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A Council of Europe investigator said he's found evidence of ``suspicious
movements'' by 31 aircraft that may have been used by the U.S. Central Intelligence
Agency to transport suspected terrorists.
The Council of Europe, which represents 46 countries, said on Nov. 23 that
it was opening a formal inquiry into reports the U.S. secretly held terrorist
suspects in Europe and used European countries as transit points for the detainees.
There were ``suspicious movements by 31 aircraft allegedly belonging to entities
with direct or indirect links to the CIA, and believed to have been used by
the CIA to transport prisoners in the `war against terrorism,''' investigator
Dick Marty said today in an e-mailed statement. He is the chairman of the council's
parliamentary assembly legal affairs committee.
The Financial Times, citing U.S.-based Human Rights Watch, reported on Nov.
3 that the CIA operated covert interrogation centers in Poland and Romania.
The Polish and Romanian governments denied the reports. The Washington Post
first published the allegations that the CIA was operating a secret detention
center in Eastern Europe.
Marty proposed enlisting the help of Eurocontrol, the organization that coordinates
the continent's air-traffic safety, to help trace the flights, for example from
Afghanistan. He also suggested using images from the European Union's Satellite
Center, starting with those made in early 2002, to help detect possible detention
centers on the ground.
The Council of Europe, based in Strasbourg, France, is the continent's oldest
political organization, founded in 1949. Its aims include defending human rights,
parliamentary democracy and the rule of law. It also aims to develop continent-wide
agreements to standardize member countries' social and legal practices, according
to its Web site.
To contact the reporter for this story:
Kevin Costelloe in Brussels at kcostelloe@bloomberg.net
