EU calls on members to probe secret CIA jails

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission called on EU member states accused on Friday of hosting secret CIA prisons for terrorism suspects to hold urgent, independent investigations and ensure victims are compensated.

Commission spokesman Friso Roscam Abbing told a daily news briefing the European Union executive was "very concerned indeed" about a Council of Europe report alleging that Poland and Romania hosted secret U.S. detention centers in 2003-5.

President George W. Bush has confirmed the CIA used secret prisons to interrogate terrorism suspects in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States but has not said where they were located.

Roscam Abbing said the Commission considered "extraordinary rendition" -- the extra-judicial capture and secret transfer of suspects to countries where they may face torture -- was illegal under EU law and harmed the fight against terrorism.

He said he could not comment in detail on a report which the Commission had not had time to analyze but the findings were clearly very serious and EU states were required by the European Convention on Human Rights to hold a full investigation.

"Such effective investigations should be fully carried out as quickly as possible in the member states concerned -- and this is not yet the case -- in order to establish both responsibilities as well as to enable the victims to obtain compensation for damages," he said.

EU Justice and Security Commissioner Franco Frattini said in November 2005 that if reports of secret CIA prisons in Europe were true, states would face serious consequences including the possible suspension of their EU voting rights.

Roscam Abbing said the Commission took the latest report very seriously and intended to discuss the issue further both within the Council of Europe, a pan-European human rights watchdog, and in the EU institutions.

Poland joined the EU in 2004 and Romania this year. The report by Swiss Senator Dick Marty also accused EU members Germany and Italy of using state secrecy to obstruct his investigation.