CoE points to EU 'collusion' on CIA abductions

Several EU member states acted as transfer points in the CIA practice of abducting terrorism suspects, a Council of Europe report is set to say.

The investigation by the human rights body will claim the CIA used more than a dozen European airports for flights suspected of transporting detainees.

The Council of Europe’s document will be presented by Swiss MP Dick Marty in Paris on Wednesday.

After a seven-month inquiry, Marty is due to point to evidence to support suspicions that secret CIA camps are or were located in Poland and Romania.

The two countries have strongly denied the allegation in the past.

Marty’s report will also say rendition missions were launched from airports in Germany, Turkey, Spain and Azerbaijan.

Airports in Ireland, Italy, Greece and the Czech Republic were used for refuelling, the report says.
 
The document also alleges that detainees were picked up for "unlawful transfer" in Sweden, Macedonia, Italy, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Marty launched his inquiry in November amid outcry over media reports of the existence of CIA detention centres in eastern Europe.

In an interim report in January, he said European governments were almost certainly aware of the CIA's secret prisoner flights via European airspace or airports.

While the latest charges are potentially explosive, the difficulty will remain in securing the proof.

Washington does not deny that terror suspects have been transferred for interrogation in other countries, but rejects accusations that they are being tortured.

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