Brussels, 24/11/2005 (Agence Europe) - While, as requested by several Member States, the EU Council President, Jack Straw, is preparing to call on the United States to explain information concerning the secret detention centres in Europe where the CIA is reported to be holding persons suspected of terrorism (EUROPE 9073), British Liberal Sarah Ludford has called for the establishment of a temporary European Parliament committee of inquiry. If the European Commission does not wish to investigate the existence of these “prisons” in Poland and Romania in particular, “then we MEPs have to act ourselves”, she stresses in a press release.
At the Council of Europe, Secretary General Terry Davis informed the Committee of Ministers on Wednesday of his decision to open an official inquiry into the matter. Mr Davis states that he has used the powers conferred upon him by Article 52 of the European Convention on Human Rights to call on the 45 governments of the organisation to provide him with an explanation by 21 February 2006 at the latest.