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EC calls on EU states to establish truth on CIA renditions

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Brussels, June 8, IRNA
EU-CIA-Renditions
The European Commission, the executive body of EU, urged member stated Friday to cooperate with EC in establishing the truth about CIA renditions in Europe.

"We are concerned about this, very concerned indeed. In the view of the European Commission, anti-terrorism activities must be conducted with full respect of fundamental rights and the principle of the rule of law," the European Commission spokesman for justice, freedom and security, Friso Roscam Abbing told reporters.

"We call upon the Member States to fully cooperate with the Council of Europe. We will now start very carefully analysing and studying Senator Marty's report," he said.

The COE report released Friday and prepared by Swiss senator Dick Marty, underlined that "there is now enough evidence to state that secret detention facilities run by the CIA did exist in Europe from 2003 to 2005, in particular in Poland and Romania."

The report by Europe's human rights watchdog noted that "some European governments have obstructed the search for the truth and are continuing to do so by invoking the concept of "state secrets." "This criticism applies to Germany and Italy, in particular," said Marty.

The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) the third-largest party in the European Parliament , welcomed the new CoE report.

British Liberal MEP Sarah Ludford, Vice-President of the former committee of enquiry on CIA activities in the EP said the new Marty report confirms what had been found by the Council of Europe and the European Parliament. "

"Any new evidence confirming that CIA prisons existed, as we alleged, in Europe, would be damning and shameful. As MEPs demanded, we must expose the secret agreements between US intelligence services and some European governments. These illegal, undemocratic and unacceptable actions must be accounted for and punished," she said.

Spanish MEP Ignasi Guardans, former member of the EP's CIA committee declared, "The release of this new report by the Council of Europe rapporteur will help to maintain the spotlight on what happened in the name of the "war on terror".

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