Data Reveals that Rendition Planes Landed in Poland

By Elizabeth A. Conger
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

WARSAW, Poland – Polish flight authorities have admitted their involvement in the CIA’s secret program for the rendition of high-level terrorist suspects from Iraq and Afghanistan. After six years of denying denying their involvement, Warsaw’s air control service confirmed that at least six CIA rendition flights landed in Szymany airfield in northern Poland. 

Two human rights groups, the Open Society Justice Initiative, based in New York, and the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, based in Warsaw, received the flight logs from the Polish Air Navigation Services Agency in September, and released reports regarding Polish involvement in the rendition program on Monday after analyzing the data for the past several months.

Darian Pavli, a lawyer with the Open Society Justice Initiative, said: “The thing that is quite shocking is that the European investigations requested these specific flight records some four years ago…The Poles all these years said that they could not locate them, the flights didn’t exist.”

For years human rights investigators have asserted that Poland was the location of one of the “black sites,” part of of the network of the CIA’s overseas prisons where suspected Al-Qaeda operatives were detained and subjected to brutal interrogation techniques. Polish authorities repeatedly denied the allegations, and refused to cooperate with international investigations.

An extensive Council of Europe investigation in 2007 found that a prison facility located near the Szymany airfield was rented by the CIA from the Poles and used to detain “especially sensitive high-value detainees.” The Council’s report accused fourteen European governments of permitting the CIA to run detention centers or carry out rendition flights between 2002 and 2005.  According to former American intelligence officials, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, chief plotter of the 9/11 attack, was interrogated at the  secret base near the Syzmany airport after his capture in 2003. 

CIA spokesman, Paul Gimigliano, said: “The agency does not discuss publicly where facilities related to its past detention program may, or may not, have been located.”

The Polish Air Navigation Services released flight data showing that at least two of the planes linked to CIA rendition flights, a Boeing 737 and a Gulfstream V, flew from Kabul and Rabat, in Morocco, to Syzmany at least six times between February and September 2003. Kabul and Rabat are the locations of the detention of at least two of the rendition detainees. Flight logs also revealed an attempted cover up by the CIA and Polish authorities, with aviation authorities being told that several of the flights were destined for Warsaw, rather then Syzmany, and names of pilots having been changed.

The Polish government declined to comment on the contents of the reports issued by the two rights groups, but Foreign Ministry spokesman, Piotr Paszkowski, said that the prosecutor’s office was currently investigating the allegations.

Adam Bodnar, head of the legal division at Warsaw’s Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, said: “These flight records reinforce the troubling findings of official European inquiries and global human rights groups, showing complicity with CIA abuse across Europe.”

He added: “Of course Polish authorities may help the CIA in the fight against terrorism, but they are bound by the Polish Constitution, which prohibits torture.” 

For more information, please see:

The Guardian – Poland admits role in CIA rendition programme – 22 February 2010

The New York Times – Data Shows Rendition Planes Landed in Poland – 22 February 2010

The Wall Street Journal – Poland Delivers Official Confirmation of CIA Flights – 22 February 2010

Washington Post – Details posted on alleged CIA-flights to Poland – 22 February 2010

Ku Klux Klan’s new target Latinos in the United States

By Brenda Lopez Romero
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

NAHUNTA, Georgia – With a population of 930, this north Georgia town whose name is derived from the Iroquoian “nahunta”, meaning tall trees, witnessed a rally by the Ku Klux Klan. There were about a dozen-plus Klansmen out numbered by hundreds of spectators, counter-protesters and police. After the two hour event, the streets of the small town were all but empty, but the memory will last in the air of the quiet Brantley County town for years to come.

There were representatives of the Georgia chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and about twenty white-robed members of the Georgia Knight Riders branch of the Ku Klux Klan and about twenty Klansmen from Alabama.

Ezekiel Holley, vice president of the Georgia NAACP, said “We are here to let people know that (the KKK is) still around, and they are here to spread hatred.”

The Klan sought a permit to rally stating they would focus on issues of punishing sex offenders, keeping youth away from drugs and protecting prayer in schools. However, its main message was unambiguous when Jeff Jones, imperial wizard of the organization, started with a simple statement “Wake up Georgia, and stop the Latino invasion now.”

Jones stated illegal immigrants from Mexico and Central America were a threat to the nation adding racial slurs to his speech, suggested immigrants should serve in the armed forces before earning citizenship, was opposed U.S. aid to Haiti and other countries, and that English should be the only language spoken in America.

