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MINISTERS’ DEPUTIES |
Decisions |
CM/Del/Dec(2024)1514/H46-28 |
5 December 2024 |
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1514th meeting, 3-5 December 2024 (DH)
H46-28 Al Nashiri group v. Poland (Application No. 28761/11) Supervision of the execution of the European Court’s judgments
Reference documents |
Decisions
The Deputies
1. recalled that in these judgments the European Court established Poland’s responsibility under the Convention on account of the authorities’ knowledge of and involvement in the implementation of the CIA “High-Value Detainee programme” and found serious violations of several Convention rights by Poland in the context of “extraordinary rendition” operations which enabled the United States authorities to bring the applicants illegally under United States jurisdiction;
As regards measures to remedy the applicants’ situation
2. welcomed that the Polish authorities, in line with the findings and indications in the Court’s judgments and in the Committee’s decisions, have on a numerous occasions requested from the US authorities diplomatic assurances concerning both applicants; invited them to continue their dialogue with the US authorities to seek to remedy, as far as possible, the consequences of the serious human rights violations suffered by the applicants and to keep the Committee informed about any developments in this respect;
3. reiterating in this context their firm, unequivocal opposition to the death penalty, and recalling that the United States has observer status with the Council of Europe and as such shares its ideals and values, expressed their profound regret at the United States authorities’ refusals, so far, to support requests for diplomatic assurances against the grave risks faced by the applicants;
As regards the domestic investigation
4. welcomed the submission of a copy of the decision on partial discontinuation of the investigation of
30 November 2020; noted however that since a substantial part of this decision is classified, it is impossible for the Committee to assess whether all possible means have been deployed to seek toestablish to the domestic standard of proof the facts the Court found established beyond reasonable doubt (notably the operation of a CIA secret detention facility in Poland, the applicants’ transfer into and from Poland, their secret detention and the ill treatment inflicted to them); called on the authorities to provide the Committee with additional clarifications in this respect;
5. recalling that the public has a legitimate right to be informed of the investigation and its results, and that public scrutiny is instrumental in maintaining the confidence in the adherence of Poland to the rule of law, encouraged the authorities to reconsider their position and allow for the publication of the decision on partial discontinuation of the investigation in its non-classified part, which could also address previous concerns as to the insufficient public scrutiny over the investigation;
As regards the further general measures
6. recalled that the European Court’s findings as to the existence in Poland of “a more general problem of democratic oversight of intelligence services”, were based predominantly on the results of ineffective inquiry of the Parliamentary Committee for Special Services in 2005 into the existence of the CIA detention site in Poland; strongly urged the authorities to clarify the reasons for the ineffectiveness of this mechanism in the circumstances of these particular cases as well as information about measures aiming at non-repetition of similar situations;
7. noting that the importance of respecting human rights when carrying out their tasks has been underlined by high-level decision-makers to members of the secret services, requested the authorities to provide more detailed information in this respect;
8. noted further with interest that the authorities are reflecting on the most appropriate format of a zero-tolerance message, and urged them to come to a rapid conclusion; recalled that an unequivocal message as to the absolute unacceptability of arbitrary detention, torture, and secret rendition operations could also be instrumental in acknowledging Poland’s role and responsibility for the human rights violations that occurred in these cases;
9. noted with interest the authorities’ ongoing analysis on whether newly introduced Rule 44F of the Rules of Court requires any adjustments of the domestic procedures on the treatment of classified information; and invited them to rapidly complete it;
10. requested the authorities to submit information on all the remaining questions by 30 June 2025.