Report: European Secret Services Helped CIA Terror Transfers
June 27, 2006
European secret services collaborated with CIA agents in the detention and transfer of terror suspects in or across the continent, the author of a report on the renditions told the Council of Europe Tuesday.
"It has been proved that agents from national intelligence services colluded in the handing over and the transportation of persons suspected of terrorism," Dick Marty told members of the pan-European body's parliamentary assembly.
Marty, a Swiss parliamentarian, drew up the Council of Europe report issued on June 7 that said 14 European countries colluded in or tolerated the secret transfer of terrorist suspects by the United States.
The report listed Sweden, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Britain, Italy, Macedonia, Germany and Turkey as "responsible, at varying degrees ... for violations of the rights of specific persons."
Seven other countries "could be held responsible for collusion -- active or passive": Poland, Romania, Spain, Cyprus, Ireland, Portugal and Greece, it added.
Marty wants resolution passed
Marty said the Council of Europe's assembly should pass a resolution later Tuesday calling for effective measures to combat the threat of terrorism but which also respect human rights.
"We must have a judicial world order with our friends and allies the United States, but it must be based on values led in particular by the Council of Europe," he said.
The United States has already criticized the report as a list of unproven allegations.
The Strasbourg-based Council of Europe, which is a separate body from the European Union, was set up after World War II to promote democracy and human rights across the continent. It has 46 member states.
Should be ashamed
Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and two other organizations set out a 12-point list of recommendations to coincide with the report.
"European governments should be ashamed of their participation in illegal detentions and must end their involvement at once," said Joanne Mariner of Human Rights Watch. "They should also press the United States to end these practices immediately."
In a statement, the four rights groups demanded independent public inquiries to investigate governments' involvement in renditions and secret transfers.
Their recommendations include new legislation to beef up existing laws on human rights; changing aviation policy so that aircraft cannot carry prisoners across a nation without authorization; and a pledge not to return suspects to countries where they may face torture even if there are diplomatic assurances that they would not be mistreated.
The other two rights organizations which co-signed the statement were the Association for the Prevention of Torture and the International Commission of Jurists.