BRUSSELS, April 21 (UPI) -- Britain and the United States knowingly accept evidence obtained under torture, London's former ambassador to Uzbekistan told European lawmakers at a hearing in Brussels on alleged CIA flights in Europe.
"Under the U.K.-U.S. intelligence sharing agreement, the United States and United Kingdom have taken a policy decision that they will get testimonies obtained under torture in third countries. I say that with regret and with certainty," said Craig Murray Thursday.
The European Parliament is investigating allegations that the Central Intelligence Agency used European airbases to transfer terrorist suspects to countries where they could be tortured. A similar probe by the Council of Europe, a human rights body with 46 members, has already concluded that such flights did take place with the tacit approval of EU governments.
Murray, who was Britain's top diplomat in Uzbekistan from 2002 to 2004, said he had no knowledge of CIA planes using the central Asian state as a stopover. However, he added that he had hard proof Uzbek intelligence services often tortured detainees.
"I saw evidence of scores of cases of torture in Uzbekistan: people boiled to death, photos of serious injuries, mutilation of genitals, rape of individuals in front of their relatives... until they would sign a confession." When he tried to share his concern with British diplomats, he was told that Foreign Minister Jack Straw "discussed the issue with the head of MI6 and reached the conclusion that we should continue to receive intelligence material obtained from confessions under torture and that this would not contravene the U.N. Convention against Torture."
The British government's legalistic interpretation of the U.N. convention allowed it to claim "we do not condone, use or instigate torture," said Murray, but only because London did not torture people directly.
Murray was forced to leave his post in 2004 after condemning Uzbek authorities for their poor human rights record. During his two-year stint in the former Soviet republic, the long-serving career diplomat also criticized the British and American governments for turning a blind eye to corruption and brutality in Uzbekistan, which the U.S. military used as a launch pad for the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.
The parliamentary committee, which has no power to subpoena witnesses and can only offer non-binding recommendations, also heard evidence from Gijs de Vries, the European Union's counter-terrorism chief.
The former Dutch minister said terrorism "must be fought within the boundaries of human rights. The prohibition against torture is absolute." However, he appeared to pour cold water on claims made by human rights groups and several newspapers that European governments colluded with Washington to transfer suspected terrorists to third countries where they faced torture. "We've heard all kinds of allegations, impressions; we've heard also refutations. It's up to your committee to weigh if they are true. It does not appear to be proven beyond reasonable doubt," said De Vries, adding: "There has not been, to my knowledge, evidence that these illegal renditions have taken place."
Members of the European Parliament were unimpressed with De Vries' assumption of innocence. "Are you just a think-tank or do you have information from the member states' secret services?" asked Spanish lawmaker Ignasi Guardans, after the counter-terrorism coordinator said intelligence analysis was outside the remit of the EU institutions. Spanish socialist Maria Elena Valenciano Martinez-Orozco said: "There are strong and many indications that extraordinary renditions have taken place. What is worse? That member states did not know or that they knew and did not tell?"
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana will give evidence to the committee on May 2, shortly before a delegation of lawmakers heads to Washington to seek meetings with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and CIA head Porter Goss.
