[PIO] MP Kostis Efstathiou organised a special event on the extradition of prisoners to third countries and the conditions of their detention, at the

Mr. Kostis Efstathiou, Assembly Rapporteur on the issue of systematic torture and inhuman or degrading treatment in Europe, organised today a special event on the margins of the First Part of the Session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in Strasbourg, on the issue of extradition of detainees to third countries and their conditions of detention. The event was attended, among others, by Members of the Assembly and representatives of civil society.

The event was also attended by the lawyers of N. Trabelsi and A. Lapshin, well-known from the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), who presented the particularly harsh and inhuman conditions of detention of their clients in the United States and Azerbaijan respectively. The detainees, the lawyers argued, suffered extensive psychological and physical violence in solitary confinement, with irreparable damage to their health, in violation of human rights.

In the context of the discussion, Mr Efstathiou referred to the imprisonment of Julian Assange, Abdullah Ocalan and Kenan Ayas, stressing that their conditions of detention do not befit the civilized world and human dignity. Respect for human rights should, he stressed, over and above any other obligation or visa when executing requests and transferring defendants, take precedence over respect for human rights. Persons extradited to third countries, he further noted, who are deprived of their liberty should not be deprived of other basic human rights. They should, he stressed, be afforded the greatest possible protection by the provisions of national legislation and relevant international agreements concluded with third countries, as the extradition process is often dictated by political motives rather than by the interests of justice. Finally, it called on Member States to take into account respect for the rule of law when examining extradition requests from third countries and to ensure that persons to be extradited are not subjected to torture or inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment.

(Text as sent by the House of Representatives)
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