Recommendations

To the Government of the United Kingdom

Reaffirm the absolute nature of the obligation under international law not to expel, return, extradite, or otherwise transfer any person to a country or place where there are substantial grounds for believing that he or she would be in danger of being subjected to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

Halt immediately all efforts to remove foreign terrorism and national security suspects at risk of torture and ill-treatment on return in reliance on “diplomatic assurances” from countries with established records of practicing such abuse, regardless of whether these unenforceable pledges are formalized in “memoranda of understanding.”
Drop immediately the efforts to have the Algerians and Jordanian whose cases are pending in the House of Lords deported to their home countries in reliance on assurances from their respective governments against torture and prohibited ill-treatment on return.
Acknowledge publicly that counterterrorism measures that violate fundamental rights—such as measures that violate the ban on torture and returns to risk of torture—can alienate affected communities and hinder government efforts to stem radicalization and terrorist recruitment.
Stop seeking to enshrine in international and regional law and practice the use of diplomatic assurances against torture and prohibited ill-treatment to facilitate the transfer of foreign terrorism suspects to places where they are at risk of such abuse.

Withdraw the intervention in the European Court of Human Rights case Ramzy v. Netherlands and halt all efforts to weaken the absolute ban on returns to risk of torture and prohibited ill-treatment.

Continue the close scrutiny and resultant criticism of the government’s “deportation with assurances” policy as reflected in reports by the UK Parliamentary Joint Human Rights Committee and the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee.
Request the government, in particular the home secretary, foreign secretary, and the prime minister, to set out and explain British policy and efforts in international fora to promote diplomatic assurances against torture, including in the European Union, and legal interventions in European Court of Human Rights cases such as Ramzy v. Netherlands and Saadi v. Italy.
Request the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to provide information on the cost of the United Kingdom’s interventions in cases concerning returns to risk of ill-treatment including Ramzy v. Netherlands and Saadi v. Italy.

Refuse all efforts to adopt a common position or other formal policy statement on the use of diplomatic assurances against torture and ill-treatment for the transfer of terrorism and national security suspects to countries where they are at risk of such abuse.
Affirm that the use of diplomatic assurances against torture and ill-treatment for transfers to countries where such abuse is routine undermines the EU Guidelines on Torture.

October 2008