Amnesty International UK
Log in
Press releases
RSS feed

UK: Renditions - Must be full cooperation from UK Government

Reaction to the Council of Europe's report on renditions and black sites.

Today's publication of the Council of Europe's interim report on the issue of extraordinary renditions and secret detention centres in Europe is a vital step towards uncovering the truth about renditions in Europe, said Amnesty International today.

However, Amnesty International believes that the report also makes clear that serious questions still need to be answered by a number of European governments.

The Council of Europe report says that there is “a great deal of coherent, convergent evidence pointing to the existence of a system of ‘relocation’ or ‘outsourcing’ of torture�.

Amnesty International is calling for the cooperation of all countries to ensure that they actively investigate what is happening - or may have happened - within their territory that may have facilitated torture.

Amnesty International's Regional Programmes Senior Director Claudio Cordone said:

“European countries have the duty to fully collaborate in the investigations of gross human rights violations committed in their own territory. Not cooperating with those investigations is tantamount to collaborating with the abuses.

Amnesty International supports the call of Dick Marty, the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly Rapporteur, for a full committee of inquiry, with extensive investigatory powers.

Claudio Cordone added:

“The allegations that secret detention centres have existed in Europe, as Dick Marty has pointed out, come from varied and credible sources.

“Not even the US government has denied their existence. The issue now is what will be done about it.�

View latest press releases

Share