UK: END TORTURE FLIGHTS! Liberty demands of Straw and police chiefs

This video from the USA says about itself:

Innocent Tortured Detainee Speaks of Bush’s “Professionals”

27 September 2006

A Canadian detained, tortured, found innocent and released tells his (sanitized) story to Anderson Cooper.

From London daily News Line:

Thursday, 1 December 2005

Yesterday human rights group Liberty called on Foreign Secretary Jack Straw to seek assurances in the next 14 days from the USA that it is not using UK airports to transport alleged terror suspects to secret torture centres in other countries.

Liberty has written to Straw and to police chiefs saying it fears that the UK is in breach of domestic and international law by allowing CIA ‘extraordinary rendition’ flights to land and re-fuel in Britain.

Liberty requested that the Police Chief Constables of Bedfordshire, Cambridge, Dorset, Essex, Hampshire, the Metropolitan Police, the Ministry of Defence Police, Sussex, Thames Valley and West Midlands investigate suspected ‘extraordinary rendition’ flights at their local airports.

They too have been asked to respond within 14 days.

Director of Liberty, Shami Chakrabarti said: ‘It is troubling that our Government chases Algeria for anti-torture assurances but cowers from confronting the USA on the same issue.’

Liberty’s call to action against ‘extraordinary rendition’ marks the launch of its ‘No torture, no compromise’ campaign which seeks to make the UK government honour its positive obligation to stop torture and ill-treatment.

In its letter to Straw, Liberty states: ‘It is strongly believed that the CIA engages in the practice in the full knowledge, indeed expectation, that the people it transports will be subjected to torture in the country to which they are delivered.