Torture claims against British secret agents go to inquiry
Farid Hilali alleges security services knew he was beaten and given electric shocks while held in UAE and Morocco
• Hilali’s story: ‘I told the British agent they had been torturing me – he wasn’t interested‘ Watch the video.
Vikram Dodd in Madrid
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 25 June 2009 11.19 BST
Farid Hilali, a Moroccan-born former resident of the UK, alleges he was tortured with the complicity of the British intelligence services
Link to this video
A parliamentary inquiry into allegations of British collusion in torture is set to investigate whether counter-terrorism chiefs ordered the repeated torture and rendition of a former British resident.
Speaking for the first time about his ordeal, Farid Hilali told the Guardian that during his detention in the United Arab Emirates a British secret service agent turned up at the prison where he was being abused and interrogated him, knowing that he had been tortured.
Hilali says he was then rendered to Morocco, where he was tortured for a further 22 days.
Hilali says that throughout this he was questioned extensively about alleged extremists living in the UK, and about surveillance photographs that had been taken in London. He says he believes his torturers were supplied the pictures by Britain.
Hilali’s detention took place in 1999, and if the allegations prove true it would make him the first known victim of Britain’s alleged complicity in torture, indicating that the practice started before the 9/11 attacks that led to George Bush declaring a “war on terror”.
Hilali, now aged 40, was born in Morocco and had been living in London for a decade when he travelled to the UAE.
He says that after being detained he was repeatedly beaten on the soles of his feet, given electric shocks while blindfolded, and handcuffed, kicked and beaten.
The Guardian has obtained some corroboration of Hilali’s account, including details from the former Guantánamo detainee Moazzam Begg.
Begg says that in the summer of 1999 an MI5 officer interviewed him about Hilali. Begg says the agent, whom he can identify, knew Hilali was being held in the UAE and told him that he would not be returning to Britain. Begg further alleges the MI5 agent, who called himself Andrew, ignored allegations that Hilali was being tortured.
Under the 1988 criminal justice act, those who order or collude in torture can be jailed for life. They have a defence if they can show they had lawful authority.
Presented with Hilali’s claims, a member of the foreign affairs select committee, which is investigating allegations of British involvement in torture, said his allegations must be investigated.
Paul Keetch MP, a Liberal Democrat member of the committee, said: “We should invite him to give us the evidence he has. We need to be proactive about investigating what has happened in the past.”
The Labour MP Mike Gapes, chair of the committee, said: “If somebody wishes to send information to us as a committee, we would give it proper consideration.”
Hilali’s lawyers are writing to the committee and to Scotland Yard. The attorney general has asked the police to investigate allegations of British security service involvement or collusion in torture.
Hilali says he will testify before any investigation and still remembers the face of the man he says is a British agent whom he begged for help. “If I’m given a photograph I would recognise him, because I can never forget that face. I am prepared to give evidence to the police, and to parliament.”
The Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture called for a special UN inquiry. A foundation spokeswoman, Sonya Sceats, said: “The [British] government insists that it does not condone torture, but where there are credible allegations of complicity by its intelligence officers these must be investigated not only by our courts but also by an international body. It is high time that the UK allowed the UN’s torture committee to scrutinise cases of this sort.”
There is further partial corroboration as Hilali managed to hold on to a UAE document recording his detention that states he is banned from contact with the outside world. He has a copy of the plane ticket transferring him from the UAE to Morocco on 14 October 1999. There was no return flight booked and Hilali says this amounts to a rendering.
Hilali was eventually returned to Britain and made a claim for asylum in 2003 that included his allegations that Britain ordered his torture.
He says he was arrested for terrorism soon afterwards but was never questioned about any specific offence. The case against him was then dropped.
Spain managed to extradite him, claiming he was involved in a terrorist cell based there. In March 2009 a Spanish judge ordered his release from jail as the case against him seemed to founder – leaving him free to tell his full story for the first time.
Posted by benhornstein 
Political Spot 