Lithuania: ECHR grants damages to Saudi held at secret CIA prison

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has awarded EUR 100,000 in compensation to Saudi Arabian national Mustafa Al-Hawsawi for his unlawful detention at a secret CIA prison in Lithuania in 2005-2006, BNS reports. The court found that Lithuania was responsible for violating Al-Hawsawi’s rights. Lithuania will comply with the ECHR ruling and pay the damages awarded, the Justice Ministry assured. Al-Hawsawi was initially detained in Pakistan in 2003. Human rights groups believe that the CIA prison in Lithuania was located at the State Security Department’s (VSD) training centre in Antaviliai near Vilnius. From there, Al-Hawsawi was transferred to another secret CIA detention facility in Afghanistan. Currently, Al-Hawsawi is being held at the US detention camp in Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. US authorities assert that he may have been involved in the 9/11 terrorist attacks.