By Daisy Ayliffe - 16th January 2006
EU governments have “collaborated, tolerated or looked away” from secret CIA operations on European soil, a high-profile investigation is set to conclude next week.
Dick Marty, the Swiss senator who is leading a Council of Europe inquiry into clandestine CIA detention centres and flights, is set to conclude his probe on January 23.
He is set to describe Europe’s response to the issue as “shocking” and to claim European countries have known about CIA operations for at least two years.
In an interview last weekend, Marty argued that EU governments have known knew about illegal detentions and transports of terror suspects taking place on their soil.
“For two or three years countries knew exactly what was going on,” he told a Swiss television channel on Friday. “Some countries actively collaborated, some tolerated while others simply looked away.”
Contradicting denials from European capitals, Marty claims it would be impossible for Washington to fly prisoners across Europe without anyone knowing what was going on.
“It's not possible to transport people from one place to another in such a manner without the secret services knowing about it,” the senator insisted.
“The question is: was the CIA really working in Europe? I believe we can say today, without a doubt, yes.”
US policy on CIA capture, interrogation and detention of terror suspects “respects neither human rights nor the Geneva Conventions”, Marty will say.
The US has refused to confirm or deny allegations of CIA detention centre on EU territory but insists it has not used or condoned torture.
Friday’s television announcement comes at a difficult time for the EU.
A recently released intelligence document from Switzerland confirmed the existence of secret US prison camps in Eastern Europe.
According to a fax obtained by a Swiss newspaper, 23 Iraqi and Afghan prisoners were interrogated at a Romanian military base.
But Marty insisted it was unfair to single out member states as he stressed governments across Europe had been "willingly silent" about the camps.
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