Army's torture of prisoners 'had official blessing'

By Brian Brady, Whitehall Editor Defence chiefs and ministers face fresh pressure over the treatment of civilians at the hands of British forces in Iraq today, as a new report revives fears that "torture" techniques have been used 30 years after they were banned. A scathing report from the Joint Human Rights Committee (JHRC) warns that the use of "coercive interrogation techniques" may have been officially sanctioned, despite assurances that troops knew they were outlawed. The former armed forces minister Adam Ingram and Lieutenant-General Robin Brims, former Commander Field Army, told an earlier committee inquiry that British forces knew they could not use five "conditioning" techniques – wall standing, hooding, subjection to noise, and deprivation of sleep, food and drink – during interrogation. But the committee has now... [read full story]