Council of Europe probe backs claims of CIA
prison flights
AFX News Limited
December 13, 2005
PARIS (AFX) - The CIA appears to have abducted suspects in Europe and
illegally transferred them to other countries, according to the preliminary
results of a Council of Europe investigation released today.
'Legal proceedings under way in certain countries appear to show that
individuals were abducted and transferred to other countries without respect
for any legal assistance procedures,' the Swiss senator who leads the inquiry,
Dick Marty, said as he presented his findings to date.
The rapporteur's comments, made at a meeting of the Council of Europe's
human rights committee, were released in an official statement from the
46-member rights and democracy body.
Marty said the results of his investigation added weight to reports that the
CIA flew terror suspects to and from secret prisons in Europe, and called for
European governments to fully investigate the claims.
'The elements we have gathered so far tend to reinforce the credibility of
the allegations concerning the transport and temporary detention of detainees
-- outside all judicial procedure -- in European countries,' he said.
The rapporteur 'demands immediately that all member governments fully commit
to uncovering the truth about flights and overflights on their territory in
recent years, by aircraft transporting people arrested and detained outside of
any legal procedure,' the statement said.
'If the allegations proved correct the member states would stand accused of
having seriously breached their human rights obligations to the Council of
Europe,' the statement said.
The rapporteur said he 'deplored the lack of information and explanation
provided by (US Secretary of State Condoleezza) Rice during her visit to
Europe,' according to the statement.
The United States has come under mounting international pressure over claims
the CIA has been illegally using European airports and airspace to transport
Islamic suspects between countries without legal process.
Reports have emerged of many hundreds of CIA flights, suspected of carrying
undeclared prisoners across European airspace, since the September 11, 2001
attacks in the United States.
'It has to be said that the United States has never formally denied the
allegations,' Marty told the rights committee.
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