Joint Enterprise on Torture 189


The law is not blind in this country – “joint enterprise” is used almost exclusively against young black men. But I can see no reason why the principle of joint enterpirse should not apply equally to those who set the policy under which people were rendered to be tortured in Libya, rather than merely to the security service functionaries who carried out the policy. In my reading of joint enterprise, if Ministers can show they were not involved in signing off individual rendition permissions, they should still be guilty for having participated in the behaviour that made such results likely, indeed inevitable.

I have given evidence to parliament that I was told, officially, as a British Ambassador, that Jack Straw had initiated a policy of using intelligence obtained by torture. I also testified before parliament that this was an unacknowledged policy which I was told, officially, should not be discussed in writing. The government has at no stage attempted to deny the truth of my account. The government did not submit evidence to the Parliamentary committee to claim that my account was untrue. The government has nowhere stated that my evidence is untrue; they prefer to rely on private media briefings to claim, untruly, that I am mad and alcoholic.

I shall tell the police that those involved in rendering persons to be Libya to be tortured were doing so in keeping with a War on Terror torture intelligence programme authorised by Jack Straw. It is no secret what I will say; here I am saying it.

Of course, I realise that the Crown Prosecution Service and the Met will,three years hence, claim there were no grounds to prosecute anybody. I am not that naive. But the fact of a formal police investigation will force some attention on whether or not my account is true. Ignoring the facts and just being rude about me is less easy in a criminal investigation.


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189 thoughts on “Joint Enterprise on Torture

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  • Jives

    “Its the apologist of the CC type that are embellishing these human rights violations in a self perpetuating war on terror circus of their own making,pathetic figures who can’t live without their returns from bloody arms shares.”.
    .
    Spot in Ingo.

  • Clark

    Looking at the front page of his blog, Charles Crawford seems to write as much about Craig Murray as Craig Murray writes about torture and injustice. Presumably he sees Craig Murray as the more pressing issue.

  • Mary

    Friend of Israel of course Ingo and a trougher who likes to keep clean and sweet smelling!
    .
    Expenses
    In May 2009, the Telegraph revealed Lidington had claimed nearly £1,300 for his dry cleaning and had also claimed for toothpaste, shower gel, body spray and vitamin supplements on his second home allowance. Lidington decided to repay the claims for the toiletries, saying “I accept that many people would see them as over-generous.”

    Lidington was also criticised by local newspaper the Bucks Herald for claiming £115,891 in expenses in one year, almost double his salary.
    Wikipedia
    ~~~~~
    Name of donor: Conservative Friends of Israel
    Address of donor: 45B Westbourne Terrace, London W2 3GR
    Amount of donation (or estimate of the probable value): £1000
    Destination of visit: Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories
    Date of visit: January 2010
    Purpose of visit: to meet Israeli and Palestinian Ministers and officials and business leaders to discuss the Middle East Peace Process
    They Work for You
    ~~~~~

  • ingo

    Sorry about the first copy, mods please erase [Mod: done], I had two other windows open and my steam iron crashed somewhat. Here is the whole reply from D. Liddington FCO attached to the reply from Richard bacon MP to me.
    .
    Thank you for your letter from of the 24.october 2011 on behalf of your constituent Mr. Ingo Wagenknecht of ……. About Nina and Mikel Malyshev. I apologise for the delay in replying.
    .
    We are aware of Mikel and Nina Malyshevs situation (situation?). I understand, following discussions between their former constituency MP and Foreign and Commonwealth officials in October 2011, that Mikel and Nina Malyshev are safe and well in Uzbekistan. We can confirm no British Embassy officials were sent to the airport or that they met with the Malyshevs. ( so how do they know they are OK? Hogwash!).
    .
    The overall human rights situation in Uzbekistan remains a concern, We regularly raise our concerns with Uzbek authorities.
    .
    Our embassy in Tashkent funds projects promoting good governance, human rights and development of civil society, for example supporting police reform and the implementation of habeas corpus. Our embassy also maintains contact with a wide range of civil society groups.
    .
    The FCO’s Human rights and democracy report 2010, which was laid before Parlaiment and launched on 31.march 2011, highlights what the Government is doing to promote our values around the world, including in Uzbekistan. It is available on the FCO website at http://www.fco.gov.uk/hrdreport.
    .
    Singed THE RT HONOURABLE DAVID LIDDINGTON MP
    .
    Then a handwritten PS: I’m really sorry about the delay it should not ( underlined) have happened and I have asked for the appropriate lessons to be learned so that we avoid any repetition.

  • nuid

    Libya:
    .
    Prisoners are “suspended in contorted positions, beaten for hours with whips, cables, plastic hoses, metal chains and bars and wooden sticks, and given electric shocks with live wires and Taser-like electro-shock weapons,” according to the Amnesty report. A spokesperson for the organization described the failure of the US- and NATO-backed National Transitional Council (NTC) to conduct any investigation, much less take any action against the torture, as “horrifying.”
    .
    Amnesty’s findings were corroborated by UN human rights chief Navi Pillay, who told the Security Council recently that torture is widespread. “There’s torture, extrajudicial executions, rape of both men and women,” she said.
    .
    Extract from
    Torture in Libya: The ugly reality of imperialist “liberation”
    http://www.wsws.org/articles/2012/feb2012/pers-f01.shtml

  • guano

    The British Establishment, alias Zionist New World Order, alias AlQaida, alias ‘stupidism’ is not pleased about being criticised publicly for having made a cock-up in Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan.
    But for them to think that trolling in a place where good hearts and commonsense prevail might turn the tide of public indignation shows what a lot of stuffed nothing the political mind is filled with. Mostly cocaine, probably.

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