Intelligence

EU rejects calls to investigate reports on secret CIA prisons

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Brussels, Nov 15, IRNA
EU-US-Jails
The European Commission, the EU's executive branch, has rejected calls by several members of the European Parliament (EP) for a formal investigation into reports on the existence of secret US prisons on EU territory.

European Commissioner for Security and Justice Franco Frattini told the EP Monday evening the Commission had seen "no evidence" that the US secret service, the CIA, is detaining terrorist suspects in detention camps in Eastern Europe.

The American media had reported on the existence of the prisons, where detainees were said to be also tortured.

Reports have suggested that EU member Poland and candidate country Romania were hosting these secret prisons.

Frattini said the EU treaty does not authorize the Commission to investigate the issue, explaining that the EU executive was not a state prosecutor.

However, the commissioner said that if the reports were true "then clearly this would constitute a grave infringement of the values and rules of the EU."
But a number of MEPs were not happy with the Commission's position.

French MEP Helene Flautre called on the Commission to carry out an investigation and go to the bottom of this matter.

British MEP Claude Moraes, noting that Condoleeza Rice, the US secretary of state, has started an investigation on the CIA leaks to the American media, called for an EU investigation.

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