 In a judgment handed down by the Information Tribunal, the Ministry of Defence has been ordered to disclose further evidence of its involvement in rendition in foreign jurisdictions.
The hearing related to Freedom of Information Act requests made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Extraordinary Rendition ("APPGER"). Daniel Carey of PIL provided critical evidence to the tribunal regarding the extent to which the MoD had already disclosed rendition practices in domestic legal proceedings, in contrast to its refusals to APPGER.
In unusually expansive language, the Tribunal observed as follows:
"Since the maintenance of the rule of law and protection of fundamental rights is known to be a core value of the government of the United Kingdom, it is difficult to see how any responsible government with whom we have friendly relations could take offence at open disclosure of the terms of an agreement or similar practical arrangements to ensure that the law is upheld… It is difficult to see how the Secretary of State for Defence, let alone the general public concerned with the issue, could be assured by assurances with a foreign government that was unwilling to have the terms of such arrangements made open‟
APPGER's victory is one for Parliamentary and public oversight of UK forces' involvement with foreign torture. It brings further accountability to an area that the MoD has consistently tried to keep 'off limits'.
The All Party Parliamentary Group on Extraordinary Rendition's Press Release can be found here:
The Information Tribunal judgment can be found here:
Further information regarding the APPGER can be found here:
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