A/HRC/13/31
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Number of
outstanding
cases at the
beginning of
the period
under review
Cases transmitted to the
Government during the period
under review: 0
Cases clarified during the period
under review: 0
Cases sent
under the
urgent action
procedure
Cases sent
under the
standard
procedure
0
0
0
Number of cases on which the
Government has replied
0
Government
Nongovernmental
sources
Number of
outstanding
cases at the end
of the year
under review
0
0
0
Multiple replies on some cases
Number of cases of possible
clarification by Government (6month rule)
N/A
0
General allegation
Yes
Government response
Yes
Prompt intervention letter
N/A
Government response
N/A
Working Group request for a visit
N/A
Government response
N/A
General allegations
Summary of the allegations
594. Information was submitted by sources concerning obstacles reportedly encountered
in the implementation of the Declaration. This information was transmitted to the
Government after its eighty-seventh session.
595. It was reported that between 2002 and 2003 the Government of the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Northern Ireland was involved in a practice of renditions and secret
detention. Victims of rendition were generally held in prolonged detention in secret
facilities, with no access to the ICRC, no notification to families and no notification of their
legal status and rights. There was no oversight of the conditions of detention and the
treatment of the detainees. There was also no information about the procedures in place to
decide about their detention and its duration. This practice is believed to amount to
enforced disappearance and to involve other serious human rights violations, including
torture or other ill-treatment.
596. The role of the Government in this practice allegedly included the detention of
persons inside its territory and their extrajudicial transfer overseas or to the custody of
foreign intelligence agencies or others.
597. Reportedly, national intelligence agencies have also facilitated information, which is
likely to have facilitated the illegal apprehension and transfer of a number of individuals.
598. According to the information received, airports in the United Kingdom were used by
planes to transport victims of rendition. Those planes stopped over in those airports during
the process of transferring, taking, delivering, or returning detainees from the rendition. It is
believed that the use of these planes, without the control and scrutiny of the Government,
124
GE.09-17704
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