It has been reported that British Ministry of Defence documents dating back to the 1970s show that taoiseach Jack Lynch raised concerns about the use of torture on prisoners in Northern Ireland with the British prime minister.
Channel 4 News has reported that memos they obtained indicate that Mr Lynch brought up the use of waterboarding on a prisoner with then-British prime minister Ted Heath during a visit to London in November 1972.
The minutes suggest Mr Lynch raised the case of one man who "had been forced to lie on his back on the floor, a wet towel had been placed over his head, and water had been poured over it to give him the impression that he would be suffocated..."
The Pat Finucane Centre in Belfast, which helped uncover the documents, said for the first time some accounts of alleged torture "are backed by official documents providing new evidence of what both British and Irish governments knew at the highest level."
The centre's director Paul O'Connor told Channel 4 News that "a country which condones torture is diminished in the eyes of the world. A Government which covers up evidence of torture is diminished in the eyes of its own citizens."
Channel 4 News uncovers new evidence of historic British torture. Waterboarded and electric shocks. Victims speak to @alextomo - tonight 7pm pic.twitter.com/5Lt7kB0qnm
— Hayley Barlow (@Hayley_Barlow) February 1, 2017
In a statement to the same programme, a British government spokesperson said: "The UK government considers torture or inhuman treatment to be an abhorrent violation of human rights and human dignity, and consistently and unreservedly condemns the practice. It would not be appropriate to comment further on specific allegations."
An RTÉ Investigations Unit documentary in June 2014 revealed separate evidence that the British government at the highest levels authorised "deep interrogation" tactics of Northern Ireland prisoners in the 1970s.
