THE ANSWERS TO THE QUESTIONS OF RAPPORTEURS POLAND Ad 1. The Act of 6 January 2005 on national and ethnic minorities and regional language (Journal

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1 THE ANSWERS TO THE QUESTIONS OF RAPPORTEURS POLAND Ad 1. The Act of 6 January 2005 on national and ethnic minorities and regional language (Journal of Laws No. 17, item 141, with subsequent amendments) defined and listed national and ethnic minorities and regional languages and specified the rights to which they are entitled. In accordance with the Act, Polish public authorities are obliged to take appropriate measures to protect, maintain and develop cultural identity of minorities and to preserve and cultivate regional language. In particular, such measures may include grants. The provisions of the Act open up additional possibilities of awarding grants for tasks aimed at maintaining cultural identity of national and ethnic minorities and preserving their regional language, including targeted grants and investment grants for tasks carried out by minority organizations or cultural institutions that are of significant importance for the culture of minorities which is a novelty in comparison with the previously existing provisions. There have been other important changes as compared to the situation prior to the adoption of the Act: funds allocated for co-financing the above-mentioned tasks have almost doubled and the competencies of government bodies responsible for minority issues have been revised. In 2005, grants appropriated from the budget of the Minister of Interior and Administration alone amounted to 5.9 million PLN, in million PLN, in million PLN, in million PLN and in million PLN. It should be emphasized that new provisions introduced by the Act relate primarily to language rights the right to use an auxiliary language and additional names of places, physiographic objects and streets. As of June 2009, an auxiliary language is used in 28 municipalities (gminas) entered in the Official Register of Municipalities (22 municipalities in the Opolskie Voivodeship use German as an auxiliary language, 2 municipalities in the Pomorskie (Pomeranian) Voivodeship use Kashubian as an auxiliary language, in 4 municipalities in the Podlaskie Voivodeship, Lithuanian or Belarusian are used as auxiliary languages), whereas the Register of municipalities in whose territories place-names in a minority language are used comprises 21 municipalities, including 15 municipalities from the Opolskie Voivodeship (with additional names in German), 2 municipalities from the Pomorskie (Pomeranian) Voivodeship (with additional names in Kashubian), 2 municipalities from the Śląskie (Silesian) Voivodeship (with additional names in German), 1 municipality from the Podlaskie Voivodeship (with additional names in Lithuanian) and 1 municipality from the Małopolskie Voivodeship (with additional names in the Lemko language). 1

2 It should also be mentioned that the provisions of the Act have made it possible for representatives of minorities to have a greater influence on issues that concern them. In 2005, a Joint Commission of Government and National and Ethnic Minorities was set up and in 2008 one of its standing working teams was created - Team for Roma Affairs. The Joint Commission comprises representative of all minorities and community that use regional language, as well as representatives of the government administration (minister competent for denominations and national and ethnic minorities, minister competent for public administration, minister competent for cultural issues and protection of national heritage, minister competent for education and upbringing, minister competent for matters of public finance, minister competent for labour issues, Minister of Justice, minister competent for internal affairs, minister competent for social security issues, minister competent for foreign affairs, President of the Central Statistical Office, the Council for Preserving the Memory of Polish Warfare and Martyrdom and the Head of the Chancellery of the Prime Minister). The co-presidents of the Joint Commission, invested with equal rights, include: a representative of the minister competent for denominations and national and ethnic minorities and a representative of minorities and the community using regional language. The Team for Roma Affairs comprises, apart from representatives of the government administration, 22 persons representing organizations of the Roma minority (2 representatives of this minority in the Joint Commission and 20 persons nominated by them). Up to now, 17 meetings of the Joint Commission and 7 meetings of the Team for Roma Affairs have been held. The Joint Commission provides a ground for the exchange of information on issues relating to the problems of national and ethnic minorities. During these meetings, proposals are put forward for action aimed at improving the situation of national and ethnic minorities in Poland and the Commission expresses its opinion on a number of legal acts. Each year, members of the Commission give their opinion on the amount of budgetary funds allocated for the implementation of tasks intended to maintain cultural identity of national and ethnic minorities and to aid the development of regional language and on the principles of the distribution of grants awarded by the Minister of Interior and Administration. Under this Act, activities aimed to maintain and aid the development of cultural identity of national and ethnic minorities and to preserve and support the development of regional language can now be financed with funds from different sources. It thus enables the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage to continue, within its areas of responsibility, the completion of tasks associated with the culture of national and ethnic minorities in accordance with the 2

