COMMITTEE ON ELIMINATION OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION CONCLUDES REVIEW OF FIFTEENTH AND SIXTEENTH PERIODIC REPORTS OF POLAND

CERD
62nd session
17 March 2003
Morning



The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination concluded this morning its review of the fifteenth and sixteenth periodic reports of Poland, with an Expert commending a Government delegation for its fruitful dialogue with the Committee and for the quality of the reports.
Responding to numerous questions raised by Committee Experts on Friday, members of the Polish delegation said among other things that hate speech in any form was unacceptable in the country, and measures were applied to punish perpetrators in such instances. They added that due to Poland's attachment to the right to freedom of expression, it was difficult to implement preventive censorship; but the Government was fighting the dissemination of hate speech through the implementation of strict and specific legal provisions.
The delegation also said that since Roma were among the minorities in a difficult situation in the country, the Government had done all it could to support them. The situation of the Roma was worst in Maloposka Province, where the Government had initiated a pilot programme aimed at improving their material and social status, the delegation said.
Yuri A. Reshetov, the Committee Expert who served as country rapporteur for the reprts of Poland, said the docements were frank and contained high-quality information. The delegation should be proud of its work. Concerning the dissemination of propaganda of a racist nature, the problem could be attributed to the mass media, he said; the Committee did not require Poland to perform preventive censorship. However, it was a concern that the mass media continued to disseminate views of racial discrimination. The right to association could be allowed but the freedom to disseminate racial hatred could not be tolerated, he said.
Also participating in the morning’s debate were Committee Experts Mahmoud Aboul-Nasr, Mario Jorge Yutzis, Regis de Gouttes, Alexandre Sicilianos, Agha Shahi, Jose A. Lindgren Alves and Ion Diaconu.
The Committee will release its formal conclusions and recommendations on the reports of Poland towards the end of its three-week session, which will close on 21 March.
As one of the 167 States parties to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, Poland is expected to submit periodic reports on efforts to fight racial bias.
When the Committee reconvenes at 3 p.m., it will take up the sixteenth and seventeenth periodic reports of Ghana (CERD/C/431/Add.3).

