By: Daniel Nardini
From the fall of 2002 to the fall of 2003, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) ran a clandestine prison in the woods of eastern Poland to interrogate and torture suspected Al Qaeda prisoners. This was done with the tacit approval of Polish officials in the highest positions of government. Now the Polish government, after years of denying that such a U.S.-run facility existed on Polish soil, is finally investigating this and may take steps to indict those Polish officials who collaborated in this secret operation. This is a very sensitive issue for many Polish people. Poland at the time had been a democracy for only 13 years since breaking away from the grip of the Soviet Union in 1989. At that point the Polish government and people believed that the United States was an ally and friend that could do no wrong. Because of this, the Polish government had ceded part of its territory for use by the CIA to fight Al Qaeda.
The Polish government of the time did not realize that the CIA was using torture as a means of extracting information from Al Qaeda suspects. Poland’s constitution and its signatory as a charter member of the United Nations against the use of torture should have caused many Polish officials to question what the CIA was doing at the prison facility it was using. One of the reasons why the CIA used Poland as a secret place for interrogation and torture was because it was off of U.S. soil, and therefore out of the way of the American public. Even so, the Polish authorities of the time should have stopped the whole thing immediately and even arrested those CIA personnel involved in these torture acts. It is now even possible that those Polish authorities who allowed these acts to happen on Polish soil can now be indicted on crimes against humanity. Whether this will happen or not remains to be seen.
This move by the Polish government reveals two important things. First, Poland’s democracy has matured enough that it is capable of facing the past. It was hard enough for Poland to face so many things from the brutal acts of the former Soviet Union to the acts of its most recent ally the United States. The Polish government and Polish people are now questioning, justifiably, the things done in the name of “fighting terrorism.” Americans are also questioning some of the things done in the era of former U.S. President George W. Bush, and many Americans would like answers as well of what the CIA was doing in Poland. The second thing it shows is that Poland will not just allow anyone to use its territory again in the manner used by the CIA. The Polish people have learned that even a friend and ally can have dark purposes for what they do. The question now is what exactly happened and how much truth about what the CIA did in Poland will be revealed.
The CIA Secret Prison in Poland
By: Daniel Nardini
The Polish government of the time did not realize that the CIA was using torture as a means of extracting information from Al Qaeda suspects. Poland’s constitution and its signatory as a charter member of the United Nations against the use of torture should have caused many Polish officials to question what the CIA was doing at the prison facility it was using. One of the reasons why the CIA used Poland as a secret place for interrogation and torture was because it was off of U.S. soil, and therefore out of the way of the American public. Even so, the Polish authorities of the time should have stopped the whole thing immediately and even arrested those CIA personnel involved in these torture acts. It is now even possible that those Polish authorities who allowed these acts to happen on Polish soil can now be indicted on crimes against humanity. Whether this will happen or not remains to be seen.
This move by the Polish government reveals two important things. First, Poland’s democracy has matured enough that it is capable of facing the past. It was hard enough for Poland to face so many things from the brutal acts of the former Soviet Union to the acts of its most recent ally the United States. The Polish government and Polish people are now questioning, justifiably, the things done in the name of “fighting terrorism.” Americans are also questioning some of the things done in the era of former U.S. President George W. Bush, and many Americans would like answers as well of what the CIA was doing in Poland. The second thing it shows is that Poland will not just allow anyone to use its territory again in the manner used by the CIA. The Polish people have learned that even a friend and ally can have dark purposes for what they do. The question now is what exactly happened and how much truth about what the CIA did in Poland will be revealed.