Terror suspect al-Nashiri: wikipedia
“The criminal investigation begun in 2008 into Poland’s role in the CIA’s rendition and secret detention programmes was moved in February from the Warsaw Prosecutor’s Office to Krakow, raising concerns about further delays and staff changes,” the report noted.
Deadlines for the completion of the investigation have been repeatedly postponed.
Prosecutors had granted victim status to two alleged terrorists, Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri and Abu Zubaydah, who claim that they were tortured at CIA 'black sites' in Poland between 2002-2003. Both men are being held the US prison of Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.
Poland's prime minister at the time, Leszek Miller (Democratic Left Alliance), has repeatedly denied that the prisons – allegedly at a military base in Stare Kiejkuty, northern Poland – were ever created.
Amnesty International has also questioned Poland's stance on confidentiality.
“[In 2012] the investigation continued to be conducted in secret and victims expressed concern about access to information and full participation in the proceedings.”
Meanwhile, Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri's lawyers brought a case against Poland at the European Court of Human Rights last year.
“In September, the government submitted its observations confidentially to the Court, which then instructed the al-Nashiri legal team to respond confidentially, so denying public access to information on the case.”
Press freedom limited in Poland?
Although Amnesty International devoted most of its annual report on Poland to the CIA prisons investigation, it also raised questions about press freedom with regard to defamation cases.
The report noted how in September, the creator of the Antykomor.pl website was sentenced to 10 months community service “for publishing satirical materials about the President of Poland,” Bronislaw Komorowski.
Likewise, the report also drew attention to a sentence meted out to a journalist who had not published a local authority’s reply to his article that had accused them of environmental mismanagement.
The journalist was given a four-month suspended sentence of community service and banned from working as a journalist for two years. The European Court of Rights later ruled that this sentence was too harsh. (nh)
Source: Amnesty International