Denmark must probe rendition role

The Danish government should authorize an independent investigation of the country's role in U.S. rendition flights, Amnesty International said Tuesday. The foreign minister announced last week that the Danish Institute for International Studies would investigate only flights involving Greenland, an autonomous country under the Danish crown. The institute would also be barred from calling its own witnesses and seeking new evidence, with its role limited to reviewing a 2008 investigation, Amnesty International said. Julia Hall, an expert on counter-terrorism and human rights for the rights group, described the limits on the investigation as "just not good enough." "Brand new information on renditions in Europe has been disclosed since 2008 in places like Poland, Lithuania, and Finland," she said. "A new inquiry should do more than tick boxes. It should have the power to look at all of Danish territory and be given access to information not yet in the public domain." The group says reports from non-governmental organizations and European agencies suggest Denmark may have allowed the CIA to use the Copenhagen airport and possibly others for rendition flights. The three left-wing parties now governing Denmark called for an independent investigation while they were in opposition. But after they formed a coalition in October, Foreign Minister Villy Soevndal said a full investigation would be too expensive.