Tuesday

19th Mar 2024

Court rules Poland complicit in CIA renditions

  • Twelve EU countries stand accused of colluding in CIA rendition (Photo: Zach Stern)

A European rights court Thursday (24 July) found that Poland allowed the CIA to operate a secret rendition and interrogation camp at its Stare Kiejkuty military base and did nothing to stop it.

The unanimous verdict, by the seven judges at the European Court of Human Rights, is likely to have wider implications on pending cases against Lithuania and Romania for their alleged involvement in the rendition programme.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

Instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

The Strasbourg-based court found that “Poland had cooperated in the preparation and execution of the CIA rendition, secret detention and interrogation operations on its territory” and knowingly exposed people to abuse in violation to the European convention of human rights.

The ruling is likely to be an embarassment to Warsaw which has always denied the presence of a CIA jail on its territory.

Former US President George W. Bush began the "extraordinary rendition" programme in the aftermath of the September 2001 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.

Expert witnesses and evidence obtained through several international inquiries and various documents convinced the European judges the renditions had taken place.

The court also noted that Poland’s refusal to hand over evidence entitled it “to draw negative inferences from the government’s conduct”.

The judgement stands in contrast to national-led inquiries by the member states, which have yet to produce any conclusive results.

The same court had passed a similar judgement two years ago on the arbitrary arrest, detention and interrogation of Khaled El-Masri, a German citizen who was mistakenly seized in Macedonia in 2004 and handed over to the CIA before being shipped to a cell in Afghanistan.

The case involves Saudi national Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri and stateless Palestinian Abu Zubaydah.

Both men were apprehended by the Americans and detained at Stare Kiejkuty in late 2002 where they were allegedly subjected to mock executions and prolonged stress positions over a months-long period.

They eventually ended up at the US military base in Guantanamo Bay where they remain to this day.

Al-Nashiri is accused of blowing a hole in the side of the US Navy ship USS Cole in 2000. Charged in 2008, he has yet to be convicted of anything.

Zubaydah, who has not been formally charged with any crime either, was allegedly involved in the 9-11 attacks in New York.

Amrit Singh, the lawyer who represented al-Nashiri, told this website by phone from London that it is the first court to find, beyond a reasonable doubt, that there was CIA-run detention centre on EU territory.

“It is a profound significance not only for Poland but numerous other European nations that collaborated with the US in this programme. These are facts that have never been officially acknowledged by either the United States or Poland,” she said.

The court’s ruling adds pressure on Poland to bring to justice officials complicit in the affair.

It also means Polish authorities need to convince the Americans not to execute al-Nashiri, who is likely to face the death penalty, according to Singh, his lawyer.

The Swiss-based International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) said the court’s decision affirms a member state’s responsibility to uphold human rights.

“This judgment should help to ensure that such wholesale denials of the rule of law never happen again in Europe,” noted ICJ secretary-general Wilder Tayler.

Both al-Nashiri and Zubaydah have similar individual complaints lodged against Romania and Lithuania - where they respectively say they were also held - at the Strasbourg court.

The court ordered Poland to pay al-Nashiri €100,000 in damages and €130,000 to Zubaydah.

EU Parliament set to sue EU Commission over Hungary funds

The European Parliament will likely take the European Commission to court for unblocking more than €10bn in funds for Hungary last December. A final nod of approval is still needed by European Parliament president, Roberta Metsola.

EU Commission clears Poland's access to up to €137bn EU funds

The European Commission has legally paved the way for Poland to access up to €137bn EU funds, following Donald Tusk's government's efforts to strengthen the independence of their judiciary and restore the rule of law in the country.

Opinion

Potential legal avenues to prosecute Navalny's killers

The UN could launch an independent international investigation into Navalny's killing, akin to investigation I conducted on Jamal Khashoggi's assassination, or on Navalny's Novichok poisoning, in my role as special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, writes the secretary-general of Amnesty International.

Opinion

I'll be honest — Moldova's judicial system isn't fit for EU

To state a plain truth: at present, Moldova does not have a justice system worthy of a EU member state; it is riven with corruption and lax and inconsistent standards, despite previous attempts at reform, writes Moldova's former justice minister.

Latest News

  1. Borrell: 'Israel provoking famine', urges more aid access
  2. Europol: Israel-Gaza galvanising Jihadist recruitment in Europe
  3. EU to agree Israeli-settler blacklist, Borrell says
  4. EU ministers keen to use Russian profits for Ukraine ammo
  5. Call to change EIB defence spending rules hits scepticism
  6. Potential legal avenues to prosecute Navalny's killers
  7. EU summit, Gaza, Ukraine, reforms in focus this WEEK
  8. The present and future dystopia of political micro-targeting ads

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsThis autumn Europalia arts festival is all about GEORGIA!
  2. UNOPSFostering health system resilience in fragile and conflict-affected countries
  3. European Citizen's InitiativeThe European Commission launches the ‘ImagineEU’ competition for secondary school students in the EU.
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersThe Nordic Region is stepping up its efforts to reduce food waste
  5. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  6. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us