Secrets and lies

By Ignacio Ramonet. March 2007

What is the most apt epithet for European governments caught in the act of colluding with a foreign agency in abducting suspects who were then transported to secret prisons and tortured? It is hard to imagine a more flagrant violation of human rights, a violation committed by states that are forever prating about their respect for the law.

Two recent events bear witness to the prevailing schizophrenia. On 7 February representatives of most European governments assembled in Paris and solemnly signed a United Nations convention against enforced disappearances that prohibits secret detention (1). On 14 February the European parliament in Strasbourg adopted a report accusing the same governments of colluding with the United States Central Intelligence Agency in secret abduction operations.

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