Recommendation AS-2: Recording of Interrogation and Tactical Questioning
From The Report of the Al-Sweady Inquiry, published 17 December 2014.
Recommendation
Digital video and audio recordings should be made of both interrogation and tactical questioning sessions. Such recordings should be retrieved from theatre, catalogued and stored in the same way and for the same period of time as the other documents/records to which reference is made in Recommendation 1.
In brief (written by this site)
In March 2015, the Ministry of Defence reported that interrogation sessions had been recorded with audiovisual equipment as standard policy since 2010, but extending recording to tactical questioning presented practical difficulties (Ministry of Defence, Mar 2015). The department stated in March 2015 that officials were investigating technical options for tactical questioning, with plans to update its policy if a viable solution was found or notify the House if that proved impossible (Ministry of Defence, Mar 2015).
Sources
AI-generated summary of the record on this page, checked by a second model and automatic checks, 26 Sep 2026. The record below is the sources' own words.
Government response
Sir Thayne Forbes has made just nine recommendations, and he acknowledges the progress that the Ministry has made since 2004 to improve all aspects of the prisoner-handling system—from policy and doctrine to unit-level instructions and procedures as well as training and oversight—and to ensure it complies with domestic and international law. I accept all nine recommendations in principle. I have commissioned urgent work on their practical implications—in particular, we will need to ensure that they will not prevent the armed forces from carrying out vital tasks—and I will announce to the House my detailed conclusions as soon as I can.
Blanket government agreement does not establish acceptance or delivery by each addressee. Some response passages cover groups of recommendations.
Scope of the government response
The Secretary of State for Defence accepted all nine recommendations in principle together, in one passage of his statement to the House of Commons on 17 December 2014. That passage is shown on each recommendation and is not a response to any one of them alone. He said he would announce his detailed conclusions later. His written statement of 12 March 2015 (HCWS383) and the report on implementation he placed in the Library of the House that day (deposited paper DEP2015-0312) give the Ministry of Defence's account of each recommendation; they are shown as status updates.
Delivery
Ministry of Defence says in progress (12 March 2015)
Recommendation 2. This envisages routine audio and video recordings of tactical questioning as well as interrogation sessions, and the retention of such recordings. As a matter of policy since 2010, interrogation sessions have been conducted in dedicated facilities with both primary and back-up audio- and video-recording equipment. If equipment malfunctions and the exigencies of battle require it, interrogations can – exceptionally, and with the consent of a designated officer – be conducted without functioning audiovisual equipment.
There are, however, certain practical issues to be overcome in extending this practice to tactical questioning. Unlike interrogation, tactical questioning is conducted as a battlefield activity either in the immediate aftermath of an engagement or during sustained engagements. It is often time-critical, and can elicit intelligence that prevents further casualties amongst Service personnel and civilians. Defence officials are investigating whether robust technical solutions can be delivered in an assured manner. Should it prove impossible to identify a viable solution, Ministers will notify the House.
As and when a viable solution is implemented, the tactical questioning policy will be updated to take account both of the intention that tactical questioning should be recorded and of the limitations of the technical solution. In common with the interrogation policy, the tactical questioning policy will include provisions for tactical questioning to be conducted – in exceptional circumstances and with the approval of a designated officer – without functioning audiovisual equipment.
From: Report on implementation of Al-Sweady Inquiry recommendations
Responsible bodies
Themes and tags
Who has spoken
- Ministry of Defence
Response, delivery statement