Legal Opinion

British MPs have been warned that soldiers who hand over prisoners to US forces may face prosecution under both British and European human rights legislation because they might be knowingly abetting torture. Andrew Tyrie MP (Conservative) told The Guardian:

“I commissioned a legal opinion to establish whether the UK acted unlawfully when they were handed over […] I now have the answer. The UK remains legally responsible for the subsequent treatment of anybody who has been detained by the UK. It is likely that British policy on this area is not only ethically questionable but is also unlawful. The government now needs to radically rethink its policy on this issue.”

Whether he’d say that if the Tories were in government is, of course, another matter.