BRUSSELS, Feb. 13 (UPI) -- A U.S. human rights group Tuesday urged European nations to end cooperation with a secret CIA program.
Human Rights Watch also called upon the European Parliament in Strasbourg to "condemn European complicity in the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency program of 'extraordinary renditions' and secret detention of prisoners," the group said in a statement.
The group issued its statement the day before the European Parliament was scheduled to vote upon a report from its Committee on CIA Activities in Europe, or TDIP. "The report confirms that European complicity allowed CIA renditions and secret detentions to occur," the statement said.
"This report shows, unfortunately, that Europe's hands weren't clean," said Lotte Leicht, the European Union advocacy director at Human Rights Watch. "European governments should distance themselves from the CIA's illegal and short-sighted policies by taking actions recommended by the report. They ought to sanction countries found to have violated human rights, and compensate innocent victims of rendition."
The TDIP report urges EU nations to make "independent investigations into what happened," and "immediately seek the return of their citizens and residents who are being held illegally by U.S. authorities, and compensate the innocent victims of extraordinary renditions," the group said.
"According to the report, more than 1,245 CIA-operated flights were operated through European air space between 2001 and 2005," it added.
"The report also accused high-ranking EU officials, including Javier Solana, EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, of not revealing all they knew about the U.S. secret detention program."
"It's time for European governments to investigate and prosecute these abuses," said Leicht. "Criminal cases underway in Italy, Germany, Spain and Portugal may bring some of those responsible to justice and shed new light on these crimes."
