Former Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks is accusing ex-Howard government MPs of having full knowledge of his alleged torture at the notorious US facility.

Mr Hicks heckled federal Attorney-General George Brandis at an awards ceremony in Sydney last night, calling him a coward.

'Hey, my name is David Hicks!' he shouted, as Senator Brandis wrapped up his address at a human rights awards function on Wednesday evening.

'I was tortured for five-and-a-half years in Guantanamo Bay in the full knowledge of your party! What do you have to say?'

As Senator Brandis walked off the stage at the Museum of Contemporary Arts, Mr Hicks told reporters he was a 'coward' for not answering his question.

'He's run away,' he said.

'It's too late - he's gone.'

The incident came a day after a US Senate Intelligence Committee released a scathing report into the CIA's torture of al-Qaeda suspects.

AAP