CIA report ratchets up pressure on EU states

10.56.41am UTC (GMT +0000) Wed 7th Jun 2006

Sarah with Swiss Liberal Senator and Council of Europe Investigator Dick Marty

Vice-chair of the European Parliament committee on alleged CIA torture flights and secret jails Liberal Democrat MEP Baroness Sarah Ludford, commenting on the final report by Dick Marty for the Council of Europe, said:

"His conclusions reinforce the call in MEPs' interim report for European states to instigate full investigations of their collusion in the gross illegality of the 'war on terror'. The citing of the UK as provider of stopover facilities, tip-offs and interrogators requires a comprehensive Westminster enquiry."

"The weight of direct and circumstantial evidence is now overwhelming. The EU can have no moral authority while states refuse to own up and clean house."

"While the charge of secret jails in Poland and Romania is the most grave, 12 EU states and 4 candidates are cited for various degrees of complicity. The dam of silence from European governments must break if they are to retain any credibility as upholders of human rights."