The European Court of Human Rights has on 24 July delivered two judgments against Poland, Al Nashiri v. Poland (28761/11) and Husayn (Abu Zubaydah) v. Poland 7511/13), concerning extraordinary renditions by the CIA of Mr Al Nashiri and Mr Husayn, both alleged terrorist, to secret detention sites in Poland. The Court has inter alia employed a strong language in condemning arbitrary and secret detentions thereby noting, for instance, in Al Nashiri that :
that the unacknowledged detention of an individual is a complete negation of these guarantees and a most grave violation of Article 5. Having assumed control over an individual, the authorities have a duty to account for his or her whereabouts. For this reason, Article 5 must be seen as requiring the authorities to take effective measures to safeguard against the risk of disappearance and to conduct a prompt effective investigation into an arguable claim that a person has been taken into custody and has not been seen since (para. 529).
The Court found that Poland committed several violations of the European Convention of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, including, of Articles 3, 5, 8, 13 and 6 (1). It also found violation of Articles 2 and 4 in connection with Article 1 of Protocol 6 concerning the abolition of death penalty concerning rights of Mr Husayn. For the full press ECtHR release here. Anne Brasseur, President of the PACE of the COE noted in the light of both judgments that :
Seven years ago, Senator Dick Marty made his first presentation to the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly of credible evidence about the existence of secret CIA prisons in Poland and Romania, and the involvement of other European countries in illegal renditions. His statements were subsequently confirmed, as witness the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights made public today in the cases of Al Nashiri and Husayn against Poland.
Those two cases already second and third cases following judgment in El-Masri v. the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (39630/09). A number of cases are yet to follow. All such and similar cases cast a dark shadow on the protection of basic human rights in Europe. It is doubtful, however, that those judgments will ever be fully executed and the applicants fully rehabilitated.
Esohap 