“Some of it’s true. There are a lot of illegal aliens in this country,” said a man watching the rally. Douglas Morse of Savannah was not so convinced stating “The Klan always gets big when the economy is weak, and they just pick someone outside of their group to blame.” Greg Givings, a forty-year-old soldier of Waycross, laughed mostly, but was concerned about children in the audience. He stated “In this day and age, I can’t believe people are teaching their children this.”

Brantley County Commission Chair Ronald Ham said he was happy it was over and that it ended without incident.  “Let’s get back to normal,” he said.  “My big frustration is these guys haven’t sold anything all day,” he said referring to the stores on Main street.

For more information, please see:

The Brunswick News – KKK rally uneventful – 22 February 2010

First Coast News – Mixed Opinions Mingle at Nahunta, Ga., KKK Rally – 21 February 2010

Jacksonville News – Cheers, jeers greet Klan rally in Nahunta – 21 February 2010

E.U. Condemns Use of Forged Passports in Hamas Commander Assassination

By Meredith Lee-Clark
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

BRUSSELS, Belgium – European Union foreign ministers released a statement on February 22, saying they have “strongly condemned” the use of forged European passports by the alleged assassins of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, a Hamas commander, in Dubai in January 2010. While the statement made no reference to Israel, it is widely assumed that the Mossad, Israel’s secret intelligence service, was behind the killing.

Al-Mabhouh was murdered in his hotel room in Dubai on January 19. On February 15, Dubai police released closed-circuit video from the hotel that showed dramatic footage of the eleven suspected assassins, all with forged European passports—six British, three Irish, one French, and one German. It later emerged that the hit-squad had stolen the identities of innocent people, seven of whom have dual Israeli citizenship and currently live in Israel.

Israeli officials have neither confirmed nor denied their country’s involvement with the assassination. Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman met with his counterparts at the European Union headquarters in Brussels after the E.U. statement was released. Michael Martin, the Irish Foreign Minister, told the press that Mr. Lieberman did not have any additional information on the assassination.

“He didn’t deny it,” said Mr. Martin, “but I don’t want that to be construed one way or the other. He said he didn’t have any information.”

On the Israeli Foreign Ministry website, a statement said that Mr. Lieberman told Mr. Martin that no report linked Israel with the assassination. The statement went on to say that if and when a report does so, beyond media reports, Israel would respond.

The incident has held ordinary Israelis to question the ethics of the Mossad. Israelis take pride in the organization’s stealth and ability to quietly take out what it believes are enemies of Israel, yet the use of Israeli citizens’ passports has thrown that pride into question. Many Israelis are immigrants from European countries and continue to hold passports from their countries of origin.

There are plenty of people who would have been willing to cooperate with that kind of a mission. So if they’re using these people’s identities unbeknownst to them, then it’s very problematic,” said Jean-Marc Liling, a Swiss-French human rights lawyer now living in Israel. “Using people’s identities without their consent is really intolerable.”

For more information, please see:

BBC News – EU Condemns Passport Use in Dubai Killing – 22 February 2010

The National (UAE) – Europe Condemns Stolen Identities Used in al Mabhouh Killing – 22 February 2010

New York Times – E.U. Decries Passport Use by Assassins – 22 February 2010

Christian Science Monitor – Israelis Ponder Mossad Ethics, Role in Dubai Hamas Assassination – 18 February 2010

New Top Prosecutor in Special Court for Sierra Leone

By Kylie M Tsudama

Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

THE HAGUE, Netherlands – UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has named Brenda Joyce Hollis as the new Prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL).

Brenda Joyce Hollis is a United States attorney.  She leads the prosecution against former Liberian President Charles Taylor, who is under indictment for war crimes and crimes against humanity.  She has been serving as a principal trial attorney in the Office of the Prosecutor in the SCSL.

Previously, Hollis has served as an expert legal consultant on international law and criminal procedure training judges, prosecutors and investigators at courts and international tribunals in Indonesia, Iraq and Cambodia; she has helped victims request International Criminal Court (ICC) investigations for international crimes in Democratic Republic of Congo and Colombia; she has held the position of senior trial attorney at the International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia (ICTY), serving as lead counsel in the case against former Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic; she assisted the Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).

Hollis succeeds Stephen Rapp, who left the post last September to become the United States Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues.  In the interim, Deputy Prosecutor Joseph Kamara served as Acting Prosecutor.

