HRW Report: Britain, France, Germany Use Torture Intel

A new report from Human Rights Watch has revealed that Britain, France and Germany use foreign intelligence obtained through torture in the fight against "terrorism".

The use by three heavyweight European powers of information from secret services in countries that routinely rely on torture was damaging the reputation of the entire European Union, the rights group said in its report issued on Tuesday.

Western Europe researcher for HRW, Judith Sunderland, said, "Berlin, Paris and London should be working to eradicate torture, not relying on foreign torture intelligence."

"Taking information from torturers is illegal and just plain wrong," Sunderland stressed.

The report, "No Questions Asked: Intelligence Cooperation with Countries that Torture," found: "The actual practices of these leading EU states contradict the EU's anti-torture guidelines, which make eradicating torture and ill-treatment a priority in its relations with other countries."

The use of such intelligence obtained under questionable circumstances "damages the credibility of the European Union", added HRW.

Intelligence services in the three countries lack detailed instructions on how to assess and respond to information from countries that torture, said the rights group, adding that torture-tainted information has been used in criminal proceedings in France and Germany, despite domestic and international rules banning the use of such evidence in proceedings.