The EU's top justice official acknowledged suspected terrorists had been transferred to US intelligence agents on European territory, and said governments had a duty to determine whether these actions were illegal.
EU Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner Franco Frattini spoke on Tuesday after Europe's leading human rights watchdog, the Council of Europe, voted to continue its inquiry into alleged CIA secret flights and prisons in Europe and called for safeguards to prevent human rights abuses by foreign intelligence agents and European countries.
The vote by the Council of Europe's parliamentary assembly also endorsed the findings of an investigation by Swiss Senator Dick Marty, who earlier this month reported circumstantial evidence of several such incidents on European territory since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the US. The US uses the euphemism "extraordinary rendition" to describe such operations.
Frattini said it was not clear whether governments were aware of them or cooperated, and it was similarly unclear whether the "renditions" were legal.
In Washington, the US State Department had no comment on Frattini's statement.
US State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli, however, said the US "acts according to its laws and values to protect innocent citizens around the world from terrorism."
Frattini said it was up to national authorities to investigate all reports of questionable CIA activities on their territory. Only then would the EU be able to take action, should collusion or breaches of international human rights standards by EU member states be proven, he said.
"It's extremely premature to draw consequences from the elements so far available. What we must do is make sure that national authorities understand that they have not only the power but the duty to carry out judicial investigations," Frattini said.
"They have the duty to establish national committees. I am determined to encourage, to put political pressure if necessary, on the home affairs ministers so that we get results [of the inquiries]. Once you have a court decision only than you can claim you had a valid piece of evidence," he said.
Frattini said it was premature to talk about sanctions against countries for violating Europe's human rights treaties because that would only be possible after a court ruled laws have been broken.
"It's impossible to draw legal judgments now. It's up to national authorities, prosecutors to draw conclusions. We don't know so far, with the legal evidence we have, whether or not governments knew about" the incidents, Frattini said.
He said the planned entry of Romania into the EU next year was not endangered by media reports that it had hosted a CIA secret detention center -- an accusation for which there is no direct evidence.
Poland, Romania, Germany and several other nations have launched inquiries into the reported "renditions," but no wrongdoing has been proven.
In his report, Marty alleged that European nations aided the movement of 17 detainees who said they had been abducted by US agents and then secretly transferred to detention centers around the world. Some said they were transferred to the US detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and others to alleged secret facilities in countries including Poland, Romania, Egypt and Jordan. Some said they were mistreated or tortured.
Frattini said it was vital for European countries to clearly define the powers of secret services. He also called for clarification of international air traffic rules to ensure that no aircraft used in military, customs or police operations avoids the obligation to obtain special authorization to land.
END OF AN ERA: The vote brings the curtain down on 20 years of socialist rule, which began in 2005 when Evo Morales, an indigenous coca farmer, was elected president A center-right senator and a right-wing former president are to advance to a run-off for Bolivia’s presidency after the first round of elections on Sunday, marking the end of two decades of leftist rule, preliminary official results showed. Bolivian Senator Rodrigo Paz was the surprise front-runner, with 32.15 percent of the vote cast in an election dominated by a deep economic crisis, results published by the electoral commission showed. He was followed by former Bolivian president Jorge “Tuto” Quiroga in second with 26.87 percent, according to results based on 92 percent of votes cast. Millionaire businessman Samuel Doria Medina, who had been tipped
ELECTION DISTRACTION? When attention shifted away from the fight against the militants to politics, losses and setbacks in the battlefield increased, an analyst said Recent clashes in Somalia’s semi-autonomous Jubaland region are alarming experts, exposing cracks in the country’s federal system and creating an opening for militant group al-Shabaab to gain ground. Following years of conflict, Somalia is a loose federation of five semi-autonomous member states — Puntland, Jubaland, Galmudug, Hirshabelle and South West — that maintain often fractious relations with the central government in the capital, Mogadishu. However, ahead of elections next year, Somalia has sought to assert control over its member states, which security analysts said has created gaps for al-Shabaab infiltration. Last week, two Somalian soldiers were killed in clashes between pro-government forces and
Ten cheetah cubs held in captivity since birth and destined for international wildlife trade markets have been rescued in Somaliland, a breakaway region of Somalia. They were all in stable condition despite all of them having been undernourished and limping due to being tied in captivity for months, said Laurie Marker, founder of the Cheetah Conservation Fund, which is caring for the cubs. One eight-month-old cub was unable to walk after been tied up for six months, while a five-month-old was “very malnourished [a bag of bones], with sores all over her body and full of botfly maggots which are under the
BRUSHED OFF: An ambassador to Australia previously said that Beijing does not see a reason to apologize for its naval exercises and military maneuvers in international areas China set off alarm bells in New Zealand when it dispatched powerful warships on unprecedented missions in the South Pacific without explanation, military documents showed. Beijing has spent years expanding its reach in the southern Pacific Ocean, courting island nations with new hospitals, freshly paved roads and generous offers of climate aid. However, these diplomatic efforts have increasingly been accompanied by more overt displays of military power. Three Chinese warships sailed the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand in February, the first time such a task group had been sighted in those waters. “We have never seen vessels with this capability
RSS