"Prosecutors say there are currently no reasons to reopen the pre-trial investigation. The issue of resuming the investigation could only be addressed upon receipt of new important factual data," Vilma Mažonė of the Prosecutor General's Office told BNS on Tuesday.
The Prosecutor General's Office spoke in response to the call received from NGOs earlier on Tuesday to continue the investigation into alleged presence of the US Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA) prisons on the Lithuanian soil.
International nongovernmental organization Human Rights Watch on Tuesday called on Lithuania, set to take over the rotating EU presidency, to reopen an investigation into the country's alleged participation in the US Extraordinary Rendition and Detention Program.
"Lithuania is betraying the fundamental principles of human rights that underline the European Union by refusing to investigate serious allegations of human rights crimes, such as disappearances and torture," Lotte Leicht, European Union advocacy director at Human Rights Watch, said. "The country holding the EU’s presidency should have the courage and leadership to confront wrongdoing and make amends."
According to the US-based NGO, despite Washington's refusal to provide information, "Lithuania has more than enough information" to reopen the investigation.
Lithuania is among a number of European countries – Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy, Macedonia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, and the UK – avoiding proper investigations into alleged CIA prisons.
During a parliamentary investigation in late 2009, two locations were identified in Vilnius and near the Lithuanian capital that might have been equipped for detention of people.
The secret parliamentary probe also showed that CIA-related planes entered Lithuania's airspace in 2003-2006 several times. The investigations failed, however, to conclusively deterimine if any suspected terrorists were actually brought to Lithuania.
Following the conclusions, prosecutors opened a separate probe, which was closed in January 2011.
Lithuania is taking over the EU presidency for six months from Ireland on July 1.
