A special committee of the European Parliament Tuesday approved
a report alleging that Britain, Poland, Austria, Italy and other EU
nations were aware of secret CIA flights over Europe and the
abduction of terror suspects by US agents into clandestine
detention centers.
At least 1,245 flights operated by the Central Intelligence
Agency (CIA) flew into European airspace or stopped over at
European airports between 2001 and 2005, with many of them being
used for extraordinary rendition, the EU legislature's temporary
committee on CIA activities in Europe said in its final report.
The report, adopted Tuesday by the committee and set for a vote
in February by the whole parliament, said temporary secret
detention facilities "may have been located at US military bases"
in Europe and "there may have been a lack of control" over such
bases by European host countries.
The committee also chided member states and EU foreign and
security chief Javier Solana for not fully cooperating with the
committee during its investigation.
European countries have been "turning a blind eye" to flights
operated by the CIA which, "on some occasions, were being used for
extraordinary rendition or the illegal transportation of
detainees," said the report, which wrapped up 12 months of
investigation by the parliament committee.
The committee called on the European Council to "start hearings
and commission an independent investigation without delay ... and
where necessary, to impose sanctions on member states in case of a
serious and persistent breach of Article 6."
Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights guarantees
the right of suspects to a fair trial before an independent
tribunal and will be considered as innocent until proved
guilty.
In an amendment to the report which was narrowly passed Tuesday,
the committee announced that from the available "circumstantial
evidence," "it is not possible to acknowledge that secret detention
centers were based in Poland."
The report referred to 21 well-documented cases of extraordinary
rendition in which victims were transferred through a European
country or were European residents at the time of their
kidnapping.
The committee called on the European Council and the member
states "to issue a clear and forceful declaration calling on the US
Administration to put an end to the practice of extraordinary
arrests and renditions."
It also deplored the reluctance of many member states, including
Austria, Italy, Poland, Portugal and Britain, and of the EU
council, to provide information to the committee.
At the same time, the committee complained about Javier Solana
withholding information about the EU council's discussions to
combat terrorism with US representatives. EU Counter-terrorism
Coordinator Gijs de Vries was also criticized for being "unable to
give satisfactory answers."
The report called for the closure of the US prison in
Guantanamo, Cuba and urged European countries "to immediately seek
the return of their citizens and residents who are being held
illegally by US authorities."
Allegations that the CIA was holding terrorism suspects in
Eastern Europe first emerged in the Washington Post in November
2005. Washington has refused to comment on whether secret CIA jails
exist, but maintains that all its anti-terrorism operations fall
within international law.
US President Bush confirmed last September that the CIA had held
high-level terrorism suspects at secret overseas locations, but
Washington had refused to disclose which countries had been
involved.
(Xinhua News Agency January 24, 2007)
