BRUSSELS
Amnesty International has urged the European Parliament to investigate allegations of complicity by the European Union in the CIA’s secret detention, interrogation and torture operations.
The call Tuesday comes a day after European Union leaders gathered in Brussels to discuss ways to "combat terrorism" in Europe and in other parts of the world following the deadly attack on French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and anti-terrorism raids in Belgium.
Julia Hall, Amnesty International’s expert on counter-terrorism and human rights, said: ''Without European help, the USA would not have been able to secretly detain and torture people for so many years.
''All those responsible for torture and enforced disappearances on the territories of European states should be criminally charged and held accountable after fair trials; and justice must be served for the victims of torture."
'Brutal torture'
Amnesty added in a press release: ''European Union (EU) member states implicated in CIA programs have yet to fully and effectively investigate their roles in these operations, expose the full truth of their involvement and provide justice for all victims who were subjected to subsequent human rights violations."
The move comes after the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee released a report on Dec.9, 2014, which disclosed the U.S.' Central Intelligence Agency tortured people it had detained in a severe, brutal and systematic manner and yet which led to scant intelligence information of any value being obtained.
''The Senate report makes it abundantly clear that foreign governments were essential to the ‘success’ of the CIA operations -- and evidence that has been mounting for nearly a decade points to key European allies,'' Hall said.
Amnesty International reports the following countries were complicit in CIA torture operations; the United Kingdom, Poland, Romania, Lithuania, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Germany.
