While it seems obvious that anyone in any official capacity (the foreign secretary, the home secretary and even the head of MI5 ) will continue to offer the most vociferous denials they can come up with - and they should not be taken lightly, these are powerful people – it does seem, at the very least, likely, that some bad apples within the security services were aware of some activities that could be easily considered torture taking place during interrogation of terror suspects. Some would take it much further. There is a widespread view that all levels of the government and intelligence agencies have always been fully aware  of these activities but chose to turn a blind eye due to the lack of precedents with the threat faced by the ‘war on terror.’

This point of view asserts that UK agents even handed their own questions to fellow agents from countries like Pakistan and the US who would then ask the suspects who they had tortured and would subsequently torture again. Indeed, there are rumours, only rumours mind, that in some quarters of the CIA, they’re less than pleased at the English spooks for making them do all of the hard work while still receiving an equal share of the spoils. It's all a very big mess, one that is difficult to untangle.

"There is a widespread view that all levels of the government and intelligence agencies have always been fully aware  of these activities but chose to turn a blind eye due to the lack of precedents with the threat faced by the ‘war on terror.’"

Once again, because Britain’s official position is that we don’t condone torture in any way shape or form, nothing will ever happen, even if the public inquiry that Liberty and Amnesty International have been calling for actually takes place. Even if the judges in the Binyam Mohamed case reinstate the disputed paragraph and let everyone know exactly what the government’s lawyer was so worried about any inquiry will be the whitest wash, and probably held in secret for national security reasons. Nevertheless, it seems that the only people willing to fully believe all of the huffing and puffing from the powers that be are the same kind of incredibly gullible people who genuinely believe that those pictures of John Terry making up with his wife were spontaneous and unstaged. Would things be different if it was white Britons? Perhaps. But only slightly. Where ordinary people are concerned this will be very shocking, regardless of the colour of the person being tortured.

It is perhaps more certain that the conversation surrounding Ali Dizaei would be different were he not a person of colour. He is obviously the worst apple, but it is abhorrent that his individual failings are being used to take a look at the wider issues surrounding entities such as the Black Police Officers Association. If the official bodies could deal with issues pertaining to these officers there would be no need for specialist organisations. Similarly, the myth that the Stephen Lawrence case and the (entirely justified) charge of institutional racism has left the police unable to deal with some crimes robustly because of the fear of being accused of racism is ludicrous and insulting.

Words: Russell Myrie
Photo: Flickr user Adikwu Lawrence Adoli