3 assumptions of the National Strategy for the Development of Culture , which the Ministry had adopted earlier. As an action plan of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage for the years , the National Strategy for the Development of Culture contains references to communities of national and ethnic minorities and to community using regional language, emphasizing that all measures envisaged in it should be available to national minorities and institutions run by these communities in order to cultivate cultural diversity and their traditions as the Polish cultural heritage. An integral part of the Strategy are national culture programmes, which provide the main ground for cooperation with organizations involved in the dissemination, promotion and preservation of the culture of national and ethnic minorities in Poland, and in the preservation and development of regional language. Organizations of national and ethnic minorities are authorized to participate in the programmes of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage on an equal footing with other stakeholders referred to in the Programme Rules. The activities of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage taken for the benefit of minorities include, but are not limited to: support for the creation of the website The world of Yiddish culture and language history and modern times ( organization of pupil competitions about the history and culture of Polish Jews, organization of the Festival of Jewish Culture Singer s Warsaw, support for the activities of the Kashubian-Pomeranian Association, the Kashubian Institute in Gdańsk, the Museum of Kashubian and Pomeranian Literature and Music in Wejherowo and the Kashubian Folk Group "KRËBANE", co-financing the organization of the European Meetings of National and Ethnic Minorities Świat pod Kyczerą ( World under Kyczera ) or co-financing the organization of the annual Review of Artistic Heritage of National and Ethnic Minorities Wspólnota w Kulturze ( Community of Culture ) in Warsaw. Between 2006 and 2009, the Commissioner for Civil Rights Protection (Ombudsman) examined 70 cases of alleged discrimination on the grounds of race, nationality or ethnic origin. In recent years, the number of such cases has been at around the same, rather low, level, possibly indicating that the regulations contained in the above-mentioned Act have a positive effect on the observance of the rights of national and ethnic minorities. Ad 2. The activities of the Monitoring Team on Racism and Xenophobia concentrate primarily on the collection of data and information on events that might have been caused by discrimination on the grounds of ethnic origin or race. The Team also monitors how these cases are examined by public authorities (by the Police, Prosecutor s Office, courts, etc.) and 3

4 cooperates with non-governmental and international organizations, the Police and the Prosecutor s Office. Within the framework of its tasks, the Team cooperates in this respect with the Chief Commander of the Police Plenipotentiary for Human Rights Protection and the Chief Commander of Border Guard. The Team has monitored the circulation of educational materials fostering anti-racist attitudes among these services. Recently, the Team has been paying particular attention to the development of a proper training programme aimed at combating hate crimes. This programme is being created within the framework of Law Enforcement Officers Programme on Combating Hate Crimes, prepared by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODiHR). In addition, the Team was involved in the organization or co-organization of several seminars on the implementation of the principle of equal treatment of human beings regardless of their ethnic origin and race, during which the problems of hate crimes were discussed, too. These seminars were also attended by representatives of the Police (including Plenipotentiaries of Voivodeship Police Commanders for Human Rights Protection), the National Prosecutor s Office, Border Guard, non-governmental organizations, including organizations of national and ethnic minorities, Voivodes Plenipotentiaries for National and Ethnic Minorities and representatives of the Office of the Ombudsman. The above-mentioned Plenipotentiaries for the protection of human rights have worked in the Police since Initially, they worked as unpermanent staff and since 2008 they have been employed on a regular basis (full-time jobs were created by decision of the Chief Commander of the Police). Their basic tasks include: dissemination of knowledge and propagation of issues associated with the protection of human rights among policemen, monitoring all discriminatory events and initiating and coordinating anti-discrimination initiatives of the Police. An important part of the activities of Plenipotentiaries is the provision of in-house training designed to improve professional knowledge of policemen. The National Prosecutor s Office is tasked with regular monitoring of cases of racially motivated crimes. Exercising its official supervisory functions, the Preliminary Proceedings Office of the National Prosecutor s Office orders analyses and controls of the decision taken in the course of preliminary proceedings concluded with a refusal to initiate proceedings or a decision to discontinue them. In a number of cases, such inspections of files helped to eliminate incorrect decisions of prosecutors, who had decided to refuse to initiate proceedings or to discontinue them. Such inspections have also had an awareness-raising effect on prosecutors - they have made them more sensitive to this category of crimes, which has resulted in a more effective prosecution. Pre-trial proceeding can result not only with filing a bill of indictment but also with initiating other, non-criminal, proceedings. For example, a 4

5 non-criminal procedure aiming at the proscription of the organization (ordinary association) known as The National Radical Camp, with headquarters in Brzeg, has been initiated. The organization is considered to have persistently violated the law by propagating fascism. In the Office one of its prosecutors has been designated to assist others in hate crimes proceedings. At her initiative steps have been taken to appoint at Appellate Prosecutor s Offices consultants knowledgeable in racially motivated crimes. The prosecutor designated in the Office cooperates with employees of the earlier mentioned Monitoring Team on Racism and Xenophobia at the Ministry of Interior and Administration. When the Team obtains information on cases of hate crimes from any institution or organization, such information is forwarded to the Preliminary Proceeding Office, which examines the reported cases or has them examined by the Appellate Prosecutor s Offices. On its website, the National Prosecutor s Office publishes the results of proceedings related to this category of crimes. The information on the number of such crimes and the outcomes of prosecutors work is thus made available to the public. To increase the effectiveness of government institutions responsible for the protection against discrimination, the Council of Ministers passed a regulation of 22 April 2008 on appointing the Government Plenipotentiary for Equal Treatment at the Chancellery of the Prime Minister, in the rank of a Secretary of State. The Plenipotentiary is responsible for the implementation of the government s policy in the area of equal treatment, i.e., inter alia, counteracting discrimination, especially discrimination based on sex, race, ethnic origin, nationality, religion or belief, political views, age, sexual orientation, civil and family status. The tasks of the Plenipotentiary include: - issuing opinions of legal solutions the existing ones and those being drafted; - analysing and monitoring the situation with respect to equal treatment; - initiating and coordinating activities intended to ensure equal treatment and protection against discrimination; - promoting and raising awareness of issues of equal treatment. The Plenipotentiary fulfils her tasks in cooperation with government bodies (obligated to render help, information and documents), as well as local and regional governments and nongovernmental organizations. The Plenipotentiary coordinates the National Programme for Counteracting Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance and chairs the Programme Monitoring Team, established under an order of the Prime Minister (see answer to question 3). 5

