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| EU Executive Accept Report Slamming Illegal CIA |
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A plenary session of the European Parliament (EP) Wednesday adopted a final report decrying illegal CIA operations in Europe. The report passed with 382 votes in favor in the 732-seat parliament, concluding a year of investigations into whether the US agency secretly held terror suspects in Europe before flying some to countries practicing torture. "At least 1,245 flights operated by the CIA flew into European airspace or stopped over at European airports between the end of 2001 and the end of 2005," the adopted text of the final report said. The report added that "it is unlikely that certain European governments were unaware of the extraordinary rendition activities taking place in their territory." EU member states were harshly rebuked for "turning a blind eye" to such flights, naming and shaming Britain, Germany and Italy. Before Wednesday's vote, the EU members separately voted on amendments to the report separately, making the process one of the longest in EP history. Member states turned down amendments granting the CIA exclusive flight rights. The amendments were to recognize "the right of the CIA to fly wherever and whenever it deems necessary," and to "transport any kind of passengers in the absence of any infringement of national or international law." They further stated that "secret services are so called because their function is to work secretly and they should continue to be able to do so." The vote thus upheld the original text of the report demanding that the CIA toe the line in terms of civil aviation rules. However, planned "sanctions" against EU member states at fault were dropped, and changed to non-binding "pressure," asking those countries to report to the EU headquarters. Claudio Fava, the Italian EP member leading the committee that finalized the report, hailed the move on Wednesday. "There is no compromise on the truth," he told a press conference. The committee held over 200 hearings, dispatched seven delegations to different countries and organized 30 sessions of the panel to explore the case, he said. Fava acknowledged that the adoption merely left "the door ajar," calling on EU member states and other institutions to face the CIA activities in Europe. Stanley Crossick, founding chairman of the European Policy Center, a Brussels-based thinktank, announced that this affair would be unlikely to worsen trans-Atlantic relations, "as Washington has similar problems from time to time with Congress." "The EU member states' governments will do all they can to conceal the truth," he said. In September 2006, US President George W. Bush admitted the existence of secret prisons for terror suspects although he denied any use of torture. The first reports of secret CIA detention centers in Eastern Europe emerged in November 2005, which soon marked a series of high-profile investigations across Europe. One month later, the EP's Civil Liberties Committee and Foreign Affairs Committee urged the EU assembly to open its own inquiries with a resulting committee being formed in January 2006. (Xinhua News Agency February 15, 2007) |
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