Doc. 11302 Report
A. Draft resolution
1.
The Parliamentary Assembly recalls its Resolution 1507 (2006) and Recommendation 1754 (2006) on
alleged secret detentions and unlawful inter-state transfers of detainees involving Council of Europe member
states, and refers to the report of 12 June 20061revealing the existence of a “spider’s web” of illegal transfers
of detainees woven by the CIA in which Council of Europe member states were involved, and expressing
suspicions that secret places of detention might exist in Poland and Romania.
2.
It now considers it factually established that such secret detention centres operated by the CIA have
existed for some years in these two countries, though not ruling out the possibility that secret CIA detentions
may also have occurred in other Council of Europe member states.
3.
Analysis of the data on the movements of certain aircraft, obtained from different sources, including
international air traffic control authorities, and supplemented by numerous credible and concordant
testimonies, has enabled the places in question to be identified.
4.
These secret places of detention formed part of the “HVD” (High-Value Detainees) programme publicly
referred to by the President of the United States on 6 September 2006.
5.
Analysis of this programme, on the basis of information obtained from many sources on both sides of
the Atlantic, shows that detainees considered especially sensitive – some of whom were mentioned by the
President of the United States – were held in Poland. For logistical and security reasons, detainees
considered to be less important were held in Romania.
6.
The “HVD” programme was set up by the CIA with the co-operation of official European partners
belonging to government services and kept secret for many years thanks to strict observance of the rules of
confidentiality laid down in the NATO framework. The implementation of this programme has given rise to
repeated serious breaches of human rights.
7.
The detainees were subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment, sometimes protracted. Certain
“enhanced” interrogation methods used fulfil the definition of torture and inhuman and degrading treatment in
Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights and the United Nations Convention against Torture.
Furthermore, secret detention as such is contrary to many international undertakings both of the United States
and of the Council of Europe member states concerned.
8.
The Assembly earnestly deplores the fact that the concepts of state secrecy or national security are
invoked by many governments (United States, Poland, Romania, “the former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia”, Italy and Germany, as well as the Russian Federation in the Northern Caucasus) to obstruct
judicial and/or parliamentary proceedings aimed at ascertaining the responsibilities of the executive in relation
to grave allegations of human rights violations and at rehabilitating and compensating the alleged victims of
such violations.
9.
Information as well as evidence concerning the civil, criminal or political liability of the state’s
representatives for serious violations of human rights must not be considered as worthy of protection as state
secrets. If it is not possible to separate such cases from true, legitimate state secrets, appropriate procedures
must be put into place ensuring that the culprits are held accountable for their actions while preserving state
secrecy.
10. The scope of the executive’s reserved area, exempted by virtue of state secrecy and national security
from parliamentary and judicial review under legislation or in accordance with practice dating from the worst
period of the Cold War, must be reconsidered to take into account the principles of democracy and rule of law.
11. The Assembly is also anxious about the threats to the European governments’ freedom of action
resulting from their covert involvement in the CIA’s unlawful activities. The disclosure of the truth, necessary
on grounds of principle, is also the best way of restoring the vital co-operation between secret services for the
prevention and suppression of terrorism on a sound and sustainable basis.
12. Only Bosnia and Herzegovina and Canada, the latter an observer to the Council of Europe, have fully
acknowledged their responsibilities with regard to the unlawful transfers of detainees.
13. The Romanian parliamentary delegation has shown a firm resolve to co-operate with the Assembly, but
has itself encountered the government authorities’ reluctance to shed all possible light on the CIA’s
questionable activities in Romanian territory.
1.
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