6 In order to coordinate and accelerate government activities in the area of education, the Plenipotentiary established an inter-ministerial team whose task is to prepare recommendations for further development of measures aimed at increasing efficiency of education of children differing racially, nationally or culturally from the majority of students. A round table debate on the topic is planned for Autumn A similar debate on discrimination in sports is under preparation. The monitoring of press and the Internet by the Plenipotentiary staff originates interventions in cases of possible discrimination on the grounds of race, ethnic origin or nationality. The Plenipotentiary also takes cases referred to him by other institutions, NGOs and individual persons. The structure of the Office of the Ombudsman comprises a newly created team that deals specifically with the issues of protection of the rights of foreigners and national and ethnic minorities. In cases in which charges were mainly concerning national or ethnic issues, the Ombudsman contacted: the Commander of the Warsaw Metropolitan Police, Minister of Justice - General Prosecutor, Minister of Sport (on two occasions), Human Rights Commissioner of the Council of Europe, President of the Polish Motor Union, President of the Committee on Petitions of the European Parliament (on two occasions). In cases that were mostly concerned with allegations of racism, the Ombudsman contacted: the President of the Polish Football Association (on three occasions), the Polish Motor Union and the Minister of Sport. Ad 3. Since the National Programme for Counteracting Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance has been in force a number of institutional changes which have had an effect on the implementation of the Programme have taken place. Initially, the Programme was coordinated by the Government Plenipotentiary for Equal Status of Women and Men. In 2005 this post was suspended and for about three years no other institution was designated to take over the task of coordinating the Programme. Such a situation made it difficult to consolidate measures undertaken within the Programme, to assess them on a current basis or to propose their modifications in response to changing realities. The visibility and political effectiveness of the Programme have also diminished. In July 2008, by decision of the Council of Ministers, the task of coordinating the Programme was assigned to the Government Plenipotentiary for Equal Treatment To ensure proper implementation and assessment of the National Programme for Counteracting Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, also the 6

7 Programme Monitoring Team was set up in February It is a consultative-advisory body of the Prime Minister. The first meeting of the Team was held in March 2009, another one took place in May The tasks of the Team include carrying out an analysis of the Programme, presenting proposals for its amendment and preparing assumptions for actions that are to be taken by the Government to continue the Programme. The Team comprises representatives of departments and institutions involved in the implementation of the Programme, as well as representatives of chosen non-governmental organizations (Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, Never Again Association, Association Against Anti-Semitism and Xenophobia Open Republic, the Foundation - Polish Migration Forum, Pro Humanum Association). The Monitoring Team is presided over by the Government Plenipotentiary for Equal Treatment. A full report on the implementation of the Programme in is currently being prepared on the basis of materials submitted by institutions carrying out specific tasks. At present, the Monitoring Team is analysing the effectiveness of measures taken within its framework. On this basis, future activities are to be planned. As follows from the analysis of materials sent by institutions implementing the National Programme for Counteracting Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, during the five years of its implementation ( ), a number of effective measures have been taken to eradicate racism and xenophobia from social life, including: - a curriculum framework for general education, which provides a basis for teaching in Polish schools, has been drawn up taking into account the development of tolerant attitudes among pupils; the aim of education is to strengthen the sense of affiliation with the community of Poland s citizens, to promote respect for the state, to foster tolerance and eradicate xenophobic attitudes; teaching curricula and textbooks authorized for school use are assessed in terms of their relevance for developing tolerant attitudes and promoting respect for the rights of national and ethnic minorities; - The National In-Service Teacher Training Centre, with the Minister of National Education as its governing authority, provides teacher training on issues associated with combating discrimination. It has also issued a number of publications on the above issues (such as: Intercultural education. Teacher s guidebook 2004, Anti-Discrimination. Educational Package 2005, We Are Discovering the Humanitarian Law 2005, Compass. Human Rights Education in the Work with Young People 2005, Little Compass. Human Rights Education in the Work with Children 2009). 7

8 - the problems of human rights, including discrimination issues, have been taken into account in training curricula for the Police, Border Guard, Customs Service, Prison Service and the army at all levels of education; - educational materials for the Police, Border Guard, Customs Service and Prison Service have been developed and circulated. The above mentioned materials foster anti-racist attitudes and combat xenophobia; - training on tolerance and open society has been provided for representatives of government and local administration; - trainings have been organized for judges and prosecutors. They involved carrying out analyses of court rulings in cases concerning crimes committed on racial, national or ethnic grounds; - prosecutor s offices have exercised regular official supervision over cases involving racial crimes; statistical data on these cases covering the period from 2007 onwards, are available on the Internet, with earlier data being made available on request; - two analyses have been carried out to monitor racial, xenophobic and anti-semitic contents in the Polish press; - a network of citizens advice bureaus, commissioned by the government, has been set up to advise citizens on issues related to discrimination on the grounds of ethnic origin or nationality. It should also be noted that a number of measures that are of key importance for areas covered by the National Programme for Counteracting Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance are carried out within the framework of other programmes (in line with the National Programme assumptions). The most essential ones include the Programme for the Roma Community in Poland and the National Programme for Combating and Preventing Trafficking in Human Beings. Not all the tasks envisaged in the National Programme have been successfully implemented. The system for the collection and analysis of social and demographic data with a view to monitoring the phenomena of racism, racial discrimination and xenophobia has not been developed due to obstacles of regulatory and organizational nature, which had already been identified during the research stage of the project. The process of full implementation of equality directives of the European Union, including the Directive 2000/43/EC, has not been completed either and the organ responsible for implementing the policy on equal treatment and combating discrimination has not been set up as required by this Directive. In the opinion of the communities concerned and representatives of government institutions, the 8

