Detainee Mistreatment and Rendition: Current Issues the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament – Detainee Mistreatment and Rendition: Current
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The Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament – Detainee Mistreatment and Rendition: CurrentThe Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament Issues Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament Detainee Mistreatment and Rendition: Current Issues Chair: The Rt Hon. Dominic Grieve QC MP CCS0518750650 978-1-5286-0476-5 HC 1114 Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament Detainee Mistreatment and Rendition: Current Issues Chair: The Rt Hon. Dominic Grieve QC MP Presented to Parliament pursuant to section 3 of the Justice and Security Act 2013 Ordered by the House of Commons to be printed 28 June 2018 HC 1114 © Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament copyright 2018 (The material in Annex B is © Crown copyright 2010, 2011) The material must be acknowledged as Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament copyright and the document title specified. Where third party material has been identified, permission from the respective copyright holder must be sought. This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3 Any enquiries regarding this publication should be sent to us via our webform at isc.independent.gov.uk/contact This publication is also available on our website at: isc.independent.gov.uk ISBN 978-1-5286-0476-5 CCS0518750650 06/18 Printed on paper containing 75% recycled fibre content minimum Printed in the UK by the APS Group on behalf of the Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office THE INTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY COMMITTEE OF PARLIAMENT The Rt Hon. Dominic Grieve QC MP (Chair)* The Rt Hon. Richard Benyon MP The Rt Hon. the Lord Janvrin GCB GCVO QSO The Rt Hon. Ian Blackford MP The Rt Hon. Kevan Jones MP The Rt Hon. Caroline Flint MP The Most Hon. the Rt Hon. the Marquess of Lothian QC The Rt Hon. David Hanson MP The Rt Hon. Keith Simpson MP The Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament (ISC) is a statutory committee of Parliament that has responsibility for oversight of the UK intelligence community. The Committee was originally established by the Intelligence Services Act 1994, and has recently been reformed, and its powers reinforced, by the Justice and Security Act 2013. The Committee oversees the intelligence and security activities of the UK, including the policies, expenditure, administration and operations of the Security Service (MI5), the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) and the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ).† The Committee also scrutinises the work of other parts of the UK intelligence community, including the Joint Intelligence Organisation and the National Security Secretariat in the Cabinet Office; Defence Intelligence in the Ministry of Defence; and the Office for Security and Counter- Terrorism in the Home Office. The Committee consists of nine Members drawn from both Houses of Parliament. The Chair is elected by its Members. The Members of the Committee are subject to section 1(1)(b) of the Official Secrets Act 1989 and are routinely given access to highly classified material in carrying out their duties. The Committee sets its own agenda and work programme. It takes evidence from Government Ministers, the Heads of the Security and Intelligence Agencies, officials from the intelligence community and other witnesses as required. The Committee is supported in its work by a Secretariat. It also has access to legal, technical and financial expertise where necessary. The Committee makes an annual report to Parliament on the discharge of its functions. The Committee may also produce reports on specific investigations. Prior to the Committee publishing its reports, sensitive material that would damage national security is blanked out (‘redacted’). This is indicated by *** in the text. The Security and Intelligence Agencies may request the redaction of material in a report if its publication would damage their work, for example by revealing their targets, methods, sources or operational capabilities. The Committee considers these requests for redaction carefully. The Agencies have to demonstrate clearly how publication of the material in question would be damaging before the Committee agrees to redact it. The Committee aims to ensure that only the minimum of text is redacted from a report. The Committee believes that it is important that Parliament and the public should * This Report reflects work largely undertaken by the previous Committee, which sat from September 2015 to May 2017, though it was initiated by the Committee chaired by the Right Hon. Sir Malcolm Rifkind, which sat from October 2010 to March 2015. Membership of the 2015–17 Committee included the Right Hon. Angus Robertson, the Right Hon. Gisela Stuart and (until July 2016) the Right Hon. Sir Alan Duncan KCMG MP. Membership of the 2010–15 Committee at the time it initiated the Inquiry included the Right Hon. Hazel Blears, the Right Hon. the Lord Butler of Brockwell KG GCB CVO, the Right Hon. the Lord Campbell of Pittenweem CH CBE QC, the Right Hon. Mark Field MP, and the Right Hon. Dr Julian Lewis MP. The Right Hon. Fiona Mactaggart (from May 2014) and the Right Hon. George Howarth MP (until October 2016) were members of both predecessor Committees. † The Committee oversees operations subject to the criteria set out in section 2 of the Justice and Security Act 2013. iii Detainee Mistreatment and Rendition: Current Issues be able to see where information had to be redacted. This means that the published report is the same as the classified version sent to the Prime Minister (albeit with redactions). The Committee also prepares from time to time wholly confidential reports which it submits to the Prime Minister. iv CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������1 1� THE INQUIRY ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������7 2� THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������9 Legal obligations ...................................................................................................................9 Definitions ...........................................................................................................................10 3� THE CONSOLIDATED GUIDANCE: BACKGROUND ����������������������������������������������13 Evolution of the Consolidated Guidance: 2010–2017 .......................................................13 The 2010 Consolidated Guidance ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������14 Use of the Consolidated Guidance since 2010 �������������������������������������������������������������������17 Oversight of the Consolidated Guidance ...........................................................................18 Allegations of mistreatment ...............................................................................................25 Reviews of the Consolidated Guidance policy and processes ...........................................31 Changes to the Consolidated Guidance: 2017 ��������������������������������������������������������������������35 4� THE CONSOLIDATED GUIDANCE: IS IT GUIDANCE OR SOMETHING ELSE? ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������39 Is it a guidance document? ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������39 Is it a tool for public reassurance? ......................................................................................40 Overlap with other guidance: Overseas Security and Justice Assistance ...........................42 5� THE CONSOLIDATED GUIDANCE: SCOPE ��������������������������������������������������������������49 Joint units (part-funded, trained or tasked) ........................................................................49 Other bodies which might be brought within scope ...........................................................51 Joint working .......................................................................................................................53 6� WORKING WITH FOREIGN LIAISON SERVICES: MANAGING RISKS ������������55 Assurances ..........................................................................................................................55 Caveats ................................................................................................................................62 Emergencies .......................................................................................................................63 7� INTERPRETING AND APPLYING THE CONSOLIDATED GUIDANCE ���������������65 Is the terminology/intent clear? ..........................................................................................65 Are users of the Consolidated Guidance legally culpable for actions taken under it? .......71 The role of Ministers ..........................................................................................................73 8� RENDITION ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������79 Is rendition legal? ................................................................................................................79 What is the Government’s policy on rendition, and what guidance is available? ...............80