LONDON, March 1: Foreign Secretary David Miliband and Home Secretary Jacqui Smith have both refused to appear before parliament’s human rights committee to answer questions about allegations of British collusion in the torture of British citizens and residents detained during counter-terrorism operations in Pakistan.

In a move that dismayed members of the Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR), a joint letter from the foreign secretary and home secretary is also said to have failed to answer any of the eight questions that the committee asked about legal provisions offering MI5 officers immunity in the UK for crimes committed overseas. The JCHR is now asking Jonathan Evans, the director-general of MI5, to appear before it to be questioned about the agency’s policy and the conduct of his officers.

According to a report in the Guardian, MPs and peers on the committee are also expected to demand again that Mr Miliband and Mr Smith answer their questions, while its chairman, Andrew Dismore, says the ministers’ refusal may trigger demands for an independent inquiry into the allegations.

Mr Dismore said it was “deeply disappointing” that neither minister had agreed to appear before the committee, but added: “This inquiry isn’t over yet.”

He said MPs might wish to consider an independent inquiry modelled along the lines of one held in Canada, which examined official collusion in the US rendition programme and recommended changes in the supervision of Canadian intelligence services.

“We don’t want to hang people out to dry, this isn’t about pointing the finger, but we do want to get at the truth,” Mr Dismore said. “If people have been tortured, we can’t untorture them, but we can make recommendations about how this can be avoided in the future.”

The JCHR opened its inquiry after hearing evidence from the Guardian, which has been investigating allegations that British intelligence officers have colluded in the torture of terrorism suspects, and Human Rights Watch, which says the allegations have been confirmed by officials in the UK and Pakistan. Tom Porteous, London director of Human Rights Watch, said of Mr Miliband and Mr Smith: “What are they afraid of? There are serious questions here about allegations of UK involvement in torture. The ministers are really inviting speculation that the UK government has something to hide.”

A number of suspects have been questioned by British intelligence officials, including MI5 officers, after periods of alleged torture by interrogators from Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence directorate.

According to evidence heard at the high court during proceedings brought on behalf of Binyam Mohamed, the British resident who was freed from Guantanamo Bay last week, an interrogation policy which subsequently led to detainees being tortured in Pakistan was devised by MI5 lawyers and figures in government.
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