Raad van Europa: "Martelingen zijn taboe, ook bij verdenking terrorisme" (en)

Strasbourg, 11.10.2005 - "Torture is a very efficient way to obtain false confessions", said Terry Davis, Secretary General of the Council of Europe in a statement today.

"Torture is a full-frontal attack on truth, justice and human rights. It is also a dangerous concession to terrorists, providing them with a pretext to justify their crimes and find new recruits.

The prohibition of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment under the European Convention on Human Rights is absolute and applies in all circumstances. It is not negotiable. It includes an absolute ban on transferring any person to another jurisdiction if there are substantial grounds to believe that the person would face a real risk of being subjected to such ill-treatment. This is the `settled case-law' of the European Court of Human Rights and a commonly agreed position of the Governments of the Council of Europe, contained in the 2002 `Guidelines on human rights and the fight against terrorism', which were unanimously approved in the wake of the terrorist attacks in the United States.

It is wrong to suggest that this unequivocal legal and political position has changed as a result of recent terrorist threats. There cannot be any question of `striking the right balance' when absolute rights are at stake.

The practice of seeking `diplomatic assurances' from the countries of destination that the persons concerned will not be ill-treated does not mean that there is a loophole to be exploited by people looking for an escape route from the absolute prohibition of torture. All European Governments remain under an obligation to assess carefully, in advance and in each individual case, the reliability of such assurances and to refrain from deporting anyone who faces a real risk of being ill-treated.

European Governments should not condone torture in other parts of the world. Information obtained under torture must never, under any circumstances, be accepted as evidence in judicial proceedings, regardless of where or by whom they were obtained.

The European Convention on Human Rights dates from a time when threats to our freedom and security were different, but the threats were real. It is an asset and not an obstacle in the fight against terrorism. Any suggestion to change the Convention on this point endangers not only our rights, but also our security," the Secretary General concluded.

Press Contact

Council of Europe Press Division

Tel. +33 3 88 41 25 60  - Fax. +33 3 88 41 39 11

E-mail: PressUnit@coe.int