U.S. State Department releases report on human rights in Poland

As every year, the U.S. Department of State released Country Reports on Human Rights Practices.

In the executive summary of the 45-page section devoted to Poland, the authors of the report mentioned the record voter turnout in last year's parliamentary election, which had surpassed "even the turnout numbers for the first election in the post-Communist period". "Human rights issues, including women’s rights, reproductive rights, and the rule of law were among top issues for voters, according to exit polls."

According to the authors, there were also credible reports of "serious problems with the independence of the judiciary; substantial barriers to accessing sexual and reproductive health services; and crimes motivated by antisemitism."

"The government took credible steps to identify and punish officials who may have committed human rights abuses," we read.

Although Polish constitution and law prohibit torture and other cruel practices, "there were isolated reports government officials employed them".

"According to the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, there was a concern over cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment of persons taken into police custody. The foundation stated police might have lacked sufficient knowledge of proper techniques to use against persons under the influence of drugs or other intoxicants, which might have led to excessive use of force against detainees," the report said.

"Impunity for such acts was not a significant problem in the security forces."

The authors also stressed that a "case alleging the government accessed, collected, or used private communications arbitrarily and employed technology including spyware, specifically Pegasus spyware, continued".

According to the report, Poland's previous government, led by the United Right coalition, "continued to implement judiciary-related measures that drew strong criticism from the European Commission, most legal experts, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and international organizations".

"Those groups also expressed concern the government’s ability to transfer judges without their consent could have been used to punish or deter certain rulings and erode judicial independence.

"According to a Eurobarometer survey published in June, during the year only 23 percent of respondents perceived the judiciary to be independent," we read.

Furthermore, although the judiciary generally enforced the right to a fair and public trial, "civil society observers noted concern that delays in court proceedings infringed on the right to a timely trial".

The report said that the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), which sent an election observation mission to Poland, had stated "the campaign was characterized by the wide use of intolerant, xenophobic, and misogynistic rhetoric".

Furthermore, according to the Women’s Rights Center, Polish police "were occasionally reluctant to intervene in domestic violence incidents, sometimes arguing there was no need for police intervention". Sexual harassment, we read, "continued to be a serious and underreported problem, and the government did not enforce the law effectively".

According to NGOs, the report said, "individual patients faced differentiated challenges in accessing contraception".

"The Federation for Women and Family Planning noted the government excluded almost all prescription contraceptives from its list of subsidized medicines, making them less affordable, especially for poor women in rural areas.

"The law also provided for doctors to refrain from performing health services inconsistent with their conscience."

The report said that Polish government failed to enforce anti-discrimination laws effectively. "Romani leaders alleged discrimination against Romani persons in employment, housing, banking, the justice system, media, and education," it said.

"During the year, there were isolated incidents targeting the Ukrainian minority in the country," we read.

There were also anti-Semitic incidents "involving desecration of significant property, including Jewish cemeteries, and sometimes involving antisemitic comments on television and social media". The previous government, the authors add, failed to condemn the incident in which Grzegorz Braun, a conservative-libertarian MP, used a fire extinguisher to put out Hanukkah candles the parliament.

The document also mentions reports of "isolated cases of physical and verbal attacks against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or intersex (LGBTQI+) persons by nonstate actors". Moreover, "civil society members reported concerns regarding their physical safety".

"According to the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, the government’s use of public insult laws and some politician’s comments created a chilling effect on civil society and media members’ expression in some cases," we read in the document.

The report mentions the case of a TOK FM journalist who was found guilty of defaming a Polish Border Guard officer.

"The case referred to a 2021 tweet in which the journalist compared the Border Guard with the Nazi German Schutzstaffel. The journalist was ordered to pay a fine of 3,000 zlotys (PLN) ($755) in addition to court costs." The journalist appealed against the verdict.

Furthermore, the document said that critics "alleged persistent progovernment bias in state-owned television news broadcasts and other public media".

The National Broadcasting Council (KRRiT), Poland's constitutionally mandated media regulator, "imposed fines or initiated proceedings against private media outlets in relation to the content of their broadcast".

Here, the authors of the report mentioned the case of a 550,000 zloty fine imposed on TVN24 for its broadcast of a documentary alleging that "Karol Wojtyla had covered up instances of pedophilia prior to becoming Pope John Paul II". The KRRiT claims the documentary violated the broadcasting law.