A series of investigations have sought to get to the bottom of claims that British officials were implicated in abuse of detainees
Operation Hinton
Scotland Yard's investigation into MI5's interrogation of Binyam Mohamed after the CIA told the agency he was being "continuously deprived of sleep", shackled and threatened. Details of what MI5 knew before the official identified as Witness B was sent to Pakistan to question Mohamed were made public on the orders of the appeal court after the last Labour government failed in lengthy attempts to keep them secret. Compensation was paid to Mohamed in an out-of-court settlement. The police investigation lasted two and a half years, during which time detectives at the Yard attempted to trace responsibility for Witness B's actions up the chain of command. Police and the Crown Prosecution Service concluded there was insufficient evidence to press charges.
Operation Iden
A parallel police investigation into the actions of MI6 officers who interrogated suspects at the US-run prison at Bagram, Afghanistan, in January 2002. It began after MI6 itself referred one of its officers to the attorney general, with David Miliband, then foreign secretary, saying the initiative was "unprompted by any accusation against MI6 or the individual concerned". Detectives did not take a statement from Shaker Aamer, who is thought to have been a witness to the incident under investigation, and who remains in Guantánamo. MI6 were always confident their officer would not be charged. It is thought police had difficulty identifying the alleged victim. In addition, US intelligence officers who were also present refused to give statements. There was insufficient evidence to press charges.
Operation Lydd
As Operations Hinton and Iden wound down, Scotland Yard announced that it was launching a criminal investigation into two secret rendition operations mounted by MI6 in 2004 in co-operation with Muammar Gaddafi's intelligence services. Two leading dissidents, Sami al-Saadi and Abdul Hakim Belhaj, were abducted and flown to Tripoli, where they spent six years in jail and were, they say, frequently tortured. Saadi's wife and four children – the youngest a girl aged six – were also rendered and imprisoned, while Belhaj's pregnant wife was abducted alongside him. She has yet to speak about her treatment. The operations came to light by chance when an investigator from the NGO Human Rights Watch discovered a cache of secret documents in a Libyan office building abandoned during the revolution.
The Gibson inquiry
An inquiry announced by the prime minister in July 2010 to "look at whether Britain was implicated in the improper treatment of detainees, held by other countries, that may have occurred in the aftermath of 9/11". The chair, Sir Peter Gibson, a former appeal court judge, said he did not wish to begin hearings until Operations Hinton and Iden were completed. The Gibson inquiry has faced criticism from human rights groups and lawyers representing victims, who say it will be too secretive and lacks independence, and the government should not be able to decide which key documents remain unpublished. Last year many of these organisations announced they were boycotting the inquiry. When Scotland Yard announced that it was launching a criminal investigation into the Libyan renditions, Gibson and the government decided to bring the inquiry to a halt. The government says another inquiry will be held in the future.
The al-Sweady inquiry
Similar to the Baha Mousa inquiry that came to a close in 2011, this inquiry is to start hearing evidence later this year into allegations that a number of Iraqi civilians were unlawfully killed at a British army base in May 2004, and that other prisoners were mistreated at another base between May and September that year. The inquiry is different from the Baha Mousa case in that the Ministry of Defence firmly denies the allegations. The claims arise out of the aftermath of a firefight between British troops and Shia insurgents near al-Majar, which became known as the Battle of Danny Boy. The inquiry was established after a judicial review on behalf of relatives of Hamid al-Sweady, who died in the incident, resulted in criticism of the Royal Military Police and an admission from government lawyers they could not assure the court that all relevant information had been disclosed.
The IHAT investigation
The Iraq Historic Allegations Team (IHAT) is a group of around 80 Royal Military Police officers and retired civilian detectives examining allegations that British troops were responsible for widespread abuse of civilians taken prisoner in south-east Iraq between 2003 and 2008. It is also re-examining the investigations into the deaths of up to nine people in UK military custody. Investigators have received complaints from more than 100 former prisoners and have recovered thousands of video recordings of interrogations conducted by the Intelligence Corps. The court of appeal ruled last November that IHAT was insufficiently independent of the Ministry of Defence, and told the MoD to consider how to fix this, leading to the possibility of another official inquiry.