Report on terror suspects’ treatment buried by ministers

By Liam McDougall, Home Affairs Editor

The government is refusing to allow the release of reports by Europe’s official anti-torture watchdog which are believed to be critical of the UK’s treatment of suspects detained under the Terrorism Act.

As the Home Office faces a battle over the legality of its controversial anti- terrorism laws, the Sunday Herald can reveal that ministers have for months been holding on to two reports which detail findings from inspections of high-security prisons and detention centres.

Two inspections by the Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Punishment (CPT) – an arm of the Council of Europe – were made last year.

A five-strong delegation, including lawyers, psychiatrists and a specialist in forensic medicine, visited the UK in July for five days and examined the treatment of terrorism suspects served with control orders. Among the establishments inspected were Belmarsh Prison and Paddington Green high-security police station. In a highly unusual move, they returned to carry out a further examination of detainees in November.

However, despite both reports being issued to the UK government, neither can be published without the say-so of ministers.

Last night, there were hints that the reports – believed to be heavily critical of the UK’s treatment of terrorism suspects – had been buried to avoid embarrassment at a time when ministers are appealing a High Court ruling that control orders were an “affront to justice”.

If the reports are now released, it is claimed they would deal a devastating blow to the government’s attempts to overturn the ruling on the orders. It would also cause a further headache for the Home Office, still reeling from a string of embarrassing blunders.

The issue of terrorism in the UK is now firmly back on the agenda with the arrest on Friday of two men in London after intelligence suggested there was a “viable” chemical device in a house.

There is a growing impatience among the CPT delegation at the UK’s refusal to publish the reports. Senior figures in the committee revealed that the body had written to the UK to attempt to force the release of the reports, without success. Publication can happen within three months of the visits and only Turkey and Russia have ever refused to release the committee’s findings.

However, the CPT last night said it would issue a “public statement” on what it found during the visits if the UK continued in its refusal to publish. Although a confidentiality agreement between the CPT and member states precludes it from revealing the entirety of its findings, it does allow a summary to be released.

Hugh Chetwynd, who headed the delegation, said: “If a government does not respond by July, we will start to go down the route of making a public statement. It will be considered to be non-co-operation.”

He added: “When the length of time between a visit and an answer reaches this point it does start raising questions … Reports should be placed into the public domain as soon as possible.”

Livio Zilli, of human rights group Amnesty International, said it was “a disgrace” that neither reports had been released. “Reports are buried precisely because they are so critical,” he added.

Last year, a report by the CPT on Barlinnie Prison and police stations in Scotland laid out concerns over allegations of violence against inmates by staff, overcrowding and “slopping out”.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Constitutional Affairs, which authorises the reports’ release, said: “The government is considering the committee’s reports and will respond in due course.”

Published in the Sunday Herald 4th June 2006