British Parliament investigates allegations of spies using torture

On December 14, Chairman of the British Parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) Malcolm Rifkind said that the ISC will ask the US to provide deleted parts at the request of British intelligence officials in the summary report of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) on the use of torture on terrorist suspects.

The purpose of this, according to Mr. Malcolm Rifkind, is to establish whether there was any involvement of British spies in these measures.

Photo is for illustration purposes only. (Source: Getty images)

Speaking to reporters, Mr. Rifkind pledged that the ISC would investigate impartially and would ask the US to hand over secret documents related to Britain that were deleted in the CIA report.

The Conservative MP also said his committee would ask the US Senate and the US government to allow access to relevant parts of the CIA report during its investigation into the activities of British intelligence agencies.

If necessary, the ISC will summon spies, ministers and former ministers to find out the truth.

Mr Rifkind also expressed hope that the ISC's investigation into the matter would be completed next year. If any evidence of wrongdoing is found, the ISC will summon Labour politicians such as former Prime Minister Tony Blair, who was in power at the time of the allegations of brutal torture of terror suspects, to explain.

Earlier, on December 11, the British Prime Minister's Office admitted that the leaders of the country's intelligence agencies had proposed deleting some parts of the CIA's report on the use of torture after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, although it had previously denied that British officials had discussed it with their American counterparts before the report was published.

British intelligence chiefs have asked that the summary of the report be redacted to avoid damaging "national security," a spokesman for British Prime Minister David Cameron said.

The spokesman also said that the deletions in the CIA report were not intended to spare the British government embarrassment or to cover up any allegations of London's involvement in the torture methods used.

For many years, Britain's domestic intelligence agencies (MI5) and foreign intelligence agencies (MI6) have been accused of mistreating suspected terrorists.

However, the leaders of these agencies always affirm that they never use torture to extract information, and British officials also deny sending terrorist suspects abroad to face the risk of torture./.

According to VNA