CIA human-rights abuses: European Parliament calls for governments to finally act on renditions

The European Parliament today adopted a resolution on CIA abuses in response to the recent US Senate Report on the use of torture by the CIA, which explicitly dealt with CIA abuses on EU territory. Following the vote, Green civil liberties spokesperson Eva Joly (pictured) stated:

"Parliament is again seeking to up the pressure on EU governments to finally address their role in CIA abuses on their territory, notably the illegal transport and detention of prisoners by the CIA. The US Senate report confirmed the existence of secret prisons in the EU and routine use of torture, something which the European Parliament's earlier investigation had made clear. However, it also presented disturbing new evidence that substantial sums of money were accepted in certain EU member states exchange for their cooperation with the CIA. In light of this, there are clear grounds for the Parliament to reactivate its investigation and today's resolution calls for this.

"Without the involvement of these EU governments, the CIA renditions programme would have been impossible. It is high time those member states faced up to their role and properly investigate and act on findings of complicity in any rights abuses, including the roles of leading government members. Investigating the excesses and failures of existing anti-terrorism policies is all the more important against the current background in order to avoid making the same mistakes."

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