Human Rights Watch published a report yesterday titled Still at Risk: Diplomatic Assurances No Safeguard against Torture. I downloaded the 91-page report yesterday and although I haven’t had a chance to read it yet, there are a few key comments in the press release that need to be pointed out:

�€œGovernments that engage in torture always try to hide what they�€™re doing, so their �€˜assurances�€™ on torture can never be trusted,�€� said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch. �€œThis is a very negative trend in international diplomacy, and it�€™s doing real damage to the global taboo against torture.�€�

Torture is banned under international law. No exceptions are allowed, even in times of war or national emergency. The ban includes the absolute prohibition on transferring people to places where they face a risk of torture.

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture, the Council of Europe Commissioner on Human Rights, and the U. N. Independent Expert on human rights and counter-terrorism have all warned that the use of assurances is eroding the global ban on torture.

Indeed. In the case of Maher Arar, for example, the idea that the Department of Justice would trust the Syrians not to torture Arar despite the State Department’s numerous reports of Syria’s use of torture is, to be charitable, disingenuous. It’s not just the US, however:

In Canada, the government�€™s �€œsecurity certificate�€� regime permits deportations of alleged terrorism suspects to places where they are at risk of torture. To stem criticism in some of these cases, the Canadian government has sought assurances against torture from receiving states such as Egypt and Morocco.

The December 2001 expulsions of two Egyptian asylum seekers from Sweden based on assurances against torture caused a national scandal in Sweden after the men credibly alleged that they had been tortured and ill-treated in Egyptian custody. The Swedish government denies any responsibility for the men�€™s treatment in Egypt.

The government of the United Kingdom is reportedly in negotiations with the Algerian and Moroccan governments to allow the transfer of terrorism suspects on the basis of assurances that they would not be tortured. But people labeled �€œterrorists�€� in those countries are routinely targeted for abusive treatment, including torture.

Governments in the Netherlands, Austria, and Germany, have also sought assurances to effect extraditions to countries such as Turkey and Russia, where terrorism suspects are at heightened risk of abusive treatment in detention.

I’ll leave the final words to Dag Hammarskjold:

“You cannot play with the animal in you without becoming wholly animal; play with falsehoods without forfeiting your right to truth, play with cruelty without losing your sensitivity of mind. He who wants to keep his garden tidy doesn’t reserve a plot for weeds.”

Unfortunately, this garden is being overrun with weeds with each passing day.