The U.S. State Department has published an annual report on human rights in Poland, in which the authors touch upon issues such as the media and freedom of speech. The document focuses on 2022 and praises Poland for the support it has been providing to refugees from Ukraine. It also mentions, however, a number "significant issues" related to human rights.
The report begins with a brief description of the Polish political system and jurisdiction of given institutions and services.
The authors mention the wide-scale influx of refugees from Ukraine to Poland and analysed Polish government's reaction to this issue. "In response to the extraordinary inflow of refugees from Ukraine, on March 12, President Andrzej Duda signed a law on assistance to Ukrainian citizens in connection with armed conflict, a significant step to ensure their rights and access to services were protected in Poland. The new regulations entered into force the same day and were retroactively applied from February 24," the report states.
Furthemore, the authors stress that "the law guaranteed the legality of stay for Ukrainian citizens for up to 18 months, as well as spouses without Ukrainian citizenship, who had entered Poland from Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian invasion". "Children born in Poland to Ukrainian women who fled the war were also granted legal status."
"Poland has been the largest refugee host since the Ukraine crisis began in February; in the first few months of the war more than four million persons crossed into Poland from Ukraine. As of the end of December there were over eight million border crossings from Ukraine into Poland. More than 1.5 million refugees from Ukraine registered with the government in Poland for temporary protection and access to government-provided services," we read.
"UNHCR commended the Polish government’s response and quick, decisive actions to protect refugees from Ukraine," the report stresses.
The authors also listed a number of "significant issues" with human rights in Poland: "problems with the independence of the judiciary; restrictions on freedom of expression including criminal defamation and offending religious sentiment laws; reports of mistreatment of irregular migrants from third countries; substantial barriers to accessing sexual and reproductive health services; crimes involving violence or threats of violence targeting members of ethnic minorities, and crimes motivated by antisemitism".
Takeover of regional papers by Orlen and broadcast licence extension for TVN24
Chapter titled "Freedom of Expression, Including for Members of the Press and Other Media" begins with the following statement: 'The constitution and law provide for freedom of expression, including for members of the press and other media, and the government generally respected this right". The authors of the report mention the takeover of regional newspapers, owned by Polska Press, by state-controlled giant PKN Orlen. Although the deal itself was had been concluded back in March 2021, the authors of the report noted that on June 7, 2022, "the Warsaw District Court for Competition and Consumer Protection rejected a human rights ombudsperson’s complaint" on the takeover decision.
The report also describes the over 19-month-long procedure of granting broadcast license extension to TVN24. "On April 27, the Warsaw Provincial Administrative Court ruled in favor of TVN Discovery Group, determining there was an inaction of the National Broadcasting Page 9 Council (NBC) that had the character of gross violation of the law," we read.
Restriction of journalistic work
The report lists restrictions imposed on journalists with regards to the migrant crisis at the border with Belarus. It it also noted that on July 1 the authorities lifted the temporary stay ban in the border provinces of Lubelskie and Podlaskie. "There were reports that journalists were subjected to violence, harassment, or intimidation by authorities due to their reporting," we read.
The experts mentioned the case of photoreporters detained in the village of Wiejki, but also other incidents, including the detainment of the French-German Arte TV crew who had entered the prohibited zone by accident.
The authors also mention the slander charges filed against activist Marta Lempart for calling Border Guard officers "murderers in uniforms", trial of writer Jakub Żulczyk for insulting President Andrzej Duda, or cases of website blocking.
Źródło: TVN24 News in English, PAP