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Press release

EN Press Service

Directorate for the Media

Director - Spokesperson : Jaume DUCH GUILLOT

Reference No:20150206IPR21212

Press switchboard number (32-2) 28 33000

Parliament to resume investigations into CIA- led operations in EU countries

Plenary sessions [11-02-2015 - 12:48]

Parliament's civil liberties, foreign affairs and human rights committees will resume

investigations into the CIA's alleged transportation and illegal detention of

prisoners in EU countries, in the light of the US Senate's new revelations of the use

of torture by the CIA, says a resolution passed on Wednesday. MEPs also again call

on EU member states to investigate these allegations and prosecute those involved.

The US Senate report released in December "reveals new facts that reinforce allegations

that a number of EU member states, their authorities and officials and agents of their

security and intelligence services were complicit in the CIA’s secret detention and

extraordinary rendition programme, sometimes through corrupt means based on

substantial amounts of money provided by the CIA in exchange for their cooperation", say

MEPs in a resolution approved by 363 votes to 290, with 48 abstentions.

In the light of this new evidence, Parliament instructs its civil liberties, foreign affairs and

human rights committees to resume their investigations into the alleged transportation and

illegal detention of prisoners in EU countries by the CIA and to report to plenary within a

year.

This inquiry would entail, for example, sending a parliamentary fact-finding mission to the

EU countries where CIA secret detention sites allegedly existed and gathering all relevant

information and evidence on possible bribes or other acts of corruption linked to the CIA

programme.

Impunity must end

The climate of impunity surrounding the CIA programme has "enabled the continuation of

fundamental rights violations", as further revealed by the mass surveillance programmes

of the US National Security Agency (NSA) and secret services of various EU member

states, MEPs say, stressing that "there can be no impunity" for these violations.

Parliament calls on the US to investigate and prosecute the multiple human rights

violations resulting from the CIA programmes and to cooperate with all requests from EU

countries for information, extradition or effective remedies for victims in connection with

the CIA operations.

On the EU side, MEPs express their concerns about the obstacles encountered by

national parliamentary and judicial investigations, the abuse of state secrecy, and the

undue classification of documents resulting in the termination of criminal proceedings.

They again ask member states to investigate the allegations that there were secret prisons

on their territory and to prosecute those involved in the CIA-led operations.

Parliament condemns the "gruesome interrogation practices" used in the CIA's illegal

counterterrorism operations. It also highlights the US Senate report’s "fundamental

conclusion" that “the violent methods applied by the CIA failed to generate intelligence that

prevented further terrorist attacks”.

Note to editors

The alleged use of European countries by the CIA for the transportation and illegal

detention of prisoners was investigated by a European Parliament temporary committee

set up in 2006.

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MEPs have repeatedly called for full investigations into the collaboration of EU member

states with the CIA’s secret detention and extraordinary rendition programme (links to

previous EP resolutions to the right).

Contact

Isabel Teixeira NADKARNI

BXL: (+32) 2 28 32198

STR: (+33) 3 881 76758

PORT: (+32) 498 98 33 36

EMAIL: libe-press@europarl.europa.eu

TWITTER: EP_Justice

Press release

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