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Watchdog hears CIA flights report Europe's human rights body is debating a report accusing 14 European states of colluding with the CIA on secret flights transferring terror suspects. The report said some countries had provided staging posts for unlawful CIA flights, while others had let the US abduct suspects from their soil. The Council of Europe will also view video testimony supporting the charges. Under the CIA policy of rendition, prisoners are moved to third countries for interrogation. The US admits to picking up terrorism suspects but denies sending them overseas to face torture. The report by Swiss Senator Dick Marty followed a seven-month inquiry that began in November following media allegations about CIA detention centres in eastern Europe. EU Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini, invited to contribute to the Council of Europe debate, called for thorough national inquiries. "It is essential that the states concerned clarify the situation in their own countries in the light of the initial findings of the investigations carried out at European level," he said. Video testimony The Council of Europe will watch a video, put together
by human rights group Witness, that includes testimony from men who
say they were tortured after being detained by the CIA. Binyam Mohammed, an Ethiopian citizen after arrested in Pakistan for travelling on a false passport, is still being at Guantanamo Bay. The council will hear the detainee's brother read from a diary entry which talks about Binyam Mohammed being systematically wounded with a scalpel. Speaking before Tuesday's session, Mr Marty said he believed some countries were going to great lengths to discredit his report. 'Spiders' web' Correspondents say a resolution based on the report is likely to be approved, along with recommendations that intelligence services are regulated more closely. But critics charge that Mr Marty's report contains nothing new and does not contain evidence compelling enough to secure a conviction in a court. Mr Marty's report concluded there was strong circumstantial evidence that secret CIA detention centres had been established in Poland and Romania. Both countries have rejected the claims. The report was based on an examination air traffic logs, satellite images and the accounts of those who said they had been abducted. Mr Marty identified a "spider's web" of US rendition flights and landing points around the world. The resolution to be voted on avoids mentioning any European country by name, but says some Council of Europe member states have "knowingly colluded with the United States to carry out these unlawful operations". It also condemns members that have denied their participation "in many cases without actually having carried out any inquiries or serious investigations". The accompanying recommendation to member states calls on them to adopt common measures to guarantee the rights of terror suspects captured in or transported through their territories. It also urges them to include "human rights protection clauses" in deals allowing third countries to set up military bases Europe. If the resolution and recommendations are approved, the member states - most of which deny any involvement in abuses of human rights by the CIA - are obliged to respond. ---------------------------------------------------
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