I was sacked for opposing – within the Foreign Office – a secret UK government policy of cooperation with torture. Not only was I sacked, I was charged with eighteen reputation wrecking allegations, ranging from sexual blackmail through financial impropriety to alcoholism, of all of which I was eventually cleared. Throughout this process and still today, the Government claimed I was lying about the policy of collaboration with torture.
They never denied any of the detail of my evidence, but rather attacked my “credibility”, which aided by the corrupt press/media nexus was sufficient to keep my information out of the mainstream.
Now the Guardian has irrefutable evidence that what I said is true, and there was indeed a secret policy of torture which implicates the top of the British political, diplomatic and intelligence establishments. Simon Jenkins nailed the extent of this a year ago, although I think I am entitled to point out there was at least one senior UK civil servant who actively tried to stand against it – me.
Ian Cobain at the Guardian deserves huge kudos for tenaciously tracking down this evidence for many years. I am delighted he has succeeded. It proves my own testimony is absolutely true.
But it also demands an answer to a key question – how much did Sir Peter Gibson know of this secret policy of collaboration with torture, when he was Commissioner for the Intelligence Services?
There are only two possibilities – either he knew, in which case he may himself be criminally culpable, and certainly cannot head the inquiry into the matter. Or this secret policy was kept hidden from the Commissioner himself. Either way it should be a huge story. Why is nobody asking?
I have today sent the following email to the Inquiry, following up my earlier submission of documentary evidence:
My dear Sara,
I have not as yet decided to join the boycott of the inquiry by human rights groups. I have the strongest desire to help the establishment of the disreputable truth on this matter. But there are a couple of questions I need answered before I can make up my mind:
You will have doubtless seen the new revelations yesterday and today in the Guardian of key policy documents revealing a policy of cooperation with torture to obtain intelligence, despite known illegality. I need to know whether Sir Peter Gibson ever saw the documents referred to by the Guardian, in his previous role with the intelligence services.
This is a vital question. If he did see these policy documents in his previous position, he is indelibly compromised and I suggest that you too may wish to consider whether you wish to continue to be associated with this process.
Secondly I need to know whether the documents I have sent to you were among those provided to the inquiry by the Foreign Office, if not if they have subsequently been provided, and whether they will be published by the inquiry unexpurgated?
Craig Murray
“Let the poisons that are buried in the mud hatch out…” –I, Claudius
Torture, torture, there has always been torture, its just they never tell it if muslims are being tortured. Look at americans, they are still licking the a…sss of Mr Karimov by sending high profile delegations to Tashkent.
I heard Ian Puddicks narrative for the first time yesterday, he seems to have suffered from a similar unfounded campaign to discredit him, you have to wonder how many succumb to the deterent effect of such evil campaigns and be grateful to those who expose them.
Michael White, a colleague of Ian Cobain’s presumably, was reviewing the papers on Sky last night. He was being sarcastic about Cobain – something to the effect – ‘he’s been digging around but I am not sure what it’s all about or for’ – disparaging in other words. What is the Guardian’s agenda? White calls himself Associate Editor.
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David Leigh has admitted to phobe hacking and how it gave him a thrill to be listening in. What a rag especially after that Obama homage yesterday.
My two letters to my MP, in the hope that it may inspire others:
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[Sir],
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it is in the Guardian:
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“Agency policy on liaison with overseas security and intelligence services in relation to detainees who may be subject to mistreatment”.
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The UK POLICY of collusion in torture. The documents are littered with advice about how important it is to keep such activities quiet lest the reputation of the Secret Services be tarnished. I’ll remind you of the written reply I received from your Conservative colleague, [name] MP:
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“I totally agree with you in that torture is totally unacceptable and I, like the rest of the Conservative Party, am calling for an investigation into the various allegations that Britain has colluded in torture over the last decade.”
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Yes, on gaining power you Conservatives set up your “investigation”, but of course it was actually intended as a whitewash, as is abundantly clear now that the very document you hoped to conceal has been published.
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I am furious. How dare the government do torture in my name, under the mandate of my vote? How dare you incite hatred of me and make me a target of terrorism for something of which I would never approve? What possible moral legitimacy can you claim? You were in opposition, so why didn’t you oppose? Will you claim ignorance? Are there no Conservatives within or with links to the Secret Services? Did not a single one think they should inform the Conservative opposition in the interest of national security? The document itself states that
collusion with torture would increase the threat of terrorism. Words are inadequate to express my disgust.
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You called me a conspiracy theorist. What should I call you?
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Yours sincerely,
[etc.]
