EU approves rendition report accusing 14 states of collusion

The European Parliament today approved a report accusing Ireland, the UK, Germany, Italy and other EU nations of turning a blind eye to CIA flights transporting terror suspects to secret prisons overseas in an apparent breach of EU human rights standards.

The report, concluding a year-long high-profile investigation into CIA activities in Europe, gives no direct proof that the US intelligence agency ran secret prisons in Europe, but accuses some governments of complicity with the US secret renditions programme.

It was approved by a tighter-than-expected majority, after the politicians clashed over its tone and content.

The 14 EU countries implicated in the report – for colluding with CIA extraordinary renditions programme, allowing undeclared flights or failing to investigate kidnappings of their citizens or residents: Austria, Belgium, Britain, Cyprus, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain and Sweden.

How certain EU members’ governments colluded with the CIA program:

:: BRITAIN – Telegrams from MI5 to an unspecified foreign government suggest the abduction of British residents Bisher Al-Rawi and Jamil El-Banna (to Afghanistan and Guantanamo) was facilitated by partly erroneous information it had supplied. Al-Rawi and El-Banna ended up in Guantanamo.

:: ITALY – A carabinieri marshal and certain officials from the Italian military security and intelligence services played an active role in the abduction of Egyptian cleric Abu Omar, kidnapped by the CIA from a Milan street.

:: GERMANY – The German Federal Criminal Police provided details of the whereabouts of Mohammed Zammar to the FBI, which facilitated the kidnapping of the German citizen, who was then detained by US agents and tortured in Morocco and Syria.

:: How the CIA used European airspace:

At least 1,245 undeclared flights operated by the CIA flew into European airspace or stopped over at European airfields after September 11, 2001. While it has not been proven detainees were on board, the European Parliament says many of the planes were routinely used for transporting terror suspects from Afghanistan to Guantanamo, or to and from other secret detention centres.

:: How the special parliamentary committee conducted its research:

Dozens of hours of testimony from individuals who said they were abducted by the US intelligence agents.

Testimony from lawyers or representatives of victims of extraordinary renditions.

Analysis of 19 alleged abductions.

Confidential documents from the EU, US and Eurocontrol, the EU air traffic agency.