LONDON - The British government has failed to adequately investigate the practice of extraordinary rendition where terrorism suspects are transferred outside usual extradition procedures, parliamentarians said on Friday.
The report, by parliament's influential cross-party Joint Committee on Human Rights, also said it had "grave concerns" over Britain's method of deporting people to countries where they could face torture.
Human rights groups accuse Washington of transporting terrorism suspects outside normal legal channels to countries where they could face torture under interrogation.
Washington says it sometimes transfers suspects outside normal extradition procedures – a practice known as extraordinary rendition – but denies sending them to countries that use torture.
"In regard to extraordinary renditions ... compliance with the [United Nations] Convention against Torture and other human rights standards requires more than passive non-cooperation in torture," the report said.
It added "active investigative and law enforcement action" was needed to stop torture or inhuman and degrading treatment.
"We believe the government should now take active steps to ascertain more details about the flights which it is now known used UK airports, including, in relation to each flight, who was on them, and their precise itinerary and the purpose of their journey."
The committee is made up of parliamentarians from the three main political parties and peers from the upper chamber.
Earlier this year, Britain denied being involved in a cover-up of US transfers of terrorism suspects and said it would not hold an independent inquiry.
While Washington has come under pressure to explain why hundreds of Central Intelligence Agency flights have crossed the world, critics accuse Britain of turning a blind eye.
They are not satisfied that Prime Minister Tony Blair's government, which insists it acts legally and in compliance with international obligations, has done all it can to unearth possible cases.
The report also examined Britain's system of deporting people to countries where they could face torture.
Under human rights laws, Britain needs guarantees from countries that deportees will not be mistreated at home and judges in the past have blocked deportations on those grounds.
The report said extradition accords, which the UK has with Jordan, Libya, Lebanon and is working on with Algeria, "could well undermine well-established international obligations".
"The evidence we have heard ... have left us with grave concerns that the government's policy of reliance on diplomatic assurances could place deported individuals at real risk of torture or inhuman and degrading treatment, without any reliable means of redress," it said.
Feeds