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DE RUEHWR #0788/01 2121202
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O 311202Z JUL 09
FM AMEMBASSY WARSAW
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8688
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 WARSAW 000788 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR DRL/MLGA - MCGEENEY AND EUR/CE - GLANTZ 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PREL PGOV EUN PL
SUBJECT: POLAND'S INITIATIVES TO COUNTER TORTURE 
 
REF: STATE 70129 
 
THIS MESSAGE IS SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED - NOT FOR INTERNET 
DISTRIBUTION 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY. Polish government and non-governmental 
organizations actively engage in activities which aim at preventing 
torture and protecting victims both in country and abroad.  The 
GOP's initiative on counter-torture activities notwithstanding, 
allegations about the existence of CIA secret prisons in Poland 
continue to be a subject of NGO attention, media scrutiny, and 
public debate.  END SUMMARY. 
 
GOVERNMENT ACTION TO COUNTER TORTURE 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶2. (SBU) Poland signed the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention 
against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment (OPCAT) in 2004 and ratified it in 2005.  By signing and 
ratifying this document, Poland accepted an obligation to establish 
an independent and competent office referred to as National 
Preventive Mechanism (NPM), which is responsible for monitoring the 
situation in prisons and other detention facilities.  In January 
2008, the Ministry of Justice assigned the tasks of the NPM to the 
independent Office of the Human Rights Ombudsman.  Under the NPM, 
the Ombudsman's teams of experts carry out regular preventive visits 
to prisons, detention centers, and other closed facilities.  In 
2008, the Ombudsman's experts visited more than 70 facilities around 
Poland.  The results of the visitations are presented annually to 
the Polish Parliament.  The Ombudsman also presents recommendations 
for improvement to appropriate ministries, which are obliged to 
address problems identified. 
 
NGO COUNTER-TERROR INITIATIVES 
------------------------------ 
 
¶3. (SBU) On October 26, 2007 a group of leading Polish NGOs 
established a coalition for implementation of the OPCAT in Poland. 
The coalition consists of watchdog and humanitarian organizations, 
such as the Helsinki Human Rights Foundation, Amnesty International, 
Association of Legal Intervention, and the Polish Section of the 
International Committee of Lawyers. The main goal of the Coalition 
is to contribute to the establishment of the NPM and to guarantee 
that it operates in accordance with international standards.  The 
Coalition holds regular meetings with representatives of the 
Ombudsman's office to discuss possibilities of cooperation in 
carrying out NPM tasks.  NGOs assist the Ombudsman by monitoring 
detention units, meeting with legal experts, developing tools and 
guidelines for monitoring detention facilities, and preparing 
reports and analyses related to the prevention of inhuman treatment 
of detainees. 
 
¶4. (SBU) In addition to the coalition for OPCAT implementation, 
Polish NGOs and local branches of international human rights 
organizations are heavily engaged in countering torture and other 
types of ill-treatment in Poland and abroad.  Amnesty International 
Poland (AI) is one of the most prominent organizations active in 
this field.  Its main initiatives include Urgent Action campaigns, 
through which AI volunteers encourage Polish citizens to send 
appeals to the officials of a country where a case of torture 
occurs.  The "Counter Terror with Justice" campaign aims at stopping 
torture and ill-treatment connected with various countries' 
counterterrorist activities.  The "Human Rights against the Wall of 
China" campaign aims to draw more attention to human rights 
violation in China.  The "Darfur Can't Wait Anymore" campaign seeks 
to end the Darfur crisis by ensuring accountability for the 
perpetrators of massive ill-treatment in the region by sending 
letters to Presidents of Sudan and Chad, as well as Russian 
officials. 
 
¶5. (SBU) The Warsaw-based Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights runs 
a Public Interest Law Action Program through which it intervenes in 
individual legal cases where human rights violations have allegedly 
occurred.  One of the areas of primary focus is the excessive use of 
force by police, including inhuman or degrading treatment of persons 
detained.  Under this program, the Foundation monitors ongoing 
trials, actively participates in criminal trials with a focus on 
human rights, notifies local and central government institutions 
about human rights violations, and provides assistance in drafting 
complaints to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.  The 
Strategic Litigation Campaign is another program through which the 
Helsinki Foundation initiates or joins important court and 
administrative actions hoping to reach an important verdict that 
will change the existing practices or legal provisions which affect 
human rights. 
 
¶6. (SBU) The Association of Legal Intervention runs the "Watch 24" 
program, whose main goal is to improve the standards of treatment of 
detainees, in particular with respect to their rights and freedoms. 
The program includes legal counseling for detainees, monitoring and 
 
WARSAW 00000788  002 OF 002 
 
 
analyses of legal problems raised by detainees, and monitoring 
detention facilities.  The Association also runs a program of 
individual interventions in cases when the human rights are 
threatened or violated, including letters of complaint to the 
European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (ECP). 
 
¶7. (SBU) There are a number of smaller organizations with a narrower 
scope of action, including The Other Space Foundation which operates 
a "Polish Tibet Support Group" and the Polish-Burma Solidarity 
Group, whose main goal is to lobby Polish authorities and inform the 
public about human rights conditions in Burma.  Clear Harmony Poland 
is an NGO associated with the Chinese Falun Gong movement.  The 
organization provides daily reports on allegations of persecution 
against Falun Gong members in China.   The Free Belarus Initiative 
is an NGO that assists political prisoners in Belarus.  Its 
activities include preparing packages for political prisoners, 
organizing concerts, distributing wristbands (expressing support for 
democratization in Belarus), and establishing a fund for victims of 
persecution. 
 
SECRET PRISON ALLEGATIONS 
------------------------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) Allegations about the existence of CIA secret prisons in 
Poland continue to be a subject of NGO attention, media scrutiny, 
and public debate.  Since 2005, international and Polish media have 
speculated about the presence of a secret CIA prison in northern 
Poland, where between 2002 and 2005 terrorists were allegedly 
subjected to torture and other inhuman treatment. Successive Polish 
governments have repeatedly denied the allegations.  In March 2008 
the Warsaw Public Prosecutor's office initiated an investigation 
into the allegations, and in June 2008, the investigation was moved 
to the National Public Prosecutor's office and given the highest 
priority.  The investigation is ongoing. 
 
¶9. (SBU) In reaction to these allegations, the Helsinki Human Rights 
Foundation launched a program "Observatory of CIA Activity in 
Poland" in December 2007.  Its aim is to gather information on 
alleged cases of interrogation and torture of terrorist suspects on 
Polish territory.  In April 2009, AI Poland launched a campaign 
appealing for transparent investigation into alleged secret 
detention centers in Poland.  The campaign began with a 
demonstration in front of the Prime Minister's office in Warsaw and 
continued with a letter-writing campaign to Prime Minister Tusk 
urging him to make public all the findings and methods of government 
investigations on the subject.  The campaign is a part of an 
international AI initiative aimed at discovering whether European 
countries facilitated the illegal detention and/or transfer of 
terrorist suspects. 
 
ASHE