The Polish Government today released official flight records documenting a pattern of collaboration with the CIA relating to the operation of a CIA black site close to Szymany Airport, in the nation’s northeast.
The logs reveal attempts by the CIA and its Polish partners to cover up the true destination of rendition flights: several flights that landed in Szymany had declared Warsaw as their official destination, including in filings with pan-European aviation authorities.
“The Obama Administration has continued to cover up the rendition program, thwarting attempts to hold the U.S. and its allies accountable,” said James A. Goldston, executive director of the Justice Initiative. “We are finding out the truth in Poland, and it is time for the U.S. to come clean.” The groups obtained the logs by requesting access to landing data for three specific aircraft known to belong to the fleet of “ghost planes” used by the CIA’s rendition program. In response, they received actual flight logs for two of those aircraft: a Boeing 737, registered in the U.S. as N313P, and a Gulfstream V, with U.S. registration N379P. The two aircraft landed in Szymany a total of six times between February and September 2003. Five of the flights originated in Kabul, Afghanistan. One arrived from Rabat, Morocco.
A Polish criminal investigation into torture and other possible crimes committed at the black site remains pending. Kyle Dustin “Dusty” Foggo, the former number three at the CIA, has been described as the architect of the black site system and linked to the construction of the facility at Szymany. He pleaded guilty to federal corruption charges, and received a sentence of 37 months in prison on February 25, 2009.
