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The Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, together with other 10 European NGOs, has sent an open letter to the President of the European Commission, the President of the European Parliament, the President of the European Council and the Poland’s Minister of Foreign Affairs urging them to give more powers to the Agency for Fundamental Rights.

The District Court in Warsaw ruled against X., a claimant seeking to enter into a lease signed by the claimant’s gay partner.The Court assumed that the X’s cause of action was based on article 691 of the Polish Civil Code, a provision which enables a person who has been in ‘actual cohabitation’ with the deceased lessee to enter into the lease in the latter’s stead.

The Circuit Court in Warsaw has ruled on inadmissibility of surrendering the wanted U.B., a Belarus citizen, to the judicial authorities in Belarus. In the statement of reasons for the ruling the Court argued that the act allegedly committed by U.B. was not a criminal offence in Poland. The Court also noted that, if the wanted person was surrendered to the Republic of Belarus, his rights, including the right to a fair trial, might be directly infringed.

More than 200 people have signed the protest against death penalty in Belarus. 170 persons signed the petition in defence of Fatima Hussein Al-Badi, said yesterday late evening Agnieszka Śmiłek of ELSA Rzeszów, an organiser of the European Day against Death Penalty. Rzeszów was one of the several cities and towns where the events commemorating the European Day against Death Penalty were held.

The HFHR published a report concerning foreigners interviewed during administrative proceedings. The findings of the Foundation’s report point out a range of problems appearing during questioning of foreign nationals, most common of which are the lack of interpreter services, failure to notify the questioned of their rights and duties and infringement of their right to privacy.

On 26 September 2011 the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights filed a motion with the Circuit Court in Warsaw seeking court’s leave to join, as a community organisation, in the case involving the protection of personal interests brought by Bogdan Wróblewski against the Head of the Central Anticorruption Bureau (CBA).

Sławomir Poleszak, PhD, head of the Public Education Office of the Lublin branch of the Institute of National Remembrance, wrote a review of the book “National Armed Forces in the Lublin region” by Professor Mirosław Piotrowski. The review was to be published in the Freedom and Independence History Research Bulletin (the actual publication never took place).

The Ministry of Justice speaks about the overpopulation in prison facilities. According to the information provided, as of 7 September 2011 44,300 court rulings concerning 37,113 individuals were pending enforcement. This included 33,399 cases of violations of a prison committal warrant. In total, in the first half of 2011, there were 68,126 defendants with prison sentences who had not been committed to prisons.

The Polish Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights issued an open letter on 28 September, expressing their hope that the problem of the lack of respect for democracy principles and the necessity to introduce human rights protection guarantees in the Easter Partnership member states becomes a priority of the upcoming Warsaw Summit.