9 implementation by public media of their tasks to promote human rights, tolerance and combating prejudices, by inter alia offering a voice to representatives of national and ethnic minorities, has been insufficient. The failure to monitor and coordinate the National Programme for Counteracting Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance in the first years of its implementation and the delays in carrying out its tasks have made the Programme less effective and visible. Nonetheless, the Programme has played an essential role in improving understanding and raising public awareness, especially among public officials, of harmful effects of the phenomena of discrimination, racism and xenophobia. The Programme tasks undertaken in this respect, not carried out before, are now a constant component of the system. The issues of protection of human rights and combating discrimination have been permanently incorporated in the training for public officials. The aim of the Programme is to combat xenophobia and racism, including anti-semitism, and to ensure the development of a broad culture of tolerance in the Polish society. Xenophobia and racism are still present in social life their incidence has not decreased. The fight with them belongs to the priorities of the Polish government. The Government is determined to continue the Programme for Counteracting Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance. One of the tasks of the aforementioned Team Monitoring the National Programme for Counteracting Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance is to prepare the assumptions for the government s actions aiming at continuing the Programme. According to an initial hypothesis, the Programme shall cover the years from 2010 to After the first discussions in the Monitoring Team, it can already be assumed that the new programme will differ significantly from the one implemented between 2004 and Much more importance should be given to combating stereotypes that give rise to prejudices and discrimination through educational measures. Further work is also required, for example, to reinforce the collection of data on these phenomena and to eliminate them from the media and sport. It is also worth noticing that in the draft act on the implementation of some regulations of the European Union in the area of equal treatment it has been assumed that a new National Programme for Counteracting Discrimination will be required to ensure the coherence of the policy of counteracting discrimination. The aim of the Programme is to systematize measures associated with combating discrimination and violation of the principle of equal treatment that are taken by public administration, and to monitor and evaluate the performance of tasks undertaken in the above-mentioned areas. The adoption of the act may have an effect on the 9

10 decision on the nature of the future governmental programme for counteracting racial discrimination and xenophobia. Ad 4. With a view to ensuring greater effectiveness of combating the phenomenon of trafficking in persons, the Polish government took actions in favour of including to the Penal Code a definition of trafficking in persons patterned after the relevant provisions of the international law, primarily the Palermo Protocol and the Convention of the Council of Europe on actions counteracting trafficking in persons ratified by Poland in November The draft of such an amendment of the Penal Code was elaborated in the Ministry of Justice. Currently the draft is under interministerial consultations and will be soon presented to the Council of Ministers for acceptance. In order to increase the effectiveness of the operation of the administration of justice system, its officers take part in trainings covering the legal and practical, national and international aspects of counteracting and fighting trafficking in persons as well as in trainings concerning the protection of victims of crimes, including victims of trafficking in persons. Problems related to trafficking in persons are present both in trainings concerning human rights and in specialist courses. On March 2009 the National School of Judiciary and Public Prosecution (former National Centre for Training Employees of Common Courts and Prosecution Authorities) organised training entitled Trafficking in persons. It was attended by 55 prosecutors from all over the country. The following problems were discussed: trafficking in persons in the Polish penal law - trafficking in persons as a form of behaviour (trafficking in persons as an occasion to commit other crimes), methodical suggestions for public prosecutors conducting or supervising criminal proceedings connected with trafficking in persons, competence of Border Guard in prosecuting crimes of trafficking in persons. In their everyday activity the prosecutors take varied actions in the course of proceedings related to trafficking in persons in order to cut down its length to a minimum. It should be borne in mind, however, that such proceedings are multifarious, which influences its duration. The prosecutors actions include, inter alia, establishing direct cooperation with the prosecutors from other states. Direct contact contributes to a quicker exchange of evidence and the acceleration of the execution of MLA (mutual legal assistance) requests, which is of particular importance due to international character of such proceedings. The prosecutors apply also provisions of bilateral agreements which provide for the possibility of establishing cooperation between states. Such a procedure allows for a faster acquisition of the expected 10

