Responsibility gap: Citizen's right to know truth on CIA renditions

6.34.05pm GMT Tue 2nd May 2006

Members of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe expressed disappointment over the exchange of views held between the Members of the Temporary Committee on alleged flights and secret prisons on EU territory and the EU High Representative Javier Solana.

Committee vice-chair Sarah Ludford said: "Javier Solana is in the absurd position of claiming certainty that Member States as well as the EU uphold human rights and are not complicit in alleged CIA rendition, but being unable to establish if that is true by denying any legal competence to question them".

"While not impugning Mr. Solana's personal integrity, I find it deeply disappointing that he fails to deploy his political authority to stop the EU and European governments complacently claiming the moral high ground as beacons of human rights while being unable or unwilling to prove it. Inadvertently, Javier Solana paints a telling picture of the gap between EU pretensions and any real accountability for living up to them" she added.