Poland must wrap up long-running CIA 'Black Site' probe: UN

Poland must wrap up a long-running probe into an alleged CIA jail on its territory where suspected Al-Qaeda members were purportedly tortured, and hold those involved accountable, UN monitors said today.
The UN Committee Against Torture criticised the "lengthy delays" in the five-year investigation of Warsaw's alleged complicity in the shadowy US programme.
The committee said it was "also concerned about the secrecy surrounding the investigation and failure to ensure accountability in these cases."
Urging Poland to "complete the investigation... Within reasonable time", it said Warsaw must "ensure accountability of the persons involved in the alleged crimes of torture and ill treatment".

The call came in a broad report on Poland's respect for international anti-torture rules. UN members face regular scrutiny of their record by the committee of independent experts.
In 2008, Polish prosecutors opened a probe into claims that Warsaw let the CIA run a secret jail from 2002-2003 at a Polish intelligence base.

Those thought to have been held there include self-proclaimed 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, arrested in Pakistan in 2003 and facing trial at a US military tribunal in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Polish prosecutors have formally granted victim status to three Guantanamo inmates who claim they were held in Poland -- a Yemeni and two Saudis -- enabling them to take legal action.

Poland is one of several European nations suspected of involvement in rendition -- secret transfer -- to CIA "black sites" set up to interrogate suspected Al-Qaeda militants.
A probe by human rights body the Council of Europe claimed "high-value" detainees were held in secret, kept in solitary confinement and subjected to "enhanced interrogation" including torture techniques such as water boarding, or simulated drowning.
In a separate report today, the UN committee protested Portugal's decision to drop a probe into its alleged role in rendition, on the grounds of insufficient evidence.