Tag Archives: Poland
1 May 2015
The Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, James B Comey, told Polish ambassador to the United States that he regretted remarks made earlier which suggested Polish complicity in the Holocaust. The comments were made in the context of a speech given at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, parts of which were reprinted in The Washington Post. The offending passage read: ‘in their minds, the murderers and accomplices of Germany, and Poland and Hungary, and so many, many other places didn’t do something evil. They convinced themselves it was the right thing to do, the thing they had to do. That’s what people do. And that should truly frighten us.’ (more…)
Source: The New York Times | FBI Chief Tells Poland's U.S. Envoy He Regrets Holocaust Remarks
Source: The New York Times | Poland Demands Apology Over F.B.I. Director’s Holocaust Remarks
Source: Reuters | FBI chief tells Poland's U.S. envoy he regrets Holocaust remarks
15 December 2014
In the wake of a 500 page summary report that was released by the US Senate on 9 December 2014, five countries have been identified as being home to secret CIA-controlled prisons namely: Poland, Romania, Lithuania, Thailand and Afghanistan. According to the Washington Post, Afghanistan alone housed no fewer than four such facilities. (more…)
Source: The Washington Post | Decoding the secret black sites on the Senate’s report on the CIA interrogation program
Source: Huffington Post | More Than A Quarter Of The World's Countries Helped The CIA Run Its Torture Program
Source: Foreign Policy | Poland Finally Comes Clean About Housing a Secret CIA Dungeon
8 September 2014
On 5 September, at the conclusion of the NATO summit in Wales, President Obama announced that nine NATO allies have agreed to join the US in order to form a coalition to fight the Islamic State. (more…)
Source: The Guardian | US forms 'core coalition' to fight Isis militants in Iraq
Source: Al Jazeera | US announces coalition to fight Islamic State
Source: New York Times | Obama Enlists 9 Allies to Help in the Battle Against ISIS
4 August 2014
On 24 July 2014, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) found that Poland violated its obligations under the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR) by cooperating with the United States in the running of so-called “CIA black sites” on Polish territory. (more…)
Source: Al Nashiri v. Poland | App. No. 28761/11 | Judgment | ECtHR | 24 July 2014
27 January 2014
The Washington Post has provided a detailed account of the use by the United States of a secret prison near Warsaw that was used in 2003 to interrogate accused September 11 conspirators.
The report describes how the interrogation initially took place in Thailand, and that the Polish location was chosen when a better facility was needed. The CIA paid nearly 300,000 US dollars for improvement of the facility. US interrogators used in the Polish prison ‘enhanced interrogation techniques’ that were formulated at the CIA and approved by Justice Department lawyers. These included slapping, sleep deprivation and waterboarding. Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the self-declared mastermind of the attacks, was reportedly waterboarded 183 times in the Polish facility.
Source: The Washington Post | The hidden history of the CIA’s prison in Poland