The European Court of Human Rights released in July its judgments in the cases of alleged torture and freedom deprivation of detainees held in secret CIA prisons in Poland. The rulings declared that a number of human rights violations had occurred, including torture, denial of the right to a fair trial and to personal freedom and safety. According to the court, Poland enabled the detention and torture of the two applicants. The Polish government has now appealed the verdicts to the Grand Chamber of the court.

The judgments were widely covered in the media and followed by the general public. "The judgments could probably have been not so far-reaching if the court had found that the investigation into CIA secret prisons conducted by the Appellate Prosecutor’s Office in Kraków was effective,” said Dr. Adam Bodnar, deputy president of the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights. "However, the Strasbourg court reached quite a different conclusion."

"The court also criticized the Polish government for the lack of cooperation during the proceedings in this case," noted Irmina Pacho, counsel for the HFHR. "The court held that Poland violated Article 38 of the Convention, under which the court shall examine the case together with the representatives of the parties and, for the effective conduct of an investigation, the state shall furnish all necessary facilities."

According to the HFHR, given the gravity of the numerous violations of basic human rights confirmed by the judgments of the court, the government of Poland should waive the possibility of requesting the case to be referred to the Grand Chamber. The government's current strategy of not cooperating with the court may have a negative impact on the perception of Poland as a democratic state. "For this reason, the Polish government should make the required efforts to reach complete the investigation into CIA secret prisons, which has been ongoing for more than six years," reads the HFHR’s statement.