Human rights in Poland

Human rights in Poland are guaranteed by the secor in relation to outlooks on life, and shall enond chapter of the Constitution. Poland is a party to
sure their freedom of expression within public
all important international agreements relevant to human
life.
rights, including the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, the Universal The article Article 54 (section II. The Freedoms, Rights
Declaration of Human Rights, the Helsinki Accords, the and Obligations of Persons and Citizens) states:
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural
1. The freedom to express opinions, to acRights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
quire and to disseminate information shall be
ensured to everyone.
2. Preventive censorship of the means of social
1 History
communication and the licensing of the press
shall be prohibited.
Elements of what is called now human rights may be
found in early times of the Polish state. The Statute of
Kalisz, the General Charter of Jewish Liberties (issued in 2.1 The status of women
1264) introduced numerous right for the Jews in Poland,
leading to an autonomous nation within a nation. The
Warsaw Confederation of 1573 conrmed the religious
freedom of all residents of Poland, which was extremely
important for the stability of the multi-ethnic Polish society of the time. Gathered at Warsaw, all nobles signed
a document in which representatives of all major religions pledged mutual support and tolerance. The following eight or nine decades of material prosperity and relative security witnessed the appearance of a virtual galaxy
of sparkling intellectual gures.[1][2]

Modern-day

Poland experienced decades if not centuries of devastating conicts. In most recent history, human rights have
vastly improved only after the fall of communism in 1989
and the replacement of the old repressive norms of the
pro-Soviet communist regime with the modern, democratic government guaranteeing rst class civil and political rights,[3] conrmed by the Freedom House.
Poland has ratied the International Criminal Court
agreement. Corporal punishment is entirely prohibited
since 2010. Death Penalty is abolished for all crimes
as noted by Amnesty International.[4] Modern Poland is Narcyza michowska, precursor of feminism in Poland
a country with a high level of freedom of expression,[5]
guaranteed by the article 25 (section I. The Republic) of The state of womens rights in Poland is moderately good.
the Constitution of Poland which reads:
Feminism in Poland started in 1800s in the age of foreign
Partitions marked by the gross abuse of power espePublic authorities in the Republic of
cially by the Russians,[6] which impacted the rights of
Poland shall be impartial in matters of personal
women as well.[7] However, prior to the last Partition in
1795, tax-paying females were allowed to take part in poconviction, whether religious or philosophical,
1

5 NOTES

litical life. Polands precursor of feminism under Partitions, Narcyza michowska who founded a group of
Suragettes in 1842, was jailed by the Russians for three
years.[8][9] Since 1918, following the return to independence, all women could vote. Poland was the 15th (12th
sovereign) country to introduce universal womens suffrage. Nevertheless, there is a number of issues concerning women in modern-day Poland such as the abortion
rights (formally allowed only in special circumstances)
and the "glass ceiling".[10][11]
Domestic Violence,[12] according to 2011 report by TheNews.pl website run by the Polish Radio, is perceived by
one in ve respondents as a problem. Thirty eight percent
of Poles know at least one family where physical violence
occurs, and seven percent claimed to know of at least one
family where sexual violence took place, according to a
survey carried out in November by research centre SMG
KRC on behalf of the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy. The survey revealed that 27 percent of respondents
were reluctant to act against apparent abusers for fear that
the violence might be transferred onto themselves, while
17 percent felt that raising the matter would exacerbate
the problem for the initial victim. One in four of those
surveyed felt that there is no obligation on neighbours or
acquaintances to act when domestic violence is brought
to their notice, believing that it is dicult to judge which
party is in the right.[12] Forty three percent of those surveyed declared that interventions in family matters is only
permissible when someone asks for help and 14 percent
of third parties said there was no point in reporting such
as case, as the victim would inevitably withdraw from legal action regardless.[12] Some 13 percent said that such
abuse is a private family matter. At the same time, 16
percent said that there are situations when violence is justied in the home. Some 26 percent of Poles claim that
they have been victims of physical violence.[12]

transgender citizens.[17] Anna Grodzka became an MP in

the 2011 Polish parliamentary elections, and currently is
the only transgender MP in the world.[18]

2.3 Serfdom
Serfdom was ocially banned in 1588.[19] It has been
ranked 61st in the report studying slavery by the Walk
Free Foundation.[20] Poland belongs to the group of 'Tier
1'[21] countries in Tracking in Persons Report. Tracking women is 'illegal and rare'.[22] Corporal punishment of
children is ocially prohibited since 1783 as rst in the
world in schools, and criminalised since 2010 (in schools
as well as at home).[23]

2.4 Third-party evaluation

A 2010 report by United States Bureau of Democracy,
Human Rights, and Labor noted that "Poland's government generally respects the human rights of its citizens";
it did however note problems, mainly police misconduct,
lengthy pretrial detention, laws that restricted free speech
(although rarely enforced), corruption in the government
and society.[24]

3 Opinions of NGOs
According to the report Political Terror Scale 2006
generated by Mark Gibney, Belk Distinguished Professor of Political Science, University of North Carolina at
Asheville Poland was among countries with highest level
of human rights.[25]

Freedom House Research Institute has classied Poland

[3]
Rape is illegal and punishable by up to 12 years in prison as a country of rst class political and civil rights. Ac(including spousal rape). Sexual harassment is under- cording to the Global peace Index, Poland is one of the
[26]
reported due to societal views.[13] In January 2014, a re- most peaceful countries in the world.
form was introduced to both simplify the procedure as
well as make it a criminal oence pursued by the state,
rather than a private act of accusal.[14] An abortion is very 4 See also
dicult to obtain in Poland by ocial means.[15]
In the eld of employment, due to perceptions of womens
roles, unemployment for women is high.[16]

