessed July 2, 2012).
470 Ibid.
471 “Joint Statement by the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Metropolitan Police Service,” Crown Prosecution Service
news release.
472 See Owen Bowcott, et al., “Gibson Inquiry into MI5 and MI6 Torture Collusion Claims Abandoned,” The Guardian, January
18, 2012, http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/jan/18/gibson-inquiry-torture-collusion-abandoned (accessed July 2,
2012); for more information on Human Rights Watch objections to the Gibson Inquiry, see Human Rights Watch, “Submission
to the UK Foreign Affairs Select Committee,” May 24, 2012, http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/05/24/hrw-submission-ukforeign-affairs-select-committee,
para. 8 (Among other deficiencies, the Gibson Inquiry allowed evidence to be taken in
secret, failed to provide meaningful ways to challenge evidence, and permitted the Cabinet Office rather than an independent
judge to make disclosure decisions).
147 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | SEPTEMBER 2012