134 Europe and Central Asia Summary of Amnesty International’s Concerns in the Region, January – June 2007 key to various aspects of the US secret detention and rendition programme. In April, AI received a reply from the then Foreign Secretary stating that the UK authorities would not “facilitat[e] the transfer of individuals through the UK to places where there are substantial grounds to believe that they would face a real risk of torture”; but that: “[i]f we were required to assist another State in a rendition operation, and our assistance would be lawful, we would decide whether or not to assist taking into account all the circumstances.” Responding in June, AI expressed dismay at the UK government’s overall position on renditions, including the apparent assumption that there might be circumstances in which it would be lawful for the UK to provide assistance to a rendition operation. AI pointed out that at a minimum renditions involved the forcible transfer of people without any legal basis or any recourse to the rule of law, and often amount to kidnapping. Hence, AI stated that it could not understand in what circumstances the UK could lawfully provide assistance to a rendition operation. AI also expressed concern at the UK government’s focus exclusively on physical transfers of rendition victims through the UK, noting that as such, the government’s position was not enough to prevent the occurrence of this practice. A “no through the UK” policy was not enough, because it failed to address instances whereby the UK, wittingly or unwittingly, may provide material support for rendition operations other than by allowing an airplane carrying a victim to transit through the UK. For example, the government’s position would overlook cases where the UK provided logistical or other support to an aircraft which was not carrying a rendition victim at the time that UK assistance was provided, but which was nonetheless suspected of being involved in renditions. AI was also concerned that the UK government’s policy on renditions appeared to focus exclusively on the question of whether there were substantial grounds for believing that individuals who may be Amnesty International subjected to rendition would face a real risk of torture in the places to which they were to be transferred. AI expressed concern at the narrowness of this focus, pointing out that forcible transfer without recourse to legal process was itself a human rights violation, whether or not it resulted in torture. AI noted that renditions, in and of themselves, involved serious human rights violations, which may include ill-treatment short of torture. AI reminded the UK authorities that the prohibition of other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment was just as absolute as was the prohibition of torture. In light of these concerns, AI exhorted the UK authorities to provide a firm commitment that the UK would not facilitate renditions of any individuals in any circumstances, let alone where there were substantial grounds for believing that they would be at a real risk of torture or other ill-treatment or other serious human rights violations. In addition, having been informed by the Foreign Secretary in her April letter that the UK authorities did not routinely keep records of flights in and out of Diego Garcia, in its June reply AI expressed grave concern at such a failure, given the UK authorities’ awareness of the US-led rendition programme. The organization considered that the UK’s failure to keep such records, as a matter of routine, impaired accountability. Bisher al-Rawi and Jamil el-Banna (update to AI Index: EUR 01/001/2007) In April, Bisher al-Rawi, a former UK resident, was returned to the UK and reunited with his family after more than four years in US military custody at the Guantánamo detention camp. Bisher alRawi was not charged with any offence on his return to the UK. He, along with his friend Jamil el-Banna, had been in detention since November 2002, when the pair were arrested in Gambia. The UK government had previously tried to disavow AI Index: EUR 01/010/2007