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Cageprisoners
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04 April 2011
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04 April 2011
PRESS RELEASE: Cageprisoners responds to FCO report on Human Rights and Democracy
Cageprisoners is concerned by the report released on 31 March 2011 by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on Human Rights and Democracy around the world. The lack of condemnation against partner countries within the global War on Terror is of particular note as the FCO fails to adequately put forward the true extent of human rights abuses.
While its brief paragraph on Guantanamo Bay should be praised along with the commitment to secure the release and return of British resident, Shaker Aamer, the report does not go far enough to highlight the extent of human rights violations, particularly in the Middle East.
In its strategy against torture, the UK government has been keen to highlight that it has made progress in Nigeria, Kazakhstan, Nepal, Ghana, Lebanon, Paraguay, Senegal, and Tajikistan. However, in relation to partner countries in the War on Terror there is very little in the document that exposes the true nature of rendition, torture and unlawful detention of individuals.
What is of further concern, is that while the government has ordered an inquiry into British complicity in rendition and torture, British intelligence services still attempting to benefit from abuses taking place in Kenya and Uganda as has been revealed this week. The hypocrisy of such a position only serves to invalidate any goodwill that the government may have received in putting the inquiry together.
In a week where a Jordanian man has lost his appeal to stop his deportation to Jordan, the silence of the FCO regarding Jordan’s torture record is of particular significance. Rather, the report attempts to highlight how the government has secured Deportation with Assurances that individuals returned will not be tortured. Such assurances are of very little value and further expose that indeed Jordan is a country which systematically uses torture and arbitrary detention.
Executive Director for Cageprisoners, Asim Qureshi, said of the report,
“The coalition government in the UK has signalled the wrong intent with the release of its report on the state of human rights around the world. At a time when the dictators of the Middle East are toppling one after the next, the lack of recognition of their abuses and the UK government’s own relationship with them will only be seen as disingenuous. The government’s responsible position regarding Guantanamo is only a very small reprieve in what is an onslaught on human rights.”
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Cageprisoners is a human rights NGO that exists to raise awareness of the plight of the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay and other detainees held as part of the War on Terror. We aim to give a voice to the voiceless.
Give a voice to the voiceless.
Cageprisoners Ltd.
27 Old Gloucester Street
London
WC1N 3XX
Telephone: (44) 203 167 4416
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Cageprisoners is a human rights NGO that exists to raise awareness of the plight of the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay and other detainees held as part of the War on Terror. We aim to give a voice to the voiceless.
Give a voice to the voiceless.
Cageprisoners Ltd.
27 Old Gloucester Street
London
WC1N 3XX
Telephone: (44) 203 167 4416
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
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