'We're being taken for mugs': Badenoch says ITV investigation proves ECHR doesn't work

ITV News

4 hours ago

'We cannot be a safe haven for rapists and murderers because the prisons in their country are not nice,' the Conservative leader tells Paul Brand
Kemi Badenoch says Britain 'is being mugged' after an ITV News investigation revealed how fugitives wanted for murder and child rape are being allowed to stay in Britain under human rights law.
The Conservative Party leader said our reporting had further convinced her of the need to leave the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
An undercover investigation by ITV News revealed how two Brazilian fugitives – one wanted for murder, the other a convicted child rapist – had successfully avoided extradition by arguing that their rights under the ECHR would be violated in Brazilian prisons.
They were allowed to remain in the UK, where one has subsequently reoffended.
Reacting to our footage, Kemi Badenoch said: 'We are being taken for mugs. Britain is being mugged by this. It's absolutely shocking. We cannot be a safe haven for rapists and murderers because the prisons in their country are not nice. That's not our job.'
The Conservative leader recently announced that her party would review the role of the ECHR and if necessary, she would argue for Britain to withdraw from it.
'I said that if we need to leave, we should leave,' she told ITV News.
'And I've also said that I'm increasingly coming to that view. This is yet another piece of evidence that shows that the ECHR and the way it's being used by hostile actors, foreign criminals, is no longer fit for purpose.
"And if the problem is not with the law then it is with the judges who are not applying critical thinking or any kind of risk management. The risk of someone being tortured in Brazil versus the risk of a child being killed in England are not equivalent.'
Last night the government announced that it would launch its own review of the way Article 3 of the ECHR – which protects individuals from torture or mistreatment - is being applied in such cases, following our reporting.
ITV News found that fugitives wanted for murder and child rape are being allowed to stay in Britain under human rights law.
The investigation revealed that British courts are refusing their extradition to countries such as Brazil due to claims that they would be mistreated in foreign prisons.
In response the Home Office has announced it is reviewing the way human rights law is applied in similar cases.
In a statement to ITV News, the Home Office said: "The Home Secretary has asked the Home Office to work with other government departments to urgently examine the way Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights is operating in these cases, specifically relating to prison standards overseas.
'Foreign nationals who commit crime should be in no doubt that we will do everything to make sure they are not free to roam Britain's streets, including removing them from the UK at the earliest possible opportunity. Extradition is a largely judicial process.'
Our undercover filming has also revealed that fugitives may be lying to judges in order to make a claim under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
Among those wanted by Brazilian authorities is a man convicted of repeatedly raping a five year-old girl.
In 2005, Marlon Martins Dos Santos was convicted of killing a man in Brazil, before being sentenced in 2015 to a further 14 years for repeatedly raping the five-year-old girl.
But by then, he had fled to the UK, where a judge again refused Brazil's extradition request under Article 3 of the ECHR.
Dos Santos has committed further crimes against children while being allowed to remain in the UK.
In April he was convicted of possessing and distributing more than a thousand images of child abuse – including the most serious category.
Brazilian authorities also wish to extradite Nicolas Gomes De Brito, who fled to the UK in 2019 after allegedly ordering the murder of a rival gang member in Brazil.
When Brazil requested De Brito's extradition in 2022 he was arrested by British police, but successfully argued that his human rights would be infringed if he was sent back to Brazil.
Among the arguments that he put to a British judge was his claim to have been gay and married to a man, arguing that he would be treated especially harshly in Brazilian prisons due to his sexuality.
However, when ITV News filmed with De Brito he told our undercover reporters that he had a wife and son who lived with him in the UK, raising doubts about his claims in court.
In the end, a judge decided that he could stay in Britain due to broader concerns about his treatment in prison unrelated to his sexuality – namely that his rights under Article 3 of the ECHR could be violated.
When ITV News confronted De Brito at his motorcycle garage and asked why he wasn't in Brazil preparing to stand trial, he replied: 'What are you talking about?'
He was accompanied by a woman in the front seat of his van, but declined to say whether or not she was his wife.
Asked whether he had ordered the alleged revenge killing, De Brito drove off without providing any further answers and did not respond to ITV News when invited to in writing.
This article prohibits torture, inhumane or degrading treatment and punishment.
The Brazilian government told ITV News: "The Ministry of Justice and Public Security (MJSP) acknowledges the concerns expressed by British authorities regarding the conditions of the Brazilian prison system."
It added: "The Brazilian government has adopted a series of measures. It has been working directly with British authorities and the Brazilian Judiciary to provide diplomatic assurances regarding the treatment of extradited individuals and to present reports on the conditions of specific prison facilities."