MEPs sceptical of uncovering truth on CIA flights

MEPs are divided over the chances of uncovering the truth about alleged CIA flights operating within the EU.

Italian centre-left MEP Giovanni Fava told the European parliament’s temporary committee investigating the allegations that he hoped to interview senior US politicians and members of the secret services.

But he gave no indication as to who in Washington would be prepared to talk to MEPs.

The committee has called for US defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld, secretary of state Condoleezza Rice and her predecessor Colin Powell to testify, but senior US officials have so far refused to cooperate.

Fava also suggested that European investigations should focus on Italy, Poland, Romania, the UK, Germany and Sweden as being the most likely to be implicated in the renditions.

Spanish Liberal MEP Ignasi Guardans Cambo claimed he had evidence from the police that showing that flights had also taken place from Palma de Majorca airport.

“These were private planes, with their own fuel, owned by the US government or law firms.”

“There were no crimes committed on these planes, as far as we know, but it is impossible for the Spanish police to verify this,” he said.

“But MEPs should have the powers to verify this.”

But most deputies remained unconvinced that the truth would ever be known, regardless of who testified, especially if such interviews were held in public.

Polish deputy Boguslaw Rogalski told the committee, meeting in Strasbourg on Monday night, that since no-one would be interviewed under oath, it would be impossible to verify their testimonies.

“How can we ever be sure that we are not being fed information by the secret services?” he asked.

“The chances are we will learn nothing more than we have already found out from NGOs and the media.”

The allegations of secret CIA ‘renditions’ of suspected terrorists via European airbases was broken in the Washington Post last November by NGO Humans Rights Watch.

Cem Özdemir, the German Green MEP who is vice-chairman of temporary committee, agreed that the proposed meeting with secret service officials on March 6 was unlikely to reveal anything of value.

“I am very sceptical as to the practical information that we can expect to obtain from such a meeting,” he said.

“The secret service will just be playing to the gallery. It is vital that rapporteur Fava targets his questions precisely to obtain the answers we want.”

There were suggestions from numerous committee members that such meetings be held in camera, to ensure that secret service officials felt free to talk openly.

But other MEPs dismissed these suggestions, arguing that Europe would only be satisfied if the committee’s investigations were seen to be open and transparent.

Many deputies also expressed their concerns that the hearings would simply be used by some members to express their anti-US beliefs.

EU justice commissioner Franco Frattini, who attended the meeting, told MEPs that they should wait for the findings of a separate investigation by the Council of Europe, the human rights watchdog which is not an EU institution.

“European governments have been asked to reply to the questions put by the Council of Europe’s rapporteur Dick Marty by February 21,” he said.

That would give everyone a clearer idea of whether human rights abuses had taken place on European soil, he said.

The Italian commissioner also stressed the urgent need for EU countries to ratify a 2003 agreement with the US on extradition of “criminals and undesirables”.

“This is the first extradition treaty between the EU as a whole and the US, but only four member states have so far ratified it.”

“I will push for the Austrian EU presidency to make this a priority at the EU-US summit in June,” he said.

“This agreement does not allow for extraordinary renditions, and once it is ratified it should clarify all the problems caused by bilateral agreements.”

But Frattini acknowledged that further investigation was needed with regard to a separate 2003 agreement, reached under the Greek EU presidency, on “facilitating transit” through the EU to the US.

Documentation from the Greek summit is available, but it is heavily censored, and Frattini said he would ask for a complete version of the text from national governments.

• Previous article
• Next article