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Secret CIA Prisons – A Test for Polish Democracy

“The proceedings in this case lacked compliance with fundamental standards of human rights protection. One of my prosecutor friends put the essence of the problem this way – today terrorists, tomorrow you!” says advocate Mikołaj Pietrzak in an interview he gave to Jacek Dąbrowski on the ECHR’s judgement in the case of CIA prisoners in Poland.

In July this year, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) passed judgements in cases of Al-Nashiri and Abu-Zubaydah against Poland. In both judgements, the ECHR decided that Poland violated a series of human rights, including the prohibition of torture, the right to a fair trial, the right to liberty and security of person. The ECHR also noted the Polish government’s lack of cooperation in the proceedings and, thus, a violation of Article 38 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (Convention).

According to advocate Mikołaj Pietrzak, who represents Al Nashiri, the case of alleged CIA prisons in the Polish territory is a matter of Polish democracy, the rule of law and the Polish Constitution. In his view, Poland witnessed a criminal violation of elementary rights and freedoms expressed in the Convention and the Polish Constitution, and the pending pre-trial proceedings proved to be ineffective.

“It is still possible to conduct efficient pre-trial proceeding in Poland and reveal what happened. It should entail the presentation of the evidence material and identification of the mechanisms which failed,” says advocate Mikołaj Pietrzak.

The interview was published in the November issue of Edukacja Prawnicza.