11 materials as well as for conducting actions in the form of a teleconference (see art. 177 par. 1a of the Code of penal procedure), with the participation of local prosecutor s office. To an increasing extent, the prosecutors avail themselves of the assistance of Polish representatives in the Eurojust. Additionally actions aiming at the gradually exclusion of the finished aspects of the proceedings and at successively filing bills of indictment are taken. Like in previous years, the basic supervisory task over the administrative activity of courts in all categories of cases (outlined by the Minister of Justice in the Directions of supervision over the administrative activity of general courts in 2009), is the systematic and consistent control of the effectiveness of proceedings while taking into account the standards concerning the length of legal proceedings stemming from the Convention on the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. In order to implement this task, inspections in courts are carried out. Criminal proceedings lasting more than three years and the way of fulfilling by presidents of courts and chairmen of court departments their supervisory duties aiming to implement the principle of examining cases without undue delay are controlled. In particular, special investigations of the number of cases for examining during a session, the causes and legitimacy of adjourning cases, adjourning the publication of sentences, suspending proceedings and control of the suspended cases are carried out. In the case of protraction of proceedings in a given case, the proceedings are subject to administrative supervision of the Minister of Justice or the president of the relevant court in order to ensure the efficiency of the further course of the proceedings. Victims of trafficking in persons can claim damages on the grounds of to general principles of law. According to art. 46 of the Penal Code which stipulates that in case of conviction for, inter alia, causing death, serious detriment to health, disturbance to the functioning of a bodily organ or disturbance to health, the court at the motion of the victim or another entitled person rules the duty to redress damages in full or in part. Instead of the duty, the court may rule compensatory damages in order to compensate for serious detriment to health, disturbance to the functioning of a bodily organ or disturbance to health, and the harm. Apart from that, the victim (according to art. 62 of the Code of Penal Procedure) can file a civil complaint against the accused person in order to claim in penal procedure property damages stemming directly from the crime committed. In line with art. 445 of the Civil Code, the court may grant the victim a relevant sum of money in order to materially satisfy him for the harm. Pursuant to the Law of July 2005 on state compensation for victims of selected deliberate offences persons who, as a result of a deliberate offence committed to their detriment with the 11

12 use of violence, have suffered a specific impairment of the functions of a body organ or a deterioration of health, or are the closest relatives (with the meaning of the above Law) of the people who have died as a result of such an offence, are entitled to compensation. Compensation is awarded if the offence was committed within the territory of the Republic of Poland to the detriment of a person holding Polish citizenship or citizenship of another EU Member State. Compensation may be awarded in the amount covering inter alia costs of treatment resulting from an offence, irrespective of whether the perpetrators of the offence have been identified. Compensation is awarded in a situation when the costs have not been covered by resources claimed under insurance, social security or another source or entitlement. The law was amended in June The amendment resulted in widening the group of persons entitled to compensation and in its easier reception. The amendment stipulates that as a principle a competent court in this type of cases is the regional court indicated according to the victim s domicile. The amendment widened competences of court referendaries in compensation proceedings, which will speed these proceedings up. Important from the point of view of victims of trafficking in persons, especially foreigners, is the provision authorising the prosecutor to file a motion for compensation if the entitled person cannot do it in person (e.g. if he is handicapped, does not speak the Polish language or suffers from a serious detriment to health). The headquarters of the Police recommended increasing efforts to combat abusing persons as slave labour, especially connected with begging, forcing to prostitution and drawing profit from it. Special attention will be drawn to children begging on the streets, the crossroads and in public transport. Within the preventive action, the Police organize trainings and meetings with young people to warn them against credulity and make them realise what threats can accompany leaving the country in order to find a job abroad. For example, in Białystok, within the Do not trust boundlessly programme nearly 200 meetings were organised with young people. The attendants received materials containing information on places and forms of aid to the victims of the trafficking in persons. Ad 5. One of the measures undertaken by the Monitoring Team on Racism and Xenophobia at the Ministry of Interior and Administration, in order to identify and counter occurrences of hatred (anti-semitism and xenophobia) is to monitor websites and press publications containing materials of possibly racist, xenophobic or anti-semitic nature. In case of such occurrence, the information thereof is provided to appropriate authorities to undertake appropriate actions. 12

13 Similar activities are conducted by the Office of the Government Plenipotentiary for Equal Treatment. In 2007 and 2008, the Minister of Interior and Administration ordered to prepare the report Monitoring of racist, xenophobic and anti-semitic materials in Polish press. The report was prepared by employees of the Centre of Human Rights in Poznań, the Institute of Legal Studies, the Polish Academy of Sciences (under guidance of Prof. R. Wieruszewski). The two reports are available on the website of the Ministry of Interior and Administration. Actions undertaken by the Ministry of Interior and Administration are supported by the Police authorities. An opinion of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) is of a great significance to polish government. All the reported cases of racial hatred are examined and prosecuted by the Police in cooperation with the Prosecutor s Offices. This can be seen in reports concerning racial or xenophobic cases conducted by prosecutor s offices (i.e. cases registered, commenced and continued in the years or continued in these years but commenced or registered earlier). Trainings of police officers cherish an important role. Plenipotentiaries of KWP/KSP (Voivodeship Police Headquarters, Warsaw Metropolitan Police) for the Protection of Human Rights carry out trainings for police officers on counteracting racial discrimination and hatred-related offences. During their service, police officers are assigned with special tasks to perform in the field of constant recognition of nationalist, anarchist and other circles, which involve undertaking definite responses in case of revealing actions which were against the interest of any social, national or religious group. In cases of incitement to racial hatred or national hatred present in the Internet, the Police undertakes operations aiming at, among others, determination of persons responsible for such activity. Unfortunately, the operations undertaken by the Police are impeded as some of websites including hatred materials are placed on the servers installed in the countries the cooperation with which in respect of prosecuting such offences is limited due to the differences in laws in force (e.g. USA, Korea, Malaysia, republics of the Commonwealth of Independent States, Russia). It often happens that even if a server is identified, the administrators (IP operators or administrators responsible for collocation of servers) respond that they do not register connections or do not have the equipment and software for such type of registration. Furthermore, it was also found that the administrators of websites containing the said content used also websites which make Internet connection anonymous (Proxy intermediated servers, TOR networks). This practically prevents from making any 13

