Tomorrow at 1.45pm, Craig Murray, the former UK ambassador to Uzbekistan who lost his post for speaking out against the use of torture by the UK and its allies will give evidence to the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights. I will be going along to support him and he has called for as many people as possible to do so as he is going to be the object of some vicious personal attack from New Labour members of the committee. Need to be there about 30 minutes earlier because of security checks. His press release is below:
ORIGINAL DOWNING ST SMEARS VICTIM RETURNS TO HAUNT NEW LABOUR
Thatcher RoomPortcullis HouseTuesday 28 April 1.45pmFormal Evidence Session on UK Complicity in TortureParliamentary Joint Committee on Human RightsWitness: Craig Murray, former British Ambassador to Uzbekistan(currently Rector of the University of Dundee).
In 2004, Craig Murray told us that:
- The British Government was complicit in the most vicious forms of torture- He had been the victim of a lurid smear campaign initiated by New Labour- The government was lying about all this
In 2004, much of the public and media was not willing to accept that the government would cooperate with torture or with false allegations against an innocent man. Many still had trust in the basic honesty and decency of government.
The evidence that Craig Murray was telling the truth about torture has now become overwhelming, including from the case of Binyam Mohammed. The UK “benefited” continually from intelligence passed on from the CIA waterboarding programme and from torture in countries including Uzbekistan, Pakistan and Egypt.
Craig Murray suffered the most high profile sacking of any British Ambassador for a century. But in 2005 the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee refused to hear him in evidence, despite allowing Jack Straw to appear and attack him.
Astonishingly, this is the first time Craig Murray will ever have been allowed to give formal evidence in the UK on his grave allegations, and be questioned on the truth of his testimony.
As the Scotland Yard investigation proceeds into MI5 and MI6 collusion in 16 cases of torture, Craig Murray will argue that it is not the security service operatives, but the Ministers who set the policy – and specifically Jack Straw – who should be facing criminal charges.
- The British Government was complicit in the most vicious forms of torture- He had been the victim of a lurid smear campaign initiated by New Labour- The government was lying about all this
In 2004, much of the public and media was not willing to accept that the government would cooperate with torture or with false allegations against an innocent man. Many still had trust in the basic honesty and decency of government.
The evidence that Craig Murray was telling the truth about torture has now become overwhelming, including from the case of Binyam Mohammed. The UK “benefited” continually from intelligence passed on from the CIA waterboarding programme and from torture in countries including Uzbekistan, Pakistan and Egypt.
Craig Murray suffered the most high profile sacking of any British Ambassador for a century. But in 2005 the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee refused to hear him in evidence, despite allowing Jack Straw to appear and attack him.
Astonishingly, this is the first time Craig Murray will ever have been allowed to give formal evidence in the UK on his grave allegations, and be questioned on the truth of his testimony.
As the Scotland Yard investigation proceeds into MI5 and MI6 collusion in 16 cases of torture, Craig Murray will argue that it is not the security service operatives, but the Ministers who set the policy – and specifically Jack Straw – who should be facing criminal charges.
Contact: Craig Murray on 07979 691085 or craigmurray@mail.ruTranscript of Craig Murray's formal evidence statement is at http://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2009/03/trying_again_my.html
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