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EU Parliament report accuses some member nations of colluding with CIA renditions
Boston Herald
By Associated Press
Wednesday, February 14, 2007

STRASBOURG, France - The European Parliament on Wednesday approved a controversial report accusing Britain, Germany, Italy and other European nations of turning a blind eye to CIA flights transporting terror suspects to secret prisons overseas in an apparent breach of EU human rights standards.

The report, concluding a yearlong high-profile investigation into CIA activities in Europe, gives no direct proof that the intelligence agency ran secret prisons in Europe ‐ an allegation that prompted the inquiry in November 2005 ‐ but accuses some governments of complicity with the U.S. secret renditions program.

The report went through by a tighter-than-expected 382-256 majority, with 74 abstentions, after the lawmakers clashed over its tone and content.

Socialist and Liberal lawmakers argued the report, based on the findings of a special parliamentary committee, has exposed a string of abductions by U.S. agents and insufficient parliamentary oversight of European security services.

'This is a report that doesn't allow anyone to look the other way. We must be vigilant that what has been happening in the past five years may never happen again,' said Italian Socialist Giovanni Fava, who drafted the report.

But center-right lawmakers warned it accuses governments of colluding with the CIA detention program without sufficient proof and demanded significant changes to the wording. Some of the criticism contained in the original draft was toned down, but that wasn't enough to win unequivocal cross-party support.

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