European Parliament resolution on presumed use of European countries by the CIA for the transportation and illegal detention of prisoners
Date: 2005-12-15
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: cruel and degrading treatment, fundamental rights, imprisonment, right to justice, terrorism, torture

23.11.2006

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 286 E/509

Thursday 15 December 2005

P6_TA(2005)0529

Presumed use of European countries for the transportation and illegal detention
of prisoners by the CIA

European Parliament resolution on presumed use of European countries by the CIA for the trans-
portation and illegal detention of prisoners

The European Parliament,

— having regard to Articles 6 and 7 of the Treaty on European Union,

— having regard to Articles 2, 3, 5 and 6 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights

and Fundamental Freedoms,

— having regard to Articles 1, 4, 19, 47 and 48 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European

Union,

— having regard to Articles 2, 3 and 11 of the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or

Degrading Treatment or Punishment,

— having regard to Written Questions No E-2203/05 and No E-2204/05 to the Commission and to the
Council, tabled by Martine Roure, Giovanni Claudio Fava and Wolfgang Kreissl-Dörfler (of the PSE) on
9 June 2005, on cases of ‘extraordinary renditions’ in the territory of the European Union,

— having regard to the EU-US Transatlantic Dialogue and in particular to the EU-US summit of 20 June
2005 and the resulting EU-US declarations on the fight against terrorism and on democracy, freedom
and human rights,

— having regard to the provisions of the EU-US agreements on extradition (1) and on mutual legal assist-

ance (2),

— having regard to Rule 103(4) of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas international terrorism poses one of the greatest threats to society within the EU and to its

values,

B. whereas on 2 November 2005 the Washington Post alleged that the CIA had been holding and inter-
rogating terrorist suspects at secret facilities in Eastern Europe as part of a global covert transport,
prison and interrogation system known as ‘extraordinary rendition’ established after the attacks of
11 September 2001 and operating beyond any judicial controls or extradition requirements,

C. whereas cooperation in the field of intelligence remains a competence of the Member States and falls

within the scope of their bilateral and multilateral relations,

D. worried that in the context of the fight against international terrorism that has been conducted since

9/11, fundamental European and international rights have apparently been violated,

E. whereas allegedly these and other terrorist suspects are in US or foreign custody as ‘ghost detainees’,
meaning that they may have been kidnapped and are detained incommunicado without any legal rights
or access to counsel or the Red Cross/Red Crescent,

F. whereas such detainees may be subject to cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment or torture,

G. whereas judicial, parliamentary or official inquiries have been launched in several Member States to
investigate the alleged role of the CIA in the abduction and subsequent transport and illegal detention
of these ‘ghost detainees’,

(1) OJ L 181, 19.7.2003, p. 27.
(2) OJ L 181, 19.7.2003, p. 34.

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Thursday 15 December 2005

H. whereas such inquiries, as well as press disclosures and reports by NGOs such as Human Rights Watch
have indicated codes and references for the aircraft and airport facilities allegedly used by the CIA for
the transport of suspects subject to extraordinary rendition, including facilities such as Aviano in Italy,
Ramstein in Germany and Kogalniceanu in Romania, situated in the territory of the European Union
and its future Member States,

I. whereas any aid or assistance to agents of another State in conduct amounting to secret deprivation of
including aid or assistance in the transportation by aircraft and use of airport

liberty and torture,
facilities, is also a violation of Articles 3 and 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights,

J. whereas on 21 November 2005 the Secretary General of the Council of Europe set up an inquiry into
these allegations under Article 52 of the European Convention on Human Rights, asking the 45 govern-
ments that are parties to that convention to provide answers by 21 February 2006,

K. whereas the matter has legal, moral and security implications for the conduct of the fight against terror

that the European Union has pledged to fight and win,

L. whereas the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has appointed a rapporteur, Dick

Marty, to lead its inquiry,

M. whereas it is of the utmost importance to carry out a full

investigation into any allegation of US
breaches of human rights and the rule of law and the complicity of European governments, given the
very serious implications for the respect of fundamental rights in the European Union,

1.
Reaffirms its determination in the fight against terrorism but stresses that this fight cannot be won by
sacrificing the very principles that terrorism seeks to destroy, notably that the protection of fundamental
rights must never be compromised;

2.
Expresses the belief that the fight against terrorism must be fought by legal means and that this new
kind of war must be won while respecting international law and with a responsible attitude on the part of
governments and public opinion alike;

3.

