28 March 2012
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Justice and home affairs - 13-12-2005 - 17:42
MEPs discuss ways to investigate existence of
CIA detention camps
"At a joint meeting of the Civil Liberties Committee and
the Foreign Affairs Committee on Monday, a majority of MEPs spoke
in favour of investigating the alleged existence of CIA detention
camps in Europe. An opinion drafted by the EP legal services
says there is not a sufficient legal basis to launch a 'committee
of inquiry'. However, MEPs insisted on keeping all options on
the table, including that of setting up a 'temporary committee'.
Commissioner Franco Frattini opened the discussion by saying
more evidence was needed before launching a formal investigation.
He also explained that, in his opinion, setting up a Parliament
committee of inquiry would overlap with the investigation being
conducted by the Council of Europe and would undermine its value.
However, if any sort of committee is finally set up for this
purpose, "you will get all the operational support from
the European Commission", he told MEPs. The Commission
has already offered operational support to the Council of Europe
to investigate the issue, he added.
Article 52 of the European Convention on Human Rights allows
the Council of Europe to look into possible violations of the
principles of the European Convention on Human Rights. This
power has only been used eight times in the history of the Strasbourg-based
body. The Council of Europe opened a formal inquiry on 21 November
and requested the 45 governments which are parties to the ECHR
to respond by 21 February 2006.
The Civil Liberties Committee chair Jean-Marie Cavada (ALDE,
FR) said the recent events reminded him of the Watergate case.
"We don't know yet if this has become an EU issue but we
cannot be the last ones to discover if something serious happened.
We are here to seek the truth and not to wait for someone to
provide it for us", he said. Mr Cavada also explained that,
under the EP Rules of Procedure, the Liberties Committee "is
responsible for the determination of a clear risk of a serious
breach by a Member State of the principles common to the Member
States".
On behalf of her political group, Ewa Klamt (EPP-ED, DE) said:
"The EPP does not support the setting up of a committee
of inquiry, because it would have to deal with infringements
of Community law. We have no indication as to such infringements
yet". She supported instead the launching of "a temporary
committee to deal with the political implications of the conduct
of the United States". Martine Roure (PES, FR) agreed that
"light needs to be shed on these actions. We don't want
to be simple spectators; we want to be fully involved".
Alexander Alvaro (ALDE, DE) was also in favour of European Parliament
involvement. He supported an idea suggested by other Members
that Parliament could start by setting up a temporary committee
and wait for the information gathered by the Council of Europe
by the end of February, to see if there was then enough further
evidence to appoint a committee of inquiry.
A European Parliament committee of inquiry has the power to investigate
alleged contraventions of Community law and to submit a report
within the following 12 months. It "may invite an institution
or a body of the European Communities or the Government of a
Member State to designate one of its members to take part in
its proceedings".
A temporary committee has the same 12-month deadline but it does
not have investigative powers, i.e. it can invite, but not oblige,
the Member States to send representatives to its hearings.
This issue will come before the full Parliament in a plenary
debate on Wednesday 14 December at 3pm. The debate will be followed
by a resolution, to be adopted on Thursday 15 December."
European Parliament press service
Filed 16 December 2005
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