UK Government Faces Historic Legal Challenge Over Role in CIA Torture Program

As two Guantanamo detainees sue British intelligence, a secret UK tribunal probes MI6’s alleged role in CIA torture—raising questions about Britain’s complicity in human rights abuses.

United Kingdom, PUREWILAYAH.COM – The British government is facing a historic reckoning this week as two Guantanamo Bay detainees bring legal claims before a secretive British court, alleging that UK intelligence agencies were complicit in the CIA’s post-9/11 torture program.

The claims, unveiled by The Guardian, target long-standing efforts by the UK to suppress revelations about its involvement in one of the most controversial chapters in modern intelligence history.

The Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT), a court that operates behind closed doors, is set to conduct a rare four-day hearing beginning Tuesday.

The tribunal has been investigating whether MI5 and MI6 played a direct or supportive role in the abuse and mistreatment of detainees held in CIA-run secret prisons, widely referred to as "black sites."

Guantanamo Detainees Demand Accountability

The legal claims were filed by Mustafa al-Hawsawi and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, two high-profile detainees still held in Guantanamo Bay. Al-Hawsawi is accused by the US of aiding the 9/11 hijackers, while al-Nashiri is alleged to have masterminded the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole.

Both men were captured in the early 2000s and held for years in CIA black sites, where they were subjected to brutal interrogation methods now widely recognized as torture—including the notorious practice of rectal feeding, which medical experts have classified as sexual assault.

In 2006, they were transferred to Guantanamo Bay, where they remain imprisoned without trial, despite facing charges that could carry the death penalty.

Evidence of MI6-CIA Collusion Emerges

Lawyers representing the detainees argue that MI5 and MI6 actively aided and abetted the CIA’s torture regime. The legal filings presented to the IPT allege that British intelligence agencies either facilitated or conspired with US counterparts to interrogate prisoners under coercion.

One particularly damning piece of evidence is a declassified CIA cable from 2003, which reveals that while Hawsawi was being tortured in Afghanistan, US interrogators were instructed to press him for information about alleged terrorist activities in the United Kingdom.

Though the cable was publicly released in 2017, it was only recently identified by Unredacted, a research initiative at the University of Westminster.

According to director Sam Raphael, the contents raise serious questions about UK involvement. “There was a clear interest in interrogating Hawsawi about UK-based operatives and plots at a time when he was being subjected to the worst kind of treatment,” Raphael stated.

“It raises an obvious and important question: was British intelligence, which we know was deeply involved in post-9/11 detainee operations, feeding questions to the CIA while being fully aware of the ongoing torture?”

Tribunal Sheds Light on a Dark Chapter

The Guardian reports that the IPT has spent the past two years examining these allegations. This week’s hearing represents a rare instance of judicial scrutiny into the UK’s role in the CIA’s black site program—an area long shielded from public accountability.

Chris Esdaile, senior legal advisor at Redress, a UK-based NGO advocating for victims of torture, called the trial “unprecedented.”

He added, “Until now, efforts to lift the veil of secrecy and consider the full extent of the UK’s complicity in the CIA’s rendition and torture program have been systematically blocked.”

Calls for Transparency Renewed Amid Government Silence

The trial also brings renewed attention to the UK government’s controversial decision to abandon a promised public inquiry into its role in post-9/11 torture. Former Prime Minister David Cameron initiated the inquiry in 2010, pledging transparency and full disclosure.

However, the process was quietly shelved in 2019, despite growing evidence and increasing calls for accountability from legal experts and human rights organizations.

A 2018 report by the UK Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee acknowledged that British officials were involved in “inexcusable” actions, citing hundreds of instances of mistreatment and dozens of renditions.

However, that inquiry, too, was “terminated prematurely,” reportedly due to obstruction by senior ministers and intelligence officials—leaving critical questions unanswered.

A Test of Britain’s Moral and Legal Accountability

This week's proceedings mark a defining moment in Britain’s post-9/11 legacy. As international attention turns to the Investigatory Powers Tribunal, pressure mounts on the UK to come clean about its clandestine collaboration with a program widely condemned as a crime against humanity.

If the allegations are upheld, it may not only further tarnish the UK's global human rights standing but also expose its institutions to serious legal and moral consequences in the eyes of international law. (PW)

Source: Al-Mayadeen