European Union: Report on the alleged use of European countries by the CIA for the transportation and illegal detention of prisoners
The European Parliament has voted to endorse and publish a report strongly condemning the use of European facilities for the alleged kidnapping, torture, and illegal imprisonment allegedly carried out and facilitiated in EU states by alleged US persons. The resolution was passed on or about Feb 14, 2007 by a majority of 382 to 256 with 74 abstentions.
This news was ‘covered’ by the BBC, Financial Times, Radio Free Europe, Islamic Republic News Agency, Irish Times and others. However most (or all, seemingly) news accounts did not include the name of the report or a link to it. And it seems not to be easily searchable from the various EU institution sites or general search sites. Some legislative history and parliamentary questions were accessible by searching at europa.eu on on ‘rendition’.
Following are the header and conclusions from the full report.
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
2004 – 2009
Session document
FINAL
A6-9999/2007
26.1.2007
REPORT
on the alleged use of European countries by the CIA for the transportation and illegal detention of prisoners
(2006/2200(INI))Temporary Committee on the alleged use of European
countries by the CIA for the transportation and illegal detention of prisoners
Rapporteur: Giovanni Claudio Fava
[…]
Final conclusions
225. Stresses, in view of the powers it was provided with and of the time which it had at its
disposal, and the secret nature of the investigated actions, that the Temporary
Committee was not put in a position fully to investigate all the cases of abuses and
violations falling within its remit and that its conclusions are therefore not exhaustive;
226. Recalls the principles and values on which the European Union is based, as provided in
Article 6 of the Treaty on European Union, and calls on the EU institutions to meet their
responsibilities in relation to Article 7 of the Treaty on European Union and all other
relevant provisions of the Treaties, and to take all appropriate measures in the light of
the conclusions of the work of the Temporary Committee, the facts revealed in the
course of the Temporary Committee’s investigation and any other facts that may emerge
in the future; expects the Council to start hearings and commission an independent
investigation without delay, as foreseen in Article 7, and, where necessary, to impose
sanctions on Member States in case of a serious and persistent breaches of Article 6,
including where a violation of human rights has been declared by an international body
but no measure has been taken to redress the violation;
227. Believes that the principle of loyal cooperation enshrined in the Treaties -which requires
Member States and the EU institutions to take measures to ensure the fulfilment of their
obligations under the Treaties, such as the respect of human rights, or resulting from
action taken by the EU institutions, such as ascertaining the truth about alleged CIA
flights and prisons, and to facilitate the achievement of EU tasks and objectives – has
not been respected;
228. Recalls that in light of European Court of Human Rights case law, a signatory State
bears responsibility for the material breach of the provisions of the ECHR, and therefore
also of Article 6 of the Treaty on the European Union, not only if its direct
responsibility can be established beyond reasonable doubt, but also by failing to comply
with its positive obligation to conduct an independent and impartial investigation into
reasonable allegations of such violations;
229. Notes the reports by reputable media operators that extraordinary rendition, illegal
detention, and systematic torture involving many people is continuing, and considering
the declaration by the current US Government that the use of extraordinary rendition
and secret places of detention will be continued; therefore calls for an EU-US counterterrorism
summit to seek an end to such inhumane and illegal practices, and to insist
that cooperation with regard to counter-terrorism is consistent with international human
rights and anti-torture treaty obligations;
230. Instructs its Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, where necessary in
cooperation with the Committee on Foreign Affairs, notably its Sub-Committee on
Human Rights, to follow up politically the proceedings of the Temporary Committee
and to monitor the developments, and in particular, in the event that no appropriate
action has been taken by the Council and/or the Commission, to determine whether
there is a clear risk of a serious breach of the principles and values on which the
European Union is based, and to recommend to it any resolution, taking as a basis
Articles 6 and 7 of the Treaty on European Union, which may prove necessary in this
context;
231. Calls on its Secretary-General to publish, at least in compliance with Regulation
1049/2001, all the documents received, produced and examined, as well as the records
of the proceedings of the Temporary Committee on the Internet as well as in any other
appropriate manner and calls on the Secretary-General to ensure that the developments
in fields falling within the remit of the Temporary Committee after its disbandment are
monitored;
232. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the
governments and parliaments of the Member States, of the candidate Member States
and the associated countries, and to the Council of Europe, NATO, the United Nations
and the Government and two Houses of Congress of the United States, and to request
them to keep Parliament informed of any development that may take place in the fields
falling in the remit of the Temporary Committee.
Copyright © 2007 Henry Edward Hardy
Najaf Update: February 7, 2007
Still more sceptical reporting on the Najaf Incident. Conn Hallinan of Foreign Policy In Focus sees the way the story is being positioned as part of the run-up to a possible US attack on Iran.
Foreign Policy In Focus
Conn Hallinan | February 7, 2007
Times Unrepentant
Despite the IPS, Independent, and Arab media reports, The New York Times continues to report that the battle was with a “renegade militia.” More than a week after the incident, a Times editorial chastised the Iraqi Army for allowing “hundreds of armed zealots” to set up “a fortified encampment, complete with tunnels, trenches, blockades, 40 heavy machine guns and at least two antiaircraft weapons.” The editorial went on to suggest that “a successful attack on top clerics and pilgrims in Najaf would have been disastrous.”
