Several international claims were filed on behalf of Abu Zubaydah before the European Court of Human Rights, alleging that states had been complicit in his secret detention and torture. On 14 July 2011 and 28 January 2013, Abu Zubaydah and his legal team filed cases against Poland and Lithuania, respectively. The judgment against Poland was handed down on 24 July 2014. The ECtHR found Poland violated the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) by allowing CIA black sites to operate on their territory and failing to protect, investigate and ensure accountability. The judgment found Poland responsible for violations of Abu Zubaydah’s rights to freedom from torture, liberty, fair trial and private life.
Evidence established ‘beyond reasonable doubt’ Polish responsibility for the torture and illegal detention of Abu Zubaydah, for failing to meaningfully investigate and for its persistent, but ultimately unsuccessful, attempt to cover up the truth. Poland paid compensation in 2022, but it has yet to fully implement the judgment, which requires reckoning with the past, reparation and every effort to bring his unlawful detention to an end.