OMCT and Others Join HRW in Calling for and End to the Use of Diplomatic Assurances to Circumvent Prohibition on Return to Torture.

It is the position of the eight non-governmental organizations behind this statement that diplomatic assurances are not an effective safeguard against torture and other ill-treatment. There is ample evidence that people who are returned to states that practice torture are in fact tortured, regardless of whether the sending state has sought diplomatic assurances of humane treatment in individual cases. The use of diplomatic assurances in the face of risk of torture and other ill-treatment violates the absolute prohibition in international law against torture and other ill-treatment, including the non-refoulement obligation. Read the statement: da_position_paper.pdf