EU agrees to CIA prisons probe

heraldsun: Leaders of the European Parliament agreed today to launch an investigation into the possible existence of US intelligence agency prisons in Europe, officials said.

The move came after a probe by the Council of Europe, a separate 46-member rights body, concluded that allegations of secret CIA prisons were credible and that the US seemed to have illegally abducted and detained individuals.

The European Parliament will decide in mid-January on the make-up of the investigating commission and the length of its mandate, said an official at the European Union's legislature, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"It's important in this European Parliament that we get to the root of the matter," said Hannes Swoboda, vice president of the Socialist group in the assembly.

"We must investigate without prejudice but without being blind to the possibilities. We want to know the truth, nothing more than the truth. If we do this then we are genuinely battling against terrorism but also against torture," he said.

EU MPs will vote on setting up the probe tomorrow.

The Council of Europe probe concluded that "the information gathered to date reinforced the credibility of the allegations concerning the transport and temporary detention of detainees - outside all judicial procedure - in European countries".

It said that some European governments may have colluded.

Dick Marty, the Swiss parliamentarian leading the inquiry, said the fact that US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had failed to categorically deny that detainees were transported or held in Europe substantiated the claims.

The council's findings will intensify pressure on the United States to explain its policy on terror suspects.

db: Torture IS terrorism. My friend's not very advanced nine year old worked that one out.