European states accused of torture

Asylum seekers suffer frequent abuses, the report says

Torture, deaths while in custody and other abuses of human rights are still occurring in a number of European countries, according to a report by Amnesty International.

European countries should ... end the blight of impunity which exists for police

Amnesty International

The report, published on Thursday, cites torture and death in detention, systematic police ill-treatment, and ethnic and religious repression among the abuses discovered in the 34 countries which were surveyed between July and December 1999.

Amnesty International urges European countries to end the impunity enjoyed by the police in many cases.

According to the report:

• torture and ill-treatment were reported in 27 countries
• political prisoners, including prisoners of conscience, were held in 14 countries

Among the cases cited by Amnesty International:

• In France, police implicated in the torture of Moroccan-Dutch national Ahmed Selmouni remained in their posts years after the case began.
• In Bosnia-Herzegovina, a businessman was reportedly beaten and kicked by three Bosnian-Croat police officers after apparently refusing to pay protection money.
• Belgium, Switzerland and other countries have used dangerous methods of restraint, "including deliberate blocking of the breathing passages," during forcible deportations.
• Finland and Greece imposed prison sentences for conscientious objection to military service.
• In the United Kingdom asylum and immigration laws that came into effect in November are said to have been "severely detrimental to refugee rights".

"While many people in Europe enjoy basic human rights, some people, including asylum-seekers and ethnic and religious minorities, continue to experience a side of Europe that runs contrary to its image as a bastion of human rights and freedom," an Amnesty statement says.

Police brutality

"Nothing demonstrates this more than the spread and frequency of allegations of police brutality.

"From the United Kingdom to Azerbaijan, individuals have suffered beatings, sexual abuse, mock hangings, electric shock treatment, racist abuse and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment at the hands of police," it says.

"European countries should work harder to uphold international human rights standards and end the blight of impunity which exists for police and security forces," the Amnesty statement concludes.