7. We fully accept that intelligence co-operation is both necessary and legitimate in countering terrorism, and that a degree of state secrecy is justifiable in this area. However, there must be mechanisms for ensuring accountability for such cooperation. The allegations we have heard about possible UK complicity in torture in Pakistan, the evidence which has emerged during the legal proceedings brought by Binyam Mohamed and the allegations by Craig Murray that the UK knowingly received evidence derived from torture are all extremely serious matters for which Ministers are ultimately accountable. Our experience over the last year is that Ministers are
determined to avoid parliamentary scrutiny and accountability on these matters, refusing requests to give oral evidence; providing a standard answer to some of our ritten questions, which fails to address the issues; and ignoring other questions entirely. Ministers should not be able to act in this way. The fact that they can do so confirms that the system for ministerial accountability for security and intelligence matters is woefully deficient. (Paragraph 56)
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http://www.official-documents.gov.uk/document/cm77/7714/7714.pdf
Dear [name],
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last night I sent you a message full of my anger, and today I come a-begging. What else can I do? There is little effective democracy in the UK. When the biggest demonstration the UK had ever seen, when a clear majority of UK voters opposed the war based on lies in Iraq, only a handful of MPs voted with the people, and the opposition failed to oppose. So begging is all I have.
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I beg you to support truth and honesty. I beg you to oppose the policy of perpetual war. I beg you to put the interests of the people before the interests of arms manufacturers, big corporations and finance.
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The interests of the people of the UK are in common with the interests of all the people on Earth. No longer can the rich, powerful nations exert their will over less powerful nations without consequences to their own citizens at home and abroad. The populations are now too mobile and technology is too powerful for that, and communications are too versatile and ubiquitous for it to be kept secret.
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Support freedom of information and freedom of speech. Protect the whistle-blowers and speak out against those who would silence them. Wikileaks and Anonymous should not be victimised, they should be made redundant by throwing open the curtains and letting in the light. The solitary confinement of Bradley Manning must end, it is just more torture. He must be tried, and a public interest defence must be supported.
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I read of military maneuvers at air bases in the UK. I see that the US is moving towards keeping the Guantanamo torture prison open permanently. Are our leaders considering an attack upon Iran? That would be disastrous. Nearly half of the US debt is a result of the abortive wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and I suspect that the UK position is similar.
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The situation in the Middle East must be resolved, not propagandised. The legitimate grievances of the Palestinian people must be addressed, not silenced. The alternative is increasing radicalisation on all sides. Dear God, we don’t need any more Anders Behring Breiviks. The relentless move towards the Far Right is the danger, not Truth, Justice and Peace. The lesson from the 1930s and the rise of Nazism must be learned and acted upon.
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For decades the US and the UK have claimed to support democracy in the wider world, and simultaneously acted in secret to undermine democracy wherever it compromised financial and corporate interests. From Operation Ajax in 1953 in Iran, through to the ongoing supply of weapons to the King of Bahrain, support for drugs barons in Afghanistan, and the undermining of democracy in Haiti, the UK and US have done one thing while proclaiming its opposite, and the corrupt
corporate media have supported them in this.
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All the nations have to share the world and its resources in equality and cooperation. That is a huge undertaking, so the sooner we start the better. Considering the increased population and the power and sophistication of modern weaponry, the alternative is too hideous to contemplate. Please see the sense of this before it is forever too late.
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Please. I beg you.
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Yours sincerely,
[name].
A nice get out here from Grieve
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The Attorney General has agreed to provide an undertaking that evidence given by witnesses may not be used against them in criminal proceedings, whether their evidence is given in public, private or both (other than in proceedings where he or she is charged with giving false evidence or conspiring to do so in the course
of this Inquiry). The Cabinet Secretary and heads of the intelligence services will set out analogous undertakings to staff in respect of disciplinary proceedings based on their evidence, whether public or private.
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I hope this serves as a helpful basis for further discussion on the terms of reference for the Inquiry, to which I look forward. Once again, I am most grateful to you for agreeing to serve the national interest as head of this crucial Inquiry.
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Cameron to Gibson July 2010
http://download.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/intelligence/pm-letter-gibson.pdf
The only terrorism I can see in relation to 9/11, 7/7 and the ‘War On Terror’ is U.S. and U.K. state torture against complete innocents or those just defending their homelands from invasion. Our M.P.’s have no say in this, the security services run the show, and are just gimps. Cameron and Clegg are just obedient poodles. Who really runs our security services? Who really drives their policies? I’ll say one thing, the heads of MI5 and MI6 DO NOT.
This country seems now divided into three historically-familiar camps. The “We didn’t know what was going on – honest!” club. The “We were only following orders!” brigade. Hard to say which is more contemptible. And – largest of all (and excepting present company) – the general mass of “We don’t much care as long as the mobile phone and widescreen TV is working!”
Those who forget history, etc, etc… Welcome to the Fourth Reich.
The Good Old BBC apparently doesn’t consider this newsworthy at all…
Bla, bla, bla, anyway guys, you can do nothing, because majority of the population do not care, and ironically, they even support torture, publicly or privately, because its muslims who are being tortured. and they hate muslims, just because muslims do not worship Jesus and do not believe that Jesus is a god or son of god. This is their real crime in the eyes of majority populations in the West, including the UK.
