Temporary Committee on the alleged use of European countries by the CIA for the transport and illegal detention of prisoners

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The Temporary Committee on the alleged use of European countries by the CIA for the transport and illegal detention of prisoners, widely referred to as the CIA committee, was a Committee of the European Parliament that was set up in 2006 to investigate the alleged role of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency in the extraordinary rendition of terrorists. The chairman of the committee was Carlos Coelho. [1]

Committees of the European Parliament

The Committees of the European Parliament are designed to aid the European Commission in initiating legislation.

Central Intelligence Agency National intelligence agency of the United States

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, tasked with gathering, processing, and analyzing national security information from around the world, primarily through the use of human intelligence (HUMINT). As one of the principal members of the United States Intelligence Community (IC), the CIA reports to the Director of National Intelligence and is primarily focused on providing intelligence for the President and Cabinet of the United States.

Extraordinary rendition State-sponsored abduction

Extraordinary rendition, also called irregular rendition or forced rendition, is the government-sponsored abduction and extrajudicial transfer of a person from one country to another with the purpose of circumventing the former country's laws on interrogation, detention and torture. Such renditions have predominantly been carried out by the United States government, with the consent of the other countries involved.

Contents

Final report

An interim report was released in 2006, which stated that "the CIA or other US services have been directly responsible for the illegal seizure, removal, abduction and detention of terrorist suspects on the territory of member states". [2]

The Chairman of the committee, Carlos Coelho, claimed that the CIA's extraordinary renditions in Europe was carried out "with the knowledge and support of European national governments". [3]

In 2007, the final report of the committee was released, which revealed the existence of secret detention facilities in Europe. According to the report, over one thousand CIA-operated flights used European airspace from 2001 to 2005. [4]

The report also included the following details:

Servizio per le Informazioni e la Sicurezza Militare was the military intelligence agency of Italy from 1977–2007.

Abu Omar case

The Abu Omar Case was the abduction and transfer to Egypt of the Imam of Milan Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr, also known as Abu Omar. The case was picked by the international media as one of the better-documented cases of extraordinary rendition carried out in a joint operation by the United States' Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Italian Military Intelligence and Security Service (SISMI) in the context of the "global war on terrorism" declared by the Bush administration.

Milan Italian city

Milan is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city in Italy after Rome, with the city proper having a population of 1,395,274 while its metropolitan city has a population of 3,250,315. Its continuously built-up urban area has a population estimated to be about 5,270,000 over 1,891 square kilometres. The wider Milan metropolitan area, known as Greater Milan, is a polycentric metropolitan region that extends over central Lombardy and eastern Piedmont and which counts an estimated total population of 7.5 million, making it by far the largest metropolitan area in Italy and the 54th largest in the world. Milan served as capital of the Western Roman Empire from 286 to 402 and the Duchy of Milan during the medieval period and early modern age.

Reception

The committee's final report was approved by the European Parliament with 382 votes in favour, 256 against, and 74 abstentions. [4]

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "Carlos COELHO". European Parliament . Retrieved 28 January 2014.
  2. ↑ "EU backs report on CIA kidnappings". Television New Zealand. 13 June 2006. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
  3. ↑ "MEPs say intelligence sources reveal 30 to 50 extraordinary renditions have taken place". European Parliament . Retrieved 28 January 2014.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "CIA activities in Europe: European Parliament adopts final report deploring passivity from some Member States". European Parliament . Retrieved 28 January 2014.
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