EP: gemengde gevoelens over rapport van Dick Marty over de CIA-activiteiten in Europa (en)
MEPs heard on Tuesday from Council of Europe rapporteur Dick Marty on Tuesday on his report on secret detentions and illegal transfers of prisoners by the CIA in Europe. The European Parliament adopted a report on the same subject in February, and most MEPs at the latest hearing welcomed the similar conclusions reached by both institutions. Others, however, took issue with Mr Marty's refusal to reveal his sources.
Presenting his report to a joint meeting of the Committees on Civil Liberties and Foreign Affairs and the Sub-committee on Human Rights, Mr Marty said that the US government has clearly stated that it has fully respected the sovereignty of European countries during its activities in the "war on terror", and that kidnappings in Europe would not have been possible without the participation of the national intelligence services concerned. He said there was a "wall of silence that confronts us from almost all national governments" and that this silence "continues to mask serious human rights violations."
Mr Marty said that in the cases of Poland and Romania, there were "numerous and coherent pieces of evidence" that secret prisons existed in these countries. He also said that General Nicolo Pollari, head of SISMI, the Italian military intelligence service, had "shamelessly lied" about his cooperation in the rendition of Abu Omar to the EP's temporary committee during an exchange of views in Parliament. He was critical of both the previous and the current Italian governments for blocking a Milanese court's extradition request for CIA agents.
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Mr Marty's report elicited mixed reactions from MEPs. Claudio Fava (PES, IT), the EP's rapporteur on the subject, noted that the Marty report's conclusions "are ones we mainly support and share," even though he stressed the very different methods and approaches to evidence employed by the two institutions. Jas Gawronski (EPP-ED, IT) was critical, saying that "after two years of work, you are simply coming out in support of what the Washington Post has already reported, without offering any concrete evidence."
The question of why the Council of Europe report refused to name sources was on many MEPs' minds. Jan Wiersma (PES, NL) said that the EP "has always drawn the line to publish what we can prove, not what we believe," while Roberta Anastase (EPP-ED, RO) asked whether the evidence can at least be made available to the Romanian authorities on a confidential basis, so they can verify them and continue their own investigations.
Mr Marty responded by saying that he was very prudent in his investigation. "There is no information in the report that came from one sole source," without corroborating evidence, he said. Sarah Ludford (ALDE, UK) was supportive, saying that "those who challenge the report have a remedy: put all the documents in the public domain so we can compare evidence."
The most heated discussion centred around two MEPs who were mentioned by name in the Marty report. Ioan Pa?cu (PES, RO) demanded to know why Mr Marty had not accepted his offer to appear before the Council of Europe. Earlier this week, Marek Siwiec (PES, PL) announced that he had delivered a legal summons to Mr Marty demanding his name to be withdrawn from the report. Mr Marty emphasised that he is not accusing anyone, only saying that the two were "aware of activities" in their countries. "We are not a tribunal," Mr Marty he said, "my report is a political document, not a formal accusation." Sophia in 't Veld (ALDE, NL) agreed, saying that "democratic governments are accountable on a voluntary basis, not just in court with watertight evidence."
Mr Marty said the report simply aimed to get closer to the truth of what happened, emphasising the "right to truth, but also our duty to the truth." "Are we lawyers for our national governments or defenders of our common European values?" he asked. Civil Liberties Committee Chairman Jean-Marie Cavada (ALDE, FR) agreed, saying "we need to demand clarity and truth from European governments, so that it is not only the American government that ends up telling the truth."
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