Strasbourg, France – The European Parliament on Wednesday approved a controversial report accusing Britain, Germany, Italy and other European nations of turning a blind eye to CIA flights transporting terrorism suspects to secret prisons in an apparent breach of EU human-rights standards.
The report, concluding a yearlong high-profile investigation into CIA activities in Europe, gives no direct proof that the intelligence agency ran secret prisons in Europe – an allegation that prompted the inquiry in November 2005 – but accuses some governments of complicity in the U.S. extraordinary rendition program.
The report passed by a tighter-than-expected 382-256 majority, with 74 abstentions, after the lawmakers clashed over its tone and content.
Socialist and Liberal lawmakers argued the report, based on the findings of a special parliamentary committee, has exposed a string of alleged abductions by U.S. agents and insufficient parliamentary oversight of European security services.
But center-right lawmakers warned the report accuses governments of colluding with the CIA detention program without sufficient proof and demanded significant changes to the wording. Some of the criticism contained in the original draft was toned down.
Legislators dropped demands for sanctions against EU nations found to have violated civil liberties by housing a secret jail or helping to secretly transfer terror suspects to countries where they could face torture.
But the legislators demanded inquiries in the 14 EU countries implicated in the report. Some of those nations have already launched or completed investigations into CIA activities.
The Swiss government, meanwhile, approved an investigation of an alleged CIA flight that reportedly carried an Egyptian Muslim preacher kidnapped in Italy across Swiss airspace.
