Such incidents reflect the ongoing reality inside Iraq and the legacy of
a war justified by the dodgiest of dossiers and without the approval of the
international community. Ten years on, Iraq is still a nation blighted by
conflict and the invasion remains a galling example of the risks of unreliable
intelligence.
Subsequent inquiries have exposed the material used to support the war as weak
and inaccurate. Intelligence by its very nature often is. It is invariably a
mixture of fragmentary information; circumstantial, inferential and ambiguous.
We now know the Iraqi regime had no weapons of mass destruction. A BBC
investigation has revealed that two highly-placed sources within Saddam’s
regime said as much at the time – but both were ignored.
And yet it seems little has been learnt of the dangers of unreliable
intelligence. Ministers are now busy trying to force through legislation which
will allow the Government to rely on such information in civil cases held
behind closed doors – away from the scrutiny of victims, press and public.
The odious Justice and Security Bill would enable the State to shut down open justice
to prevent future embarrassments from coming to light. The Executive would be
given the power to present secret material to defend serious allegations of
wrongdoing, and control litigation brought against it.
Centuries of proud fair trial protections – allowing all parties to see and challenge all evidence relied upon – will be lost. Instead material, including inaccurate and misleading intelligence, will be presented to a judge untested. This creates a real and dangerous risk of perverse judgments being reached.
Furthermore, while Iraq was one of the bloodiest displays of the infamous “War on Terror”, closer to home other excesses of post-9/11 policy continue to cast a similarly dark shadow over Western democracies.
Late last year it was confirmed that German national Khaled el Masri was abducted, secretly detained and tortured under the CIA rendition program. The European Court of Human Rights found that el Masri had proved beyond all reasonable doubt that “at Skopje Airport at the hands of the CIA rendition team” he was “severely beaten, sodomised, shackled and hooded, and subjected to total sensory deprivation” – “in the presence of state officials of Macedonia and within its jurisdiction”. Meanwhile the US continues to execute drone killings outside of the law in Pakistan – with the suspected involvement of British intelligence.
Thankfully many previous abhorrent practices were at least exposed by a combination of brave investigative journalism and groundbreaking legal action. But now, under a Prime Minister who once said that “sunlight is the best disinfectant”, the Coalition is pursuing proposals which will ensure that past, present and future scandals remain hidden for good.
Surely the remedy to those abuses of power which emerged is more public
scrutiny, not less? Denying bereaved families of neglected soldiers or torture
victims access to open justice, and allowing the State to rely on bogus
evidence, is certainly not the answer.
Sadly many MPs who backed the plans earlier this month clearly felt differently. But the ball is now back in the court of the Upper House, where we urge Peers to hold firm where their counterparts failed and stand up and fight for fairness and the rule of law.
