Poland compensates alleged terrorists

The payments, which amounted to over EUR 100,000 for each claimant, had to be made by 16 May, after Poland lost its appeal to the European Court of Human Rights in February, following an initial ruling in July 2014.

“We are members of the [European] Convention, so we realize commitments resulting from this,” commented Foreign Ministry spokesman Marcin Wojciechowski.

“In the case of one person, the damages have been transferred to a bank account designated his lawyers,” he confirmed.

“In the case of the second person, who is subject to international sanctions, we notified the court about the opening of a special deposit. The funds there will wait until the person is able to use them.

Although US proceedings against Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri and Abu Zubaydah - who are currently being held at the US's Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba – have yet to be concluded, the European court found that the two mens' rights as prisoners had been violated on seven counts at a CIA prison on Polish soil.

Although a report by the US Senate published in December 2014 indicated that Poland had hosted a CIA prison between 2002-2003, the Polish government has not yet formally acknowledged that such a 'black site' existed in Poland.

An official investigation, launched in 2008, has yet to be concluded.

Nevertheless, following the US Senate's publication, former Polish president Aleksander Kwaśniewski, who served from 1995 to 2005, said that Poland had indeed agreed to find “a quiet location” for the CIA when the 'War on Terror' began. (nh)