Feb 25, 2013 | Advocacy, Cases, Legal submissions
The ICJ and Amnesty International presented additional observations in the case Al Nashiri v Poland before the European Court of Human Rights.
In their supplementary third party intervention, the ICJ and AI outlined developments in light of the case El-Masri v the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia on enforced disappearances, on diplomatic representations in light of the Grand Chamber’s findings on responsibility for violations outside the jurisdiction, on the gross human rights violations that detainees previously held in the USA’s secret detention and rendition programme are currently enduring, and on relevance of the Grand Chamber’s observations in El-Masri in relation to any potential resort to ex parte materials and procedures.
Poland-ICJAI-SupplAmicusBrief-AlNashiri v Poland-legal submission-2013 (download the third party intervention)
Dec 13, 2012 | News
Today’s ruling on the CIA’s detention and rendition of Khaled El-Masri is a historic moment because for the first time it holds a European state accountable for its involvement in the secret US-led programmes.
It is also a milestone in the fight against impunity, Amnesty International and the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) said.
The European Court of Human Rights held unanimously that the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (Macedonia) was responsible for the German national Khaled El-Masri’s unlawful detention, enforced disappearance, torture and other ill-treatment, and for his transfer out of Macedonia to locations where he suffered further serious violations of his human rights.
Further, that Macedonia did not satisfy its obligation to carry out an effective investigation.
“This judgment confirms the role Macedonia played in the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) rendition and secret detention programmes, and is an important step towards accountability for European complicity in rendition and torture,” said Julia Hall, Amnesty International’s expert on counter-terrorism and human rights.
“Macedonia is not alone. Many other European governments colluded with the USA to abduct, transfer, ‘disappear’ and torture people in the course of rendition operations. This judgment represents progress, but much more needs to be done to ensure accountability across Europe.”
“This ruling is historic. It recognises that the CIA rendition and secret detention system involved torture and enforced disappearances. It emphasises that both the victims and the public have the right to know the truth about these serious violations. It affirms without doubt that Europe cannot be an area of impunity but it must be a place of redress and accountability where international human rights law obligations are not bypassed but fulfilled,” said Wilder Tayler, Secretary General of the ICJ.
“Other European governments – such as Poland, Lithuania, and Romania, against which cases are also pending with the Court – should note today’s European Court judgment and take measures to ensure that the truth is told, thorough, effective, independent and impartial investigations are carried out and those responsible are held accountable.”
The Court’s ruling also serves to highlight the absence of accountability and remedy in the USA, noting that the claim filed against the CIA by Khaled El-Masri was dismissed by the US courts after the US administration invoked the “state secrets privilege”.
On 31 December 2003, the Macedonian authorities arrested El-Masri, who is of Lebanese descent, after he entered Macedonia from Serbia.
They held him incommunicado, subjecting him to enforced disappearance, repeated interrogations and to ill-treatment, until 23 January 2004 when they handed him over to Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) agents.
As part of the covert, US-led rendition and secret detention programme, the CIA transferred El-Masri to a secret detention facility in Afghanistan.
There he was held unlawfully in secret, not charged with any crime and his detention was not subject to judicial review. He did not have access to a lawyer. His whereabouts were not acknowledged and he was held incommunicado.
As a result he was subjected to enforced disappearance for over four months. While in Afghanistan, he was subjected to torture and other ill-treatment.
On 28 May 2004, El-Masri was put on a plane and flown to Albania where he was released.
Contact:
Róisín Pillay, Director, ICJ Europe Programme, t +41 22 979 38 30; e-mail: roisin.pillay(at)icj.org
For the ICJ/AI third party intervention, click here
Europe-Joint public statement El Masri-2012
Nov 5, 2012 | Advocacy, Cases, Legal submissions
The ICJ and Amnesty International presented a third party intervention in the case Al Nashiri v Poland before the European Court of Human Rights.
In the third party intervention, the ICJ and AI outlined developments on the principle of non-refoulement, on the human rights obligations in breach in the practice of “renditions” and “secret detention”, on enforced disappearances, on the international law of state responsibility both for human rights violations occuring on the territory of a High Contracting Party committed by another State and following return of a person to a third State, and the right to a remedy and to reparation.
ECtHR-ICJAI-AmicusBrief-AlNashiri_v_ Poland-2012 (download the third party intervention)
Dec 1, 2009 | Advocacy, Non-legal submissions
The ICJ addresses the practice of incommunicado detention, and the transfer of persons as part of the alleged cooperation of Spain in the US-led renditions programme.
The ICJ also draws attention to the threat to judicial independence posed by the recent prosecution of Investigative Judge Baltasar Garzón Real; to the recent limitations introduced on the use of universal jurisdiction to prosecute crimes under international law; and to the limited scope of the offence of torture contained in the Criminal Code.
Universal Periodic Review Spain-non-legal submission-2009 (full text, PDF)
