CSM
Senior Member
It doesn't surprise me that the Europeans expect a US Senator to sell out the US and it is no surprise to me which one:
USA Today
November 23, 2005
Pg. 6
Swiss Investigator Looks Into Allegations Of Secret Prisons
By Associated Press
PARIS The head of an investigation into alleged secret CIA prisons in Eastern Europe said Tuesday that he was checking 31 planes that landed in Europe in recent years and was trying to acquire past satellite images of sites in Romania and Poland.
If the European investigation uncovers evidence of covert facilities, countries found housing such centers could be suspended or expelled from the 46-member Council of Europe, a human rights watchdog organization.
Swiss senator Dick Marty said the Council of Europe had a moral obligation to look into claims the CIA set up secret prisons to interrogate al-Qaeda suspects. Martin is investigating the allegations on behalf of the council.
Despite lack of proof, there were many hints, such as suspicious moving patterns of aircraft, that have to be investigated, he said.
The Strasbourg-based council has limited powers. The U.S. government has not confirmed or denied the existence of such facilities.
Allegations the CIA hid and interrogated al-Qaeda suspects at Soviet-era compounds in Eastern Europe were first reported in The Washington Post on Nov. 2. The newspaper did not name countries.
A day later, Mark Garlasco of Human Rights Watch said the group had evidence indicating the CIA transported suspected terrorists captured in Afghanistan to Poland and Romania. The New York-based group based its conclusion on flight logs of CIA aircraft from 2001 to 2004.
In a report presented in Paris on Tuesday, Marty said airports that might have been used by CIA aircraft in some capacity are Palma de Mallorca in Spain, Larnaca in Cyprus and Shannon in Ireland.
Marty's report a copy of which was obtained by the Associated Press contends the aircraft are alleged to belong to entities with direct or indirect links to the CIA (and) used by the CIA to transport prisoners.
He said he asked the Brussels-based Eurocontrol air safety organization for details of 31 suspect planes that flew through Europe.
Member states send Eurocontrol flight logs of civilian and military flights. They are not published.
Marty said he asked the European Union's Satellite Center in Spain to hand over satellite images of suspect sites in Romania and Poland. When we talk about prisons,' they don't necessarily have to be for many people, they could be cells for a very small group of people, one or two, he said.
Marty said he planned to ask authorities in the Council of Europe's member states whether they have been contacted to authorize secret detention in one form or another.
He said he intended to ask Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry to share any information the Senate may get from Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on the possible existence of secret detention facilities outside the USA. April Boyd, a Kerry spokeswoman, said the senator was not inclined to honor Marty's request.
USA Today
November 23, 2005
Pg. 6
Swiss Investigator Looks Into Allegations Of Secret Prisons
By Associated Press
PARIS The head of an investigation into alleged secret CIA prisons in Eastern Europe said Tuesday that he was checking 31 planes that landed in Europe in recent years and was trying to acquire past satellite images of sites in Romania and Poland.
If the European investigation uncovers evidence of covert facilities, countries found housing such centers could be suspended or expelled from the 46-member Council of Europe, a human rights watchdog organization.
Swiss senator Dick Marty said the Council of Europe had a moral obligation to look into claims the CIA set up secret prisons to interrogate al-Qaeda suspects. Martin is investigating the allegations on behalf of the council.
Despite lack of proof, there were many hints, such as suspicious moving patterns of aircraft, that have to be investigated, he said.
The Strasbourg-based council has limited powers. The U.S. government has not confirmed or denied the existence of such facilities.
Allegations the CIA hid and interrogated al-Qaeda suspects at Soviet-era compounds in Eastern Europe were first reported in The Washington Post on Nov. 2. The newspaper did not name countries.
A day later, Mark Garlasco of Human Rights Watch said the group had evidence indicating the CIA transported suspected terrorists captured in Afghanistan to Poland and Romania. The New York-based group based its conclusion on flight logs of CIA aircraft from 2001 to 2004.
In a report presented in Paris on Tuesday, Marty said airports that might have been used by CIA aircraft in some capacity are Palma de Mallorca in Spain, Larnaca in Cyprus and Shannon in Ireland.
Marty's report a copy of which was obtained by the Associated Press contends the aircraft are alleged to belong to entities with direct or indirect links to the CIA (and) used by the CIA to transport prisoners.
He said he asked the Brussels-based Eurocontrol air safety organization for details of 31 suspect planes that flew through Europe.
Member states send Eurocontrol flight logs of civilian and military flights. They are not published.
Marty said he asked the European Union's Satellite Center in Spain to hand over satellite images of suspect sites in Romania and Poland. When we talk about prisons,' they don't necessarily have to be for many people, they could be cells for a very small group of people, one or two, he said.
Marty said he planned to ask authorities in the Council of Europe's member states whether they have been contacted to authorize secret detention in one form or another.
He said he intended to ask Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry to share any information the Senate may get from Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on the possible existence of secret detention facilities outside the USA. April Boyd, a Kerry spokeswoman, said the senator was not inclined to honor Marty's request.
