EU governments: Complicity Injustice Abuse

international | eu | press release Thursday February 15, 2007 11:34 by David Lundy

The report on CIA illegal rendition and detention of prisoners in Europe was passed at plenary stage after one years work. The GUE/NGL is seeking strong action to be taken against states for their collaboration with, and failure to prevent, human rights abuses. The final report was adopted by 382 votes to 256 with 74 abstentions.

"This vote is an important event for this Parliament in its dealing with the perverse US strategy of anti-terrorist activities based on criminal methods, facilitated thanks to the complicity of EU governments" said Italian GUE/NGL MEP Giusto Catania today in the European Parliament debate on the illegal detention of prisoners by the CIA in Europe.

"The parliament has brought rigour to this issue. We have exposed the thousands of flights and dozens of kidnappings that this strategy has involved."

Catania called on senior EU leaders to face up to these findings: "Javier Solana, the High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy; Commission President Barroso, who knew what the US strategy was when he was Portuguese Prime Minister; Commissioner Frattini, who held the portfolio in the Italian government for supervision of the security services when Abu Omar was kidnapped. The fight against terrorism is effective only if it is guaranteed by the rule of law - these values must always characterise the identity of the European Union. They have made a desert and called it 'peace' but we can't preside over the demise of the rule of law in the war on terror."

The GUE/NGL's Sylvia-Yvonne Kaufmann from Germany called the behaviour of the German authorities "completely unacceptable and unworthy" and stressed that counter terrorism should never be a bank cheque for anyone: government, politicians or the judiciary.

"The authorities in Berlin say they have no reason to apologise and they are trying to turn this issue to party political advantage. In Germany, those responsible declined the invitation to appear before the CIA committee of investigation and have not commented on the sufferings of the two men taken hostage in Germany."

"Europe is the cradle of humanism, governments have a basic duty to act against human rights breaches committed on their territory and must comply with the international human rights conventions and agreements that they have adhered to" she concluded.

Maintaining that the report and the committee investigations show the complete failure of the so-called war against terrorism and its related human rights violations, Swedish GUE/NGL MEP Jens Holm called for action to be taken and pointed to the fact that the European Parliament is now demanding an immediate closure of the Guantanamo base, a demand that must lead to "concrete action from the EU".

Willy Meyer (GUE/NGL, Spain) praised the work of the committee for demonstrating that the abuses committed by the CIA as part of a "pre-emptive war on terror" were linked to the war on Iraq. "This is why it is normal and to be expected that those political forces in favour of the war on Iraq are now coming out against this report. It is now for the governments of the member states to continue with their own investigations." Speaking about the Spanish case, Meyer called for the establishment of a parliamentary committee of enquiry to investigate the direct flights to Guantanamo: "the people responsible for these crimes should be brought to justice" he said.

GUE/NGL Press
David Lundy +32 485 50 58 12
www.guengl.eu