Apology is just not enough for torture victims
THe admission that the government of Tony Blair was complicit in the kidnap and torture of Libyan dissident Abdul Hakim Belhadj has been described as ‘a dark day for Britain’ (Mail). Many people, myself included, accused the Blair government of lying about its involvement in rendition and working with intelligence agencies of supposed friendly powers. We were accused of being deluded conspiracy theorists. Indeed, Jack Straw, then foreign secretary, defended the government and the intelligence service, saying: ‘There simply is no truth in the claims that the uK has been involved in rendition, full stop.’ Sir Mark Allen, former head of counterterrorism at MI6, also denied any part in Mr Belhadj’s treatment. After the apology from the Attorney General, Mr Belhadj has discontinued legal proceedings against the Government, Mr Straw and Sir Mark Allen. But this should not be taken to mean acceptance that they are free of blame. I would hope Jack Straw’s conduct in this matter and his inability to recollect the events might lead to his exclusion from any future Honours List. As for Sir Mark Allen, in my opinion, he is unworthy to hold a knighthood.
DES MORGAN, Swindon, Wilts. WILL multi-millionaire Tony Blair have the decency to pay the £500,000 compensation plus legal costs awarded to the tortured Libyan dissident and his wife? Or will taxpayers have to pay for yet another mess caused by this disastrous former prime minister?
JOHN WALLACE, Lightwater, Surrey. PeTer OBOrNe is right that former foreign secretary Jack Straw and the intelligence services must be made accountable for their complicity in the rendition and torture of Abdul Hakim Belhadj. The wider lessons from such shameful lapses must be learned to guard against a repetition. An independent judge-led inquiry into uK involvement with torture, as promised by David Cameron in 2010, can lay bare the facts and hold those responsible to account. Without this final step, the public apology from the Attorney General, momentous though it was, leaves lots of questions hanging. It must be the beginning of a proper accounting for the sinister pattern of uK complicity after the 9/11 attacks. Abdul Hakim Belhadj and his wife Fatima Boudchar are an inspiration to torture survivors for their pursuit of justice, but they should never have had to fight this hard for an official apology.
SONYA SCEATS, Freedom From Torture, London N7.