The state broadcaster as I call it (in the mode of Kim Jong Il’s Voice of Korea – ‘Radio and TV sets in North Korea are pre-tuned to government stations that pump out a steady stream of propaganda’) did report the boycott of the committee yesterday Clark but you have to hunt for it under Politics.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14397601
Mary, thanks. I found that report. It is the most recent on this “inquiry” (read “whitewash”). There is no mention that I can find about the document published by the Guardian, either in that article or anywhere on the BBC News website.
“Either way it should be a huge story. Why is nobody asking?”
the news media should be honest.
but its not.
Politicians should be honest.
but they are not.
the sheep should be grazing the fields.
they are.
“Michael White, a colleague of Ian Cobain’s presumably, was reviewing the papers on Sky last night.”
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hes a despicable crony
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mary – thanks.
The UK terrorism fable is built on torture.
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See the case of Salahuddin Amin, who after handing himself over to the Pakistani authorities in April 2004, was subsequently tortured with the complicity of the UK SIS.
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Salahuddin Amin is then released in early February 2005, after being incarcerated for 10 months in Pakistan & immediately flys back to Heathrow from Pakistan on 8th February 2005, the same day that Mohammed Siddique Khan & Shahzad Tanweer also fly from Pakistan to London.
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Amin is immediately arrested at Heathrow as one of the Crevice/Fertiliser plot gang, whilst Khan & Tanweer remain at large (with the knowledge that their southern aquaintances have all been hauled in for the fertiliser plot).
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Amin’s testimony (obtained under his torture in Pakistan) & the evidence of Al Quiada supergrass Mohammed Junaid Babar then convicts the fertiliser plotters in April 2007.
& We are told that Mi5 didn’t have Khan & Tanweer on their radar? – nonsense.
{see also http://preview.tinyurl.com/3pyfppn}
Wendy – ‘the sheep should be grazing the fields. they are.’
Lol Wendy, they sure are. And that’s exactly why we have all got into this stinky mess in the first place. Tossers in one country/power block probably self-justify their tyranny and abuse of power due to protecting the population from controlling tossers in another country/power block. If more people just got involved, and I mean really involved, the world would be so much better. I think that if we really did get on the verge of creating a high standard of democracy in this country, then we would be seen a as a severe threat by tossers in other pseudo-democracies. It wouldn’t be allowed to happen and Blair would probably lead a U.N. invasion or something under some pretext or another. I’m not even joking. The instinct of self-preservation and the drive to retain power is a powerful combination. It doesn’t matter how daft or crazy the scenario they would have to concoct is. It’s simply a matter of ‘x’. Absolutely anything. One might not think things could get any more ludicrous than 7/7, 9/11 and the ‘War On Terror’, but I reckon they could!
Have no fear, Hague is here. ‘Fully functional’, that’s a moot point.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-14418650
Pingback: Craig Murray » Blog Archive » Secret Torture Policy | Articles about the world
“fully functional”?!? When did that happen?
Vindication for Craig!
I’ll be very interested to know if/how Sara answers Craig’s questions.
Watch out Mary he does Judo with Lord Coe… the ueber spender maximus, leech of all poor lottery gamblers, eeking out a living on the dole in some godforsaken ghetto estate, once a week they hope like hell, twenty seconds of chancing it
10.000.000.000/1
thousands, hundred of thousands have willed this concrete djungle on by the seat of their pants, OAPs with knotted hyfingers clutched their dream ticket, their five day chance of getting that hip replacement instantly.
And when this prowling nationalistic symbolismn, navel gazing, posing hyped ‘menage r trieste’ is over, the sharks move in to feast, developers with promises and hands on their hearts, honest gov.’
Should have shared with Paris, pay 4 billion for all the security and stufforganising tickets etc. but France had the stadia ready and could have agreed to provide a more frugal , sharing , low CO2 example with one of the greatest events on earth, what could possibly be better.
Entente Cordial froi, loads of spending and begging money of the lesser off, what an example to set indeed. I’m sure Lord Coe comes out much better off, with years worth of sponsorship merchandise , etc.
They should be made to pay this money back! to be spent on social care.
Mardell has some ‘breaking news’ on the 10pm news that the US is preparing to be downgraded from their AAA credit rating. Who are these rating agencies and why have they been given so much say?
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There is not a lot of green on this map is there.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:World_countries_by_Standard_%26_Poor%27s_ratings.png
Dear Mary
I assume that is a rhetorical question!
You can bet bothways on the economy, up and down.
The agencies give a push to whatever way you wish to bet.
Think of it as a legal “boiler room” operation.
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Britain’s Secret Post-9/11 Torture Policy Revealed: Was Tony Blair’s Government Guilty of “Developing Something Close to a Criminal Policy”?; Andy Worthington; 8/5/11
http://tinyurl.com/43wueu4
Yes Paul, rhetorical.
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The Morning Star editorial – Torture inquiry is a total farce
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[….]The detainees, their lawyers and other human rights campaigners are entirely correct to insist on not being party to providing a respectable cover to what smacks of yet another Establishment damage-limitation exercise.
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Britain’s legal, political, military and security elite has no shame. [….]
http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/index.php/news/content/view/full/107886
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