Vote on CIA renditions paves the way for further Parliament inquiry
GUE/NGL today voted in favour of a resolution calling on EU member states to investigate the involvement of certain European governments in the illegal rendition programme devised and led by the USA in the wake of the 9/11 attacks.
In December 2014, the US Senate published a report on CIA torture following these attacks. Since 2006, the European Parliament has been working on bringing the perpetrators of CIA illegal detention and secret flights in Europe to justice, and to shed light on the complicity of some member states in these activities.
MEP Marie-Christine Vergiat i, who is shadowing this issue for GUE/NGL, said: "This resolution is a very important step forward in uncovering the complicity of the governments of some of our own member states in these horrible practices. The vote today enables the Civil Liberties committee (LIBE) to resume its inquiry on these illegal practices. It will also pave the way for more pressure to be put on the Council and the member states concerned to respond once and for all to the Parliament’s continued demands as set out in 2012 and 2013 and in today's resolution."
MEP Cornelia Ernst i, coordinator for the group in LIBE, said: "The most interesting parts of the US Senate's report are not about the use of torture by the US - the most interesting parts deal with corruption by European governments and how they were involved in the CIA's system of secret flights, black sites and torture. The US government and its agencies must be held responsible for this. But we cannot only look at the US - it is right here in Europe where courts and governments have not yet done their homework. It is a scandal that many European governments still fail to admit their role in this."
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