Almost five years after the US began its “war on terror” in the wake of September 11 2001, human rights concerns are making it more difficult for European countries to provide Washington with all the support it wants.

A report released yesterday by the Council of Europe, the continent’s leading human rights organisation, spells out how at least seven European countries allegedly violated named individuals’ human rights by co-operating with the US in matters such as rendition, or extra-legal abduction.