• Human Rights in Poland

    Access to abortion remains severely restricted, though draft legislation to impose a total ban was narrowly defeated.  The European Court of Human Rights ruled that the denial of access to genetic pre-natal testing and a legal abortion was cruel and inhuman treatment. New anti-discrimination legislation did not meet expectations for fully protecting people regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, and disability.  The lead prosecutor investigating alleged Polish complicity in CIA secret detention was replaced, with suggestions the move was politically motivated. 

  • EU: Human Rights Sidelined Amid Crisis
    Jan 31, 2013
    National and European Union (EU) leaders failed to address serious human rights concerns in the region amid economic and political crisis in 2012, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2013. Human Rights Watch documented human rights concerns in the EU, highlighting events in 10 member states and EU-level developments in migration and asylum, discrimination and intolerance, and counterterrorism policy.
  • Landmine Ban: Poland Final EU Member to Join
    Dec 7, 2012

    Poland’s announcement on December 5, 2012, that it is about to ratify the international treaty prohibiting landmines means that all 27 European Union countries have banned these unlawful weapons.

More news »

Reports

More >>

Poland

  • Divided We Fall: Intolerance in Europe Puts Rights at Risk
    Feb 14, 2013
    An Afghan migrant is stabbed in the heart on the streets of Athens. Black-shirted paramilitaries linked to Hungary’s third-largest political party march through a Roma neighborhood shouting, “You will die here.” A neo-Nazi gang commits a string of murders of Turkish immigrants in Germany. An ideologue driven by hatred of “multiculturalism” kills 67 mostly young people on a Norwegian Island.
  • EU: Human Rights Sidelined Amid Crisis
    Jan 31, 2013
    National and European Union (EU) leaders failed to address serious human rights concerns in the region amid economic and political crisis in 2012, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2013. Human Rights Watch documented human rights concerns in the EU, highlighting events in 10 member states and EU-level developments in migration and asylum, discrimination and intolerance, and counterterrorism policy.
  • Landmine Ban: Poland Final EU Member to Join
    Dec 7, 2012

    Poland’s announcement on December 5, 2012, that it is about to ratify the international treaty prohibiting landmines means that all 27 European Union countries have banned these unlawful weapons.

  • EU: Rights Abuse at Home Ignored
    Jan 22, 2012
    The European Union and member governments proved unwilling to tackle human rights abuse at home during 2011, even as they proclaimed the issue’s importance in inspiring the Arab Spring, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2012.
  • Poland: Reject Blanket Ban on Abortion
    Aug 30, 2011
    The Polish parliament should reject the proposed absolute ban on abortion that is up for a vote on August 31, 2011. The draft bill, “On the Protection of Human Life from the Moment of Conception,” would impose an absolute ban on abortion in Poland.
  • UN: Mixed Results for New Review Process
    Apr 18, 2008
    The first session of the new country review mechanism of the UN Human Rights Council was undermined by inconsistencies and the timidity of some governments in reviewing others, Human Rights Watch said today. On April 18, 2008 the council concluded a two-week session in which it examined the records of 16 countries as part of the new Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process.
  • Human Rights Council Begins Universal Periodic Review
    Apr 6, 2008
    The UN Human Rights Council will begin a new review process on April 7, 2008. The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is the most innovative and ambitious instrument of the council and was set up to assess the human rights performance of all 192 UN member states over a four-year cycle.
  • Council of Europe Confirms Secret CIA Prisons
    Jul 1, 2007
  • Council of Europe: Secret CIA Prisons Confirmed
    Jun 6, 2007
    The Central Intelligence Agency secretly operated illegal prisons for terrorism suspects in multiple locations in Poland and Romania from 2003 to 2005, according to a report released today by the Council of Europe, a European intergovernmental human rights body.
  • Hands Off Human Rights Petition
    May 19, 2007
    Dear President Kaczynski, We urge you and your government to stop your attacks on the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people. Such attacks betray Poland’s long, proud record of struggling for human rights. Upholding equal rights for all will help build a freer future.
more documents on this topic »