EU: European governments were probably aware of US flights transporting terrorist suspects through their territory to third countries where they could face torture.
However, no firm evidence of secret detention centres run by the CIA in Europe has yet been uncovered, according to an interim report published by the Council of Europe.
Swiss senator Dick Marty, who is leading the investigation on behalf of the council, said yesterday he was "outraged" by some of the incidents outlined in the report.
He urged European states - including Ireland - to investigate whether rendition flights had passed through their territory regardless of any assurances given by the US.
The report says it appears that more than 100 people have been affected by the practice of rendition, whereby prisoners are secretly transported between states without recourse to legal representation or protection of their human rights.
It also notes that hundreds of CIA-chartered flights have passed through numerous European countries in recent years and that it was "highly unlikely" that European governments, or at least their intelligence services, were unaware of the flights.
However, the interim report does not contain any firm evidence to support allegations that European states, specifically Poland and Romania, have hosted secret CIA prison camps where terrorist suspects have been held.
Mr Marty said this did not mean he could exonerate both states of the accusations, which were made in November by the non-governmental organisation Human Rights Watch.
The states could only be absolved when the the investigation was concluded in light of the allegations.
He would study satellite images and flight records provided late on Monday by the EU satellite centre and Eurocontrol to assess if these could provide any evidence of the alleged secret camps.
He also expected to receive detailed answers on February 21st to a list of questions posed by his investigating team to European states.
Mr Marty gave no final publication date for the investigation and welcomed a parallel investigation by the European parliament.
The interim report was severely criticised by the British delegate to the Council of Europe, Dennis MacShane MP, as merely "recirculating" old newspaper reports.
"The Marty report has more holes than a Swiss cheese," said former British Europe minister Dr MacShane. "I have read it carefully and there is nothing new, no proof, no witness statement, no document that justifies the claims made."
Mr Marty responded by alleging that many European governments had shown no willingness to investigate rendition or alleged secret prisons.
He cited the example of Germany, where there have been strong official objections to setting up a committee of investigation into the issue of rendition flights.
Italy was one of the few countries where a detailed judicial investigation had taken place, he said. The report notes that an official inquiry by the Polish government into the secret camps, which was due to be made public in December, has still not been published.
It also highlights the extreme pressure that US media companies face from the US government when they are investigating these matters.
For example, ABC was forced to remove material about secret detention centres in Poland and Romania following pressure exerted by the CIA.
Meanwhile, the Washington Post, which broke the story in November, made an agreement with the US government not to name Romania and Poland in its article. Since then the media have named Romania, Poland, Ukraine, Kosovo, Macedonia and Bulgaria as hosts to secret detention centres.
Labour TD Eamon Gilmore, who is a member of the parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe, called on the Government yesterday to take measures to investigate US flights to and from Ireland in light of the publication yesterday of the council's report.
"The question is whether the State is turning a blind eye to what is going on, and the big issue for the Government is that it hasn't been checking these flights," he said.
MAIN POINTS
At midday on June 17th, 2003 an Egyptian citizen, Abu Omar, was abducted in Milan. Mr Omar was flown to Egypt via airbases in Aviano (Italy) and Ramstein (Germany), where he was tortured before being released and rearrested. No proceedings have been brought against Mr Omar.
An Italian judicial investigation has established beyond reasonable doubt that the arrest operation was carried out by the CIA. The Italian authorities have issued legal proceedings against 25 US agents and arrest warrants against 22 agents.
The German judicial authorities are investigating the case of Khaled al Masri, a German citizen of Lebanese origin who, after being mistakenly arrested while on holiday in Macedonia, was taken by the US authorities to Kabul for interrogation.
A Spanish judge is investigating whether Son Sant Joan Airport in Majorca was used to transport Muslim suspects, as claimed by Spain's interior minister on November 15th, 2005. The same plane which transported Abu Omar landed three times in Spain and in other European countries.
Swiss senator Dick Marty is investigating allegations that six Bosnians were abducted by US agents on Bosnian soil and taken to Guantanamo Bay. The men's US lawyer says that this occurred despite a Bosnian court ordering their release.
No evidence has yet emerged to pinpoint secret CIA prisons in Romania or Poland, but the report states that a KFOR (Kosovo Force) detention camp known as Camp Bondsteel has "many parallels" with Guantanamo Bay - prisoners are detained without recourse to judicial procedure and without legal representation. This camp is not open to inspection by the Council of Europe's Committee on the Prevention of Torture, which has the legal right to inspect all places of detention in states which are party to the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture.
Negotiations are in progress with KFOR to gain entry to this site.