{"id":13732,"date":"2019-05-30T15:58:41","date_gmt":"2019-05-30T15:58:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reprieve.org.uk\/?post_type=press&p=13732"},"modified":"2022-01-21T20:38:48","modified_gmt":"2022-01-21T20:38:48","slug":"head-of-uks-spy-watchdog-to-step-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/2019\/05\/30\/head-of-uks-spy-watchdog-to-step-down\/","title":{"rendered":"Head of UK’s spy watchdog to step down"},"content":{"rendered":"

The UK\u2019s intelligence services watchdog \u2013 IPCO (Investigatory Powers Commissioner\u2019s Office) \u2013 has announced<\/a> that the commissioner, Sir Adrian Fulford, will be stepping down in October.<\/p>\n

The news comes just over a week after The Times revealed<\/a> that the MoD has been maintaining a secret policy allowing Ministers to approve actions which could lead to torture. IPCO is responsible for overseeing the Government\u2019s official policy in this area, but confirmed that they didn\u2019t know about the MoD\u2019s document before it was shown to them by Reprieve.<\/p>\n

The MoD\u2019s policy, which was revealed through FOI requests by The Rendition Project, suggests Ministers can approve action carrying a serious risk of torture if \u201cthe potential benefits justify accepting the risk and legal consequences\u201d. It also makes a provision for Ministers to pre-approve lists of individuals about whom information may be shared despite a serious risk they could face mistreatment.<\/p>\n

It is at odds with the Government\u2019s \u2018official\u2019 torture policy, known as The Consolidated Guidance, which is currently subject to an ongoing public consultation by IPCO. IPCO\u2019s review was ordered after the Intelligence and Security Committee published a report<\/a> last year revealing new details about post-9\/11 UK involvement in torture and mistreatment.<\/p>\n

In response to an Urgent Question about the policy in Parliament last week, Defence Secretary Penny Mordaunt said she would review the MoD\u2019s policy, but that \u201cI want to wait until the commissioner\u2019s advice has been received. I understand that will take only a few weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, the Secretary of State did not commit to amending the MoD\u2019s policy in the meantime, nor did she commit to an exact timeline for when IPCO\u2019s recommendations would be published by Downing Street.<\/p>\n

Commenting, Reprieve’s Deputy Director Dan Dolan<\/strong>, said: \u201cAll eyes are on IPCO after last week\u2019s revelations, and a cloud of uncertainty hangs over the Commissioner\u2019s review of the UK\u2019s rules on torture. As things stand, the various different policies floating around Whitehall appear to be suggesting Ministers can authorise torture. But the law is unequivocal: torture is illegal. We need to know what today\u2019s news means for the Commissioner\u2019s overdue recommendations, which the Defence Secretary promised would be delivered \u2018within weeks\u2019 in order to resolve this issue\u201d. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The UK\u2019s intelligence services watchdog \u2013 IPCO (Investigatory Powers Commissioner\u2019s Office) \u2013 has announced that the commissioner, Sir Adrian Fulford, will be stepping down in October. The news comes just over a week after The Times revealed that the MoD has been maintaining a secret policy allowing Ministers to approve actions which could lead to torture. IPCO is responsible … <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":47,"featured_media":17518,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13732","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-update"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHead of UK's spy watchdog to step down<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/2019\/05\/30\/head-of-uks-spy-watchdog-to-step-down\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Head of UK's spy watchdog to step down\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The UK\u2019s intelligence services watchdog \u2013 IPCO (Investigatory Powers Commissioner\u2019s Office) \u2013 has announced that the commissioner, Sir Adrian Fulford, will be stepping down in October. 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