On 11 January 2022, together with the representatives of Mr al Nashiri, we wrote an open letter to Mr. Constantinos Efstathiou, Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Rapporteur on the Implementation of Judgments of the ECtHR, in relation to the lack of effective implementation of the historic judgments in Mr Abu Zubaydah and Mr al Nashiri’s cases against Poland, Lithuania (Zubaydah) and Romania (al Nashiri).
While recognising progress (e.g. in late December 2021 Lithuania paid Abu Zubaydah the compensation ordered by the Court in 2018), it highlights the stark failure of all states to make full reparation. It underscores the outstanding lack of any recognition of wrongdoing or apology, ineffective investigation and truth-telling, the dearth of accountability and measures to ensure non-repetition, and the need for more effective collective representations to the US to end the ‘flagrant denial of justice’ at Guantanamo. On the contrary, the partial closure of the investigation in Poland in 2021 was part of a sad indication of the opposite trajectory, consolidating impunity. The letter calls for renewed efforts by the Committee of Ministers to press for meaningful reckoning with the past and learning lessons for the future, and rigorous engagement and oversight by PACE.