European abuses in the context of the fight against terrorism are not limited, however, to a supporting or passive role. Leading European governments are protagonists in counterterrorism policies that undermine the absolute prohibition on torture. The United Kingdom has led efforts to weaken European standards on returns to torture and illtreatment through interventions in cases before the European Court of Human Rights and through its promotion of unreliable diplomatic assurances from receiving countries against such abuse. Various countries, including the UK, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Italy and Sweden have used or attempted to use such assurances to return terrorism suspects to countries where they face a real risk of torture or ill-treatment, while France has expelled or deported dozens following procedures that do not adequately protect against this risk. There is evidence that Intelligence services and law enforcement personnel in the UK and Germany facilitated or participated in interrogations of terrorism suspects involving torture or ill-treatment. France engages in judicial cooperation with countries with poor records on torture. The UK has openly asserted the right to rely on torture evidence in court. And the UK, Germany and France all engage in intelligence cooperation with countries that torture, as documented in this report. These national approaches, pursued by leading EU member states, undermine the European Union’s authority and role in the eradication of torture worldwide. The EU Guidelines on Torture, adopted in 2001 and updated in 2008, establish as an objective of EU foreign policy “to influence third countries to take effective measures against torture and ill-treatment and to ensure that the prohibition against torture and ill-treatment is enforced.”4 A 2008 assessment of the Guidelines by the Council of European Union identified the EU’s diminished credibility as a challenge to implementation, and recommended that “coherence needs to be ensured between external action against torture in third countries and the EU’s own performance e.g.…ensuring full respect for human rights when adopting measures to fight terrorism.”5 This finding is echoed in the conclusions of the European Parliament’s 2008 resolution on EU respect for fundamental rights, which emphasized “how important it is for the European 4 Guidelines to EU Policy Towards Third Countries on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (An up-date of the Guidelines), www.consilium.europa.en/uedocs/cmsUpload/8590.en08.pdf (accessed March 15, 2010), p. 4. 5 Council of the European Union, “Implementation of the EU Guidelines on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment – Stock taking and new implementation measures,” April 18, 2008, 8407/1/08 REV 1, www.consilium.europa.en/uedocs/cms_Data/docs/hr/news129.pdf (accessed March 15, 2010), p. 13. “No Questions Asked” 6