'No torture' promise is good enough, says Blair

The Telegraph
Jul. 04, 2006

A promise from a country that it would not torture a deportee should be a good enough guarantee for British courts to send them back, Tony Blair has said today.

Mr Blair said it should not be up to the UK to "prove absolutely" that no harm would come to them, since an offender took the risk on to themselves by "breaking our rules".

The present system is "absurd", said Mr Blair.

Mr Blair, appearing before the Commons Liaison Committee, made up of senior MPs, was asked whether he thought someone should be returned to a country knowing they would be tortured.

He replied: "No. But I think you can deal with this.

"We should be able to get an assurance from the particular government that they will not abuse or torture an individual.

"Our obligation is to get that assurance from that government, but our obligation does not extend to say in all circumstances we have got to protect you when you are causing mayhem in our country.

"We should go as far as we can to get assurances from other governments but it's absurd we can't return somebody to a country where they might have a problem in respect of, where this individual is inciting terrorism, or even committing acts of terrorism.

"That's where I say we have got the system completely out of kilter with common sense.

"The idea that if I can't prove absolutely that they are going to come to no harm, I have to keep them here - why?

"The risk they have taken upon themselves by breaking the rules of our society."

He said the problem was not with the Human Rights Act, but with its interpretation.

Blair's comment came on the same day that Sir Menzies Campbell, the Liberal Democrats' leader, called for emergency legislation to be rushed through Parliament to halt the extradition of three former NatWest bankers to America.

Sir Menzies called it a "constitutional disgrace" that the men, who are accused of Enron-related fraud, are to be sent to America on the basis of a treaty the US has not ratified and without evidence.