“No Questions Asked” RIGHTS Intelligence Cooperation with Countries That Torture WATCH
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France/Germany/United Kingdom HUMAN “No Questions Asked” RIGHTS Intelligence Cooperation with Countries that Torture WATCH “No Questions Asked” Intelligence Cooperation with Countries that Torture Copyright © 2010 Human Rights Watch All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America ISBN: 1-56432-650-0 Cover design by Rafael Jimenez Human Rights Watch 350 Fifth Avenue, 34th floor New York, NY 10118-3299 USA Tel: +1 212 290 4700, Fax: +1 212 736 1300 [email protected] Poststraße 4-5 10178 Berlin, Germany Tel: +49 30 2593 06-10, Fax: +49 30 2593 0629 [email protected] Avenue des Gaulois, 7 1040 Brussels, Belgium Tel: + 32 (2) 732 2009, Fax: + 32 (2) 732 0471 [email protected] 64-66 Rue de Lausanne 1202 Geneva, Switzerland Tel: +41 22 738 0481, Fax: +41 22 738 1791 [email protected] 2-12 Pentonville Road, 2nd Floor London N1 9HF, UK Tel: +44 20 7713 1995, Fax: +44 20 7713 1800 [email protected] 27 Rue de Lisbonne 75008 Paris, France Tel: +33 (1)43 59 55 35, Fax: +33 (1) 43 59 55 22 [email protected] 1630 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Suite 500 Washington, DC 20009 USA Tel: +1 202 612 4321, Fax: +1 202 612 4333 [email protected] Web Site Address: http://www.hrw.org June 2010 1-56432-650-0 “No Questions Asked” Intelligence Cooperation with Countries that Torture Executive Summary ............................................................................................................ 1 Background ........................................................................................................................ 5 International Law on Torture .................................................................................................. 7 The obligation to prevent and punish torture ................................................................... 9 Torture material as evidence ......................................................................................... 10 Torture material as intelligence ..................................................................................... 12 Torture and Counterterrorism Policy .................................................................................... 14 “Ticking bomb” scenario ............................................................................................... 15 “No questions asked” ................................................................................................... 19 United Kingdom ............................................................................................................... 22 Intelligence Cooperation ..................................................................................................... 23 Guidelines .................................................................................................................... 26 Use of Torture Material as Intelligence ................................................................................. 27 Torture Evidence and the Burden of Proof ............................................................................ 30 Oversight and Accountability ............................................................................................... 32 Germany .......................................................................................................................... 34 Intelligence Cooperation ..................................................................................................... 36 Guidelines .................................................................................................................... 37 Use of Torture Material as Intelligence ................................................................................. 38 Use of Torture Material as Evidence ..................................................................................... 39 Burden of proof ............................................................................................................. 41 Oversight and Accountability ............................................................................................... 43 France .............................................................................................................................. 44 Intelligence Cooperation ..................................................................................................... 45 Guidelines .................................................................................................................... 46 Use of Torture Material by the Judiciary ............................................................................... 48 Use of the fruit of the poisoned tree .............................................................................. 49 Use of torture evidence at trial against the victims of the abuse .................................... 51 Use of torture evidence at trial against third persons ..................................................... 52 Judicial cooperation with countries that torture ............................................................. 54 Oversight and Accountability ............................................................................................... 55 Detailed Recommendations .............................................................................................. 56 Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................... 62 Executive Summary Torture is a barbaric act. I believe that no state whose regime conducts or condones torture can consider itself civilized. – Navi Pillay, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, June 26, 2009 International efforts to combat terrorism since the 9/11 attacks in the United States have done incalculable damage to the absolute prohibition on torture. The global ban on torture is a cornerstone of international law, binding on all nations in peace and at war, and no exceptions or justifications are permitted. The attack on the torture prohibition by the US government under President George W. Bush has rightly received widespread international condemnation, and has been formally repudiated by the Obama administration. Far less attention has been paid to the other side of the Atlantic, where leading European governments continue to flout their obligations to prevent and eradicate torture worldwide— and betray their declared values—through intelligence cooperation with countries that torture. France, Germany and the United Kingdom—pillars of the European Union and important allies in the fight against terrorism—demonstrate, through policy statements and practice, a willingness (even eagerness) to cooperate with foreign intelligence services in countries like Uzbekistan and Pakistan—notorious for abusive practices, both in general and against terrorism suspects in particular. They then use foreign torture information for intelligence and policing purposes. Regular receipt of, and reliance on, foreign torture information as the basis for operational decisions by the executive branch implicitly validates the use of unlawful methods to acquire information and is a breach of the positive obligation under international law to prevent and punish torture. Both the practice of using such information, and the issuing of public statements affirming the legitimacy of doing so, risks creating a market for torture intelligence. Foreign torture intelligence is used to identify terrorism suspects on national territory, launch police and surveillance operations and, in some cases, to initiate judicial investigations leading to arrests and prosecution. Information tainted by torture abroad can end up as part of legal proceedings, both in the form of evidence collected as a result of statements made 1 Human Rights Watch | June 2010 under torture and through the use of such statements themselves. In the case of France and Germany such information has been used in judicially-authorized investigations and proceedings. In the UK, ambiguous rules make the use of torture evidence in court a real possibility. Cross-border intelligence cooperation is a necessity in the fight against international terrorism. Governments have a compelling interest, indeed duty, to protect their civilian populations from terrorist violence, including investigating any tip about an imminent attack. Yet government officials in the UK and Germany have gone further to argue that fundamental rules prohibiting torture can and must be broken to save lives. In particular, the hypothetical scenario of the “ticking bomb,” in which it is claimed information extracted under torture in a third country could help locate a bomb primed to explode in a crowded place, is often used to justify the use of foreign torture intelligence. Some of the best known claims that torture has produced information that have led to the disruption or prevention of terrorist attacks have proven to be false, and the “ticking bomb” scenario is unlikely ever to actually transpire. Arguments raising this mythical scenario are a distraction from the reality of ongoing intelligence cooperation in the context of established relations with countries where torture is an organized practice. Statements from UK and German government officials calling into question the absolute nature of the prohibition on torture run counter to international law and are unethical. The global ban on torture imposes obligations on states not only to refrain themselves from committing such abuse, but also to working towards the prevention and eradication of torture worldwide. States must not only prosecute torturers in their territory,