European rights groups lodge lawsuit over alleged CIA flights
PARIS - Two European human rights groups said they had lodged a lawsuit on Wednesday over alleged CIA flights stopping in France and carrying individuals detained in the US war on terror. The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the League of Human Rights (LDH), both based in Paris, said in a joint statement they wanted light shed on at least two instances in which planes believed to be used by the CIA set down at French airports.
âBig fears can be expressed over the transport of CIA prisoners on these flights,â they said. âThe FIDH and the LDH consequently ask that all necessary investigations be made as soon as possible by legal authorities,â they said. The statement said the rights groups âintend to underline the responsibility of French authorities, have the incidents investigated and to prosecute those responsible.â
A lawyer for the FIDH, Patrick Baudouin, told AFP the lawsuit had been lodged at a court in the Paris suburb of Bobigny, which is responsible for one of the airports named in the documents, Le Bourget, just outside the capital. The other alleged Central Intelligence Agency flight was believed to have set down at the Guipavas airport outside the western city of Brest.
Posted by: Steve 2005-12-21 |