Strasbourg, 17/06/2016 (Agence Europe) - The latest report on Poland from the Council of Europe (CoE) Commissioner for Human Rights was presented at a press conference in Warsaw on 15 June and is based on his visit there on 9-12 February.
The report is very critical and challenges most of the reforms conducted by the Eurosceptical right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) government that was elected in October 2015.
CoE Commissioner for Human Rights Nils Muisnieks thus says that he is “particularly concerned by the prolonged paralysis of the constitutional court”, and he calls on the Polish authorities to “urgently find a way out of the current deadlock”.
The new law on surveillance activities is also of concern to Muiznieks because it expands the powers of law enforcement agencies, police forces and security services without establishing the necessary safeguards to avoid abuse. Protection of privacy and the democratic control of surveillance activities must be put in place, Muiznieks states
The report acknowledges that political influence on the media pre-dates current reforms but notes that a number of recent developments have worsened the problem, referring to the so-called “Small Media Law” adopted in December 2015. The report urges the Polish authorities to guarantee the independence of public service media, and Muiznieks is pleased to note that the Polish authorities have since entered into a dialogue with the Council of Europe on this legislation. All criminal provisions against defamation should be repealed and it should instead be dealt with through strictly proportionate civil sanctions.
Muiznieks also underlines women's rights, especially with regard to Polish legislation on abortion which is one of the strictest in Europe. Granted only in cases of rape, risk to the health of the mother or malformation of the foetus, the right to the voluntary termination of pregnancy can ultimately come up against doctors' right of objection, the report states, criticising the random nature of this. These obstacles should be removed and abortion should be further decriminalised, the report states.
Some positive points are also highlighted. These involve the efforts made to reduce the length of judicial proceedings and the decrease in the use and length of pre-trial detention, as well as steps forward on gender equality.
This very critical report has deeply irritated the Polish government, which has already been challenged by the European Commission's Opinion on the Rule of Law in Poland that was issued on 1 June. Accompanied by the threat of a recommendation if these concerns are not lifted within a reasonable timeframe, this could lead in the long run to sanctions via the activation - so far unprecedented - of Article 7 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), which authorises the suspension of voting rights in cases of serious and persistent violation of the EU's values by one of its member states.
The Polish authorities' response to the report from the CoE Commissioner for Human Rights has been long and criticises the author's “lack of neutrality”.
For Muiznieks, “the threat is very serious”. “I have never met such a situation anywhere else in Europe”, he says, “the situation is very serious”. (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)