Report: U.S. 'Outsourced' Torture

Swiss Investigator Says CIA Let Other Countries Do Its Dirty Work

(AP) 
Marty also said he would follow up on evidence gathered in the case of Khaled al Masri, a German of Lebanese origin reportedly kidnapped from Germany to Afghanistan, in the next stage of his investigation.

The Council of Europe launched its probe after allegations surfaced in November that U.S. agents interrogated key al Qaeda suspects at clandestine prisons in eastern Europe and transported some suspects to other countries passing through Europe.

Human Rights Watch identified Romania and Poland as possible sites of secret U.S.-run detention facilities. Both countries have denied involvement. Clandestine detention centers would violate European human rights treaties.

Marty told the parliamentary assembly he obtained on Monday flight logs archived by the Brussels-based air safety organization Eurocontrol so he could determine flight patterns of several dozen suspected CIA planes. Experts say flight logs could help to determine whether the CIA secretly transported prisoners to Europe.

Marty also obtained satellite images of air bases in Romania and Poland, requested by the Council of Europe for analysis after the bases were identified by Human Rights Watch as possible locations of secret detention centers.

But Marty's report — based on his own findings, national investigations and press reports from recent weeks — said there was no formal, irrefutable evidence of the existence of secret CIA prisons in Romania, Poland or any other country.

"On the other hand, it has been proved that individuals have been abducted, deprived of their liberty and all rights and transported to different destinations in Europe, to be handed over to countries in which they have suffered degrading treatment and torture," Marty said, adding that if eventually uncovered, the detention centers would likely be very small cells that would be easily hidden.

Marty complained that there was enormous pressure on him to come up with evidence of secret CIA prisons but not much help was coming from the Council of Europe or governments.

"Not a single day passes without me being asked, 'Do you have any hard evidence, is there any proof?"' he said. "I am not a judicial authority, I have no means of investigation, the logistical support available to me is very limited.