There is evidence the US sent terror suspects abroad for torture - that is one of the initial findings of a Council of Europe probe into allegations of secret CIA jails.

Swiss Senator Dick Marty is leading the inquiry - he added it was highly unlikely that European governments did not now know what was going on.

"The whole of Europe is concerned by this affair - its too simple to point the finger only at Romania and Poland," he said. Some reports singled out the two Eastern European countries as locations for the CIA detention centres.

Though the probe has not come up with what Marty described as irrefutable evidence of the prison's existence - he says crucial questions have been raised.

"How are we meant to combat terrorism?" he asked. "Is it true that to fight terrorism we have to renounce human rights, renounce human dignity, renounce justice and all the guarantees that we have built over the past decades."

For its part the US has neither confirmed or denied the allegations of the clandestine jails in Europe. Washington has insisted that all its operations are conducted within the law. Marty's final report is expected in March.

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Swiss parliamentarian Dick Marty answers questions during a press conference at the Council of Europe 24 January 2006 in Strasbourg. (AFP)