2.2

LGBT rights

Poland country signed the UN LGBT rights Declaration, but some rights of heterosexual citizens (such as
marriage) are unavailable to its LGBT citizens. However, Poland is not on the list of countries with statesponsored homophobia, and homosexuality in Poland was
never criminalised under Polish jurisdiction. Homosexuality was conrmed legal in 1932, and Poland also recognises gender change and requires no sterilisation of its

Internet censorship and Surveillance in Poland

CIA black sites in the territory of Poland.[27]

5 Notes
[1] Gershon David Hundert (2004). Jews in Poland-Lithuania
in the Eighteenth Century: A Genealogy of Modernity
(Google Books preview). University of California Press.
p. 11. ISBN 0520238443.
[2] Dembkowski, Harry E. (1982). The union of Lublin, Polish federalism in the golden age. East European Monographs, 1982. p. 271. ISBN 978-0-88033-009-1.

[3]
[4] Poland - Amnesty International Report 2010 | Amnesty
International. Amnesty.org. Retrieved 2012-08-06.
[5] http://www.indexoncensorship.
org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/
Time-to-Step-Up-The-EU-and-freedom-of-expression.
pdf
[6] Adam Zamoyski, The Last King of Poland, London, 1992,
p.429. ISBN 0753804964. In the massacre of Praga district of Warsaw, the Russian imperial army killed up to
20,000 civilians regardless of gender and age. According to one Tsarist estimate some 20,000 civilians had been
killed in the space of a few hours.
[7] Agata Tuszyska (2001). Klub Ruski. Koszary. Lupanary. (Russian clubs. Garrizons. Brothels.)" (PDF le, direct download 420 KB). Rosjanie w Warszawie (in Polish:
The Russians in Warsaw). Wydawnictwo Tower Press
Gdask. pp. 4244. Retrieved December 26, 2012.
Hunger and poverty were rampant with record number
of women forced into Russian military brothels under the
Tsarist chief of police (18881895), known sex predator
Nikolai Kleigels (Russian: . In army garrisons
sex could be bought for as little as 30 kopecks (less than
1/3 of a ruble); one woman for every 30 Russians, with
beatings and instances of women getting killed by them in
drunken rages.
[8] "michowska Narcyza. Internetowa encyklopedia PWN.
Retrieved 25 October 2014.
[9] Marta Mizuro, Barbara Winklowa: Narcyza michowska
i Wanda eleska, ISBN 83-08-03496-9 Onet.pl book review.
[10] Agnieszka Nowak, Womens status in Poland. Social
Watch.

[20] Global Slavery Index 2013 . Walk Free Foundation. Retrieved 10 April 2014
[21] Tier 1: Countries whose governments fully comply with
the TVPAs minimum standards.
[22] http://womanstats.org/substatics/Trafficking%20of%
20Women_2011tif_wmlogo3.png
[23] http://www.coe.int/t/dg3/children/corporalpunishment/
pdf/EnglishQuestionAnswer_en.pdf
[24] 2010 Human Rights Report: Poland. State.gov. 201104-08. Retrieved 2012-08-06.
[25]
[26] http://www.visionofhumanity.org/wp-content/uploads/
2011/10/2011GPIMethodologyResultsFindings.pdf
[27] CPT Report: Poland: Visit 26/11/2009 - 08/12/2009.
Cpt.coe.int. Retrieved 2012-08-06.

6 References
(Polish) Prawa czowieka w Polsce (Human rights in
Poland) in WIEM Encyklopedia.
Poland: Country Reports on Human Rights Practices in 2009, U.S. Department of State.
EU Network of Independent Experts on Fundamental Rights : Report on the Situation of Fundamental
Rights and Its Member States in 2005
Amnesty International report on Poland (2007).
Human Rights Watch Report on EU (2006).

[11] The status of sexual equality policies in Poland by

Boena Chouj. Eurotopics.net archive.
[12] Domestic violence rife in Poland, research nds - National. Thenews.pl. Retrieved 2012-08-06.
[13] 2010 Human Rights Report: Poland. State.gov. 201104-08. Retrieved 2012-08-06.

7 External links
Human Rights Watch: news related to Poland
Amnesty International: news related to Poland

[14] Gwalciciel scigany z urzedu. (Rapists pursued by the

State). Tokfm.pl

(Polish) Amnesty International Polska

[15] http://www.sxpolitics.org/frontlines/book/pdf/
capitulo5_poland.pdf

Protection of Human Rights in Poland (Polish government aliated site), Polish language version

[16] Womens status in Poland: a permanent crisis. Social

Watch. 2009-11-03. Retrieved 2012-08-06.

Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights in Poland

[17]

Cecylia Bernacka, Human Rights in Poland

[18] Grodzka, Anna (17 May 2013). As the worlds only

transgender MP, I want to ensure our voices are heard.
The Guardian; Comment is Free.

Thomas Bamforth, Democratisation, economic reform and human rights in Poland conict or consonance?

[19] Dembkowski, Harry E. (1982). The union of Lublin, Polish federalism in the golden age. East European Monographs, 1982. p. 271. ISBN 978-0-88033-009-1.

Review of Poland by the United Nations Human

Rights Council's Universal Periodic Review, 14
April 2008.

8 FURTHER READING

Further reading
Agnieszka Bieczyk-Missala, Human Rights in Polish Foreign Policy after 1989, Warszawa 2006, ISBN
83-89607-46-8,
James E. Will, Church and State in the Struggle for
Human Rights in Poland, Journal of Law and Religion, Vol. 2, No. 1 (1984), pp. 153176 (article
consists of 24 pages), JSTOR

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