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Poland declines to take part in EP 'CIA prisons' hearing

PR dla Zagranicy
Peter Gentle 26.03.2012 09:01
State officials from Poland will not be present at a European Parliament hearing this week concerning the alleged existence of illegal CIA prisons in Europe.

The hearing, which begins on Tuesday in Brussels, is being conducted by the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE).

The committee is attempting to clarify whether the CIA held suspected terrorists at so called 'black sites' in Poland, Romania and Lithuania in the early years of the US's 'War on Terrorism'.

A military base in Stare Kiejkuty, near Szczytno, north eastern Poland, was allegedly used as one of the so-called “black sites” between December 2002 and September 2003.

LIBE reportedly offered the Polish government the opportunity to send representatives to the hearing, but Warsaw did not take up the offer.

Romania will also not be represented in Brussels.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk set up an investigation led by Poland's Attorney General when he first came to office in 2007, “to finally get to the bottom of the question of the existence of CIA prisons in Poland.”

But Attorney General Andrzej Seremet will not be taking part in the debate at the European Parliament this week.

At the time of the alleged existence of the black sites, the Democratic Left Alliance party (SLD) was in power in Poland, under Prime Minister Leszek Miller. Aleksander Kwasniewski (SLD prior to being elected) was president.

Both men have repeatedly denied that Poland hosted such facilities.

The only Polish voice at Tuesday's hearing will be Adam Bodnar, deputy chairman of the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights (HFHR).

The foundation has consistently argued that a black site did exist in Poland.

“The absence of a representative of the government shows a lack of respect for the European Parliament, which wants to clarify the matter,” Bodnar told the Rzeczpospolita daily.

The Council of Europe has complained before about Poland's lack of cooperation into the investigation into the CIA 'black site' affair, where suspected terrorists held by the US have alleged they were held and tortured in Poland. (nh/pg)

tags: cia prisons
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