EU Lawmakers Condemn Bush?s Secret Prisons

Members of the European Union?s parliament have been fuming over the existence of secret European prisons, following Bush?s recent admission about the facilities. In response to the discovery and to previous denials by European leaders who may have played host to the detention centers, one lawmaker said: ?Bush exposes not only his own previous lies. He also exposes to ridicule those arrogant government leaders in Europe who dismissed as unfounded our fears about extraordinary rendition.?

A leader of Europe’s chief human rights watchdog, the Council of Europe, said the revelation vindicated the exhaustive investigation the body had conducted on secret prisons and CIA flights moving suspects around Europe.

“Our work has helped to flush out the dirty nature of this secret war, which — we learn at last — has been carried out completely beyond any legal framework,” said Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly president Rene van der Linden.

A Washington Post report last year that the CIA had run secret prisons in Europe and flown suspects to states where they could be tortured unleashed a spate of probes — including one by the European Parliament — prompting uncomfortable denials by European governments and evasions from Washington.

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