http://www.swissinfo.org/eng/front/detail/Cabinet_backs_inquiry_into_CIA_flight.html?siteSect=105&sid=7529189
Cabinet backs inquiry into CIA flight The government has authorised plans to launch criminal proceedings over an alleged CIA flight that took a kidnapped Muslim preacher across Swiss airspace. The CIA allegedly flew Nasr Osama Mustafa Hassan - known as Abu Omar - from Aviano air base in Italy across Switzerland to Ramstein air base in Germany, and then on to Cairo in Egypt, in February 2003. "In the view of the government, the use of Swiss air space for an abduction cannot be tolerated," said a statement by the seven-member cabinet on Wednesday. "There is evidence that basic norms of international law were violated." Nasr was released on Sunday when an Egyptian state security court judged his detention for four years in Egypt to have been unfounded. Daniel Wendell, spokesman for the US embassy in Bern, said he was aware of the decision but had no specific comment concerning Abu Omar. But he reiterated: "The United States has not used the airspace or airports of any country for the purpose of transporting a detainee to a country where he will be tortured." Swiss investigation Swiss prosecutors opened an investigation in December 2005 and applied to the cabinet a year later for permission to start proceedings against those involved in the kidnapping on suspicion that they violated the country's law. "Switzerland does not tolerate human rights violations even in the fight against terrorism," the cabinet said. The government cited possible violations of the country's law concerning forbidden activities by foreign agents. Under that law, a sentence of up to three years in prison can be imposed on anyone who undertakes actions for a foreign government on Swiss territory without permission. It also specifies a prison term of at least one year for abduction through violence, trickery or threats, followed by delivery to an agency or organisation outside Switzerland. Suspect flights In June 2006, the Federal Civil Aviation Office said CIA planes landed in Switzerland 58 times and flew through the country's airspace 73 times between February 2001 and February 2006. One plane, registered to the US Department of Defence, flew across the country twice on February 17, 2003, on a flight from Ramstein to Aviano and back again to Ramstein. Italian prosecutors reportedly have identified the plane – a Learjet 35 with the call sign SPAR92 – as being used to fly Abu Omar to Ramstein, from where he was taken on another plane to Cairo. Italian authorities, meanwhile, are holding a preliminary hearing in Milan to decide whether to indict 26 Americans and five Italian intelligence officials on criminal charges in the alleged 2003 abduction of Abu Omar. That hearing will conclude on Friday. Damning EU report In a parallel development on Wednesday, European Union lawmakers accused European governments and secret services of accepting and concealing secret US flights of terrorism suspects across the continent. The European parliament approved a damning report on secret CIA flights and voted to accept a non-binding resolution concluding a year of investigations into allegations that the CIA secretly held terror suspects in Europe and flew some to states that practise torture. Switzerland, which is not in the EU, is not mentioned in that report. According to the EU report, the US had operated 1,200 flights, flying suspects on to states where they could face torture. The article adopted by the parliamentarians said the European Parliament "condemns extraordinary rendition as an illegal instrument used by the United States in the fight against terrorism". swissinfo with agencies +++ -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
