Brussels, 06/07/2012 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 5 July, the committee on foreign affairs of the European Parliament adopted the draft report for opinion by Sarah Ludford (ADLE, UK) on the secret flights and detention programmes of the CIA in Europe, following the attacks on 11 September. This opinion will accompany the report being prepared by the committee on civil liberties (EUROPE 10584). In the “Ludford” report, the MEPs take their turn to call on the member states which are suspected of complicity with the then American authorities to put an end to the impunity and to carry out the investigations required to shed all possible light on who was responsible for what, according to an EP press release. They call on the countries in question - such as Poland, Romania and Lithuania - to stop hiding behind State secrecy and imprison those responsible.
The parliamentary committee recommends that the EU better monitor its airspace, which is easy for organised crime operators to evade. Cooperation with NATO and the United States on these allegations of secret flights and imprisonment in Europe, as well as accusations of torture, must also be stepped up. The US and NATO should also carry out their own investigations into the facts.
The MEPs referred to the case of Khaled el-Masri and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri. In the former case, MEPs are calling on Skopje to identify and bring to justice those responsible for the kidnapping of Khaled el-Masri, apparently as a result of mistaken identity, who was subjected to illegal imprisonment and torture. The committee also expressed its concerns at prosecutions carried out by an American military commission against the Saudi Arabian citizen Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, who was tortured (waterboarding) and may face the death penalty if found guilty. In April 2011, Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri was charged with the role he is suspected of having played in a number of attacks (USS Cole in Yemen in October 2000, French oil tanker Limburg in the Gulf of Aden in October 2002). On Tuesday 10 July, the committee on civil liberties will take position on its own report. (SP/transl.fl)