Wednesday, February 14, 2007

The EU Parliament Condemns US Torture Flights

The European parliament has issued its final report on its investigations into so-called "extraordinary renditions" by the US government, condemning the practice, urging member states to be more vigilant and cooperative in ending the torture flights and strongly encouraging them to conduct their own investigations.

Over one thousand CIA-operated flights used European airspace from 2001 to 2005 and temporary secret detention facilities "may have been located at US military bases" in Europe, says the European Parliament in its final report on illegal CIA activities in Europe, adopted 14 February.

The report, which deplores the passivity of some Member States in the face of illegal CIA operations, as well as the lack of co-operation from the EU Council of Ministers, was approved by a majority of 382 against 256 with 74 abstentions.

Opposition to the resolution to adopt the final report came mainly from center right EU members and the following countries were criticized for their lack of cooperation into the investigation: Austria, Italy, Poland, Portugal and the UK.

Here's an example of some right-wing criticism:

"You cannot fight terrorism in a dirty war in our name," said Ignasi Guardans Cambo, speaking for the Liberal group.

"It is the rigorous analysis of five years of excesses and abuses often tolerated in the name of the fight against terrorism," Socialist Claudio Fava, the report's author, told parliament. "Many governments have looked the other way."

But Jas Gawronski [Italy], the lead conservative EPP lawmaker on the investigating committee, disagreed.

"It presumes there is one chief guilty party and that is the U.S.," he said. "That's why we don't like this report."

Well, considering these are CIA flights approved by the US government, I'd have to say that the US definitely is the 'one chief guilty party'. How anyone can deny that just defies common sense. Conservatives and those who've jumped into bed with Bush on this issue now have to answer for their backing of torture flights and their unflinching approval of the blatant illegality and violations of human rights. They simply thought they could get away with not being held accountable for their unconscionable behaviour.

And Tony Blair will have to answer for this:

According to the testimony of former UK ambassador to Uzbekistan Craig Murray, the exchange of intelligence obtained under torture by third countries' secret services to the British services was a practice known and tolerated by the UK government.

The report's wording is strong and clear:

In their report, MEPs mention up to 21 well-documented cases of extraordinary rendition: rendition victims were transferred through a European country or were residents in a European State at the time of their kidnapping. With this in mind, the text "calls on the countries of Europe to compensate innocent victims of extraordinary renditions".

The Parliament rejects extraordinary renditions “as an illegal instrument used by the USA in the fight against terrorism” and condemns the “acceptance and concealing of the practice, on several occasions, by the secret services and governmental authorities of certain European countries”. Members call on the Council and the Member States, therefore, "to issue a clear and forceful declaration calling on the US Administration to put an end to the practice of extraordinary arrests and renditions."

The parliament also called for the closing of Gitmo "and asks European countries "to immediately seek the return of their citizens and residents who are being held illegally by US authorities"." Will Canada's so-called "new" government join them in that call? When will Harper call for the release of Omar Khadr from Gitmo? And, despite previous Canadian government assurances that the CIA did not use Canada as a stopover for these torture flights, how sure can we really be about that?

Although the EU parliament's report has no legal weight, it once again brings the illegal activities of the Bush administration to light. Perhaps, some day in the future, the international community will actually take concrete legal action against everyone involved in these horrors. It seems that it will take an extraordinary act of courage in defiance of the far-reaching right-wing political machine that continues to endorse these behaviours to make that happen. This report is at least a start.

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