of the Convention and of Protocols Nos. 1 and 4, Article 3 makes no provision for exceptions and no derogation from it is permissible under Article 15 even in the eve nt of a public emergency threatening the life of the nation.” That the Torture Convention, including article 15, enjoys the same absolute quality is plain from the text of article 2, quoted in para 32 above. 41. It is true, as the Secretary of State submits, that States Members of the United Nations and the Council of Europe have been strongly urged since 11 September 2001 to cooperate and share information in order to counter the cruel and destructive evil of terrorism. But these calls have been coupled wi th reminders that human rights, and international and humanitarian law, must not be infringed or compromised. Thus, while the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly recommendation 1534 of 26 September 2001 refers to cooperation “on the basis of the Council of Europe’s values and legal instruments”, it also refers to Parliamentary Assembly Resolution 1258, para 7 of which states: “These attacks have shown clearly the real face of terrorism and the need for a new kind of response. This terrorism does not recognise borders. It is an international problem to which international solutions must be found based on a global political approach. The world community must show that it will not capitulate to terrorism, but that it will stand more strongly than before for democratic values, the rule of law and the defence of human rights and fundamental freedoms.” The Council of Europe Convention on the Prevention of Terrorism of 16 May 2005, recalling in its preamble “the need to strengthen the fight against terrorism and reaffirming that all measures taken to prevent or suppress terrorist offences have to respect the rule of law and democratic values, human rights and fundamental freedoms as well as other provisions of international law, including, where applicable, international humanitarian law”, -34-

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