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<font size=4><b>European Parliament hears evidence on CIA extraordinary
rendition programme<br><br>
</b></font>Reprieve’s Crofton Black this week gave evidence to the
European Parliament on new developments in his European renditions
accountability investigation.<br>
<br>
Dr Black has been investigating the CIA renditions network with a
particular focus on European secret prisons. As a global conspiracy by
the USA, the network required the co-operation of corporations,
governments and service providers. Reprieve, a legal action
charity, is working with the European Parliament to ensure these parties
are held accountable so that such co-operation may never happen
again.<br>
<br>
Reprieve reported the following: <br>
Since the last European Parliament report in 2007, two more CIA
"black sites" have been firmly identified in Lithuania and
Romania, using information provided by former CIA employees and supported
by documentary evidence.<br><br>
The Lithuanian site, in the former riding stables at Antaviliai, was
purchased by a mysterious company, Elite LLC,incorporated in Washington
DC and Panama and acting through power of attorney given to an individual
named Valdas Vitkauskas. Elite was incorporated in July 2003. In March
2004, Elite and Mr Vitkauskas purchased the site from its local
owners.<br><br>
Residents living in the vicinity with a clear view of the site spoke of a
building programme, overseen by Americans, in which a large metal
warehouse structure was created. Vehicles with darkened windows visited
the site regularly and guards patrolled around it. In January 2007 it was
sold to its current owners, the Lithuanian security services.<br><br>
During this period, a number of flights, related by documentary evidence
to companies participating in the renditions programme, made flights to
Lithuania, sometimes disguising their routes. Planes came to Vilnius and
Palanga from Bucharest and Morocco. On landing, the planes were not
checked: normal border guard duties were suspended on the instructions of
the security services. Landing forms were signed, not by the pilots, but
by officers of the airports.<br><br>
These planes also visited Romania. Telephone records connect the Romanian
landings to other landings in the renditions network, and flight
information connects them to the contracting companies and ultimately to
the US government.<br><br>
Reprieve is building a database of financial transactions relating to
renditions programme flights - some of which can be linked to the
renditions of specific prisoners. Most transactions involve non-European
companies paying European companies and European governments fees and
taxes. The Danish government, for example, receives a fee for "each
crossing between Europe and North America by an aircraft, wherever
registered, in the course of which the aircraft is at any time north of
the 45th parallel North between the meridians of 15 West and 50
West" (CAA charges for Denmark and Iceland 2003). <br>
Reprieve made the following recommendations:<br><br>
Flight control agency Eurocontrol is key to this investigation. It states
that its agreements with service providers and operators preclude it from
providing data to NGOs, journalists and "third parties".
However, it can assist when requested by "member states". New,
broad and detailed engagement with Eurocontrol by European states is
therefore crucial.<br><br>
The European Parliament must capitalize on recent developments by seeking
the assistance of Eurocontrol to confirm private and state involvement in
flights implicated in the secret prisons network. <br>
Reprieve Investigator Crofton Black said: “A lot of crucial evidence has
already been collected. Unfortunately, however, in many European
countries involved in renditions and secret detention, the quality of the
evidence has often been spoilt by poor interpretation. Governments and
prosecutors have been very reluctant to follow the evidence and draw the
necessary and logical conclusions from it. The European Parliament needs
to scrutinize these failings and make a firm statement about the reality
of the renditions programme: many European countries are still trying to
brush under the carpet things that the US has already
acknowledged.”<br><br>
ENDS<br>
<br>
Notes to Editors:<br><br>
1.For more information please contact Katherine O’Shea or Donald Campbell
at Reprieve’s Press Office on katherine.oshea@reprieve.org.uk/
donald.campbell@reprieve.org.uk +44(0)20 7427 1099 or go to
<a href="http://www.reprieve.org.uk/investigations/eucomplicity/" eudora="autourl">
http://www.reprieve.org.uk/investigations/eucomplicity/</a> <br><br>
2. Watch Dr Crofton Black's testimony on Reprieve's website.<br><br>
3. The European Parliament has resolved to seek accountability for
European participation in the CIA renditions programme: "In its
resolutions of 2007 and 2009 the Parliament urged the EU and the Member
States to take action, acknowledge, repair and prevent in the future the
human rights violations that occurred in Europe in the context of the US
rendition and secret detention programmes. The hearing's objective is to
assess the developments at national level on the implementation of the
Parliament recommendations. The event will substantiate the upcoming LIBE
report and contribute to the Parliament's commitment to fully take up its
responsibilities under the new legal framework of the Lisbon Treaty.
(2012/2033(INI), Rapporteur Hélène FLAUTRE (Verts/ALE, FR)); Tuesday,
27.03.12, 9.00-12.00."<br><br>
4. Reprieve, a legal action charity, uses the law to enforce the
human<br>
rights of prisoners, from death row to Guantánamo Bay. Reprieve<br>
investigates, litigates and educates, working on the frontline, to<br>
provide legal support to prisoners unable to pay for it themselves.<br>
Reprieve promotes the rule of law around the world, securing each<br>
person’s right to a fair trial and saving lives. Clive Stafford
Smith<br>
is the founder of Reprieve and has spent 25 years working on behalf
of<br>
people facing the death penalty in the USA.<br>
<br>
Reprieve has represented, and continues to represent, a large number
of<br>
prisoners who have been rendered and abused around the world, and is<br>
conducting ongoing investigations into the rendition and the secret<br>
detention of ‘ghost prisoners’ in the so-called ‘war on terror.’<br>
<br>
<br>
Reprieve<br>
PO Box 52742<br>
London EC4P 4WS<br>
Tel: 020 7353 4640<br>
Fax: 020 7353 4641<br>
Email: info@reprieve.org.uk<br>
Website:
<a href="http://www.reprieve.org.uk/" eudora="autourl">
www.reprieve.org.uk<br>
</a>Email: info@reprieve.org.uk<br>
Website:
<a href="http://www.reprieve.org.uk/" eudora="autourl">
www.reprieve.org.uk<br>
</a> <br><br>
Reprieve is a charitable company limited by guarantee; Registered Charity
No. 1114900 Registered Company No. 5777831 (England) Registered Office
2-6 Cannon Street London EC4M 6YH; Chair: Ken Macdonald QC; Patrons: Alan
Bennett, Julie Christie, Martha Lane Fox, Gordon Roddick, Richard Rogers,
Ruth Rogers, Jon Snow, Marina Warner, Vivienne Westwood <br><br>
<br>
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