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Russia urges EU to take action against CIA controversial program

A total of 25 European countries have taken part in the program

MOSCOW, December 13. /ITAR-TASS/. Russia has urged European colleagues to take action to lay bare lawlessness of the Extraordinary Rendition Program of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), RF Foreign Ministry’s Special Representative for Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law Konstantin Dolgov said at the World Human Rights Forum in Brazil. The text of the speech is published on Friday on the website of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

“The problem of the CIA shameful program for secret detention, transportation and confinement in ‘secret prisons’ of persons suspected of terrorism, in which a total of 25 European countries have taken part, has not been settled,” he stated. “As a result, as we remember, there was unprecedented violation of human rights, in particular, illegal detention and torture, entailing suffering of innocent people.”

Dolgov in this connection urged the European colleagues “to more actively sort out this problem, dot all the “i”s and turn over this dark page of history.” He noted the positive role of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), which in December 2012 began to shed light on this violation of the law.

“We urge the ECHR to continue to reveal lawlessness of the ‘extraordinary renditions’ programme of the CIA,” the RF Foreign Ministry’s human rights commissioner said. “We count on getting the appropriate assistance in this matter from the European capitals concerned.” According to him, the Strasbourg Court is currently investigating related appeals against Poland.

“The Russian Federation has consistently opposed the politicisation and use of double standards in the sphere of human rights,” Dolgov said. “We believe that the problems existing in this sphere, taking into account their largely trans-border nature, require collective solutions and active co-operation.