Minister accused of ducking questions on CIA 'torture flights'

13 April 2012

MEPs investigating alleged CIA "extraordinary rendition" flights have accused Europe Minister Geoff Hoon of dodging their questions.

Mr Hoon has been criticised for ducking direct questions when quizzed about rendition - which sees the US take suspected terrorists to secret prisons for interrogation - by the European Parliament committee looking into Human Rights Act breaches.

Liberal Democrat MEP Sarah Ludford, head of the European Parliament temporary committee on rendition, yesterday said: "We felt his answers were not as forthcoming or informative as would be justified by the weight of the allegations raised.

"We felt there was an unwillingness to engage with the questions. It's not enough to say there's nothing to look at. The allegations are credible enough to trigger an obligation to investigate."

But a Foreign Office spokesman said Mr Hoon had co-operated fully. "He met the committee to explain the Government's policy on rendition and answered all the questions put to him."

A seven-strong delegation of MEPs spent two days in London taking evidence from senior MPs and human rights groups, as well as relatives and lawyers of three alleged victims.

The remit of the European Parliament's "temporary committee on the alleged use of European countries by the CIA for the transportation and illegal detention of prisoners" is to assess whether any EU states have breached the Human Rights Act.

The results will form part of a final report expected early next year at the end of an investigation overshadowed by a separate inquiry by human rights watchdog the Council of Europe.

Italian MEP Claudio Fava, who will table a draft report to the committee next month, said the meeting with Mr Hoon "proved to be the least fruitful of any meeting with ministers in recent months", adding it was "on a par" with a recent confrontation with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's legal adviser John Bellinger.

Earlier this year the Council of Europe named Britain as one of 14 European countries which colluded in the operation of an "unlawful" CIA "global spider's web" of covert flights taking suspects to prisons all over the world for interrogation - including to countries not bound by any human rights code.

The council's report said European governments had to put an end to rendition flights and "ensure accountability of their own and foreign intelligence services".

Baroness Ludford said she did not know if the UK Government was concealing evidence or simply not in possession of the facts, adding there was a "positive obligation" on ministers to fully investigate.

But she expressed disappointment that the committee had been unable to question Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett, who said she had previous commitments.

The accusations against Mr Hoon come after last month's admission by US President George Bush that secret CIA prisons did exist.

Amnesty International has dubbed the British Government a "partner in crime" for its role, accusing it of adopting a "see no evil, hear no evil" approach.

A Foreign Office spokesman defended Britain's actions on the issues, saying: "The British Government has not approved, and will not approve, a policy of facilitating the transfer of individuals through the UK to places where there are substantial grounds to believe they will face a real risk of torture.

"We have found no evidence of detainees being rendered through the UK or any overseas territory since 1997."

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