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30/11/2005
Calls for probe into CIA 'transport' flights
Human rights group Liberty have called for the government to seek assurances from the USA that is not using UK airports to transport suspects to countries that use torture.
The human rights group fears that the UK is in breach of domestic and international law, by allowing CIA “extraordinary rendition” flights to land and re-fuel in Britain.
The CIA’s extraordinary rendition programme allows removal of terrorist suspects to third party countries for interrogation without the approval of the courts.
The call marks the launch of Liberty’s “No torture, no compromise” campaign and it has demanded action within the next 14 days.
An article in ‘The Guardian’, published in September, sparked concerns about CIA flights landing in Britain. The article claimed that CIA aircraft had flown into the UK around 210 times since September 2001.
The article also alleged that a number of airports had been used across the UK – in Biggin Hill, Birmingham, Bournemouth, Brize Norton, Farnborough, Gatwick, Heathrow, Luton, Mildenhall, Northolt and Stansted.
Liberty has also requested that police forces in Bedfordshire, Cambridge, Dorset, Essex, Hampshire, Kent, the Metropolitan Police, the Ministry of Defence Police, Sussex, Thames Valley and West Midlands to investigate flights at their local airports. They have also been asked to respond within 14 days.
Director of Liberty, Shami Chakrabarti said: “It is troubling that our government chases Algeria for anti-torture assurances, but cowers from confronting the USA on the same issue.
“It is the abhorrence of torture that distinguishes all democrats from dictators and terrorists. What can we say to those who perpetrate atrocities in London and around the world, if we allow ourselves to become complicit in the cheapening of human life?”
The US has insisted that it has not broken any laws over the matter, while the Foreign Office has said there was no evidence that UK territory had been used for these purposes.
Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesperson Sir Menzies Campbell told BBC Radio 4’s ‘Today’ programme that the government needed to provide full disclosure.
(KMcA/SP)
The human rights group fears that the UK is in breach of domestic and international law, by allowing CIA “extraordinary rendition” flights to land and re-fuel in Britain.
The CIA’s extraordinary rendition programme allows removal of terrorist suspects to third party countries for interrogation without the approval of the courts.
The call marks the launch of Liberty’s “No torture, no compromise” campaign and it has demanded action within the next 14 days.
An article in ‘The Guardian’, published in September, sparked concerns about CIA flights landing in Britain. The article claimed that CIA aircraft had flown into the UK around 210 times since September 2001.
The article also alleged that a number of airports had been used across the UK – in Biggin Hill, Birmingham, Bournemouth, Brize Norton, Farnborough, Gatwick, Heathrow, Luton, Mildenhall, Northolt and Stansted.
Liberty has also requested that police forces in Bedfordshire, Cambridge, Dorset, Essex, Hampshire, Kent, the Metropolitan Police, the Ministry of Defence Police, Sussex, Thames Valley and West Midlands to investigate flights at their local airports. They have also been asked to respond within 14 days.
Director of Liberty, Shami Chakrabarti said: “It is troubling that our government chases Algeria for anti-torture assurances, but cowers from confronting the USA on the same issue.
“It is the abhorrence of torture that distinguishes all democrats from dictators and terrorists. What can we say to those who perpetrate atrocities in London and around the world, if we allow ourselves to become complicit in the cheapening of human life?”
The US has insisted that it has not broken any laws over the matter, while the Foreign Office has said there was no evidence that UK territory had been used for these purposes.
Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesperson Sir Menzies Campbell told BBC Radio 4’s ‘Today’ programme that the government needed to provide full disclosure.
(KMcA/SP)
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