Recommendation 768
(1975)
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Assembly debate on 3 October 1975 (13th Sitting) (see Doc. 3668, report of the Legal Affairs Committee). Text adopted by the Assembly on 3 October 1975 (13th Sitting).
- Thesaurus
The Assembly,
1. Appalled by the fact that torture is practised in over sixty countries ;
2. Considering that it is not a question of excesses committed by individuals or groups acting deliberately outside the law, but that torture is carried out by agents of the state, not only with the approval, but also on the orders of their governments ;
3. Considering that some governments systematically train their officials in methods of torture ;
4. Convinced that the Assembly of the Council of Europe cannot remain indifferent while in certain countries human rights are being so gravely violated ;
5. Considering that torture is one of the most horrible and perverse forms of brutality which men can inflict on each other, either physically or morally ;
6. Stressing most strongly that torture is one of the most serious violations of human rights ;
7. Welcoming the fact that the Council of Europe has adopted instruments to ensure that human rights are respected in its member states, and that Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights stipulates that no one must be subjected to torture ;
8. Believing that extradition or expulsion to countries where torture is practised or tolerated by governmental bodies is contrary to Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights,
9. Recommends that the Committee of Ministers :
a agree formally on the principle laid down in the conclusions of the meeting of 1969 on the application of the European Convention on Extradition concerning refusal of extradition if inhuman treatment might result from such action ;
b examine the possibilities for member states to revise their conventions on extradition and mutual assistance in legal matters concluded with countries where torture is practised or tolerated by governmental bodies, and study, in addition, the practices followed by those countries in the matter of expulsion.