Responses of Poland to Committee Questions
Responding to numerous questions raised by the 18-member Committee, the Polish delegation said, among other things, that the provisions of the International Convention had been incorporated into the 1997 Constitution and could be directly invoked before the courts. Other legal provisions also had been enacted to reinforce the implementation of the Convention, including specific laws prohibiting racial discrimination.
According to the Polish Constitution, all persons, including foreigners, could lodge complaints with the Office of the Ombudsman, the delegation said. The Ombudsman was accountable to the Polish Parliament and his activities were not restricted in the protection of citizens' civil liberties. The Office was personally and institutionally independent. It was bound only by the Constitution. The Ombudsman's annual reports highlighted the human rights situation of citizens. The Ombudsman was authorized to approach any organ of the State on matters concerning his mandate.
Hate speech in any form was unacceptable in the country, the delegation said. However, it was difficult to implement preventive censorship because of the country's attachment to the right to freedom of speech. Measures were applied to punish perpetrators of hate speech. The Polish Government was not fighting hate speech through censorship but through the implementation of strict and specific legal provisions.
Any measures that could be taken by the international community that could be implemented within the legal system of Poland to fight terrorism could be acceptable to the Polish Government, the delegation said. Measures designed to fight terrorism should not in any way infringe on the human rights of citizens. Following the 11 September event and the Security Council resolution on terrorism, Poland had taken legislative measures to fight terrorism. The measures included the seizure of bank accounts of persons or institutions validly suspected of terrorist activities. The punishment for terrorist activities had been increased: now it was up to 12 years’ deprivation of liberty.
The United Nations Human Rights Committee had never received a single communication involving Poland, the delegation said. Poland thoroughly and satisfactorily dealt with the issues of minority rights. The Constitution guaranteed all rights to national minorities, including the freedom to maintain and develop their own languages and to maintain the customs and traditions of their own cultures.
The Constitution allowed persons to lodge complaints directly with the courts, the delegation said. The various courts of the country had formulated a body of law on human rights; this legal policy made reference to international treaties.
Poland had participated in the Durban World Conference against Racism and had contributed to its work, the delegation said. The materials from the Conference had been translated into Polish and they would be made available on web sites. Practical work also been carried out by Polish Universities on matters concerning racial discrimination. Because of Polish preparations for entry into the European Union things were changing in the country; and more and more foreigners were moving into the country.
Publications and works pertaining to racial discrimination were subject to confiscation, even if they were personal documents, the delegation said. A book published and disseminated with ideas against Polish Jews had been seized, with the publisher convicted for disseminating racial propaganda. Another publisher of a periodical publication had been fined for publishing words of incitement to racial hatred. In 2000, there were 43 cases of racial discrimination addressed in the courts. Persons involved in graffiti paintings with racial bias had also been prosecuted. Some cases of hate speech had been dropped in the past because of perpetrators' insanity or the allegedly low social harm that had resulted. In other cases, perpetrators had been sentenced to probation periods of up to two years.
The conformity of political parties with the provisions of the Constitution was monitored by a special court, the delegation said. Parties revealing racial bias could not be entered into the national registry. The court could appeal to the Constitutional Court concerning the non-registration of some political parties. No political party in practice had been banned for being involved in activities not in conformity with Constitutional provisions.
There was no specific definition of national minorities under international law, the delegation, adding that the Polish Constitution had provided a definition as groups of people of Polish citizens living in Poland with different cultural backgrounds. The objective characteristics of the group, such as culture, language and tradition, was taken into consideration in defining a group as a national minority. That did not mean the foreigners having different cultures and languages were not considered as belonging to groups of minorities. The status of foreigners also had been clearly defined by the Constitution.
The Roma were allowed to participate in the country's affairs by sending their deputies to Parliament, the delegation said. Since the Roma were among the minorities living under difficult circumstances, the Government had done all it could to support them. The situation of the Roma was worst in Maloposka Province, where the Government had initiated a pilot programme aimed at improving their material and social status. There was no problem in the registering of Roma associations.
The Government of Poland had been encouraging Roma parents to send their children to school using various incentives, the delegation said. In many areas, the enrolment of Roma children was insignificant. A choice for such children to participate in preparatory schools or to got directly to regular schools had been provided for. The Government had been fighting to provide Roma people with employment and housing.
The Constitution in its article 27 specified that the country's official language was Polish, the delegation said. However, the use by minorities of their own languages did not infringe on the Constitutional provision. Radio transmissions were available in minority languages. The current draft law on minorities would also include provisions concerning the use of information signs in minority languages on some administrative premises.
Poland treated asylum-seekers and refugees in accordance with the 1951 Geneva Convention relating to the status of refugees and its 1967 protocol, the delegation. The situation of each individual was examined depending on the cases invoked to justify requests for asylum. A refugee could apply and obtain the Polish nationality as long as he or she fulfilled the requirements for citizenship.
Some parents of Roma did not see the need to send their children to school, the delegation said. However, the Government had laid down programmes to educate Roma children. Because of their lack of participation in pre-school classes, many Roma children had difficulties in attending and pursuing the programmes of normal schools. By lowering school attendance requirements, such as by increasing the age of admission from 6 and 7, the Government hoped to raise the number of Roma children attending schools. Special teachers had also been trained to help Roma children with their studies.
Foreigners wishing to work in Poland should obtain a valid working permit from Government authorities, the delegation said. Some 24,640 persons had applied for permits, and some appliants had been rejected. The applicants were mainly from European countries, from Viet Nam, and from the United States.
Committee Experts offered further comments and asked additional questions. An Expert asked if Polish authorities considered people fighting against occupation to be terrorists. The definition of terrorist should be clear: did a person fighting for the liberation of his land qualify as a terrorist more than those who killed and demolished houses in a territory they occupied?
Concerning preventive censorship and freedom of speech, another Expert said that the delegation should refer to the jurisprudence of the various General Recommendations of the Committee, particularly nos. 5 and 15 with regard to the implementation of article 4 of the Convention. According to information received, skinheads continued to organize musical manifestations with racist connotations, the Expert said. The Durban Declaration and Programme of Action required States parties to undertaken investigations when such things occurred.
There had been many xenophobic and racist statements by some officials in the Poland, an Expert said. The Government should be able to look for ways to avoid having officials make such statements.
Another Expert asked if the police were duly investigating cases of racial discrimination, particularly involving the Roma population.
Information provided by non-governmental organizations indicated the distribution of racist materials by some groups, including some state agents, an Expert said. The Ombudsman had moved against some individuals who were involved in hate speech; however the process was not accelerating, this Expert contended.
Another Expert said the Committee was not requiring Poland to carry out preventive censorship but to take action against those who disseminated ideas of racial hatred.
Reacting to some of the questions, the delegation said no efforts against terrorism in the country would lead to the infringement of human rights. All people were equal before the law, and all were treated as such. In Polish law, the definition of terrorism was not specified, expect that the Penal Code envisaged fighting against any evils in society. No other nation in the world had suffered as Poland had during the Second World War, when one-fifth of its population perished. For that reason, the authorities felt that people should not suffer under any circumstances.
Poland punished any offence agaist the provisions of the Penal Code, the delegation said. The right to freedom of expression could not be used as a pretext to disseminate hate speech. The Polish Parliament was actually dealing with a draft law to reinforce the prohibition against racial hatred.
YURI A. RESHETOV, the Committee Expert who served as country rapporteur for the reports of Poland, said the reports were frank and the contents were of high quality. The delegation should be proud of its work. The productive dialogue with the delegation had been based on Poland’s obligation to present its periodic reports. Concerning the dissemination of propaganda of a racist nature, the problem could be attributed to the mass media. The Committee did not require Poland to carry out preventive censorship. The mass media continued to disseminate views of racial discrimination. The right to association could be allowed but the freedom to disseminate racial hatred could not be tolerated.
Mr. Reshetov said a pragmatic solution was needed to the question of minorities. Even if the minorities concerned were small, they should receive all the rights attributed to other minorities. Concerning the Roma, much sound work had been done by the Government to improve the situation of this minority.



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