Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Lord Tomlinson (Labour). It was answered on Monday, 19 December 2005.

US Prisons in the EU

Question: My Lords, I thank my noble friend for acknowledging the role that the Council of Europe plays in this regard. As a member of the Legal Affairs Committee of the Council of Europe on your Lordships’ behalf, perhaps I may say that we are deeply disturbed at the failure of EUROCONTROL to give any indication in response to inquiries about the patterns of flights that it has been asked to account for. It is all very well the member states giving their responses to the Secretary General, but can my noble friend assure us that pressure will be brought on EUROCONTROL? At the moment it seems to be controlling itself and not to be subject to any sort of international direction.

Answer: My Lords, I would hope that by 21 February all the relevant information would be available. May I say, though, that it is potentially a leap of imagination to suggest that the flights necessarily mean that people were improperly held on them? There is no such evidence. If there is such evidence it should be brought forward.

Secondary information