Official documents recording flights in and out of Diego Garcia, the British Indian Ocean Territory where the United States is accused of carrying out ‘extraordinary rendition’ of terror suspects, have been destroyed by water damage. The Foreign Office says that records from 2002, the year in which former Foreign Secretary David Miliband admitted two US rendition flights landed on the island, are “incomplete”. Answering a written question from Tory MP Andrew Tyrie today, Foreign Office minister Mark Simmonds confirms:

“Records on flight departures and arrivals on Diego Garcia are held by the British Indian Ocean Territory immigration authorities. Daily occurrence logs, which record the flights landing and taking off, cover the period since 2003. Though there are some limited records from 2002, I understand they are incomplete due to water damage.”

Diego Garcia has been dogged by allegations that it is used by the US government as a base to torture terror suspects with impunity. The last Labour government was forced to apologise after admitting rendition flights landed there in 2002, despite previous denials. And now files from that year have been destroyed…