Pursuant to Article 4 (2) of the Treaty on European Union national security remains the sole responsibility of each Member State. It is not for the Council to comment on responsibilities of Member States.

When the existence of CIA secret detention facilities was revealed in 2006, the Council underlined that the EU remained firmly committed to the absolute prohibition of torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and punishment(1). The EU condemns all forms of torture and other ill-treatment, under any circumstance, and works towards their prevention and eradication within the EU and worldwide, as a priority of its human rights policy. The EU believes that everyone has a right to medical treatment.

In 2012 the Council reviewed the EU Guidelines to EU policy towards third countries on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, under which the EU undertakes an array of activities(2). A regular dialogue between EU and US legal advisers addresses international law aspects of the fight against terrorism, where questions such as the arrest, detention, interrogation and transfer of terrorist suspects are discussed. In this dialogue, the EU stresses the importance of respect for international law and human rights, but the specific activities of intelligence services are not addressed. The EU has repeatedly called for the closure of the Guantanamo detention facility and the EU notes the ongoing efforts of the US Administration in this regard.