Report Highlights Government's Dismal Record on Torture

11.13.51am UTC (GMT +0000) Fri 26th May 2006

Commenting on the report into the UK's compliance with the UN Convention Against Torture (UNCAT) published by the Joint Committee on Human Rights, Liberal Democrat member of the Committee, Dr Evan Harris MP said:

"This report clearly demonstrates that on torture the Government's record leaves a lot to be desired. It criticises the Government for undermining the bar on torture by seeking to reach agreements with countries that undertake torture on individual cases.

"The Human Rights Act is a key safeguard against torture, or collaboration with it, and any attack from the Government on the Human Rights Act actually breaches the safeguards in Article 3 of the Act.

"The Government must now rethink its policy with regard to seeking diplomatic assurances on individual cases from countries with appalling Human Rights records."