Brussels, 13/04/2010 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 12 April, Amnesty International (AI) published a report which is highly critical of the attitude of certain EU countries which negotiate assurances with countries to which they wish to extradite individuals that these individuals will not be ill-treated. According to the report, Dangerous deals: Europe's Reliance on “Diplomatic Assurances” against torture, these diplomatic assurances are used when individuals are to be returned to their countries of origin, countries which are known for their serious human rights violations. AI believes that such agreements are proscribed by both the European Charter of Fundamental Rights and the UN Convention Against Torture, and calls for the process to be stopped. “European governments use diplomatic assurances in their own self-interest to evade their international responsibilities. It is time for EU countries to fully respect the human rights of all individuals and instead focus on eliminating torture in countries where it is persistent,” says Nicolas Beger, the director of Amnesty International's EU office. The report is particularly severe in its criticism of the United Kingdom which has used diplomatic assurances to forcibly return people deemed to constitute a threat to national security to Ethiopia, Jordan, Lebanon and Libya. AI says that Italy has also deported several individuals alleged to be terrorist suspects to Tunisia. Despite the diplomatic assurances, at least one individual was tortured after being returned to Tunisia. Individuals returned by Spain to Russia also experienced human rights violations. (B.C./transl.rt)