Conditions exist in Europe for 'extraordinary rendition'

Foreign security services appear to be able to transport anyone or anything through the majority of European countries, including Ireland, according to a report released today.

In an inquiry carried out by the Council of Europe it was found that while there is "no evidence" of the illegal movement of terror suspects to jails on mainland Europe - or what has become known as 'extraordinary rendition' - there are paltry restrictions on the movement of foreign agents across mainland Europe.

"Europe appears to be a happy hunting ground for foreign security services" said Secretary General Terry Davis at a press conference. "Hardly any country in Europe has any legal provisions to ensure an effective oversight over the activities of foreign agencies on their territory," he continued.

The report adds that no Council of Europe member state has established any restrictions on civil aircraft being used for purposes that would "be incompatible with internationally recognised human rights standards."

Mr Davis added that laws on state immunity create obstacles for effective law enforcement in relation tothe activities of foreign agents.

"Immunity cannot mean impunity" he said. "Exceptions to state immunity already recognised in the case of torture should be extended to other serious violations of human rights, such as enforced disappearances."

Last November, Mr Davis gave the Council's 46 member states a three-month deadline to hand over information relating to suspicions that the CIA had run secret jails in Europe.

He also asked them to reveal anything they knew about  secret CIA flights across Europe in which prisoners are alleged to have been transferred to jails in third countries where they faced torture and other abuses.

Dick Marty, a Swiss Senator and former crime-fighting magistrate who is also investigating the charges for the Council of Europe, said last month that European governments were probably aware of the secret transfers, known as renditions.

He estimated that more than 100 people had been subject to renditions, which he decribed as an "outsourcing of torture" by the United States.

But he said he had not yet uncovered irrefutable evidence to confirm allegations that the CIA operated secret detention centres in Europe. Washington has denied any wrongdoing and dismissed Marty's interim report as containing nothing new.

The allegations of CIA abuses, first made by newspapers and human rights groups late last year, have fanned concerns in Europe about US tactics and raised questions about whether European governments turned a blind eye to possible illegal activities.

The inquiry will continue in the case of individual countries which provided incomplete or inadequate replies, and he announced that he will make specific proposals for new Council of Europe legal standards to deal with the deficiencies revealed by the report.