Additionally, the Secretary General appointed Binta Mansaray, a Sierra Leonean, as the Registrar of the SCSL.  She was appointed the Deputy Registrar in 2007 and has been serving as the Acting Registrar since last June.

Prior to joining the SCSL, Mansaray worked as a human rights advocate for victims and ex-combatants.  In 2003 she joined the SCSL as an Outreach Coordinator.  In that post she designed the grassroots program that keeps Sierra Leoneans and Liberians informed about the Special Court and its trials.

She succeeds Herman von Hebel, who is now at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.

The SCSL is a United Nations-backed tribunal and is trying the brutal acts committed during the decade-long civil war in Sierra Leone.  The remaining trial is that of former Liberian president Charles Taylor, whose trial was moved to The Hague for security reasons.

For more information, please see:

ISRIA – UN – Secretary-General Appoints Prosecutor, Registrar to Special Court for Sierra Leone – 22 February 2010

Sierra Express Mail – Binta Mansaray Named Special Court Registrar – 22 February 2010

UN News Centre – Sierra Leone: Veteran War Crimes Lawyer Tapped as Top Prosecutor UN-Backed Court – 22 February 2010

Burma Refugee Persecution Escalates to “Humanitarian Crisis”

By M.E. Dodge
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BANGKOK, Thailand– Hundreds of Rohingya, Burmese Muslim, refugees are believed dead after being pushed back into the sea by Thai authorities, according to human rights activists based in Thailand.

Image courtesy of The New York Times.

A report was issued stating that as many as 200 people are missing, while more than 300 others are believed to have died after they were set adrift by Thai soldiers. It is said by one survivor, that some of the refugees were sent back with their hands tied behind their backs in boats without engines.

The United Nations’ Refugee Agency has also voiced its concern about the reports and urged the government to investigate the incidents. In an official statement by Kitty McKinsey, spokeswoman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees in Bangkok, she said, “We request the Thai government to take all measures necessary to ensure that the lives of Rohingya are not at risk and they are treated in accordance with humanitarian standards.”

Thai military authorities have denied these accusations, and Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, has promised a full investigation. In a statement to the public, the Thai Foreign Ministry said it was “investigating and verifying all the facts and surrounding circumstances.” The ministry added that while the Thai government was dedicated to protecting its sea borders from all illegal activities, including illegal immigration, “we are committed to maintaining our traditional adherence to humanitarian principles and the protection of human rights”.

Vejjajiva told journalists that Thailand would investigate allegations that the Thai navy set hundreds of Rohingya asylum seekers adrift. The country’s defense minister will investigate these accusations, and report back to the Prime Minister with any findings as soon as possible.

In describing the overall situation, Paul Critchley, who runs the Bangladesh program for the aid group, Doctors Without Borders, he said, “Over the last few months we have treated victims of violence, people who claim to have been beaten by the police, claim to have been beaten by members of the host population, by people they’ve been living next to for many years.” He went on to say that, “We have treated patients for beatings, for machete wounds and for rape,” and the circumstance is now a “humanitarian crisis” now that the atrocities continue and in light of the most recent string of horrific events.

Since October, the unofficial Kutupalong makeshift camp with its dirt paths, flimsy shacks and open sewers has grown by 6,000 people to nearly 30,000, with 2,000 arrivals in January alone. There are an estimated 250,000 Rohingya in Bangladesh. They do not have citizenship, and are subject to abuse and forced labor, and where they cannot travel, marry or practice their religion freely. Yes, many continue to flee Myanmar in fear of repression and in search of a better life.  About 28,000 of them have been officially recognized by Bangladesh, and documented as refugees. They receive food and other assistance in a camp administered by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and have not been subject to the abuses and forced returns described by other Rohingya. But, the government has not allowed the agency to register new arrivals since 1993.

A Photograph of Women who suffered beatings and abuse in Myanmar. Image courtesy of The New York Times.

The most recent incident and possible deaths to hundreds sheds light on the fact that the problem has worsened, many human rights activists are trying to call attention to the issue to get other foreign involvement.

For more information, please see:

The New York Times – Burmese Refugees Persecuted in Bangladesh – 20 February 2010

World News – Persecution of Burmese Refugees – 20 February 2010

Open Democracy – Bangladesh government accused of crackdown on Burmese refugees – 18 February 2010

Asia Times Online – Bilateral Repression for Myanmar’s Rohingya – 22 February 2010