14 arrangements as the connection of administrator and the website is directed through a few or a dozen states of a different and often mutually excluding legislation, or of the lack of necessary regulations. In the years only one proceedings concerning offences in the Internet was discontinued on the ground of a low level of social consequences (in 2006). In the years and in the 1 st quarter of 2009, no proceedings was discontinued on such grounds. The increasing tendency is also observed in the number of bills of indictment filed in discrimination cases. In 2006, 12 bills of indictment were filed with the courts, in 2007 in 19 proceedings, and in the year 2008 in 28 proceedings. In case of obtaining information on the offence officially prosecuted under Article or Article of the Penal Code committed in the form of book, press or internet publication of racist materials, the preparatory proceedings are initiated. Similarly, the offences involving painting graffiti of the content promoting fascism or which may be considered inciting to hatred on racist, national or religious grounds, or insulting, for such reasons, a person or a group of people, as well as containing such content in lyrics, are prosecuted. In 2006, out of 60 preparatory proceedings carried out in this category of offences: 18 proceedings referred to offences connected with publishing such materials on websites, i.e.: at the end of of those proceedings were pending, 1 case was suspended, in 3 cases the commencement of the proceedings was refused, 5 proceedings were discontinued and in 4 cases bills of indictment were issued, 5 proceedings referred to book and press publications, out of which 2 were discontinued, 3 proceedings referred to music including racist content, 3 cases referred to graffiti containing such content. In 2007, out of 62 preparatory proceedings carried out during that time: 15 proceedings referred to offences committed with the use of the Internet in 3 cases bills of indictment were issued, in 6 cases proceedings were discontinued and in 1 case the commencement of the proceedings was refused, 5 cases referred to book and press publications in 3 of those cases bills of indictment were issued, 4 out of the cases referred to graffiti - in 1 of those cases a bill of indictment was issued, 1 Article 256. Whoever publicly promotes a fascist or other totalitarian system of state or incites hatred based on national, ethnic, race or religious differences or for reason of lack of any religious denomination shall be subject to a fine, the penalty of restriction of liberty or the penalty of deprivation of liberty for up to 2 years. 2 Article 257. Whoever publicly insults a group within the population or a particular person because of his national, ethnic, race or religious affiliation or because of his lack of any religious denomination or for these reasons breaches the personal inviolability of another individual shall be subject to the penalty of deprivation of liberty for up to 3 years 14

15 and in 2 cases proceedings were discontinued, 5 proceedings referred to music containing racist content. In 1 of the proceedings, a bill of indictment was issued, and proceedings in 2 cases were discontinued. In 2008, out of 123 preparatory proceedings carried out: 26 proceedings referred to offences committed with the use of the Internet, with bills of indictment issued in 3 cases, and 8 cases discontinued, 7 proceedings referred to book and press publications, with bills of indictment issued in 2 cases and 2 cases discontinued, 11 proceedings referred to the cases connected with graffiti paintings containing racist materials, with bills of indictment issued in 4 cases, and 5 proceedings discontinued, 3 proceedings referred to music containing such contents in 1 case bill of indictment was files with the court, and 1 proceedings was discontinued. With regard to the offences committed with the use of the Internet, such cases are often discontinued due to the fact that offenders are not found. The proceedings refer mainly to the situations where prosecution authorities have no possibility to obtain proceeding information from the authorities of the states of location of servers or administrators of website on which racist materials are published. That is the case with regard to websites or administrators seated in the USA as Polish official requests for legal assistance were not executed. The examples of the cases concerning racism-related offences committed with the use of the Internet, regarding book or press publishing houses, regarding the so-called graffiti and music with racism-related content, in which bills of indictment were issued: 1) 1. Ds. 1659/08/D Regional Prosecutor s Office in Ś. The proceedings refers to public incitement to hatred related to national differences through painting an inscription JUDE RAUS and an image of the star of David on the gallows, in yellow paint, on the walls of the building of the Theatre Practice Centre in G., i.e. the act under Article 256 of the Penal Code. The offender was uncovered and he was charged with two offences (Article 256 of the Penal Code and Article of the Penal Code) stating that at night September 2008 he incited in public to hatred related to national and religious differences and painted in yellow, on the walls of the fencing of the Theatre Practice Centre, an inscription JUDE RAUS and the star of David on the gallows, and on 26 September 2008, around the Theatre Practice Centre he incited in public to hatred related to national and religious differences and shouted Jews Out. A bill of indictment was filed with the court in the matter, the case is pending. 2) 6 Ds. 1018/08 Regional Prosecutor s Office in K. 15

