The term rendition means the handing over of a fugitive by one state to another in order for the suspect to face trial. Lawful rendition requires the authorisation of the judiciary, who execute the rendition order. The term 'extraordinary rendition' or 'unlawful rendition' applies to cases where the judiciary is bypassed, no trial will take place and where torture is used in order to extract information. The current controversy is in relation to extraordinary renditions allegedly carried out by the CIA with the implicit support of EU governments.

What are the CIA alleged to have done?

A report by the Council of Europe claims that the US authorities 'picked up' detainees in Sweden, Macedonia, Italy and Bosnia & Herzegovina and illegally transferred them to third-party countries, where the detainees were subjected to torture. Amongst the countries alleged to have hosted the imprisonment of terror suspects were Egypt, Jordan, Pakistan, Morocco, Afghanistan, Romania, Uzbekistan and Poland. Airports in Ireland, Italy, Greece and the Czech Republic were used for the refuelling of aircrafts. The report, carried out by Swiss senator and chairman of the Council's Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, Dick Marty, used data from Eurocontrol, the European air traffic control agency, together with specific information from over 20 national aviation authorities, to track the flights.

What did the report say?

The report was heavy on claims but low on actual facts. Marty admitted that there was little in the way of actual proof that the CIA carried out these extraordinary rendition flights, but says there is enough anecdotal evidence to suggest several European countries have facilitated the torture of terror suspects. "Even if proof, in the classical meaning of the term, is not as yet available, a number of coherent and converging elements indicate that such secret detention centres did indeed exist in Europe, " he said.

The report implicates 14 out of the 46 Council of Europe members in "passive or active" support for the rendition flights.

"Our analysis of the CIA 'rendition' programme has revealed a network that resembles a spider's web spun across the globe, " Marty wrote. "The impression which some governments tried to create at the beginning of this debate . . . that Europe was a victim of secret CIA plots . . . does not seem to correspond to reality.

It is now clear . . . although we are still far from establishing the whole truth . . . that authorities in several European countries actively participated with the CIA in these unlawful activities. Other countries ignored them knowingly, or did not want to know."

What role did Ireland play?

Ireland's role revolves around the controversial use of Shannon airport by the US army. The use of Shannon has long been controversial, with critics arguing that the use of the airport by the US army is in conflict with Ireland's status as a neutral country. Although there are political reasons for supporting the use of the airport by the Americans, the argument has always been largely economic . . . the US army's use of Shannon airport is worth 9m annually to Aer Rianta, roughly 10% of the airport's overall revenue.

The Council of Europe claims that flights returning from dropping terror suspects at bases in eastern Europe and further afield have stopped at Shannon for refuelling. Ireland's alleged involvement would be at the lower end of the spectrum in relation to facilitating the rendition flights, but the report still implicates Ireland for its failure to inspect flights passing through Shannon.

What has the reaction been?

Opposition parties and human rights groups have seized on the report and made further calls for the Irish authorities to inspect all US military planes passing through Shannon. Facilitating the ill-treatment of prisoners would contravene Ireland's responsibility under the European Convention on Human Rights.

"The minister should take on board the legal reality, " said the Green Party's Trevor Sargent. "His statements to date have been akin to those of a priest in a church trying to tell us about the resurrection of Jesus Christ. That is a matter of faith but the matter in hand is one of law."

The government has dismissed the report, however, saying it provides no factual evidence of wrong-doing. "Ireland was one of the few countries to get an absolutely categorical factual statement from the Americans to the effect that no such practices have taken place as regards the movement of prisoners or rendition issues and this country, " said minister for transport Martin Cullen.

In Romania, fears have been expressed that the existence of detention centres may hamper the country's efforts to join the EU. The head of the European Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee, Elmar Brok, has already called for Romania's accession to be postponed if the claims in the report are found to be factual.

Romania and Poland have both strongly denied the claims, with Polish prime minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz describing the report as "slander". The Romanian government has said that the making of speculative claims is "unacceptable".

The White House has also denied the allegations made in the report. White House press secretary Tony Snow declined to respond directly to the report but denied the US is involved in the use of torture.

"It's very important to stress that the United States does not condone torture, does not practise torture. Furthermore, we will not agree to send anybody to a nation or place that practises torture, " he said.