16.4 |
Conclusions: Service Personnel
•
The use of
redaction was not consistent between BOIs.
•
Not all
redactions were justified. In some cases, whole passages
were
redacted
when only a few details were sensitive. In others, material had
been
redacted
when it was already in the public domain (for example, the name of
a
Commanding
Officer or pathologist).
•
In many
cases, no attempt was made to explain the nature of the
redacted
material to
the reader.
•
There were
some improvements in practice during the course of Op
TELIC.
In general,
the most recent BOI reports contained fewer redactions and
were
easier to
follow.
70.
The Inquiry
recognises that some redactions will be required in almost all
such
reports but
recommends that the MOD take steps to ensure consistency of
practice, in
line with
the Information Commissioner’s guidance.11
Good
practice seen by the Inquiry
includes:
•
including a
clear statement of redaction policy at the start of a
document;
•
providing a
short overarching description of events described in text which
has
been
redacted;
•
adding a
description which tells the reader the nature of the text has
been
redacted
(for example, ‘Personal medical information’);
•
assigning
each individual a unique number or other cipher and attaching
a
description
of their role to it; and
•
leaving in
ranks where names are redacted, so that command
relationships
are clear.
71.
Many of the
concerns shared by families in relation to the rigour of the BOI
process
and its
transparency could be addressed by adding an independent member to
a BOI.
72.
From January
2003, the MOD and the Home Office (the department then
responsible
for coronial policy) worked with Mr Nicholas Gardiner, the
Coroner for
Oxfordshire,
to refine the arrangements for receiving UK military fatalities
from Iraq.
The
majority of fatalities were expected to be repatriated to RAF Brize
Norton, which fell
within his
area of responsibility.
73.
During those
initial exchanges, Home Office officials highlighted a number
of
issues that
would later become problematic: the need for Mr Gardiner’s
office to secure
additional
resources (from Oxfordshire County Council) to cover the cases it
was taking
11
Information
Commissioner’s Office, Anonymisation:
Managing Data Protection Risk Code of Practice,
November
2012.
163