US court boost for Guantanamo prisoners' rights

1.57.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Thu 26th Jun 2008

With today June 26th being UN International Day against Torture, Baroness Sarah Ludford MEP, Liberal Democrat European justice and human rights spokeswoman is renewing calls for the global elimination of state-sanctioned torture, including by the US. She said:

"The tide is turning, and even within the US there seems to be a significant shift in opinion against the contempt for the rule of law and human rights, and the appalling readiness to use torture, which have characterised the Bush administration's policies over the last 7 years."

In February Baroness Ludford organised a hearing at the European Parliament calling for the closure of Guantanamo and the resettlement of detainees cleared for release but who are unable to return to their countries of origin for fear of mistreatment or torture.

In the last month the US Supreme Court has issued a powerful rebuke to US government policies by granting the right of habeus corpus to detainees to challenge their detentions in US courts. Recently, another US court ruling has stripped a Chinese Uighur of his 'enemy combatant' label and demanded that he must be freed or given a new hearing.

Yesterday, addressing the European Parliament's Subcommittee on Human Rights Manfred Nowak, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture echoed these calls and urged the EU to take a more proactive role in initiating an EU joint action plan for resettlement.

Sarah Ludford added:

"US military and CIA prisons around the world, in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as Guantanamo and secret ones, have been a breeding ground for torture in Bush's 'War on Terror'. Today, the UN day against torture, we can feel encouraged by recent judicial developments in the US but we must also redouble efforts to abolish torture globally."