DECLARATION
We feel an obligation to remind the authorities and the public opinion that free civil debate, devoid of censorship, in which everyone can participate under equal rights presenting their argumentation and views for public judgment, is the foundation of democracy. The language of these debates consists in, among others, demonstrations, meetings and marches. Depriving anyone of the right to demonstrate their postulates or views signifies an attempt on the very essence of democracy and therefore is prohibited by the Constitution. The duty of the State is to establish the conditions for public debate and to make sure that no one violates the principles of democracy and uses violence or censorship against the competition. The State must in particular guarantee protection for the demonstration’s participants, if they are under any threat from their opponents.
We remind you of these fundamental facts a week after the Poznan authorities banned the Equality March and one day before the start of the nationwide campaign “Reanimation of Democracy”.
We expect that on the upcoming Saturday and Sunday the State and local government authorities, as well as competent services, including first and foremost the police, will guarantee protection for the participants of these meetings, so that they can publicly present their arguments.
Warsaw, 25 November 2005
On behalf of the Helsinki Committee in Poland and the members of the Board of the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights:
Halina Bortnowska-Dabrowska, Elzbieta Czyz, Marek Edelman, Janusz Grzelak, Zbigniew Holda, Wojciech Maziarski, Michal Nawrocki, Marek A. Nowicki, Danuta Przywara, Andrzej Rzeplinski and Stefan Starczewski,
Danuta Przywara