Strongly condemns any use of torture, including cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment;

4.
Recalls that Article 6 of the Treaty on European Union obliges the Union and Member States to
respect fundamental rights as guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights and as they result
from the Member States' common constitutional traditions, and that international obligations as well as
those common principles forbid the use of torture;

5.
Recalls that Article 7 of the Treaty on European Union provides for the Council, in the event of a
serious and persistent violation of fundamental rights by a Member State or of the risk thereof, to suspend
certain rights, including the right to vote in Council, as recently restated by Commission Vice-President
Frattini;

Expresses its deep concern at the allegations concerning the role of the CIA in the illegal kidnapping,
6.
transportation, secret detention and torture of terrorist suspects, as well as at the alleged presence of CIA
secret detention sites inside the territory of the European Union, and the accession and candidate countries;

Stresses that full transparency and mutual respect for basic principles of legislation is essential for a

7.
further strengthening of EU-US relations and cooperation in the fight against terrorism;

8. Welcomes the Council of Europe's investigation into the allegations and urges all Member States
promptly to give any relevant information in relation to this;

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Thursday 15 December 2005

Calls on the Council and Commission to clarify the press reports concerning an agreement of 2003

9.
between the European Union and the United States giving the US access to ‘special’ transit facilities;

Calls on all the governments concerned to make every effort to investigate the allegations made so

10.
far and to provide all necessary information to the Commission and the Council of Europe;

11.
Believes that in parallel with, and learning from, the inquiry led by the PACE rapporteur Dick Marty,
Parliament must conduct its own parliamentary inquiry, which should, at the very least, be conducted
through a Temporary Committee set up under Article 175 of its Rules of Procedure and draw on the exper-
tise of its network of fundamental rights experts, with a view to examining, inter alia:

(a) whether the CIA has been involved in ‘extraordinary rendition’ of ‘ghost detainees’ detained incom-
municado without any legal rights or access to counsel, subjected to cruel treatment or torture, and
including through flights and detention at
transported within the territory of the European Union,
secret sites;

(b) whether such a practice could be considered legal in the territory of the European Union according to
Article 6 of the Treaty on European Union, Articles 2, 3, 5 and 6 of the European Convention on
Human Rights, and the EU-US agreements on extradition and on mutual legal assistance;

(c) whether EU citizens or legal residents were among those involved in ‘extraordinary rendition’ oper-
ations, illegal detention or torture in the framework of alleged covert CIA operations in the territory
of the EU;

(d) whether Member States, public officials or persons acting in an official capacity were involved or com-
plicit in the acknowledged or unacknowledged illegal deprivation of liberty of individuals, including
rendition, transfer, detention or torture, whether by action or omission;

12.
Is committed to opening the procedure under Article 7 of the Treaty on the European Union if
investigations confirm the allegations that any Member State has given assistance, whether by act or omis-
sion, to agents acting on behalf of other governments in conducting such practices;

13.
Calls on the European Council to discuss these issues at its meeting of 16 to 17 December 2005 and
demands that the current UK Presidency and future Austrian Presidency, together with Parliament's Presi-
dent, Josep Borrell, urgently establish the necessary contacts with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice,
the US Congress, national parliaments and the Council of Europe;

14.
Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments
and parliaments of the Member States and of the accession and candidate countries, the Council of Europe
and both houses of the US Congress.

P6_TA(2005)0530

Bulgaria

European Parliament resolution on the state of preparedness for EU membership of Bulgaria
(2005/2204(INI))

The European Parliament,

— having regard to the Treaty of Accession of the Republic of Bulgaria and Romania to the European

Union, signed on 25 April 2005,

— having regard to its relevant resolutions and reports since the beginning of the accession negotiations,

— having regard to the Presidency Conclusions of the Brussels European Council of 16-17 December

2004,