-7- CDL-AD(2006)009 accordance with the applicable international obligations, transit by air should be neither requested nor granted if in the third country of destination or of transit the third-country national faces the threat of inhumane or humiliating treatment, torture or the death penalty, or if his life or liberty would be at risk by reason of his/her race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political conviction”. Pursuant to Article 4 of the Directive, “1. The request for escorted or unescorted transit by air and the associated assistance measures under Article 5(1) shall be made in writing by the requesting Member State. It shall reach the requested Member State as early as possible, and in any case no later than two days before the transit. This time limit may be waived in particularly urgent and duly justified cases. 2. The requested Member State shall inform the requesting Member State forthwith of its decision within two days. This time limit may be extended in duly justified cases by a maximum of 48 hours. Transit by air shall not be started without the approval of the requested Member State. Where no reply is provided by the requested Member State within the deadline referred to in the first subparagraph, the transit operations may be started by means of a notification by the requesting Member State. Member States may provide on the basis of bilateral or multilateral agreements or arrangements that the transit operations may be started by means of a notification by the requesting Member State.” 21. Under this Directive, with respect to any request for transit, the requesting member State must provide the requested member State with information about the third-country national to whom the transit request relates, flight details and further information about the state of health of the person and possible public order concerns. 22. The text of an Agreement on Extradition between the European Union and the USA was finalised in 2003; however, this agreement has, so far, not entered into force in respect of any EU member-State8. It provides that a EU member State may authorise transportation through its territory of a person surrendered to the US by a third State, or by the US to a third State. A request for transit shall be made through the diplomatic channel and shall contain a description of the person being transported and a brief description of the facts of the case. Authorization is not required when air transportation is used and no landing is scheduled on the territory of the transit State (which does not change the obligations of member States of the Council of Europe under human rights treaties, see below, para. 147) ; if an unscheduled landing occurs, the State on whose territory the landing takes place may require a request for transit. 23. States may enter into agreements concerning the transfer of sentenced persons for the purpose of serving their sentence in their country of origin. Such procedures are not relevant for this opinion. 8 The specific human rights obligations for Council of Europe member States in respect of extradition treaties, including this agreement, will be dealt with below (see paras 137-153)