Inhuman

The mistreatment in the war on terror is not limited to Americans, of course. The Council of Europe's Committee on Torture has just given Great Britain a scathing report in parallel to Amnesty's infamous report on American treatment of prisoners:

The Council of Europe's committee for the prevention of torture (CPT), which visited the detainees in February 2002 and March 2004, said detention without trial caused mental disorders in most of the detainees.

The conditions under which some detainees were held "could be considered as amounting to inhuman and degrading treatment".

Foreigners in Britain suspected of involvement in international terrorism were held at Belmarsh and Woodhill prisons and Broadmoor high-security hospital under legislation passed in 2001.

Last March they were freed from custody and put under control orders restricting their liberty after the law lords ruled that their detention breached human rights laws.

The CPT report is the second within two days from institutions of the Council of Europe to condemn Britain for human rights failings.

Its findings are even more strongly worded than a scathing report on Wednesday from the European commissioner for human rights, Alvaro Gil-Robles, which criticised the UK's human rights record on terrorism, asylum and anti-social behaviour and said that control orders which impose conditions of house arrest on terror suspects "flout the right to the presumption of innocence".