Friday

29th Mar 2024

EU states breach human rights law in CIA probe

  • Terry Davis - EU states Italy and Belgium are in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights (Photo: European Commission)

Five European countries have failed to deliver answers to the Council of Europe, the human rights watchdog, on questions about secret CIA prisons and rendition flights on their territories.

By not replying, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Italy, San Marino and Georgia are all in breach of European human rights law, the secretary-general of the Council of Europe (CoE) Terry Davis said on Wednesday (22 February).

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

Instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

Referring to the 1950 European Convention on Human Rights, he indicated "The deadline for my inquiry related to allegations concerning secret detentions and the transportation of secretly detained persons in or through Council of Europe member states expired at midnight."

"I remind all five countries that their failure to reply is a clear breach of the convention, which underpins the defence of human rights across the continent," Mr Davis said.

The breach should be rectified "as a matter of urgency" he added.

Last November, Mr Davis asked member states of the 46-nation body to detail what measures they had taken to ensure that people were not subject to "forced disappearances, secret detentions and extraordinary renditions to places where they may be tortured or exposed to inhuman and degrading treatment."

Investigations from all angles

Allegations of illegal CIA activities in Europe were first voiced in November last year, after a Washington Post report said that the CIA used camps in Eastern European countries to interrogate terrorist suspects.

Later on, the NGO Human Rights Watch reconfirmed the allegations, adding that interrogation methods amounting to torture could have been used.

Washington has neither confirmed nor denied the allegations over secret prisons in Europe but has denied using or condoning torture.

The CoE secretary general's investigation on alleged CIA activities works in tandem with another CoE inquiry Europe, led by Swiss senator Dick Marty.

Last month, Mr Marty concluded in a first assessment that EU governments had silently condoned the practice of abducting and transporting prisoners from European airports to countries in which torture is used.

Mr Marty is expected to meet with a European Parliament temporary committee of inquiry into the claims that CIA espionage, abduction of prisoners and other CIA business in Europe was known to EU member state or candidate state governments.

Germany to investigate CIA mistake abduction

Meanwhile, Munich state prosecutors have launched an investigation to determine whether Germany secretly helped the CIA in the abduction of one of its citizens, writes le Monde.

Lebanese-born German citizen Khaled al-Masri was kidnapped by the CIA in Macedonia in 2004 and was held in a US "renditions" jail in Afghanistan after being mistaken for a terrorist suspect.

The former German government has been accused of complicity in the kidnapping, with Mr Masri claiming that a German agent interrogated him at the US prison in Kabul.

Members of the former governemnt have however denied to accusations of complicity in the kidnapping.

EU states did run secret CIA jails, new report says

Polish and Romanian security officials have confirmed to Europe's human rights watchdog that the two countries hosted secret and illegal CIA prisons, while the watchdog also says that EU member states were aware of CIA kidnappings and rendition flights, UK daily the Guardian has reported.

EU Parliament set to sue EU Commission over Hungary funds

The European Parliament will likely take the European Commission to court for unblocking more than €10bn in funds for Hungary last December. A final nod of approval is still needed by European Parliament president, Roberta Metsola.

EU Commission clears Poland's access to up to €137bn EU funds

The European Commission has legally paved the way for Poland to access up to €137bn EU funds, following Donald Tusk's government's efforts to strengthen the independence of their judiciary and restore the rule of law in the country.

Opinion

Potential legal avenues to prosecute Navalny's killers

The UN could launch an independent international investigation into Navalny's killing, akin to investigation I conducted on Jamal Khashoggi's assassination, or on Navalny's Novichok poisoning, in my role as special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, writes the secretary-general of Amnesty International.

Opinion

I'll be honest — Moldova's judicial system isn't fit for EU

To state a plain truth: at present, Moldova does not have a justice system worthy of a EU member state; it is riven with corruption and lax and inconsistent standards, despite previous attempts at reform, writes Moldova's former justice minister.

Latest News

  1. Kenyan traders react angrily to proposed EU clothes ban
  2. Lawyer suing Frontex takes aim at 'antagonistic' judges
  3. Orban's Fidesz faces low-polling jitters ahead of EU election
  4. German bank freezes account of Jewish peace group
  5. EU Modernisation Fund: an open door for fossil gas in Romania
  6. 'Swiftly dial back' interest rates, ECB told
  7. Moscow's terror attack, security and Gaza
  8. Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsThis autumn Europalia arts festival is all about GEORGIA!
  2. UNOPSFostering health system resilience in fragile and conflict-affected countries
  3. European Citizen's InitiativeThe European Commission launches the ‘ImagineEU’ competition for secondary school students in the EU.
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersThe Nordic Region is stepping up its efforts to reduce food waste
  5. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  6. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us