Amnesty International criticises Lithuania

Amnesty international, an international organisation working to protect human rights in its 2012 annual report, accused Lithuania of having a passive attitude towards the secret CIA prisons on their territory. According to Amnesty International, the worst fact is that although there is a constant inflow of information about this, the Lithuanian Government still does not have the political will power to undertake a thorough investigation. It is important to point out that there is evidence of a flight from Morocco to Lithuania which took place in 2005 and included and aircraft aboard which Abu Zubaydah who is accused of terrorism may have been (he was arrested in 2002 in Pakistan). The general prosecution office of the Republic of Lithuania stated that the information that they have at disposal is insufficient to trigger an investigation. This was one of the main accusations made towards Lithuania by Amnesty International, at the European Parliament and Lithuania’s explanations have been deemed as not quite convincing. Abu Zubaydah who is accused of terrorism sued Lithuania at the European Tribunal of Human Rights, after Amnesty International presented evidence proving the existence of secret CIA prisons in Lithuania. In Poland, Abu Zubaydah has been considered aggrieved but the trial is still underway. Amnesty International also criticised Lithuania’s discriminating attitude towards sexual minorities. In their annual report, they claim that the poor situation in which this sensitive group finds itself has clearly worsened since year.

Additionally, Amnesty International criticised Lithuania for the fact that the latter earlier on this year informed the Council of Europe that it is not willing to ratify Protocol No. 12 of Convention on defending human rights and basic freedom, which would introduce a general prohibition of discrimination in any of its forms.

Translated by Kamil Szwarc within the framework of a traineeship programme of the European Foundation of Human Rights, www.efhr.eu