Council of Europe chairman joins CIA investigation

The head of Europe’s top human rights watchdog today joined an investigation into alleged secret CIA detention centres and flights in Europe, urging the governments of the Council of Europe member states to provide full information on the issue.

“Considering the very serious nature of the allegations, Europe’s response should go beyond political statements and inquiries. I therefore decided to use my legal powers … and formally request information from all (member states),” Terry Davis said in a statement today.

“My objective is to find out what, if anything, happened, how it happened and who was involved.

Under Article 52 of the European Convention on Human Rights – a treaty which is legally binding on all Council of Europe members – the Council chairman is authorised to request information from national governments.

The Council of Europe’s investigation is headed by Swiss senator Dick Marty. In a letter sent today, Davis is asking the governments to provide, by February 21, 2006, information on the manner in which their internal law ensures that acts by officials of foreign agencies within their jurisdiction are subject to adequate controls.

“An explanation is requested as to whether … any public official or other person acting in an official capacity has been involved in any manner in the unacknowledged deprivation of liberty of any individual, including where such deprivation of liberty may have occurred by or at the instigation of any foreign agency,” the letter says.

Allegations the CIA hid and interrogated key al Qaida suspects at Soviet-era compounds in Eastern Europe were first reported in The Washington Post on November 2. The paper did not name the countries involved.

A day later, Human Rights Watch said it had evidence indicating the CIA transported suspected terrorists captured in Afghanistan to Poland and Romania.

The New York-based group identified the Kogalniceanu military airfield in Romania and Poland’s Szczytno-Szymany airport as possible sites for secret detention centres, saying it based its conclusion on flight logs of CIA aircraft from 2001 to 2004 that it had obtained.

Yesterday, Marty said he was investigating 31 suspect planes that landed in Europe in recent years, and was trying to acquire past satellite images of sites in Romania and Poland.