UN concerned at Britain's torture record

A United Nations human-rights panel has expressed concern that Britain does not stick to the global treaty against torture when it comes to its troops’ actions in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The Committee Against Torture urged Britain yesterday ”to make public the results of all investigations into alleged conduct by its forces in Iraq and Afghanistan”, especially when it appears they have violated the treaty.

The committee’s recommendations came at the end of its two-week session during which it quizzed British officials on compliance with the 20-year-old Convention Against Torture.

The committee expressed concern at Britain’s “limited acceptance of the applicability of the convention to the actions of its forces abroad”.

There have been several reports of British ill treatment of detainees in Iraq.

The committee said it was particularly concerned by Britain’s contention that “those parts of the convention which are applicable only in respect of territory under the jurisdiction of a state party cannot be applicable in relation to actions of the United Kingdom in Afghanistan and Iraq”.

The committee, which comprises 10 independent experts, said Britain “should ensure that the conduct of its officials, including those attending interrogations at any overseas facility, was strictly in conformity with the requirements of the convention”.

It should investigate “promptly and impartially” any breaches of the convention and if necessary file criminal proceedings, the committee said.

Criticism by the UN body, which usually stops short of citing individual examples, brings no penalties, but draws international attention to a country’s record on torture.

Martin Howard, a senior official from the Ministry of Defence, told the committee last week that British military police have investigated 17 cases which “could be categorised as alleging inhumane or degrading treatment or torture”.

Of the 17 cases, eight have been closed with no crime established, Howard said. Five are still under investigation, three have been passed to military prosecutors and one is set for trial.

There is no evidence that British forces “have been involved in systematic abuse of human rights in Iraq”, he said.