JURIST Supported by the University of Pittsburgh
PAPER CHASE NEWSBURSTDigest RSS feedFull RSS feed
Serious law. Primary sources. Global perspective.


Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Accused USS Cole bomber sues Poland over secret CIA prison site
Jaclyn Belczyk at 1:27 PM ET

Photo source or description
[JURIST] Lawyers for accused USS Cole [JURIST news archive] bomber Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri [NYT profile] said Tuesday that they have filed suit [press release; case materials] against Poland in the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) [official website] over his alleged torture at a secret CIA prison [JURIST news archive] in the country. Last month, the US Department of Defense (DOD) [official website] announced that al-Nashiri would be tried in a military court and would be subject to capital charges [JURIST report]. The Open Society Justice Initiative (OSJI) [advocacy website] is asking the ECHR to intervene and direct Poland to "use all available means at its disposal to ensure that the United States does not subject him to the death penalty," arguing that Poland violated the European Convention on Human Rights [text, PDF]. The OSJI has also asked the court to direct Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland to intervene.

In March, Polish prosecutors investigating the alleged secret CIA prison announced that they were asking US officials to question al-Nashiri and a second Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] detainee who claims he was held and abused at the site. The OSJI, which helped to launch the abuse investigation [JURIST report] last September, urged the US to provide assistance. The investigation into al-Nashiri's allegations of the secret prison's existence and his abuse there began soon after former Polish prime minister Leszek Miller denied any knowledge of a secret CIA prison [JURIST report] in Poland. His denial followed confirmation by a former CIA agent that the agency tortured [Spiegel report] al-Nashiri in 2002 at a secret prison located in Poland. According to the agent, al-Nashiri was stripped naked and hooded before a gun and a drill were held close to his head. Former Polish president Aleksander Kwasniewski has also denied the existence of the prisons. Both he and Miller maintain that they will not discuss the allegations of torture until the completion of an investigation into Poland's role in the US prisoner rendition [JURIST news archive] program. The original investigation into the existence of the CIA-operated prison was launched by the Polish government [JURIST report] in September 2008.




Link |  | print | subscribe | RSS feeds | latest newscast | Facebook page

For more legal news check the Paper Chase Archive...


LATEST LEGAL NEWS

 UN rights chief urges Turkish government, protesters to defuse tensions
9:21 AM ET, June 19

 Illinois governor signs strictest fracking law in nation
8:22 AM ET, June 19

 ICC delays preliminary hearing for Congo war crimes suspect
7:42 AM ET, June 19

 click for more...

Get JURIST legal news delivered daily to your e-mail!

LATEST FORUM

Is Egypt's Stance on the Blue Nile Dam Legally Justified?
DOMESTIC
Zeray Yihdego
University of Aberdeen School of Law

ABOUT

Paper Chase is JURIST's real-time legal news service, powered by a team of 30 law student reporters and editors led by law professor Bernard Hibbitts at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. As an educational service, Paper Chase is dedicated to presenting important legal news and materials rapidly, objectively and intelligibly in an accessible, ad-free format.

CONTACT

Paper Chase welcomes comments, tips and URLs from readers. E-mail us at JURIST@jurist.org