Not in Europe's Backyard

By Noah Leavitt, FindLaw.com. Posted November 28, 2005.

Last Tuesday, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton sternly warned the U.N. that unless it implements U.S.-proposed reforms, the U.S. may bypass the organization entirely:

"Americans are a very practical people," Bolton said. "They look at [the U.N.] as a competitor in the marketplace for global problem-solving, and if it's successful at solving problems, they'll be inclined to use it. If it's not successful, they'll say, 'Are there other institutions?'"

Bolton also suggested that unless the U.S.-sponsored reforms are adopted, the passage of the U.N.'s $3.6 billion 2006-07 budget --which must gain consensus to pass - ought to be delayed.

But the twenty-five-member European Union - including U.S. ally Britain - strongly disagreed. It made clear that it did not believe in holding the U.N. budget hostage while reform was debated. (The U.S. contributes approximately 22% of the budget; E.U. members collectively pay about 35%.)

E.U. member countries do seem to agree with Bolton on one point, though: They agree that the U.N. is, indeed, not the only institution that can be tasked with issues relating to international human rights.

Unfortunately for Bolton, though, is the way they are applying this principle. Across Europe, regional organizations and individual nations are beginning to prosecute alleged U.S.-sponsored human rights abuses, rather than waiting for the U.N. to act.

On November 2nd, the Washington Post released a report about a secret overseas network of CIA-run prisons. Although the White House hasn't confirmed or denied the report,according to Newsweek, President Bush himself authorized the CIA to set up these covert interrogation sites.

Reportedly, some of the sites are in Soviet-era prisons in Eastern Europe, and several European air bases may have been used for transporting prisoners to these centers. As the LA Times noted Saturday, this possible collusion with CIA torturers has led to massive debate and "soul searching" across Europe.

The Council of Europe - the continent's human rights watchdog organization (formally separate from the E.U.) - has taken the lead in investigating these claims. The Council oversees implementation and compliance with the European Convention on Human Rights, a treaty binding on all Council members, which clearly forbids the conduct of torture in secret prisons.

Invoking rarely used legal procedures, the Council recently wrote to its members and demanded that by February 21, 2006, each of the 46 participating national governments provide any information they have regarding illegal jailing of suspected terrorists, or flights that may have been used to transport these suspects.

In addition, Swiss senator Dick Marty, who is leading the Council's investigation, has asked the European air traffic control agency to turn over unpublished flight logs of military and civilian flights. Marty recently said, "We do not want to weaken the fight against terrorism, but this fight has to be fought by legal means. Wrongdoing only gives ammunition to both the terrorists and their sympathizers."

If European countries indeed participated in CIA-sponsored secret torture, by housing secret detention centers or allowing flights, the penalties would be severe. Violators could be suspended or expelled from the prestigious Council, and could face formal and informal sanctions ranging from fines, to political embarrassment, to loss of trade privileges.

Separately, the European Union is also concerned about allegations of secret interrogation bases within its jurisdiction. On Tuesday, several E.U. member states agreed to write to the U.S. on behalf of the entire Union for pertinent information. And the E.U.'s Satellite Tracking Center has also been asked to turn over imagery of the alleged interrogation sites in Romania and Poland.

Moreover, this week, the European Commission - the executive body of the E.U.--directed its head of the Department of Justice, Freedom and Security, who is currently meeting in Washington, to seek answers on the veracity of the existence of the secret prisons.

Noah Leavitt, an attorney and author, teaches at Whitman College.

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