The Detainee Inquiry (The Gibson Inquiry)

In 2010, Prime Minister David Cameron established the inquiry after mounting allegations that MI5 and MI6 had been aware of, or even facilitated, the "extraordinary rendition" and torture of detainees by the United States and other allies. The inquiry faced immediate criticism from human rights groups like Amnesty and Reprieve, who boycotted the proceedings because they felt the non-statutory format gave the government too much power to keep evidence secret.

In January 2012, the inquiry was effectively halted. The government argued that new police investigations into allegations of British involvement in the rendition of individuals to Libya (Operation Iden) made it impossible for the inquiry to continue alongside criminal proceedings. Sir Peter Gibson was asked to publish a report based only on his "preparatory work"—a review of 20,000 top-secret documents.

The 2013 report did not reach a final verdict on guilt but was far from a "whitewash." It found no evidence that UK officers directly mistreated detainees, but it identified a massive "blind spot" in the intelligence services. It suggested that senior staff were aware that allies were mistreating prisoners but failed to act or inform ministers. The report famously listed 27 "themes" that required further investigation, including whether the UK had paid for rendition flights or provided questions for interrogations where torture was suspected.

The unfinished business of the Gibson Inquiry was eventually handed to the Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC). In 2018, the ISC published its own reports, which confirmed that the UK had been involved in hundreds of cases of "inexcusable" conduct. It found 13 incidents where UK personnel witnessed mistreatment, 25 where they were told of it by detainees, and 232 where they continued to supply questions to foreign services despite knowing or suspecting torture.