European complicity in the CIA rendition and secret detention programme

Since the attacks on the World Trade Center in September 2001, several hundred "terrorism suspects" were secretly abducted, detained, and tortured by the CIA.

The CIA took them to countries turning a blind eye to these practices, or participating in them, among the EU member states.

The CIA used tax-havens to rent various facilities via shell companies. In 2005 it was discovered that some European member states helped the CIA and that some secret detention facilities were located in the EU.

The Parliament had installed a special committee, which found that 12 member states cooperated, and which identified 20 victims.

The Greens argue there should be full accountability for the human rights violations committed in the CIA rendition programme.

Tolerating this practice amounts to watching the US and EU member states undermining the core values of the EU.

Furthermore, legislative safeguards and democratic accountability are needed to prevent further abuses.

The Greens succeeded to rally a majority in the Parliament behind our demands for accountability for CIA activities in the EU.

The report gathered further evidence on abduction routes of airplanes, and about the existence of secret detention sites inside the EU.

The Greens are only able to raise attention to the issue. It is up to the involved member states, with the support of the Council and the Commission, to launch investigations into their cooperation with the CIA.

This is not yet the case in several member states against which there are serious allegations of complicity in abducting and torturing people, or hosting detention sites.