16 The proceedings referred to painting of fascist symbols in underground passage on 11 September In the case in question, two people were charged with committing an offence under 256 of the Penal Code. An identical charge was presented to two suspects, stating that, while acting jointly and in agreement, and painting in red, on the walls of the underground passage, a symbol of fascist Trikselion and inscription Blood & Honour, they promoted fascism. The charges were grounded on the testimony of a city guardian and offence site report. The bill of indictment was filed with the court against the accused (Article 256 of the Penal Code); the District Court sentenced the perpetrators to a fine. 3) 3 Ds. 800/07 Regional Prosecutor s Office in G. On 31 May 2007, the Branch Office of the Internal Security Agency in R. commenced the investigation concerning public promotion by a person of fascist system and incitement to racism-related hatred (Article 256 of the Penal Code). The Branch Office of the Internal Security Agency presented reasonable suspicion that musical works and other publications, disseminated by the same person via mail and the Internet contain contents promoting fascism and inciting to racism-related hatred. During the proceedings, it was found that starting from 2000 the person carried out business activity insolving publishing and disseminating disks with music as well as books and leaflets. An offender was charged with promotion in public in B. in public the fascist system through using fascist symbols in the form of a swastika, badges and elements of Waffen SS uniforms, phrases in German Sieg Heil along with greetings with an arm raised, and through disseminating, while carrying own business activity, through mail and the Internet, writings, leaflets, CDs, tapes and shirts, which glorifies the above specified fascist system, and inciting at the same time racism-related hatred. The Regional Prosecutor applied preventive measure against a suspect in the form of obligation to refrain from carrying out business activity of phonographic and distribution office in B., including a bail. In the case, on 25 March 2008, the bill of indictment was filed with the court (Article 256 of the Penal Code) the proceedings are pending. 4) 2 Ds. 162/06 Regional Prosecutor s Office in W. During the proceedings, the offender was charged with promoting in public from 4 May 2005 to 20 October 2006 fascist system, inciting to hatred related to national, ethnic, racial and religious differences, and publicly insulting a group of people on national, ethnic, racial, religious grounds of those persons, also through accepting 6 shipments sent from the USA, containing 29 CDs and 30 vinyl records with deferent musical works and compilations which promoted fascist system and inciting to hatred based on national, ethnic, racial and religious 16

17 grounds and selling them to other people, and also co-editing a periodical the content of which promoted the fascist system and inciting to hatred (Article 256 of the Penal Code and Article 257 of the Penal Code). The shipments were sent through AB residing in the USA who emigrated from Poland for his neo-fascist activity. The dinks were delivered in shipments from American neo-nazi musical manufacturing company Final Stand Records. They were circulated by the accused among other people, locally and abroad and exchanged for other discs and clothes. He also intermediated in the trade between Final Stand Records and other persons. He also undertook the activity of a producer publisher of CDs with NS and WP music. In December 2005, he ordered the copying of CDs Blond & Honour. Voices of Solidarity in the amount of 1200 pieces and Gestapo. Heil dem Fuhrer! in the amount of 1000 pieces. The content of the CDs promoted the fascist system and incited to hatred on national, ethnic, racial and religious grounds, as well as insulted individuals on the national, ethnical, racial and religious grounds. He ordered the production of other copies in the amount of 1000 pieces, entitled: Legion 88 and The day of the sword, and in the amount of 2000 pieces entitled Jungsturm. He collected the ordered CDs and sold them abroad. Also, in the years , the suspect translated into English articles which promoted fascism; he interviewed and translated interviews with leaders of neo-fascist movements and members of NS. He acquired advertisement providers and collected graphics insulting individuals on racial, national and other grounds in order to publish them in the magazine of a working title Bigot. Besides, from April to May 2006, he circulated at least 20 copies of neo-fascist magazine Stormer. On 28 June 2007, the bill of indictment in the case was filed with the court (Article 256 of the Penal Code and Article 257 of the Penal Code), and preventive measures were applied against the offender in the form of a bail, Police custody and prohibition to leave the country, including the seizure of passport the proceedings are pending. 5) V Ds. 28/06 Regional Prosecutor s Office in B. The investigation in the case referred to inciting to hatred on the basis of national differences and insulting a group of people for their national grounds. The basis for commencing the proceedings involved placing posters with anti-semitic, fascist content including the slogans promoting intolerance among nations and containing drawings insulting the Jews. The posters contained also the advertising of a magazine Nacjonalista ( Nationalist ) and the particulars of the website of the organisation Narodowy Front Walki Młodych ( It was the website of Obóz Narodowo Radykalny Podlasie. The website contained insulting publications which incited to hatred of 17

