Editing Extraordinary rendition (section)

==== European Parliament's investigation and report ====
The [[European Parliament]] launched its own investigation into the reports. In April 2006, [[Member of the European Parliament|MEPs]] leading the investigations expressed concerns that the CIA had conducted more than 1,000 secret flights over European territory since 2001, some to transfer terror suspects to countries that used torture. Investigators said that the same US agents and planes were involved over and over again.<ref name="NyTimes060427">[https://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/27/world/europe/27cia.html?ex=1303790400&en=f28193a7c7a919c0&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss European Inquiry Says C.I.A. Flew 1,000 Flights in Secret], ''[[The New York Times]]'', 27 April 2006</ref> The Parliament adopted a resolution in July 2006 endorsing the Council of Europe's conclusions, midway through its own investigation into the alleged program.<ref>[http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+TA+P6-TA-2006-0316+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN&language=EN Texts adopted by Parliament. Thursday, 6 July 2006 – Strasbourg. Final edition: Extraordinary renditio]</ref>

"In a resolution passed on 14 February 2007 MEPs approved by a large majority (382 voting in favour, 256 against and 74 abstaining) their committee's final report, which criticized the rendition program and concluded that many European countries tolerated illegal [[CIA]] activities including secret flights over their territories. The countries named were: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.<ref name="Bbc070214">{{cite news | title=EU endorses damning report on CIA | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6360817.stm | access-date=14 February 2007 |publisher=BBC News | date=14 February 2007 }}</ref> The report ...

{{blockquote|''Denounces'' the lack of co-operation of many member states and of the [[Council of the European Union]] with the investigation;

''Regrets'' that European countries have been relinquishing control over their airspace and airports by turning a blind eye or admitting flights operated by the CIA which, on some occasions, were being used for illegal transportation of detainees;

''Calls'' for the closure of [the US military detention mission in] Guantanamo and for European countries immediately to seek the return of their citizens and residents who are being held illegally by the US authorities;

''Considers'' that all European countries should initiate independent investigations into all stopovers by civilian aircraft [hired by] the CIA;

''Urges'' that a ban or system of inspections be introduced for all CIA-operated aircraft known to have been involved in extraordinary rendition.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6361829.stm EU rendition report: Key excerpts], on the BBC News website</ref>}}

According to the report, the CIA had operated 1,245 flights, many of them to destinations where suspects could face torture. The Parliament also called for the creation of an independent investigation commission and the closure of the Guantanamo camp. According to Italian Socialist [[Giovanni Fava]], who drafted the document, there was a "strong possibility" that the intelligence obtained under the illegal extraordinary rendition program had been passed on to EU governments who were aware of how it was obtained. The report also uncovered the use of secret detention facilities used in Europe, including Romania and Poland. The report defines extraordinary renditions as instances where "an individual suspected of involvement in terrorism is illegally abducted, arrested and/or transferred into the custody of US officials and/or transported to another country for interrogation which, in the majority of cases involves incommunicado detention and torture".