MEPs divided over CIA report
Secret CIA flights allegedly transported snatched terror suspects from Europe to the rest of the world (Photo: Council of Europe)
HELENA SPONGENBERG
13.06.2006 @ 09:54 CET
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The CIA was "directly responsible" for abduction, detention and rendition of terror suspects in Europe and member states "may be held liable" for failure to comply with the European Convention of Human Rights, according to European lawmakers.
MEPs in the temporary committee on alleged CIA renditions issued the text which stated it is "implausible...that certain European governments were not aware of the activities linked to extraordinary rendition taking place on their territory."
The committee adopted the interim report by a majority of 25 members against 14 with seven MEPs abstaining. The whole of the parliament is due to vote on the report at the beginning of July.
"I am happy that the majority of MEPs on this committee support the report," said Swedish MEP Cecelia Malmstrom in a statement.
"But it is strange and surprising that the [centre-right] EPP-ED members continue to deny what the rest of the world acknowledges: that illegal renditions do take place in Europe, that international conventions have been breached and that European citizens have been tortured with the awareness of European governments," she stated.
"Why don't the EPP members trust [US secretary of state] Condolezza Rice who has confirmed that these renditions have taken place in Europe?" Ms Malmstrom asked.
The rightist Europe for Union of Nations and the centre-right EPP-ED groups want to minimise accusations against the US to keep good relations with Washington.
They also don't want all the details on the investigation to be public, an EU official told EUobserver.
However, centre-right MEPs argue the report does not contain enough evidence.
"It is basically a summing up of existing allegations and assertions. It is not balanced and therefore the majority of the EPP-ED Group voted against", said centre-right MEP Jas Gawronski MEP.
"We have a number of suspicions, but no proof. This is not properly reflected in the interim report", he added.
Many changes to the CIA report are expected when the text goes through parliament with various political groups pushing their own line.
Some members of the Independence/Democracy group, for example, want the specific mention of Poland and Romania as possible locations of CIA camps kept out of the report, as many of its MEPs are from Poland.
However, it was agreed that the temporary committee's work should be continued for another six months before a conclusive report comes out.
Spain wades in
Meanwhile, Spain's national court ruled on Monday (12 June) that it had jurisdiction to investigate whether the CIA used a Spanish airport on the Mediterranean island of Mallorca between late 2001 and early 2005.
National court judge Ismael Moreno overruled prosecutor Vicente Gonzalez Mota who claimed the issue should be dealt with by the regional judge on the Balearic island.
Mr Moreno's ruling comes after last week's report by Europe's main human rights body - the Council of Europe – which said several European countries, including Spain, acted as stepping stones in the CIA practice of abducting and transporting terrorist suspects to secret detention centres.
The Spanish government has repeatedly denied any knowledge of the CIA using its territory, with foreign minister Miguel Angel Moratinos set to address MEPs on the matter shortly.
