Gold9472
12-13-2005, 09:46 AM
Europe CIA probe: People were abducted, transferred illegally
http://cnn.worldnews.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=CNN.com+-+Europe+CIA+probe%3A%A0People+were%A0abducted%2C+t ransferred+illegally+-+Dec+13%2C+2005&expire=01%2F12%2F2006&urlID=16561124&fb=Y&url=http%3A%2F%2Fedition.cnn.com%2F2005%2FWORLD%2F europe%2F12%2F13%2Fcia.europe.ap%2F&partnerID=2006
12/13/2005
PARIS, France (AP) -- An investigator looking into claims of secret CIA prisons in Europe said Tuesday that people were apparently abducted and transferred between countries.
"Legal proceedings in progress in certain countries seemed to indicate that individuals had been abducted and transferred to other countries without respect for any legal standards," Swiss senator Dick Marty said in a written report to a Council of Europe committee in Paris.
He added that "information gathered to date reinforced the credibility of the allegations concerning the transfer and temporary detention of individuals, without any judicial involvement, in European countries."
He also said that the United States has never formally denied such allegations.
He said he "deplores the fact that no information or explanations" were provided by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who faced repeated questions about the CIA prison allegations on her recent visit to Europe.
Poland and Romania have been identified by the New York-based Human Rights watch as sites of possible CIA secret prisons, but both countries have repeatedly denied any involvement.
EU Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner Franco Frattini said Monday he had asked his colleague in charge of transport, Jacques Barrot, to arrange for log books archived by the Brussels-based air safety organization Eurocontrol to be made available to Marty as he looks into whether prisoners were transported across Europe in breach of the continent's human rights principles.
Frattini also has asked External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner to help secure satellite images of air bases in northeastern Poland and eastern Romania from the EU's main satellite center in Torrejon de Ardoz, Spain.
But he reiterated that there is no clear evidence of any secret detention centers on European soil, and that all EU member states have, through various government officials, denied any involvement.
"We have to put our trust in these ministers. We can't undermine their credibility. Any accusations must be substantiated. One can't make conclusions without having full evidence," he told the European Parliament's civil liberties committee.
Eurocontrol, also known as the European Organization for the Safety of Air Navigation, develops and coordinates pan-European air traffic management strategies. Member states send Eurocontrol their flight logs of both civilian and military flights.
Marty has requested the logs to be able to determine flight patterns of several dozen suspect CIA airplanes. He has also requested satellite pictures of the Sczytno-Szymany airport in northeastern Poland and the Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base in eastern Romania, after they were identified by Human Rights Watch as possible sites of clandestine CIA detention centers. European officials say such prisons would violate the continent's human rights principles.
Frattini said he fully supported the Council of Europe investigation, but spoke against a possible additional probe by the European Parliament, which Euro lawmakers want to launch.
"I see the risk of overlapping, the risk of undermining one inquiry with another," Frattini said.
The assembly's civil liberties committee has repeatedly pushed for an inquiry committee to be established to add political weight to the probe carried out by the Strasbourg-based Council of Europe -- an organization which has no direct jurisdiction over any European country.
"We're in favor of a committee of inquiry, not because we'd like to wage a campaign against the CIA or the U.S., but because Europe's credibility is at stake," said German deputy Angelika Beer.
The issue will be debated in the EU parliament again on Wednesday.
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
http://cnn.worldnews.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=CNN.com+-+Europe+CIA+probe%3A%A0People+were%A0abducted%2C+t ransferred+illegally+-+Dec+13%2C+2005&expire=01%2F12%2F2006&urlID=16561124&fb=Y&url=http%3A%2F%2Fedition.cnn.com%2F2005%2FWORLD%2F europe%2F12%2F13%2Fcia.europe.ap%2F&partnerID=2006
12/13/2005
PARIS, France (AP) -- An investigator looking into claims of secret CIA prisons in Europe said Tuesday that people were apparently abducted and transferred between countries.
"Legal proceedings in progress in certain countries seemed to indicate that individuals had been abducted and transferred to other countries without respect for any legal standards," Swiss senator Dick Marty said in a written report to a Council of Europe committee in Paris.
He added that "information gathered to date reinforced the credibility of the allegations concerning the transfer and temporary detention of individuals, without any judicial involvement, in European countries."
He also said that the United States has never formally denied such allegations.
He said he "deplores the fact that no information or explanations" were provided by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who faced repeated questions about the CIA prison allegations on her recent visit to Europe.
Poland and Romania have been identified by the New York-based Human Rights watch as sites of possible CIA secret prisons, but both countries have repeatedly denied any involvement.
EU Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner Franco Frattini said Monday he had asked his colleague in charge of transport, Jacques Barrot, to arrange for log books archived by the Brussels-based air safety organization Eurocontrol to be made available to Marty as he looks into whether prisoners were transported across Europe in breach of the continent's human rights principles.
Frattini also has asked External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner to help secure satellite images of air bases in northeastern Poland and eastern Romania from the EU's main satellite center in Torrejon de Ardoz, Spain.
But he reiterated that there is no clear evidence of any secret detention centers on European soil, and that all EU member states have, through various government officials, denied any involvement.
"We have to put our trust in these ministers. We can't undermine their credibility. Any accusations must be substantiated. One can't make conclusions without having full evidence," he told the European Parliament's civil liberties committee.
Eurocontrol, also known as the European Organization for the Safety of Air Navigation, develops and coordinates pan-European air traffic management strategies. Member states send Eurocontrol their flight logs of both civilian and military flights.
Marty has requested the logs to be able to determine flight patterns of several dozen suspect CIA airplanes. He has also requested satellite pictures of the Sczytno-Szymany airport in northeastern Poland and the Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base in eastern Romania, after they were identified by Human Rights Watch as possible sites of clandestine CIA detention centers. European officials say such prisons would violate the continent's human rights principles.
Frattini said he fully supported the Council of Europe investigation, but spoke against a possible additional probe by the European Parliament, which Euro lawmakers want to launch.
"I see the risk of overlapping, the risk of undermining one inquiry with another," Frattini said.
The assembly's civil liberties committee has repeatedly pushed for an inquiry committee to be established to add political weight to the probe carried out by the Strasbourg-based Council of Europe -- an organization which has no direct jurisdiction over any European country.
"We're in favor of a committee of inquiry, not because we'd like to wage a campaign against the CIA or the U.S., but because Europe's credibility is at stake," said German deputy Angelika Beer.
The issue will be debated in the EU parliament again on Wednesday.
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.