Brussels, 29/11/2006 (Agence Europe) - On 28 November, the temporary committee set in place by the European Parliament to inquire into the illegal detention and transportation of suspected terrorists by the CIA on EU territory (at least 1,245 flights made by American secret services) finally received, after at least 130 hearings, the draft report by Claudio Fava (Democratici di sinistra) which is highly critical of the very great reticence shown by almost all Member States and Council to fully cooperate with MEPs. In his very long resolution (181 points), the rapporteur considers it unlikely that some European governments did not know of the activity linked to extraordinary rendition taking place on their territory. He says it is totally unacceptable that the Council should have firstly hidden information that was later provided at the request of the European Parliament on the regular discussions held with senior officials of the US government. He recalls that, on 6 September this year, President Bush admitted that the United States had indeed set up a network of secret detention centres outside US borders, while noting declarations by the State Department's legal adviser who said the programme for extraordinary rendition has always been applied with full respect for the sovereignty of the countries concerned. The report also welcomes the announcement made by the new majority resulting from the recent elections in Congo that it intends to tackle this matter. These conclusions are not exhaustive due to the lack of time available, Claudio Fava said, urging the Committee on Citizens' Freedoms to ensure political follow-up to the work, if necessary in cooperation with the Committee on Foreign Affairs. The rapporteur makes a series of recommendations to the Member States, in particular regarding their relations with third countries, and considers that it is necessary to promote, in the context of the UN, codes of conduct for all military and security services inspired by the 1994 OSCE Code. The report will be adopted in committee end January 2007 and voted in plenary in February 2007.
On the subject of extraordinary rendition and abuse of airspace and airports, the rapporteur stresses the serious and rigorous work undertaken by judiciary authorities in Italy, Germany and Spain (while criticising the time needed to replace General Nicolo' Pollari, former Director of the Italian Military Secret Services SISMI due to the kidnapping of the Egyptian national, Abu Omar, in February 2003), and encourages EU Member State parliaments to pursue or launch in-depth investigations into this affair. The resolution denounces a series of extraordinary renditions in the United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, Sweden, Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, as well as a large number of stopovers in Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Cyprus. It deplores the silence on the part of the Turkish authorities regarding the use of their territory for allowing an aircraft to touch down, that was used for transporting six Bosnians of Algerian origin to Guantanamo after their illegal arrest.
When it comes to secret detention locations, the resolution above all deplores the reticence shown by the Romanian authorities to conduct an indepth inquiry into the matter, the lack of cooperation on the part of the Polish government with the EP temporary committee (the resolution refers in particular to the activities of the port of Szymany, in the north of the country), and the refusal by NATO to take a stance on allegations concerning illegal detention of terrorist suspects in a prison under KFOR command in Kosovo.
The rapporteur places emphasis on close cooperation with the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (mainly with Rapporteur Dick Marty and Secretary General Terry Davis), stressing the “concordant results” reached by the respective committees, and the good collaboration with Eurocontrol and with Commissioner Franco Frattini. It deplores, on the other hand, the refusal by Max-Peter Ratzel, Europol Director, and NATO Secretaries General Lord Robertson and Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, to appear before the temporary committee.
According to comments in a press release by Giusto Catania, Sylvia-Yvonne Kaufmann and Willy Meyer of the GUE/NGL Group, in some cases the secret services of Member States were “complicit”, and human rights were “systematically violated”, which entails activation of the procedure set out in Article 7 of the Treaty if an EU country violates these rights. British Liberal Democrat Sarah Ludford notes that the British European Affairs Minister (Ed.: Geoff Hoon, who is not cited by name) is criticised in the report for his lack of cooperation with the temporary committee. She therefore says: “Westminster must now call the Blair government properly to account”. At the EPP-ED Group, Ewa Klamt considers the text “more balanced” than the interim report in June. (mg)