The UK has long presented itself as a nation championing human rights and the rule of law and the public position of successive UK governments has been unequivocal: as one of the first countries to ratify the UN Convention Against Torture, we have always proclaimed this vile practice to be an abhorrent violation of people’s basic human rights, unjustifiable in any circumstances. Yet Thursday’s u-turn on the long delayed promise of an independent judge-led inquiry into allegations of UK involvement in torture casts serious doubt on whether the government’s real stance matches its rhetoric. Ten years ago, I was one of 13 peers with a legal, defence or security background who called for an independent judge-led inquiry into shocking allegations that the UK had been…

Source: The Times July 18, 2019 23:03 UTC