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Dick MartyMember of the Council of States
Date of Birth: 07.09.1945
Country:  Switzerland |
Content:
- Member of the Council of States
- Professional Career
- Public Prosecutor
- NGO Leadership
- Independent Commission for Cycling Reform
- Political Career
- Council of States
- Council of Europe
- CIA Black Sites in Europe
- Assassination Plot
- Death
Member of the Council of States
Dick Marty was a Swiss politician who served as a member of the Council of States from 1995 to 2011. He was also a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
Professional Career
Max Planck InstituteFrom 1972 to 1975, Marty worked at the Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Criminal Law in Freiburg, Germany, where he was the head of Swiss law.
Public Prosecutor
In 1975, Marty was appointed Public Prosecutor of Ticino, where he gained recognition for his efforts in combating organized crime and drug trafficking. For his work on drug legislation, he received the Distinguished Service Award from the U.S. Department of Justice in 1987 and a special recognition award from the International Narcotics Officers Association.
NGO Leadership
Marty served as President of Switzerland Tourism from 1996 to 2007. He also held the position of President of the Swiss Scout Foundation until 2010.
Independent Commission for Cycling Reform
In 2014, Marty was appointed by the Union Cycliste Internationale to head the Independent Commission for Cycling Reform, which was tasked with investigating doping in the sport during the 1990s and 2000s.
Political Career
Government of TicinoIn 1989, Marty was elected to the executive branch of the Canton of Ticino, where he served as Director of the Finance Department and, in 1992, assumed the additional role of President, a position that rotates among members.
Council of States
In the Council of States, Marty served on key committees, including the Finance Committee and the Economic and Tax Committee.
Council of Europe
In 1998, Marty was appointed as a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, where he became a member of its Monitoring Committee. He later held the position of 2nd Vice-Chairman of the Political Affairs Committee, as well as other roles in subcommittees.
CIA Black Sites in Europe
In 2005, Marty was appointed by the Council of Europe to lead an investigation into alleged secret CIA "black sites" in Europe. Marty used satellite imagery and flight logs, among many other sources of information, to determine whether "renditions" of suspected terrorists had taken place for potential torture or secret detention in any of the 47 member states of the Council of Europe. Such activities would have violated European human rights standards. In June 2006, Marty released his report on behalf of the Parliamentary Assembly, concluding that evidence pointed to fourteen European states having facilitated such abuses.
A year later, on June 8, 2007, Marty published a second report titled "Secret detentions and illegal transfers of detainees involving Council of Europe member states: Second report." This went even further, finding evidence that torture had been practiced in secret CIA prisons located in Poland and Romania, sparking furious denials from both countries at the time and triggering a global media storm. However, in an unfolding process of slow accumulation of evidence, gradual release of information, and growing admissions by participating governments and officials - a process Marty characterized as the "dynamics of truth" - this claim was subsequently corroborated by court rulings, parliamentary inquiries, and media accounts, including a series of landmark judgments by the European Court of Human Rights and the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee's report on CIA torture.
Assassination Plot
In April 2022, Swiss news agency Swiss Info reported that Marty was targeted by the Serbian intelligence agency, which allegedly planned to assassinate him and blame it on Albanians in an attempt to discredit Kosovo on the international stage. Swiss Info wrote that Marty was protected by Swiss police for four months in 2020. The Serbian intelligence agency denied the assassination plot allegations. Marty stated that the threats came from Serbian secret services, who wanted to kill him and blame it on Kosovo Albanians.
