20 January
The Seimas has
decided to approve the Findings of the parliamentary investigation by the
Seimas Committee on National Security and Defence concerning the alleged
transportation and confinement of persons detained by the Central Intelligence
Agency (CIA) of the United States of America in the territory of the Republic
of Lithuania. The Resolution of the Seimas on the
Findings of the Parliamentary Investigation by the Seimas Committee on National
Security and Defence Concerning the Alleged Transportation and Confinement of
Persons Detained by the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States of
America in the Territory of the Republic of Lithuania was adopted by 71
votes in favour to 12 against with 17 abstentions.
During the deliberations, the Seimas endorsed
the proposal by Ms Loreta
Graužinienė, Member of Seimas, and
decided to commission the National Audit Office of Lithuania to carry
out by 1 June 2010 a financial and legality audit of the State Security
Department of the Republic of Lithuania for 2003 2009 and assess the management
and use of property and other resources for intelligence and operation
activities in terms of compliance with legal acts of the Republic of Lithuania.
The Findings
state that the Committee on National Security and Defence failed to establish
whether the CIA detainees were transported through the territory of the Republic of Lithuania
or were brought into/out of the territory of the Republic of Lithuania;
however, conditions for such transportation did exist. The Committee established that the State Security Department (SSD) had
received a request from the partners to equip facilities in Lithuania suitable for holding detainees and
conditions were created for holding detainees in Lithuania, however, according to
the data available to the Committee on National Security and Defence, the
premises were not used for the purpose.
The information
and the explanations received by the Committee show that the State Defence
Council, the Government, and the Seimas have not considered any issues related
to activities of secret CIA detention centres in the territory of the Republic of Lithuania
and to the transportation and confinement of detainees in the territory of the Republic of Lithuania. On the basis of the received
information, the Committee established that when carrying out the SSD
partnership cooperation Project No 1 and Project No 2, the then heads of the
SSD did not inform any of the countrys top officials about the purposes and
content of the said Projects.
For more clarity,
the Committee proposes that the Prosecutor Generals
Office investigate whether Lithuanian officials and former heads of the SSD did
not abuse their powers or misuse their office.
Equally, the
Committees Findings included recommendations aimed at enhancing coordination
and parliamentary oversight of activities of intelligence services, provision
of intelligence information, and reports by SSD, as well as improving
provisions of the Law on Intelligence, the Law on State Secrets and
Official Secrets, and the National Civil Aviation Security Programme.
Rimas Rudaitis,
Vida Nacickaitė
Public
Relations Unit
