Poland has been accused of participation in the extraordinary rendition program established by the United States after the September 11, 2001 attacks. It is believed that a secret CIA detention facility operated on the Polish territory, where terrorist suspects were transferred, detained and interrogated with the use of torture. Currently, Poland has found itself in a unique situation, since, unlike in other countries, criminal investigation into renditions and human right violations is still pending. Serious doubts have arisen, however, as to the diligence of the proceedings. The case was incomprehensibly prolonged by shifting the investigation to different prosecutors. Its proper conduct was hindered due to state secrecy and national security provisions, which have covered the entire investigation from the beginning. This article argues that Polish judicial authorities, along with the government, should undertake all actions aiming at explaining the truth about extraordinary rendition and seeking accountability for human rights infringement. Otherwise, Poland may face legal responsibility for violating the European Convention on Human Rights. This scenario becomes very probable, since one of the Guantanamo prisoners has already lodged a complaint against Poland with the European Court of Human Rights.
More and more Member States of the Council of Europe are becoming interested in drone technology. Currently, a number of them either possess or wish to obtain unmanned aerial vehicles equipped with missiles. Due to the increased number of targeted killing operations committed with the use of drones by countries such as the United States or Israel, there is a probability that Member States might also use them for such operations, especially if their forces will be subject to joint command. Although the issue of targeted killings with the use of drones has not yet been subject to the scrutiny of the European Court of Human Rights, there are two main reasons why this may change in the near future. First, the Court has already ruled on the extraterritorial applicability of the European Convention on Human Rights, and second, the Convention places strict limits on any attempts to carry out targeted killings and leaves only a limited space for their use, even in the context of warfare. In this article we assess whether the Member States of the Council of Europe might be ever justified under the European Convention on Human Rights to carry out targeted killing operations using drones.
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