Interesting story making the news today, Tony Blair was aware of the UK role in torture of British citizens in Pakistan.

Pakistani intelligence agents involved in torture say their British counterparts were 'grateful' they were 'using all means possible' to extract information from terror suspects.

Britain's role in the torture of its own citizens in Pakistan is condemned today by one of the world's leading human rights organisations as being cruel, counter-productive and in clear breach of international law.

Human Rights Watch says the UK government today finds itself in a "legally, morally and politically invidious position" because of its complicity in torture, and warns that its moral legitimacy could be undermined.

Pakistani intelligence agents involved in the torture who say their British counterparts knew how they were mistreating young British terrorism suspects. These agents said British officials were "breathing down their necks for information" while they were torturing one young medical student from London; and that British intelligence officers were "grateful" they were "using all means possible" to extract information from a man from Luton who was being beaten, whipped, deprived of sleep and threatened with an electric drill.

The report adds that British involvement in the unlawful activities of Pakistani intelligence agents has interfered with attempts to prosecute terrorism suspects in the British courts. It quotes a British intelligence source as saying one of the alleged masterminds of the 2006 airline plot, Rashid Rauf, was badly tortured in Pakistan, and that this had been a "disaster" that made any "successful prosecution in Britain most unlikely". Tony Blair, when prime minister, was aware of the existence of this policy.


The HRW report says that as long as the government asserts its duty to act upon intelligence extracted under torture if to do so may save lives, that it must "proactively and strenuously intervene" to prevent mistreatment by friendly intelligence agencies. "In countries like Pakistan where there is a high likelihood of torture taking place, the UK should take special steps to prevent torture and to avoid being placed in the legally, morally and politically invidious position the UK government now finds itself."