By Daisy Ayliffe - 25th January 2006
Washington has dismissed a European human rights report into alleged CIA abductions on EU soil as “rhetoric”.
US state department officials on insist a Council of Europe investigation had brought nothing new to the table and repeated denials of allegations of torture flights.
“It's the same old reports wrapped up in some new rhetoric. There's nothing new here,” state department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters on Tuesday.
In an interim report published on Monday, the COE, Europe's non-EU human rights watchdog, accused Washington of using “gangster tactics” in its war on terror.
Swiss senator Dick Marty warned that up to 100 European citizens could have been abducted, removed from EU territory and later subjected to torture.
“It has been proved – and in fact never denied – that individuals have been abducted, deprived of their liberty and transported […] in Europe, to be handed over to countries in which they have suffered […] torture,” Marty said.
But Washington has replied unequivocally that “the US does not torture”, a statement that may well be consistent with differing European and American definitions of what torture means.
“We respect the sovereignty of our European friends and allies. That the US does not transfer people where they have a reasonable expectation that they might be subjected to torture,” McCormack insisted.
In an attempt to shore up international support for the controversial tactic of ‘rendition’, the US urged Europeans to realise they are allied by a common battle.
“The US and Europe are fighting a common fight against terrorism,” the state department declared.
“The practice of renditions is one that is accepted, an internationally accepted practice. It is an important tool in fighting the war against terrorism.”
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