"European Court of Human Rights judgements passed in the cases Al Nashiri and Abu Zubaydah vs Poland, and pending respectively versus Romania and Lithuania, and the Nasr and Ghali vs Italy, plus Al Masri vs FYROM, judicial decisions in the UK in favor of victims of torture, all prove that European governments lied to this Parliament to callously cover up active complicity with the CIA extraordinary renditions/torture program. Worse, their cooperation was payed with large sums of money, as the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee of December 2015 reveals.
Worse even: Impunity has been granted by EU States to those responsible for these crimes. In Italy, for instance, "state secrecy" was used to block the judiciary and as a result, innocent low level officers were convicted while top culprits are protected: Italy wants now to put in jail Portuguese-American Sabrina de Sousa, a former CIA officer who was tried in absentia and never given the chance to prove her denial of any involvement. Even the victim of torture and kidnapping in that case, Mr. Abu Omar, the imam of Milan, has stated that she is but a scapegoat.
In my country, Portugal, all cover up efforts were made to protect Mr. Durão Barroso, who as Prime Minister abetted the CIA renditions program, as I reported in detail to the General Public Prosecutor - the case was closed to spare the, in the meantime, made President of the European Commission.
How can the European Union be credible in the eyes of its citizens and the world and effectively fight terrorism, if European States behave in this criminal way and actually play into the hands and propaganda of terrorists?
Also I will never, ever, let this investigation go without accountability happening."
Minha intervenção ontem, no debate plenário do PE sobre o seguimento do inquérito sobre a cumplicidade de governos europeus com o programa de "extraordinary renditions"/tortura da CIA.
