Lithuanian intelligence watchdog declines investigation into alleged CIA prison, seeks inter-agency dialogue

Lithuania’s State Security Department (VSD) oversight body has announced it does not plan to launch an investigation into the alleged CIA prison that may have operated in the country two decades ago, but will instead initiate inter-agency dialogue, LRT reports.

Justas Gaidys, senior advisor to the Intelligence Watchdog Institution, stated that no new significant factual circumstances have emerged to justify a fresh probe. However, he noted that if new and relevant information comes to light, the watchdog would not rule out opening an investigation within its competence to avoid duplicating existing or ongoing inquiries and to ensure a comprehensive assessment.

Gaidys explained that the decision not to pursue an investigation was based on the fact that the Seimas’ National Security and Defence Committee had already conducted a parliamentary inquiry into the prison in the previous decade. Additionally, the Prosecutor General’s Office is continuing a renewed pre-trial investigation, and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has issued three rulings concerning the detention of individuals in alleged CIA facilities in Lithuania.

“The intelligence watchdog is familiar with the ECtHR’s jurisprudence. Recognising that this issue remains significant to the public, the watchdog plans to initiate inter-agency dialogue with relevant Lithuanian institutions,” Gaidys said. He added that the dialogue would aim to evaluate possibilities for obtaining new data, the need for additional actions within the watchdog’s mandate, and to form a comprehensive understanding of the situation.

Meanwhile, Aurelijus Veryga, leader of the Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union (LVŽS), sees no need for another investigation into the alleged CIA prison. “This looks more like a process for the sake of process. If someone lacks imagination for what to do, I can suggest there are many real tasks that need to be addressed,” Veryga told Žinių Radio.

He questioned the purpose of such an investigation, suggesting it might be an attempt to implicate former politicians or the former president. Veryga also expressed doubt that the public would support another probe, estimating that “98 percent would say, ‘Don’t waste your time, get back to real work.’”

Discussions about the alleged CIA prison in Lithuania resurfaced after the country lost a third case at the ECtHR in July. The Strasbourg court ruled in favour of Saudi Arabian citizen Abd al-Rahim Hussain al-Nashiri, awarding him €30,000 in compensation for unlawful detention in a secret US prison in Lithuania and obliging Lithuanian authorities to seek assurances from Washington that the terrorism suspect would not face the death penalty.

The first reports of a possible CIA detention centre in Lithuania emerged in 2009, when US broadcaster ABC News claimed that eight terrorism suspects had been held near Vilnius between 2004 and 2005.