http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/02/22/europe/EU-GEN-EU-CIA-Secret-Prison s.php EU Commission: Poland, Romania must clarify role in CIA extraordinary rendition program The Associated Press Friday, February 22, 2008
BRUSSELS, Belgium: The European Commission on Friday said Poland and Romania have been dodging requests to clarify their possible role in Washington's extraordinary rendition program. A day earlier, Britain acknowledged, after years of denials, that the U.S. used one of its remote outposts - the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia - to transport suspected terrorists on secret flights. EU Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner Franco Frattini sent letters to Warsaw and Bucharest last July urging them to conduct in-depth judicial inquiries into the findings by the European Parliament and the Council of Europe, which both said circumstantial evidence pointed to the countries' complicity in the U.S. program. Romania and Poland have firmly denied allegations of running secret CIA prisons or aiding the U.S. to spirit away terror suspects to illegal detention facilities. Frattini nevertheless demanded that the two countries clarify to him their possible role in the renditions program. Neither country has responded in an adequate manner, EU Commission spokesman Johannes Laitenberger said. "We have not received a reply from Poland and the information from Romania was not considered complete. ... Frattini sent reminders in January and we're currently awaiting replies," Laitenberger said. He didn't give any deadline but said countries usually respond to commission requests quickly. Swiss Senator Dick Marty, who led an inquiry into CIA activities in Europe on behalf of the Council of Europe, a human rights watchdog, said the continent is likely to see more admissions of complicity in the coming months. "When I implicated Britain in my report and specifically mentioned Diego Garcia, a British MP laughed at me and said my case was riddled with holes like Swiss cheese," he said. "Now I have to laugh." EU member states have been unwilling to shed light on their possible roles in spiriting terror suspects to secret detention facilities - a practice illegal under EU human rights laws. Britain's admission Thursday followed years of assurances that it did not take part in the renditions program launched following the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks on the United States. The European Parliament is to evaluate how EU countries have responded to the accusations of complicity with the CIA and what they have done to prevent illegal activities by foreign intelligence services on their soil, officials said. After Britain's admission, "we might be pushing into a slightly more open door," said British Liberal Democratic lawmaker Sarah Ludford. "They've used us and abused us. The U.K. government has turned a blind eye" to the renditions, she said. Former Romanian Defense Minister Ioan Mircea Pascu has said the EU's calls for further inquiries were unwelcome and that the EU was simply ignoring Bucharest's denials that it permitted such prisons on Romanian soil. The European Parliament and the Council of Europe have accused at least 14 European nations of colluding with U.S. intelligence in a web of rights abuses to help the CIA extraordinary renditions program. Associated Press Writer Frank Jordans in Geneva, Switzerland, contributed to this report. Copyright C 2008 The International Herald Tribune | <http://www.iht.com/> www.iht.com ---------------------------- Vali "Noble blood is an accident of fortune; noble actions are the chief mark of greatness." (Carlo Goldoni) "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace." (Jimi Hendrix) Aboneaza-te la <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ngo_list: o alternativa moderata (un pic) la [ngolist] Please consider the environment - do you really need to print this email?