The details on the camp, the weapons, and the charge that Najaf was the target are straight from Iraqi government sources.
The way the U.S. media has reported the “battle” of Zarqa is a virtual replay of the kind of reporting that characterized the run-up to the Iraq War. The media seems to be taking a chillingly similar tack in its reporting about “Iranian interference” in Iraq. For instance, a recent story in The New York Times reports that Iran may have been involved in the recent kidnapping and murder of five Americans. But the story presents nothing but a series of unnamed sources and speculations.
The Bush administration allegations that Iran has set up insurgent training camps and built anti-personnel bombs that have killed and maimed U.S. soldiers have been routinely reported on all the major networks and daily newspapers with virtually no dissenting voices or questions raised concerning the motives of sources.
Such reporting paves the road to war. Will its next victim be Iran?
Chris Floyd underlines the role of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) in shaping the “official story” now making the rounds in The New York Times and other US publications.
Ersatz Apocalypto: Slaughter and Spin in the Battle for Najaf
Atlantic Free Press
Wednesday, 07 February 2007
by Chris FloydSCIRI members, buttressed by the Najaf provincial government, which they control, said that more than 1,000 terrorists were killed in the battle, and that some 200 “brainwashed women and children” were detained and “removed to another place,” presumably for deprogramming. SCIRI officials differed on the number of terrorists captured in the battle; one said 50, another said 16, yet another said “hundreds” were detained. It was SCIRI that advanced the notion that the attack aimed to kill the clerics, not capture them. Various SCIRI officials said the cult’s leader was a) the aforesaid unnamed Lebanese national; b) Dhiaa’ Abdul Zahra Kadhim, as in the Sadrist account; c) a renegade Sadrist named Ahmed Kadhim Al-Gar’awi Al-Basri ; d) another renegade Sadrist named Ahmed Hassan al-Yamani; e) a self-proclaimed messiah named Ali bin Ali bin Abi Talib.
A SCIRI member of the Najaf governing council also claimed that “the leader of this group had links with the former regime elements since 1993. Some of the gunmen brought their families with them in order to make it easier to enter the city,” Associated Press reports. An Iraqi army officer, sectarian affiliation unknown, added that Lebanese, Egyptians and Sudanese were taken prisoner in the battle – though none of these foreign fighters have yet been produced. And just for good measure, Najaf’s SCIRI governor, As’ad Abu Gilel, said the attackers were Sunni insurgents, planning to attack Shiite pilgrims on their way to mark the festival of Ashura in Najaf.
U.S. military officials originally picked various items from this dizzying smorgasbord of spin in cobbling together their own version of the battle, although in general they hewed more closely to the SCIRI line. But that’s not surprising, given the fact that this violent, extremist Shiite faction, whose death-dealing militia is deeply embedded in the Iraqi security forces, is currently in high favor with the Bush White House.
However, by mid-week, the Pentagon suddenly reversed course and came out with a whole new account, one cited by Bush himself, as the Washington Post reported. Now the battle was depicted as an exemplary pre-emptive strike by an “aggressive” and “impressive” Iraqi military, acting on good intelligence that the cult intended to storm Najaf and kill the leading clerics because they refused to recognize the claim of the cult’s leader (now known as Samer Abu Kamar, by the way) to be the Mahdi.
Nidhal Laithi of Azzaman says that members of the Iraq Parliament have called for a special tribunal similar to that which prosecuted former Iraqi President Saddam al-Tikriti to investigate the Najaf Incident. The Speaker of the Iraqi Parliment, Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, condemned what he called a “massacre”.
The Najaf ‘massacre’ divides country
By Nidhal LaithiAzzaman, February 6, 2007
Some members of parliament in a session on Monday requested the formation of a tribunal to look into the bloody incident.
Some legislators urged the parliament to form a tribunal like the one which sentenced former leader Saddam Hussein and two of his senior aides to death for the killing of 148 people from Dujail.
The government has said it mobilized troops to quell what it called a rebellion north of Najaf and asked U.S. military assistance to defeat the rebels.
But parliamentary speaker, Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, said that he received letters from tribal leaders in the south refuting the government version of events.
Mashhadani called the battle ‘a massacre’, accusing the government of hiding the truth of what exactly happened in Najaf.
BBS gives casualty totals according to the Iraqi government:
Bloody Najaf Battle Could Mark Turning Point
BBS
Sunday, February 04 2007 @ 01:18 PM EST
IRAQ: Southern Iraq in danger of slipping into chaos
Ambiguity still surrounds events of the battle that pitted Iraqi and US forces on one side against a previously unknown Shi’ite messianic cult called ‘Jund al-Samaa’, or ‘Soldiers of Heaven’, on the other.
The clashes, which erupted on 28 January in Najaf palm groves, left 263 militants dead, 210 wounded and 392 others arrested [emphasis mine–HH], Iraqi defence ministry spokesman Mohammed al-Askari said.
At least 11 Iraqi troops were killed along with two US soldiers, whose helicopter was shot down during the battle. Some 30 Iraqi troops were wounded.
Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (wikipedia)
See also: Keyword ‘Najaf’ on scanlyze
Copyright © 2007 Henry Edward Hardy
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