VOA标准英语2009年-Britain's Intelligence Chief Denies Use of

The head of Britain's secret intelligence service, MI-6 denies that there has been torture or the complicity to torture by the service in connection with arrests and interrogations of terrorism suspects abroad.

MI-6 chief John Scarlett is adamant¹ - there has been no involvement in torture by the secret service.
　
Binyam Mohamed, 30, foreground, a British resident returns after nearly seven years in US captivity² (File)

"No torture, and there is no complicity to torture," he said.

Speaking on a special British radio program, Scarlett said his officers face a difficult task.

"Our officers are committed to the values and the human rights values of liberal democracy as anybody else," added Scarlett. "They also have the responsibility of protecting the country against terrorism."

There have been numerous allegations that British intelligence officers were involved in the questioning of terror suspects held abroad and that they may have known some of the suspects were being tortured. In one case, British resident Binyam Mohamed claimed he was tortured while in custody³ in Pakistan and Morocco and he says British officers knew.

Mohamed was transferred to Guantanamo Bay in 2004 and was released back to Britain in February. British police are currently investigating his allegations.

There has been growing pressure for an independent inquiry⁴ into possible British knowledge of the use of torture.

The chairman of the parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee, Kim Howells, says the committee has looked into the issue and will continue look at evidence put before it.

"I can tell you that we found no evidence that there has been collusion between the intelligence services, any government department and governments that torture their individuals," said Howells.

But Howells acknowledged the government cannot guarantee that some of the terror suspects picked up and held in other countries did not have their human rights abused.

1 adamant   

adj.坚硬的，固执的

参考例句：

• We are adamant on the building of a well-off society.在建设小康社会这一点上，我们是坚定不移的。
• Veronica was quite adamant that they should stay on.维罗妮卡坚信他们必须继续留下去。

2 captivity   

n.囚禁；被俘；束缚

参考例句：

• A zoo is a place where live animals are kept in captivity for the public to see.动物园是圈养动物以供公众观看的场所。
• He was held in captivity for three years.他被囚禁叁年。

3 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

4 inquiry   

n.打听，询问，调查，查问

参考例句：

• Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
• The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。