protect, our common values of democracy, the rule of law, human rights and fundamental freedoms; furthermore stresses that all the work carried out by the Temporary Committee is intended to make a contribution towards the development of clear and focused measures in the fight against terrorism, which are commonly accepted and respect national and international law; 2. Considers that after 11 September 2001, the so-called 'war on terror' -in its excesses- has produced a serious and dangerous erosion of human rights and fundamental freedoms, as noted by the outgoing UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan; 3. Is convinced that the rights of the individual and full respect for human rights contribute to security; considers it necessary that in the relationship between the need for security and the rights of individuals, human rights must always be fully respected, ensuring that suspected terrorists are tried and sentenced while due process is observed; 4. Emphasises that the positive obligation to respect, protect and promote human rights is binding, regardless of the legal status of the individual concerned, and that any discrimination among EU nationals, residents of Member States or any other person entitled to protection from, or otherwise under the jurisdiction of, the Member States must be avoided; 5. Recalls that the purpose of this resolution, based on the report of the Temporary Committee, is to determine responsibilities for the facts that it has been able to examine on the one hand and to consider ways of preventing any repetition of the abuses and violations perpetrated in connection with measures against terrorism on the other; 6. Notes the statement made by US President George W. Bush on 6 September 2006, according to whom "a small number of suspected terrorist leaders and operatives captured during the war have been held and questioned outside the United States, in a separate programme operated by the CIA" and that many of the persons who had been detained there, had subsequently been transferred to Guantánamo and it is strongly suspected that other prisoners are still held in secret places of detention; notes the report of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of 2 January 2007 mentioning 26 testimonies of mistreatment in Guantánamo since 11 September 2001; 7. Deplores, in this context, the inability of the Council - due to the opposition of certain Member States - to adopt conclusions in response to that statement at the General Affairs and External Relations Council of 15 September 2006, and requests that the Council adopt them urgently, to dissipate any doubt as to the Member State governments' cooperation with and connivance in the extraordinary rendition and secret prisons programme in the past, present and future; 8. Calls on the Council and the Member States to issue a clear and forceful declaration calling on the US Administration to put an end to the practice of extraordinary arrests and renditions, in line with the position of Parliament; 9. Deplores the fact that the governments of European countries did not feel the need to ask the US administration for clarifications regarding the existence of secret prisons outside US territory; 10. Notes the statements by the legal adviser to the US State Department at a meeting on 3 May 2006 with representatives of the Member States meeting within the Council, PE 382.246v02-00 XM 6/77 RR\382246XM.doc