The Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights announced Dec. 28 that the US government has refused to provide legal cooperation to Polish prosecutors investigating whether Saudi terror suspect Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri was tortured in a secret CIA prison in Poland. According to the letter sent by Polish prosecutors to the Helsinki Foundation, the US government denied the March 2009 request on the basis of a bilateral agreement on the protection of state interests.

Polish prosecutors granted al-Nashiri victim status in October, recognizing validity of his claims that he was mistreated by interrogators. Al-Nashiri remains a detainee at Guantánamo Bay, despite an announcement last month by the Obama administration that charges against him are not pending or being considered. The Pentagon formally dropped charges against al-Nashiri in February 2009, effectively ending his prosecution under the Military Commissions Act of 2006.

Polish prosecutors opened an investigation into the alleged mistreatment of al-Nashiri in September in response to the request filed by human rights group Open Society Justice Initiative (OSJI) and al-Nashiri's lawyers. OSJI stated that the filing represents the first attempt by an extraordinary rendition victim to pursue a legal remedy within the Polish court system. The commencement of the investigation came one week after former Polish prime minister Leszek Miller denied any knowledge of a secret CIA prison in Poland and indicated that he would not discuss allegations of torture until the Polish government's investigation is complete.

Earlier this month, lawyers for Guantánamo detainee Abu Zubaydah asked Polish prosecutors to investigate claims that Zubaydah was abused in the secret CIA prison, hoping Zubaydah's investigation would be done in conjunction with al-Nashiri's investigation. Allegations against Poland were first raised in a June 2007 report to the Council of Europe [official website] by Swiss Senator Dick Marty. The report concluded that numerous European governments had cooperated with the CIA secret prison program. In February 2007, the European Parliament condemned more than a dozen European states for their roles in the program. Several nations have been accused of obstructing European probes into the secret prison allegations, including Poland, which allegedly housed the largest CIA detention facility in Europe.

From Jurist, Dec. 29. Used with permission.

See our last posts on Poland and the secret CIA gulag.