EU 'aware of CIA flights', Poland prison 'unproven' [fr] [de]
A European Parliament committee approved a report accusing several member states of allowing secret CIA flights over Europe, but casting doubt on claims that the CIA had a secret prison in Poland.
Background
On 23 January 2007, MEPs adopted a report that examines claims that EU member states allowed covert CIA flights to stop in or fly over their territories and also hosted secret US detention centres.
The report, slightly less damning than its November 2006 predecessor, comes after a year of investigations by a special parliamentary committee. The committee was established following allegations, in late 2005, that the CIA had secretly held al Qaeda suspects in EU member states and transferred them to countries known to practice torture.
The report says that the UK, Poland, Italy, Germany and seven other countries knew that the US was using Europe as a transit zone for illegally detaining and transporting terror suspects, in possible violation of EU human-rights law, and urges the Council to initiate an independent investigation and "where necessary, impose sanctions".
These were not spelt out, but EU Justice and Security Commissioner Franco Frattini said in November 2005 that if reports of secret CIA jails were true, states would face serious consequences, including suspension of their EU voting rights.
According to the report, at least 1,245 covert CIA flights crossed European airspace or stopped at European airports between 2001 and 2005, with the highest density flying over the UK, Germany and Ireland.
Terror suspects being transported – and in some cases detained – in Europe, were tortured during interrogations, states the report.
But, in a crucial last-minute amendment passed by just one vote, the text states that "it is not possible to acknowledge" that the CIA had secret prisons based in Poland.
MEPs are also accusing a number of member states as well as EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and EU Counter-Terrorism Co-ordinator Gijs de Vries of failing to co-operate and reveal all they knew to the special parliamentary committee.
Germany, which currently holds the EU Presidency, finds itself in a particularly sticky situation; its Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier is accused of helping to delay the release of a German born-and-raised Turkish man, held at Guantanamo Bay for more than four years.
According to MEPs, which have called for the closure of the US detention centre in Cuba and urged European countries "to immediately seek the return of their citizens and residents who are being illegally held by US authorities", the German government is guilty of refusing to accept a US offer, made in 2002, to release Murat Kurnaz from Guantanamo, despite the fact that both US and German intelligence had concluded that he posed no terrorist threat.
Under pressure from the Committee to clarify his knowledge of the Kurnaz case, Steinmeier – who was former Chancellor Schröder's chief of staff at the time – replied that he was unaware of any such offer.
Positions
US President George W. Bush confirmed last year that the CIA had held high-level terrorism suspects at secret overseas locations, but declined to say where these were located. He also denied using torture or handing over prisoners to countries that practice it. "We do not render to countries that torture. That has been our policy and that policy will remain the same," he said.
Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told the EP committee that the former German government had taken decisions over the Kurnaz case that were motivated by Germany's security needs, but were legal. "Mr. Kurnaz' long story of suffering in Guantanamo is harrowing," he said but added that the EU's accusations against him were "first of all false and also simply disgraceful".
Chancellor Angela Merkel has said she has full trust in her foreign minister. "The Chancellor has a very close relationship with the foreign minister, which is based on trust," said government spokesman Thomas Steg. "[She] goes on the assumption that the two will continue their successful work together."
Italian Socialist MEP Claudio Fava, who chaired the investigation committee, told Reuters: "The spirit of the report remains intact, so I am very happy," adding: "It is now up to the EU governments and the European Commission to live up to their responsibilities and act in accordance with this report."
Socialist Group representatives said that they wished to send a clear message to the Council: "We have uncovered serious breaches of human rights. We recognise the need to combat terrorism but this can only be done using legal methods."
But Italian MEP Jas Gawronski, EPP-ED Spokesman in the Temporary Committee criticised the report for being misleading: "The report states that illegal transport or detention might have taken place in a long list of cases, but there is precious little irrefutable proof of wrongdoing by member states. However, the wording of the report strongly implies that countries in Europe have been massively involved in extraordinary rendition activities and illegal detention. That is unfortunately not a sincere interpretation of facts." He added that the report would have to undergo substantial amendment at the plenary session in order to avoid another negative vote from the majority of the EPP-ED.
Spanish MEP Ignasi GUARDANS, ALDE co-ordinator in the TDIP committee, dismissed these remarks stating: "The report is balanced between those who still pretend nothing has happened and those who oppose any serious cooperation with the US and its intelligence services in the fight against terrorism."
Italian MEP and GUE/NGL committee coordinator Giusto Catania pointed to deficiencies in the report including the fact that it failed to assert the existence of secret prisons in Poland when "all the information collected by the committee would suggest the opposite." He added: "The next battle will take place in plenary, where we shall try to instigate amendments that assert the truth and stress the accountability of European governments, the Council and also certain members of the European Commission, including President Barroso, who was Portuguese prime minister when CIA torture flight stopovers in his country were frequent."
German GUE/NGL MEP Sylvia-Yvonne Kaufmann said: "The CIA kidnapped and tortured people. And what did our governments do? Nothing! It is the basic legal duty of the governments to prevent or take responsibility for all human rights violations which are committed on their territory or against their citizens. We cannot allow governments to bury their heads in the sand!"
Amnesty International regrets that national and political interests prevented the Committee from conducting a deeper investigation and producing a stronger report that establishes proper accountability. "We had hoped that political interests would not prevail given the gravity of the abuses in question and the fundamental values at stake," said Dick Oosting, director of Amnesty International's EU Office.
Next Steps
- 14 February 2007: The report will be voted in plenary.