COUNCIL OF EUROPE INQUIRY ON RENDITION FLIGHTS:

C O N F I D E N T I A L VIENNA 000310

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR L, EUR/ERA AND EUR/AGS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/01/2016
TAGS: PREL AU EUN
SUBJECT: COUNCIL OF EUROPE INQUIRY ON RENDITION FLIGHTS:
AUSTRIAN DIPLOMATIC NOTE

Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Scott Kilner
Reasons: 1.4 (B) AND (D)


1. (C) DCM met Austrian MFA Legal Advisor Ferdinand
Trauttmannsdorff (at the latter's request) regarding Council
of Europe Rapporteur Dick Marty's inquiry into "Alleged
Secret Detentions in Council of Europe Member States."

SIPDIS
Trauttmansdorff handed over a Verbal Note (sic) requesting
information regarding certain flights enumerated in a list
provided by Marty's committee and based on Eurocontrol data.
Embassy has faxed a copy of the Verbal Note and the attached
list to L/PM. The Verbal Note is reproduced verbatim below:


2. (C) Text of Verbal Note:

The Federal Ministry for Foreign Affairs of the Republic
of Austria presents its compliments to the Embassy of the
United States of AMERICA in Vienna and has the honour to
refer to the following:

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of
Europe/Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights has
appointed Mr. Dick Marty Rapporteur on the issue of "Alleged
Secret Detentions in Council of Europe Member States."

SIPDIS
Through the national Parliamentary Delegations of the Member
States, Mr. Marty requested all Member States to provide
information on possible flights across their territory as
well as landings on their territory by aircraft suspected to
have been chartered by the US-Central Intelligence Agency for
the purpose of carrying out illegal transportation of
prisoners with or without the permission of the Member States
concerned.

Attached to this memorandum is a list of aircraft
suspected of having been chartered by the CIA for the
indicated purposes. This list has been provided to all
Member States of the Council of Europe by Mr. Dick Marty and
served as a basis for a request to EUROCONTROL to provide a
list of all flights by the aircraft concerned over European
territories. This list by EUROCONTROL has in the meantime
been forwarded to Mr. Marty.

In order to be able to reply to the Council of Europe's
request for information, the Austrian government would be
grateful for any information that the United States
Government may provide on the following issues:

The competent US-authorities are kindly requested to
provide any information regarding flights of aircraft
mentioned in the attached list or of any other aircraft
chartered by the CIA, to, from or over Austrian territory
during the past four years that may have been used for the
illegal transportation of prisoners. In particular
information is kindly requested about any landings of such
aircraft on Austrian territory.

Furthermore, the Ministry would be grateful for any
available information on the existence of secret detention
centers in Europe.

The Federal Ministry for Foreign Affairs takes this
opportunity to assure the Embassy of the United States of its
highest consideration.

Vienna, 27 January 2005

Embassy of the
United States of AMERICA
Bolzmanngasse 16
1090 Vienna

Fax Nr. 317-7826

(End text)
McCaw