UK partner in crime with US on rendition flights
Regional-UK, Politics, 6/14/2006

Britain is a "partner in crime" with the United States in organizing secret flights to move terror suspects around the world, according to Amnesty International.

The London-based human rights group accused UK ministers of adopting a "see no evil, hear no evil" approach to CIA "extraordinary reditions."

Last week, the Council of Europe named Britain as one of 14 European countries which colluded with the CIA in sending suspects to secret prisons in Eastern Europe, where they are reportedly tortured.

The UK government previously said it had approved two US prisoner flights and refused two others since 1998, but in a report Wednesday Amnesty called on Britain and all other EU states to stop their airports from being used for the practice.

It put Britain's fingerprints on the cases of two men, Bisher Al- Rawi and Jamil El-Banna, who were arrested after flying to Gambia in November 2002 and eventually ended up in Guantanamo Bay -- where they are still being held.

The human rights groups said that their travel arrangements were passed to the US and, as a result, the UK government was "instrumental" in their detention.

The report focused on a further five cases of rendition involving six European states and 11 victims and said that all involved "men being bundled onto planes and transferred abroad, where they have suffered abuse." "This report highlights the role of various European states and shows how the action or lack of action by these states contravened their obligations under domestic and international law," it said in calling for a public inquiry into the flights.

In April, Amnesty called on all governments to "prohibit the transfer of anyone to places where they face torture or ill-treatment." "All governments must ensure that their airports and airspace are not being used in renditions. All those detained in the so-called 'war on terror' must be protected from torture and ill-treatment and charged and given a fair trial or released," it said.

Previous Stories:
  Bush says military courts best for Guantanamo detainees   (6/14/2006)
  Public diplomacy must stress common values, State's Hughes Says   (6/12/2006)
  Amnesty calls for investigation Guantanamo deaths   (6/12/2006)
  Three Guantanamo Bay detainees die of suicide   (6/10/2006)
  Muslim family angry at UK police house raid   (6/10/2006)
  House of Islamic scholar raided by UK police   (6/8/2006)
  British Muslims claim being terrorized by police   (6/7/2006)

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