Brussels, 26/06/2007 (Agence Europe) - On 26 June, during the International Day against Torture, Hélène Flautre (Greens/EFA, France), the president of the EP's human rights sub-committee, urged the EU to vigorously defend and guarantee fundamental rights against the degrading treatments that have resurfaced in practices used in the fight against terrorism. Ms Flautre declared: “Just as the fight against terrorism is used to reintroduce inhumane and degrading acts as a legitimate practice in situations described as being exceptional, we must be more vigilant than ever and oppose this offensive by counterpoising respect for international standards”. Exporting torture, diplomatic assurances, extraordinary rendition and recent incidences of alleged torture in Europe “are enough to illustrate the scale of our combat”, she declared, in an explicit reference to conclusions established at the beginning of June by the Council of Europe reporter Dick Marty, in the context of secret CIA prisons in Europe (EUROPE 9442). The MEP pointed out that Manfred Nowak, special UN rapporteur on torture, had appealed for the setting up of a universal jurisdiction as the main way to fight against impunity for torture offences. Flautre explained that “to get results, it is imperative that we work together in support of global and exemplary interinstitutional cooperation”. During its meeting on 28 June, the human rights sub-committee will debate the conclusions of a study on implementation of Council guidelines on torture. On Tuesday the European Commission announced that a strategic document focusing on the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR (2007-10) would be allocating €44 million to the fight against torture. A significant amount of this funding is expected to go towards torture rehabilitation centres inside and outside the EU. The International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT) evaluates the number of torture survivors in the EU at roughly 400,000 in 2006. The IRCT considers that only 16,000 of these individuals receive medical, psychological and social support on an annual basis. It is also estimated that around 20% of asylum seekers in the EU have been subjected to some form of violence or torture.