Police to meet Liberty over CIA 'torture' flights

The Telegraph
Dec. 10, 2005

A Chief Constable is to meet the human rights group Liberty on behalf of police chiefs to hear the organisation's demand for criminal investigations into claims that American CIA flights carrying terror suspects around the world have passed through UK airports.

The chief of Greater Manchester Police, Michael Todd, will report to the Association of Chief Police Officers, who may have to decide whether allowing such flights to land or re-fuel at British airports justifies a police inquiry. It is alleged that the flights take suspects to countries where torture is used.

Mr Todd will meet the director of Liberty, Shami Chakrabarti, for initial talks on behalf of other chiefs who have also been asked to investigate claims that so-called "extraordinary rendition" flights are using British airports. It has been reported that the CIA flights have flown into Britain more than 210 times since 2001.

It has been suggested that CIA flights have passed through airports including Birmingham, Bournemouth, Gatwick, Heathrow, Luton, Northolt and Stansted. It is claimed the CIA uses secret prisons in eastern Europe.

Liberty wrote to the chief constables of Bedfordshire, Dorset, Essex, Hampshire, the Metropolitan Police, the Ministry of Defence Police, Suffolk, Sussex, Thames Valley and West Midlands on Nov 30 asking them to seek assurances from the US that it is not using UK airports to transport suspects to countries that use torture. It has asked the forces, and the Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, for a response by next Wednesday.

A Liberty spokesman said: "We have not yet received a letter from Michael Todd. We would not be satisfied with a meeting and look to the chief constables to carry out criminal investigations."

Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State, said this week that intelligence gathered by the CIA had saved European as well as American lives.

She conceded that terrorist suspects were flown abroad for interrogation but denied that they were tortured.