Reaction to news of UK 'No torture' deal with Libya

Amnesty International UK Director Kate Allen said:

"Torture and suspicious deaths in custody are still being reported in Libya and it’s dangerously misguided to expect countries with a known record of torturing people to respect bits of paper promising not to torture.

"The government has a duty to prevent any repeat of the London bombings outrage but going soft on torture is not the answer to terrorism.

"The government should abandon this policy of trying to find a way around the international ban on torture and instead concentrate on condemning the torture of prisoners in places like Libya."

Libya’s human rights record continues to be of serious concern to Amnesty International.

Libyan security forces detain people arbitrarily for political reasons, holding them incommunicado for long periods without charge.

Trials are frequently believed to be unfair. Five Bulgarian nurses and one Palestinian doctor were sentenced to death in December 2004 after convictions for allegedly infecting Children's rights with HIV.

They have alleged that their "confessions" were extracted under torture, including the application of electric shocks.

More about our Terrorism, Security and Human Rights Campaign