Britain Tortures Too

Friday 15 and Saturday 16 February 2013
 
Venue: Amnesty International UK, London
 
Jointly organised by the Centre for Applied Philosophy, Politics & Ethics, University of Brighton, and The Rendition Project, Universities of Kent and Kingston, this two-day conference for activists, academics and the public aimed to explore Britain’s use of torture since 1945; its complicity in torture; and what might be done to end both.

 
Confirmed speakers:

Huw Bennett (Aberystwyth University)

Ruth Blakeley (Rendition Project/University of Kent)

Bob Brecher (University of Brighton)  

Ian Cobain (Guardian)

Jamie Gaskarth (University of Plymouth)

Peter Oborne (Daily Telegraph)

Gareth Peirce (Birnberg Peirce)

Sam Raphael (Rendition Project/Kingston University)

Phil Shiner (Public Interest Lawyers)

Henry Shue (Oxford University)

Heather Widdows (University of Birmingham)
 

Topics included:

A brief history of British torture since the end of WWII

Britain’s role in rendition           

The uses and limits of the law in trying to end UK torture

The ethics of British complicity

Taking responsibility for Britain’s history of torture: academics and the public

Practical campaigning against torture

The media’s complicity

Lessons from the USA