Brussels, 11/09/2012 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 11 September, in Strasbourg, MEPs urged member states to fully investigate the CIA secret rendition programmes on European soil, in the wake of the events of 11 September 2001, and also to shed light on violations of human rights in that context. On the occasion of the 11th anniversary of the attacks on the Twin Towers in New York, the EP calls on member states, in a resolution adopted by 568 votes to 34 and 77 abstentions, to carry out investigations in order to determine whether secret prisons or facilities existed on their territory and whether people were held under the CIA secret rendition programme. Lithuania, Poland and Romania being particularly concerned, were encouraged to open or to resume independent investigations, an EP press release states.
The report by Hélène Flautre (Greens/EFA, France) takes up work conducted five years ago by MEP Claudio Fava, who had already carried out an investigation on the subject on the EP's behalf. Five years later, MEPs are still in the dark and deplore the same delays in seeking the truth. The system of CIA secret flights in Europe was “very well organised”, said Flautre, deploring moreover that many elements were unveiled by the press and not by the governments themselves. The resolution voted on Tuesday calls on the Commission in this context to create a framework by end 2012 to allow full light to be shed on what truly happened. Although only three countries are officially suspected, “MEPs call on Finland, Denmark, Portugal, Italy, the UK, Germany, Spain, Ireland, Greece, Cyprus, Romania and Poland to disclose all information on suspect planes associated with the CIA and their territory”.
Sophie in't Veld (ALDE, NL) says in a press release that “asking for an inquiry is not a witch-hunt but a collective responsibility to hold to account human rights violations. Refusing to investigate the European role in the CIA renditions and black sites programme makes us lose moral authority and credibility”. (SP/transl.jl)