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Strasbourg, 24.01.2006 – It is highly unlikely that European governments, or at least their intelligence services, were unaware of the “rendition” of more than a hundred persons affecting Europe, according to Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly investigator Dick Marty, whose interim assessment was made public today in an information memorandum.

Citing statements made by American officials and others, Mr Marty said there was “a great deal of coherent, convergent evidence pointing to the existence of a system of ‘relocation’ or ‘outsourcing’ of torture”.

He added: “It has been proved – and in fact never denied – that individuals have been abducted, deprived of their liberty and transported […] in Europe, to be handed over to countries in which they have suffered […] torture.” However, he acknowledged that, at this stage, there was no formal, irrefutable evidence of the existence of secret CIA detention centres in Romania, Poland or any other country.

Mr Marty also welcomed the arrival yesterday of detailed information from Eurocontrol, Europe’s air traffic agency, and satellite images from the EU’s Satellite Centre, including sites located on Romanian territory. “We will not be able to pronounce on the importance and the scope of this information until later,” he said.

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