suspects by foreign intelligence services, even where there is a risk that those detained are being tortured. According to FCO reports, UK counterterrorism assistance to Pakistan stresses the importance of human rights compliance based on internationally agreed human rights standards. Senior ministers have given rhetorical support to this view. In an August 2009 statement, then Home Secretary Alan Johnson and then Foreign Secretary David Miliband said this was “not just about legal obligations. It is about our values as a nation, and about what we do, not just what we say.”66 But in reality, UK counterterrorism cooperation fundamentally undermines that effort. The complicity of UK agents in individual cases of abuse sends a damaging message to Pakistan that torture is acceptable in the context of interrogating terrorism suspects. Moreover, the regular pattern of cooperation in the absence of any serious efforts by London either to condition cooperation on humane treatment, or to make genuine enquiries about the circumstances in which detainees are interrogated, sends a clear message to the authorities in Pakistan that the UK is indifferent about the torture of terrorism suspects in its custody. Guidelines Extensive intelligence cooperation with countries known to torture is all the more troubling given that the guidelines governing such work are not as of yet subject to public scrutiny. In March 2009, then Prime Minister Gordon Brown made a statement indicating that the UK government would publish the current guidance given to MI5 and MI6 officers on overseas interrogation once it had been “consolidated and reviewed” by the Intelligence and Security Committee (a government appointed group of parliamentarians reporting to the Prime Minister who oversee the intelligence services; not a proper parliamentary committee). 67 Then Foreign Secretary David Miliband told the Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee in July 2009 that contrary to earlier indications by the government, he would not allow the publication of previous versions of the guidance because doing so could “give succour to our enemies.”68 66 “David Miliband and Alan Johnson: We firmly oppose torture – but it is impossible to eradicate all risk,” August 8, 2009, The Telegraph, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/5996382/David-Miliband-and-Alan-Johnson-We-firmly-oppose-torture--but-it-is-impossible-to-eradicate-all-risk.html (accessed November 10, 2009). 67 Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Written Ministerial Statement on Detainees, March 18, 2009, reported by the Intelligence and Security Committee, www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/intelligence.aspx (accessed November 25, 2009). 68 Foreign Secretary David Miliband, quoted in House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, Human Rights Annual Report 2008, Seventh Report of Session 2008-09, July 2009, “No Questions Asked” 26