The vice-president of the European parliament signs a postcard addressed to Sarkozy [AFP]

The human rights group says the 27-nation EU bloc is complicit in torture practices by failing to protest the actions of countries such as the United States, Syria and Tunisia.

Not only should governments condemn torture, they must also discredit the argument that torture is necessary to prevent terrorism, Amnesty said.

On Thursday, Amnesty highlighted the issue by staging a torture scene  in front of the European parliament in Brussels.

Set against the backdrop of the European flag, two actors, painted blue, acted out a scene where one had a bag and rope over his head.

Appeal to Sarkozy

A number of EU MPs were present, signing an oversized postcard addressed to Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, whose country takes over the EU’s rotating presidency next month.

Nicolas Beger of Amnesty International said that his organisation felt they had to highlight the issue of torture as the EU did not seem to be acting to prevent it.

Helene Flautre, a French member of the European parliament and chairperson of the parliament's subcommittee on human rights, told the gathered crowd that all states should start interrogations in an impartial manner, and that they should "give all information so that the accountability is established and the victims are compensated".

Edward McMillan Scott, the vice-president of the European parliament, also drew attention to the violation of human rights in China.

"I hope very soon that the regime will go and it will be replaced by a democratic system in China which is desperately needed in the largest country on earth. I am here because they torture people in China. It is a terror state."

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