European rights watchdog backs report on CIA flights

By Gilbert Reilhac

STRASBOURG, France (Reuters) – The Council of Europe on
Tuesday urged action over a report stating several European
countries have colluded with the CIA in a “global spider’s web”
of secret flights of terrorist suspects.

Council investigator Dick Marty called on states to set up
“a world legal order, with the United States, but built on
sound values, especially those upheld by the Council of
Europe.”

“This is not about condemning someone … But we want to
put an end to this in Europe. And whilst we are determined to
combat terrorism, we intend to do so using appropriate means,”
he said.

Marty’s report showed more than 20 mostly European nations
had colluded in a web of secret CIA jails and flight transfers
of suspects stretching from Asia to Guantanamo Bay.

Ninety-five members of the assembly voted for a text urging
an “initiative be launched on an international level, expressly
involving the United States … to develop a common, truly
global strategy to address the terrorist threat.”

“The strategy should conform in all its elements with the
fundamental principles of our common heritage in terms of
democracy, human rights and respect for the rule of law,” it
said. Sixteen deputies voted against the text.

European Union Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini said
the management of intelligence services was largely a matter
for member states, but noted the EU should assess the ways it
could act, such as in its aviation policies.

“This discussion, forming part of a wider examination of
the problems raised by non commercial civil aviation, could
focus among other things on the extent to which the definition
of “state aircraft” could be clarified at EU level,” he said.

Washington says it acted with the full knowledge of the
governments concerned, acknowledges the secret transfer of some
terrorist suspects between countries and denies any wrongdoing.

The Strasbourg-based Council can “name and shame” countries
but cannot launch legal proceedings, the preserve of judicial
authorities in member states.

The Council of Europe’s Secretary-General Terry Davis has
said he would ask the 46 member governments of the body to
introduce national safeguards and controls as well as a review
of international regulations.

In Geneva, leading human rights groups also called on
Tuesday on European states to halt all involvement in U.S.
illegal transfers or secret detentions of terrorist suspects
and fully investigate alleged violations.

In a joint statement, Amnesty International, Human Rights
Watch, the International Commission of Jurists and the
Association for the Prevention of Torture said it was
“unacceptable and unlawful” for European states to participate
in what often amounted to international crimes.

European states had to ensure that counter-terrorism
measures did not lead to further human rights violations on
their territory and that no one was handed over to face
violations of their rights elsewhere, the groups said.

“Many of these cases amount to enforced disappearance, a
crime under international law,” they said.