EU: The European Commission is investigating whether the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has set up secret prisons in eastern Europe to interrogate terrorist suspects in the aftermath of the September 11th, 2001 attacks on the US.
The commission said yesterday it would ask member states about the allegations in an attempt to find out the truth about the media reports, which are based on evidence gathered by the non-governmental organisation Human Rights Watch.
It said the inquiries would be at a technical level and did not amount to a formal investigation.
Separately, an inter-governmental body set up to defend human rights in Europe, the Council of Europe, said it would make its own inquiries while the Red Cross demanded access to the secret camps, which are reportedly holding the top 30 al-Qaeda suspects.
Human Rights Watch says it has uncovered evidence that the CIA has transferred prisoners to secret installations, known as "black sites" in eight countries, including Thailand, Afghanistan and several eastern European states to undertake interrogation.
Poland and Romania were both named by the non-governmental organisation yesterday as states that have accepted terrorist suspects from the CIA.
The allegations were denied by both states yesterday, although US authorities have so far refused to comment on the allegations published in an article in the Washington Post newspaper.
A commission spokesman said all 25 EU member states had signed up to the European Convention on Human Rights, and to the International Convention Against Torture, and were due to fully implement the obligations deriving from those treaties.
"When we have finished that examination then we will further define our stance," he added.
The Council of Europe, which investigates human rights abuses and counts 46 countries - including 21 from central and eastern Europe - among its membership, also said it would make inquiries to the relevant countries about the allegations.
"We will raise the issue with them and try to get information on the matters raised by Human Rights Watch," said a Council of Europe spokesman, who stressed that there was not enough information known at present to comment further.
Several European nations, including Hungary, Georgia and Armenia, issued denials about the existence of secret prisons yesterday.
The Romanian prime minister, Calin Popescu Tariceanu, said: "I repeat. We do not have CIA bases in Romania."
Article 6 of the Treaty of Nice calls on all EU member states to uphold basic human rights.
Countries seeking to join the EU, such as Romania, must meet the Copenhagen Criteria - a set of principles focusing on upholding the rule of law, democracy and respecting human rights, before being granted accession.
Meanwhile, Marc Galasco, a senior military analyst at Human Rights Watch in New York, told The Irish Times that Poland and Romania may be telling the truth when they say that no CIA "black sites" are currently located on their territory.
There was "very strong circumstantial evidence", however, that the CIA brought detainees to both countries in 2003 and 2004.
"The information we have is that CIA flights were bringing people from Afghanistan to air bases in Poland and Romania," he said.
Mr Galasco, a former civilian intelligence officer with the US Defence Intelligence Agency, said Human Rights Watch based its conclusion on flight plans of aircraft leased by the CIA and on the testimony of former inmates at Guantanamo Bay.
Among the flight destinations are Szymany airport in Poland, which is near the headquarters of Poland's intelligence service and Mihail Kogalniceanu military airfield in Romania, which has been used by US forces.
The CIA and the White House are seeking an agreement that would exempt prisoners held by the agency from a bill going through congress that would outlaw the cruel and inhuman treatment of prisoners held by the US anywhere in the world.
But Democrats in the House of Representatives said they would table a motion urging congressmen to pass the bill unamended.