Stop drift to torture, says London Euro-MP

12.24.57pm UTC (GMT +0000) Mon 28th Nov 2005

Sarah Ludford protests against torture at the Amnesty International demonstration

Liberal Democrat European justice spokeswoman Baroness Sarah Ludford MEP took part (Sunday, November 27th) in a rally outside 10 Downing Street organised by Amnesty International calling on the government to stop deporting people to countries known to practice torture. Hundreds of demonstrators wore black blindfolds with the message: "UK: Don't turn a blind eye to torture."

Sarah Ludford, European Parliament co-rapporteur on Guantanamo Bay, said:

"States like Jordan and Libya refuse to respect international human rights accords such as the ban on torture of their own citizens. So Tony Blair's 'understandings' that deportees will be safe are not worth the paper they are written on."

"The right not to be tortured is absolute. Tony Blair needs to uphold international law rather than constantly try to undermine it. He must detach himself from the deplorable tendencies of George Bush."

Note:

Baroness Ludford is calling for a European Parliament committee of inquiry to investigate EU states' involvement in human rights abuses associated with the "war on terror" and specifically the allegations of CIA jails in eastern Europe. She is also joining the new All Party Parliamentary Group on Rendition at Westminster being set up by a cross-party group of MPs including Liberal Democrat shadow Foreign Secretary Sir Menzies Campbell.