Court: Poland culpable for CIA secret prisons

The European Court of Human Rights has ordered Poland to pay reparations to two Saudis being held in Guantanamo Bay.

Haarlem, Netherlands - On July 24, seven judges on the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled against Poland in a landmark case, making it the first European Union country to be held accountable for its involvement in the United States' systematic, extrajudicial detention of suspects, known as the "extraordinary rendition" programme. Established by the George W Bush administration in the aftermath of September 11 attacks, the programme was run by the CIA, and designed to detain suspects deemed to be of "high value".

In the unanimous ruling, the judges stated that "Poland had cooperated in the preparation and execution of the CIA rendition, secret detention, and interrogation operations on its territory" and that it had failed in its duty under the European Convention on Human Rights to "ensure that individuals within its jurisdiction were not subjected to torture or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment."

The ECHR ordered Poland to pay $175,000 to Saudi-born Palestinian Abu Zubaydah and $135,000 to Saudi national Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri. Both applicants are currently being held in US custody in Guantanamo Bay, isolated from the outside world.

Pressure on Poland

When the existence of the CIA secret prisons in Poland and other Eastern European countries were first made public in November 2005, Polish authorities, including former President Aleksander Kwasniewski, rejected any allegations that such a facility, run by the CIA, had ever existed on Polish soil. The publication of further reports alleging Poland's involvement in the CIA torture programme finally led to the opening of a Polish investigation in 2008.

The investigation received heavy scrutiny from the ECHR and concluded that it had "failed to meet the requirements of a 'prompt', 'thorough', and 'effective' investigation".

However, the attitude of Polish authorities towards the ruling and its findings appeared reserved.

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2014/08/court-poland-culpable-cia-secret-prisons-2014814114628712400.html


More info on the link. Now there's a turn up for the book. Will more countries be held accountable who worked with the CIA? That would open a whole can of worms.

Too little, too late. What's with Poland...they've done this before.

Perphas you should read this Quill:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_site

Poland was only hosting it, the CIA were doing it under George Bush, and according to you, a country that elects someone is culpable for what they do, so that makes you culpable.   You know, collective punishment and all that that you approve of in Gaza.

Sassy wrote:Perphas you should read this Quill:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_site

Poland was only hosting it, the CIA were doing it under George Bush, and according to you, a country that elects someone is culpable for what they do, so that makes you culpable.   You know, collective punishment and all that that you approve of in Gaza.

You are being retrospective, not prospective sass.  In other words, you want to play the blame game.  You are looking to the past, not the future.  Culpable?  Who cares?  How about making people smarter?

My words are as an educator: you teach the world, not just those who agree, or disagree, with you.  I savor the pain of a bad democratic decision (GWB) as well as the high of the good, because both teach.  And with teaching comes wisdom.  And with wisdom, comes better democratic decisions.

You look for culpability if you are going to prosecute (Cheney).  To the people, you teach.  Make them learn from their decisions, not burn in hell.  Make them better, not worse. Every lesson along the way is not an opportunity to blame, but an opportunity to teach.

You are no educator, you don't understand enough to educate and you think using 500 words where one will do makes you look clever. It doesn't, it makes you look like a blowhard.

I wasn't the one blaming, you were. You said a country was collectively responsible for what it's government did. Perhaps you will think twice before you come out with such platitudes again.

Sassy wrote:You are no educator, you don't understand enough to educate and you think using 500 words where one will do makes you look clever.   It doesn't, it makes you look like a blowhard.

I wasn't the one blaming, you were.   You said a country was collectively responsible for what it's government did.   Perhaps you will think twice before you come out with such platitudes again.

It's not about me, sass. You just don't get it, do you?   

It's never about you Quill, you just try and make it about you.