Van Bommel demands enquiry into network of secret prisons
Van Bommel demands enquiry into network of secret prisons
SP Member of Parliament Harry van Bommel is demanding an international enquiry into an alleged American network of secret prisons. His call follows persistent accusations that the CIA is covertly transferring persons suspected of terrorism to secret foreign prisons where they are tortured.
Recent information suggests that some of the most important Al Qaeda suspects are being held in prisons in eastern Europe. According to Human Rights Watch these could include Poland and Romania, an EU member state and a country which expects to become one in 2007. It is these reports which prompted Mr van Bommel to put a parliamentary question to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, as he explains:
“There is every appearance that the government is giving its tacit support to these practices. Answers to previous questions on this subject were evasive.” The SP is demanding an international report into this network of secret prisons, to be conducted under the auspices of the UN. Such a report should also investigate accusations of torture. “It goes without saying that the Netherlands should have nothing to do with secret prisons or torture. This sort of practice only provokes terrorism.”