A/HRC/13/31 Number of cases on which the Government has replied 0 Multiple replies on some cases Number of cases of possible clarification by Government (6month rule) No 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 Information from the Government 213. The Working Group received one communication from the Government on 1 October 2009 in reply to the general allegation. General allegations Summary of the allegations 214. 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. 215. It was reported that, between 2001 and 2005, the Government of Germany was involved in a practice of rendition 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. 216. The role of the Government in this practice allegedly included the facilitation of information by the national intelligence agencies to other intelligence agencies, which is likely to have facilitated the illegal apprehension and transfer of a number of individuals. 217. There were also allegations according to which airports in Germany 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, was essential to facilitate and implement the rendition programme. In some cases, these planes were used to detain individuals in Europe, while in other cases victims of enforced disappearance were transported in and out of Europe. The Government allegedly allowed these planes to land on its territory without adopting any measure to prevent their use for secret detention and rendition. 218. There were also reports that the Government of Germany was allegedly informed of the secret detention of a number of their nationals and provided no information of their fate or whereabouts to their respective families. The Government did not ensure consular access for the victims of rendition, did not make any diplomatic representation on behalf of them to protect their rights, and did not seek to facilitate their return. 219. There is also concern that the Government of Germany participated in interrogations of detainees, held in detention in secret locations. Some of them may have been subjected to torture or other ill-treatment. GE.09-17704 51