The preparatory proceedings concerning Poland’s involvement in the extraordinary rendition started in 2008. At the moment they are carried out by the V Department of the Appellate Prosecutor’s Office and concerns the possible abuse of power by public officers while performing the role of the highest representative of Polish authority, which would violate article 231 of the Polish Criminal Code.
According to a document of December 15, 2010 sent to the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights by the Appellate Prosecutor’s Office, Prosecutor’s Office requested legal assistance from the American judicial authorities on March 18, 2009. On October 7, 2009 the Department of Justice announced that on the basis of article 3.1.c of the MLAT the request will not be granted due to the national security or other state interest. In addition, the authorities underscored that they considered the case to be closed.
According to a document of December 15, 2010 sent to the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights by the Appellate Prosecutor’s Office, Prosecutor’s Office requested legal assistance from the American judicial authorities on March 18, 2009. On October 7, 2009 the Department of Justice announced that on the basis of article 3.1.c of the MLAT the request will not be granted due to the national security or other state interest. In addition, the authorities underscored that they considered the case to be closed.
Therefore the attorney of Al-Nashiri, a Guantanamo prisoner who maintains he was held and tortured in a secret detention center in Poland, issued a letter to the Prime Minister pointing to the response of the Prosecutor’s Office received from the American Department of Justice. In the letter, the attorney asked for support for the Prosecutor’s requests.
The Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights indicated that despite the national authorities deny the existence of secret detention centers on Polish territory, Poland is mentioned in the reports of Council of Europe, United Nations and European Parliament as one of the European countries where secret CIA detention centers were created. According to these reports, terrorist suspects were to be detained, interrogated and tortured in these centers. The acts in question would constitute a violation of Polish Constitution and international human rights obligations.
In June 2009 Thomas Hammarberg the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe singled out Poland as a state that needed to establish independent inquiry into complicity in human rights abuses such as systematic torture and secret detentions. He added that the argument of state secret cannot be raised to justify the refusal to disclose the information about human rights violation.
United Nations Human Rights Committee in its recommendations published on October 29, 2010 also said that Poland should conduct a thorough investigation concerning extraordinary rendition. In the Committee’s opinion the results of such an investigation should be made public.
Furthermore, in the above-mentioned preparatory proceeding, two individuals: Al-Nashiri and Abu Zubaydah, intend to assert their rights before Polish courts. Moreover the Polish Appellate Court granted them the status of a victim on October 27, 2010 and January 11, 2011 respectively.
The lawyers of both individuals intend to ask the Prosecutor’s Office to conduct a number of evidence and hearings of many witnesses also on the basis of the MLAT. Therefore, it is highly likely that the Prosecutor’s Office will once again request the American authorities for legal assistance.
The Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights highlighted the necessity to guarantee the observance of the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) signed by Poland and the USA. The granting of the Polish Prosecutor’s request will be crucial in the course of the preliminary proceedings concerning the Polish involvement in the extraordinary rendition. Due to the multilevel and international character of the case, the request for legal assistance is indispensible.
Since both Al-Nashiri and Abu Zubaydah were granted the status of a victim, Poland finds itself in an extraordinary situation. Poland has the possibility of disclosing the truth about the so-called “war on terror” conducted by President Bush, alleged human rights violations connected with it, and the role played in it by Poland.
It is important to note, the seriousness with which the abuse of power by special forces in the context of the “war on terror” is treated in other countries. In Great Britain, the Prime Minister David Cameron initiated an investigation concerning the involvement of British forces in the torture of detainees. Moreover a special group dealing with these matters – an All Party Parliamentary Group on Extraordinary Rendition, was created in the British Parliament.
