Conspiracy Theories

The Geneva Convention Against Torture: Article Two, Section One “No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability of any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification for torture.”

Jack Straw, Foreign Secretary, 2005. Evidence to Parliamentary Select Committee.

"Unless we all start to believe in conspiracy theories and that the officials are lying, that I am lying, that behind this there is some kind of secret state which is in league with some dark forces in the United States, and also let me say, we believe that Secretary Rice is lying, there simply is no truth in the claims that the United Kingdom has been involved in rendition full stop."

Jeremy Wright, Attorney General, apology to the Belhaj family, Parliament 10 May 18.

" The UK Government believes your accounts. Neither of you should have been treated in this way.
The UK Government’s actions contributed to your detention, rendition and suffering. The UK Government shared information about you with its international partners. We should have done more to reduce the risk that you would be mistreated. We accept this was a failing on our part.
Later, during your detention in Libya, we sought information about and from you. We wrongly missed opportunities to alleviate your plight: this should not have happened.
On behalf of Her Majesty’s Government, I apologise unreservedly. We are profoundly sorry for the ordeal that you both suffered and our role in it."


So, in Jack Straw's words, there is some kind of secret state which is in league with some dark forces in the United States.

Of course Condi Rice was lying.  Everybody in the Bush administration was lying.  Most everyone in the Blair administration was lying.

In 2004 the reasons given for attacking Iraq, WMD (in itself not a legal reason), had been exposed as a lie.

  
Why would the U.S. set up an extra-legal prison (Guantanamo Bay) if not to render and torture prisoners ??  
Why would anyone think they weren’t doing it elsewhere ??  

We now know, due to the Senate Select Committee study (2014)  of the CIA’s Detention and Interrogation Program, that the US tortured prisoners to death.

We do know that one of the torturers’ overseers, who also destroyed evidence of torture, Gina Haspel is now head of the CIA.  And that former head of the CIA (and its torturers), Michael Pompeo, is now US Secretary of State.

We know that no one in the USA or the UK has been brought to book for extraordinary rendition and torture.


“The secret state ... in league with some dark forces” is Conspiracy Fact.




Kudos to the conspiracy theorists /citizen journalists who went to the airfields to note the ID numbers on the planes and examine the flight plans which led them to the conclusion that we were supporting the CIA’s rendition programme.



Jack Straw
(https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200506/cmselect/cmfaff/768/5121304.htm  Q23)

Jeremy Wright
https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2018-05-10/debates/B9AD50CD-9D54-41DA-A18B-1526E7658593/BelhajAndBoudcharLitigationUpdate

Senate Select Committee study of the CIA’s Detention and Interrogation Program
http://www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/senate-intelligence-committee-study-on-cia-detention-and-interrogation-program