European Court of Human Rights Rules on CIA Secret Rendition and Detention in Poland (July 24, 2014) [1]
On July 24, 2014, the European Court of Human Rights (the Court) ruled in Chamber judgments on Al Nashiri v. Poland [3] and Husayn (Abu Zubaydah) v. Poland [4] that Poland had violated provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights [5] (the Convention) in regard to the two applicants’ allegations of torture, ill-treatment, and secret detention at a CIA “black site” in Poland after they were suspected of terrorist acts. According to the press release [6], the Court found in both cases that Poland had failed to comply with Article 38 of the Convention (obligation to furnish all necessary facilities for the effective conduct of an investigation), and that in both cases there had been “a violation of Article 3 (prohibition of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment) of the Convention, in both its substantive and procedural aspects; a violation of Article 5 (right to liberty and security); a violation of Article 8 (right to respect for private and family life); a violation of Article 13 (right to an effective remedy); and, a violation of Article 6 § 1 (right to a fair trial).” In Al Nashiri, the Court also held that Poland had violated “Articles 2 (right to life) and 3 of the Convention taken together with Article 1 of Protocol No. 6 (abolition of the death penalty).”