Abu Zubaydah case: reported compensation payment highlights the need for ISC oversight

Reports that the British government has paid substantial compensation to the Guatánamo Bay detainee Abu Zubaydah highlight continuing questions as to the oversight of the intelligence agencies, according to the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Extraordinary Rendition.

Dr Sam Rushworth MP and Lord Andrew Tyrie, Joint Chairs of the APPG on Extraordinary Rendition, said: ‘This is not the first time that our government has paid compensation to individuals who were subject to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or worse during the War on Terror’s campaign of torture and extraordinary rendition. We must ensure effective oversight of the agencies by strengthening the role of Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC).

We are told that these incidents were long ago and that the legal and oversight framework, and ethical standards have changed. But Parliament has been thwarted in its efforts to get to the truth about past misconduct. When the ISC sought to develop its investigation into British facilitation of kidnap and torture, it was prevented from seeing the witnesses it considered essential to its investigation. As a result, it was obliged to abandon its inquiry, leaving its work still incomplete.

Parliament’s capacity to exercise oversight over the activities of the security services, and in particular to ensure that any recently added safeguards are working effectively, needs bolstering. The APPG will be bringing forward detailed proposals in the near future.’