CIA Prison in Poland: Silence Is Not Always Golden

By allowing U.S. prisoners to be detained and “interrogated” on Polish territory, our government has joined the ranks of such models of democracy and respect for human rights as Algeria, Morocco or Uzbekistan. For this very reason, it is so important to draw the right conclusions from this situation.

The past week was marked by two stories: the Euromaidan in Ukraine and the CIA prison in Poland. The second story touches upon the fundamental issues of human rights, respect for law and state sovereignty. The officials of another state committed a series of grave violations of the law which is in force on the territory of Poland.

Silence Is the Wrong Way

The basic question, therefore, is: Did our officials, who agreed to lend Americans the real estate in Stare Kiejkuty, know what would be happening there? Had they been informed about or could they have had any idea that Americans would employ “enhanced interrogation techniques,” that is — to put it bluntly — torture the detained and interrogate prisoners? Did Polish decision-makers knowingly agree to suspend the Polish law, including the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, on the estate lent to Americans? If the answers to these questions are positive, then the mass “amnesia” of decision-makers is not surprising, for the criminal law involves very serious consequences.

In a situation in which Americans themselves have come to the conclusion that disclosing some of the information on the topic of “extrajudicial renditions” is in the interest of democracy and the U.S., in Poland the opposite view is dominant. However, it is visibly less strongly expressed over that coffin or rather that skeleton in the closet, which is the existence of the CIA prison on our territory — that is what politicians, journalists and experts seem to speak. Of course, not all of them, but still many. Security and services prefer silence. However, does it justify turning a blind eye to the torturing of prisoners of a third country on the territory of the Republic of Poland? Maybe it is not worth it to agree to Poland being viewed in the same way as Uzbekistan, Algeria, Egypt, Thailand or Morocco? Americans used to transport their prisoners to these countries, in order to detain and “interrogate” them. These countries are not regarded as role models of democracy and respect for human rights.

It is worth noting that “CIA prisons” have been located in Poland, Lithuania and Romania, but not in France, Italy or Germany. The three former states of the Eastern Bloc — the countries of the “New Europe” — were chosen, the way the Old Continent was divided by former U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. The authorities of these countries had certainly not overly zealously asked why the Americans needed villas located in secluded places, or old military airports, on which unmarked airplanes used to land. The combination of geopolitical conditions, foreign and domestic policy made it possible that Poland, Lithuania and Romania were asked to do their ally a favor.

Where Does Torture in the CIA’s Arsenal Come From?

One has to mention the atmosphere of those times — the “war on terror” led by the Bush administration, the Iraq War or the attacks in Spain or Great Britain. The slogan “fight against terror” used to serve as Thor’s hammer, which could break down any door. Most of them, however, opened at the sole sound of the word “terrorism.” But does it justify the approval of torture on the territory of Poland?

Moreover, it is commonly believed that a tortured man will tell and confess to everything just to end the torture. Not many are able to withstand the pain like Chuck Norris or Sylvester Stallone from action movies of the ‘80s did. One has to bear in mind where the torture in the CIA and special forces’ arsenal comes from. Americans used to have a special unit tasked with preparing soldiers and officials for missions, during which there was a chance they could be taken captive by hostile forces. They were shown what could happen to unfortunate captives in theory and in practice. To learn the methodology of torture, the same people were employed who taught American soldiers how to get by while being tortured. This very process was reversed and the former teachers of survival became teachers of extracting information by means of torture.

A Lesson for the Future

There is no justification for our decision-makers if they knew or could have had any idea that Americans torture prisoners on the territory of Poland. As Patryk Gorgol wrote, the CIA prison did not strengthen the security of Poland in any way. Therefore, our country did not have any reason to give thanks for being admitted to NATO, too — it was also in the interest of the U.S. — and besides, we diligently fulfilled our duties as an ally in Afghanistan and did extra service in Iraq. We did not owe Americans anything. It is sad that for the “service of real estate lending” the Polish side received a payment of $15 million. There are no words left to comment on that.

One thing seems to be optimistic in this whole matter — the CIA prison in Poland was not too heavily used. At the airport in Szymany, say, six flights of unmarked airplanes used by the CIA have been noted. It does not mean that nothing big has happened and that there is no reason for indignation. We have been abused and our reputation suffered greatly. It is crucial that the whole political class draw the right conclusions from this matter and not agree to the “requests of friendly intelligence services” without conducting some investigations in the first place. It is also worth reminding that only the embassy of a friendly country remains extra-territorial and that on the remaining territory Polish law is in force — and that it cannot be broken with impunity. One should hope that we will not be put in the ranks of Uzbekistan — a dictator state and independent principality of Islam Karimow.