18 the Jewish nation, including the information of websites: and address: Materials concerning the magazine Front Prawdy, Zjednoczony Front, CDs, including for example the RPOi concert, leaflets, containing insulted contents which incited to hatred of the Jewish nation, were appended to the proceedings evidence. The proceedings evidence provides that in 2005, in B., Ruch and Kolporter kiosks circulated magazines Nacjonalista (Nationalist) published by ABC Humoru or Tajemnice Świata. Goldpol sp. z o.o. with its registered office in W. was indicated as a publisher of the magazine, whereas editorial team was composed of President of the National Party of Poland and several other people. The magazine contained publications which could constitute the realisation of features of offences under Article 256 of the Penal Code and Article 257 of the Penal Code. During the proceedings, it was stated that a member of the National Party of Poland, a leader of music band RPOi, coordinator of Narodowy Front Walki Młodych (the youth fraction of PPN) may be a founder of Obóz Narodowo Radykalny Podlasie Brygada Podlaska. The materials provide that the magazine Front Prawdy, containing the content under Article 256 of the Penal Code and Article 257 of the Penal Code, were disseminated through the internet after making a payment to a bank account. In the case, six people were charged with the offences under Article 256 of the Penal Code, in connection with Article 257 of the Penal Code; the sixth offender was charged with the act under Article 256 of the Penal Code, in connection with Article 257 of the Penal Code and in connection with Article 12 of the Penal Code. On 2 April 2007, the bill of indictment was filed with the court the proceedings are pending. 6) Ds. 3275/07 Regional Prosecutor s Office in B. The proceedings referred to the actions of individuals in an organised group called Fourth Edition the objective of which is to publicly promote and incite to hatred related to national and religious differences, i.e. actions under Article of the Penal Code and others. The activities of the group members involved painting on the cemetery walls, tombs and Koehl, at that cemetery, inscriptions Arbeit macht frei, Jude raus, symbols of swastikas, SS, 88, as well as drawings depicting the star of David on the gallows. The charges of committing specific offences, including also offences under Article 256 of the Penal Code, Article 257 of the Penal Code and Article 258 of the Penal Code, were presented to six people and the bill of indictment was filed with the court. Preventive measures were 3 Article Whoever participates in an organised group or association having for its purpose the commission of offences shall be subject to the penalty of deprivation of liberty for up to 3 years 18

19 applied against all the suspects: against three of them - pre-trial detention, against the rest - Police custody. By the verdict dated 30 January 2009, the District Court acquitted accused who committed an offence under Article of the Penal Code. Two accused were acquitted on all charges, whereas four others were sentenced to from 1 to 1.5-year imprisonment and a fine. Prosecutor appealed against the court s verdict. Ad 7. A training programme is being implemented in the Polish Police entitled the Law Enforcement Officers Programme on Combating Hate Crimes (LEOP) under the supervision of the Ministry of Interior and Administration (MSWiA). As an element of the LEOP, in September 2008 a training seminar Police Forum against Discrimination was held in the Police Academy in Słupsk. The seminar was attended not only by police officers but also by representatives of the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, the Ministry of Interior and Administration, National Public Prosecutor's Office, national and ethnic minorities as well as those NGOs which deal with discrimination in Poland (such as, among others, the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights (IHF), the Campaign Against Homophobia (CAH), the Society for Crisis Intervention, Never Again Association). The main purpose of the event was to make policemen more sensitive to the diversity and signs of discrimination on the grounds of nationality, religion, sexual orientation etc. as well as to tighten cooperation between the Police and other entities responsible for the above mentioned matters. The Forum's participants received information and training materials which are used for the mastering of local policemen's skills in combating discrimination. To continue the programme, at the beginning of 2009 the Chief Commander of the Police established a team to prepare a syllabus for a specialist training course for police officers in the area of combating hate crimes. At present the programme is in its final phase, and first training sessions are planned for the autumn of Issues related to cultural diversity and signs of discrimination due to nationality, religion, sexual orientation etc. were included into the training syllabuses for police officers both in basic training and mastering of vocational skills. To master the vocational skills of police officers, county and municipal police commanders were given training in the Role of Human Rights and Freedom in Police Management in the Police Academy in Szczytno which ended in A total of 36 police commanders attended the training. The continuation of the training is planned in subsequent years after the modification of the syllabus. 19

20 The above - mentioned activities have resulted in an apparent increase in policemen's awareness about social diversity, respect to minorities' rights and to people of distinct features as well as a need to adjust the Police's activity to the evolution of the society towards diversity and multiculture. This action should continue in the form of cascade training sessions which will be conducted under the LEOP. Both trainings in human rights and special trainings in racial discrimination were popular among judges and public prosecutors. As evaluation questionnaires show, the trainings were considered by judges and public prosecutors to be useful in their work. The above- mentioned training helped to raise public prosecutors', judges' and their assistants' awareness about discrimination. As a result, it contributed to the increased number of offences related to racism and xenophobia being detected. As a consequence, more bills of indictment were filed in comparison to previous years. At present a schedule of trainings for 2010 is being prepared for the National School of Judiciary and Public Prosecution. It will take its final shape no sooner than on 31 October According to the syllabus assumptions about the schedule, trainings for judges and public prosecutors concerning human rights, discrimination and trafficking in persons will continue. Another edition of post-gradual studies for judges adjudicating in criminal cases is planned for The studies are organised in cooperation with the Jagiellonian University in Cracow. Human rights protection related issues, including combating any signs of discrimination will be taught at the initial phases of training - during the first years of training for judge's and public prosecutor's trainees. Ad 8. The crimes defined in article 119 paras. 1 and 2 4 of the Penal Code, articles 256 and 257 of the Penal Code are crimes whose one of main characteristics is the motive of a perpetrator s action, i.e. perpetrator s action is taken because of a given person s nationality, race or religion. Additionally, the crimes described in articles 256 and 257 of the Penal Code must be committed in public. While examining a case, racism-based motivation of perpetrators is taken into account as an aggravating circumstance that influences the imposition of penalty. The regulation that allows 4 Article Whoever uses violence or makes unlawful threat towards a group of person or a particular individual because or their national, ethnic, political or religious affiliation, or because of their lack of religious beliefs, shall be subject to the penalty of the deprivation of liberty for a term of between 3 months and 5 years. 2. The same punishment shall be imposed on anyone, who incites commission of the offence specified under 1. 20