Acts of torture or severe violation of detainees' dignity through the administration of inhuman or degrading treatment are carried outside national territory and beyond the authority of national intelligence services. |
All the indications are that this 'extraordinary rendition' was already known about. |
But it is possible that there were detainees that stayed 10, 15 or 30 days. We do not have the full picture. |
But we may well ask why it is only now that allegations concerning secret detention centers in Europe are triggering a proper debate and public shock. |
Hundreds of CIA-chartered flights have passed through numerous European countries. |
I find it hard to believe these actions could have taken place without a degree of collaboration or passivity by governments or services operating under them. I am thinking of the secret services. |
If a country resorts to the tactics of gangsters I say no. There are different elements that allow me to say that governments were aware of what was happening. |
In the Abu Omar case is a crystal clear case of extraordinary rendition. Italian investigators built a net around him, and the Americans destroyed it all. |
It is highly unlikely that European governments, or at least their intelligence services, were unaware. |
It takes time to find justice, but I am optimistic. |
Legal proceedings in progress in certain countries seemed to indicate that individuals had been abducted and transferred to other countries without respect for any legal standards. |
So far, all we have is a suspicion. There have been certain reports and they must be investigated. |
The proof is completely clear and the CIA has never denied it. |
The strategy in place today respects neither human rights nor the Geneva Conventions. The current administration in Washington is trying to combat terrorism outside legal means, the rule of law. |
There are countries that have collaborated actively, and there are others who have tolerated. Others have simply looked the other way. |