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Britain, France, Germany Use Torture Intel: HRW
The use by three heavyweight European powers of information from secret services in countries that routinely rely on torture was damaging the reputation of the entire European Union, said the rights group.
The use by three heavyweight European powers of information from secret services in countries that routinely rely on torture was damaging the reputation of the entire European Union, said Human Rights Watch in a new report. (AFP) "Berlin, Paris and
London should be working to eradicate torture, not relying on foreign
torture intelligence," said Judith Sunderland, Western Europe
researcher for HRW.
"Taking information from torturers is illegal and just plain wrong."
The report, "No Questions Asked: Intelligence Cooperation with Countries that Torture," found: "The actual practices of these leading EU states contradict the EU's anti-torture guidelines, which make eradicating torture and ill-treatment a priority in its relations with other countries."
The use of such intelligence obtained under questionable circumstances "damages the credibility of the European Union", added HRW.
Intelligence services in the three countries lack detailed instructions on how to assess and respond to information from countries that torture, said the rights group.
Torture-tainted information has been used in criminal proceedings in France and Germany, despite domestic and international rules banning the use of such evidence in proceedings, said HRW.
"France, Germany, and the UK can engage in necessary intelligence cooperation without undermining the global torture ban," said the rights group.
"To do so, they must make genuine inquiries of countries that provide information to determine whether torture was used to obtain it."
7 Comments so far
Show AllShame on any country, including us, who torture.
No behavior is any worse than torturing.
Is the language problem here with Agence-France or with their translators?
Clearly these countries do not use torture in a war AGAINST terrorism.
They use it in their relatively minor roles in invasions and occupations of Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and sundry.
How did Canada get left out of the loop on this, now that Toronto cops are cheering on vandals and cracking quiet protesters' heads at the G20?
One world united in torture, oppression, rape, pillage, murder and theft. Ain't globalization grand?
Use torture and you become the terrorist.
Joe
Where do you think the CIA learned its techniques? - - The MI-6 primarily. They've been in cahoots for years and years, planning all sorts of little "emergencies" and false-flag "terrorist" events and then manipulating the facts to bring blame on our so-called "enemies" - - and some of the most skilled technicians the CIA employs to bring about their nasty little adventures are Mafioso.
When talking about "secret services in countries that routinely rely on torture", does this include the US?
'Reverend_Boomerang June 29th, 2010 8:12 pm
One world united in torture, oppression, rape, pillage, murder and theft. Ain't globalization grand?'
"With the growing arsenals of the superpowers, Einstein feared global destruction. "The only solution for civilization," he told the reporter in 1945, "...lies in the creation of WORLD GOVERNMENT, with security of nations founded upon LAW..As long as sovereign states continus to have separate armaments and armaments secrets, new world wars still be inevitable".
One World Government would be (will be, if we don't destroy Earth with wmd - with pollution killing all breathing things before it can happen)..... made up of all the powerful elite of THE WORLD.. (not merely America's powerful elite!!)
There will be no borders between nations. We all 'own' Earth. And may go where we will.. we will not have arms to destroy cities like Paris, New York, London....
There is just one 'problem'.. there are too many people on
Earth. And I guess that will be attended too... Earth's resources are finite.