Dick Marty

[citation needed] In 1975, Marty was nominated state prosecutor of Ticino, in which post he was specially noted for his energetic activities fighting organized crime and drug abuse.

[1] In 2014, Marty was appointed head of the Cycling Independent Reform Commission by the Union Cycliste Internationale, with a remit to investigate doping in the sport during the 1990s and 2000s.

[5] Marty used satellite images and aviation logs, among many other sources of information, to find out whether the "rendition" of terror suspects for possible torture, or for secret detention, had taken place in any of the Council of Europe's 47 member states.

In June 2006 Marty released his report on behalf of the Parliamentary Assembly, concluding that evidence showed that fourteen European states had assisted in the perpetration of such abuses.

[8] This went further, revealing evidence that torture had taken place at secret CIA prisons located in Poland and Romania, prompting furious denials from both countries at the time, and provoking a global media storm.

The second investigation by Dick Marty in 2011 for the Council of Europe supported another finding by Swiss prosecutor Carla Del Ponte, adding that Thaçi had been involved in illegal organ trafficking.

[22] His stance proved controversial and the report was criticised by a number of organisations, such as the World Federation of Catholic Medical Associations[23] and the Scottish Council on Human Bioethics.

[24] John Keown, a professor of Christian ethics at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, described it as "Mr Marty's muddle" and criticized him for "superficiality" and "selectivity.

"[25] The Committee subsequently adopted an amended Opinion prepared by the British member Kevin McNamara, a conservative Catholic, who criticised several of Marty's findings and conclusions and sought to replace the call for governments to consider legislation to legalise assisted dying with a resolution to "report back to the Parliamentary Assembly for further consideration".

[28] As of 2015, Marty served as co-president for the ballot measure to amend the Swiss constitution so that global companies headquartered in Switzerland are adhering to human rights and environmental standards.