Brown must act on US rendition flights, say MPs

Brown must act on US rendition flights, say MPs | UK news | The Guardian

This article appeared in the Guardian on Monday May 21 2007 on p7 of the UK news and analysis section. It was last updated at 09:54 on May 23 2007.
The following correction was printed in the Guardian's Corrections and clarifications column, Wednesday May 23 2007

a letter from the director of Justice to the transport secretary, Douglas Alexander, about "extraordinary rendition" was said to have referred to a conclusion of the UN's joint committee on human rights when in fact it quoted the UK parliamentary committee of the same name. This has been corrected.Gordon Brown's government must introduce effective controls over extraordinary rendition - the practice whereby the US covertly transports detainees to places where they risk being tortured - an all-party group of MPs urges today.

Britain's records on rendition are wholly inadequate, says the parliamentary rendition group chaired by Andrew Tyrie, the Conservative MP for Chichester.

"Questions have been raised about 170 possible CIA rendition flights through the UK," the group says. "The government does not appear to have independent records to indicate whether these were or were not rendition flights."

The group says the government's refusal to fully and openly address the issue of rendition creates a climate of confusion, which hampers effective action against terrorism.

Under the proposals announced today, states would declare it their duty to prevent their territory from being used to facilitate the transfer of detainees to where there was a real risk of torture.

Every transfer of a detained person would require written permission. The government transferring detainees would have to state the final destination and detail what legal safeguards existed.

"A fundamental distinction between extradition and rendition is that in cases of extradition, safeguards are provided by the holding of a hearing prior to the individual's transfer," Mr Tyrie said. He added that the measures to control rendition should be included in the promised counter-terrorism bill, which has yet to be published.

Roger Smith, the director of Justice, the British section of the International Commission of Jurists, says in a letter to Douglas Alexander, the transport secretary, that the UK parliamentary joint committee on human rights has concluded there is a reasonable suspicion that aircraft passing through the UK may have been carrying suspects to countries where they risked being tortured.

He said the European parliament had deplored member states' lack of "procedures aimed at verifying whether civilian aircraft were being used for purposes incompatible with internationally established human rights standards".

Mr Tyrie said: "For nearly two years, we have been calling for the government to stop turning a blind eye to this disgraceful practice and stop pretending that everything is all right. The truth is that the government does not know whether they are complicit and therefore neither can we."

He added: "This is an acid test for Gordon Brown. The incoming PM has told us that 'mistakes have been made' and he is trying to distance himself from the catastrophe of the Bush/Blair foreign policy. By implementing this measure, Gordon Brown can show that he is serious about setting aside that policy.

"He can tell us that he will not condone kidnap, denial of civil liberties, and a risk of torture."