Time to hold the US to account for torture

4.15.27pm UTC (GMT +0000) Wed 27th Oct 2004

In response to today's Amnesty International report, 'Human Dignity Denied: Torture and accountability in the "war on terror"', Baroness Sarah Ludford MEP, Liberal Democrat European justice spokeswoman, said:

"On the eve of the US presidential election, this report is a timely reminder of the US's demeaning record on torture in Guantanamo Bay, Abu Ghraib and elsewhere. No wonder Europeans admire Americans, but feel that Bush as the self-styled global champion of human rights and democracy has let his countrymen down."

"The European Union must lead a concerted world-wide effort to challenge the US administration over its secret 'torture directives'. But doubts about the UK government's repudiation of torture, as shown over the Craig Murray affair and Belmarsh imprisonment, weaken the EU's moral authority."