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On the evening of 4 June 2011, mayor of Warsaw-Ursynów district Piotr Guział hung a rainbow banner on the pole in front of the city hall. This event officially started the Diversity Week organized by this district. This rainbow flag is symbolic; it was put there by a local administration official and not by an NGO leader as a sign of civic disobedience. Its significance, however, is much broader.

According to the recent media reports the police officers were ordered to remove banners with ‘anti-government slogans’ held up by football fans protesting against the government’s decision to close certain stadiums. The HFHR is convinced that the presence of ‘anti-government slogans’ written on banners does not, on its own, authorise the law enforcement agencies to intervene in the protest.

Prosecutor Jerzy Mierzewski has been removed from investigating secret CIA prisons in Poland – currently, one of the most important case in Poland that may affect the political elites. The decision was unexpected and now serious concerns appear about the future of the investigation. The decision of removing Jerzy Mierzewski was very unexpected and surprising.

The Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights presented its opinion on the Educational Information System Bill. The purpose of the is to create a system for acquiring data required to conduct educational policy and manage the education system. Also, the draft law provides for gathering personal data of pupils and pre-school children. The HFHR has voiced its concerns regarding the Bill.

In November 2010 local elections were held in Poland. After the ballot, Robert Kamionowski, a lawyer, filed an election protest arguing that a breach of the electoral law had occurred during the elections. In May the Appellate Court dismissed the appeal against the decision to summarily dismiss the election protest concerning legality of the local elections in the town of Białołęka.

The Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights decided to join as a third party the proceeding of Jan Olszyński v. Poland (Application No. 35410/09) before the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. The Foundation drafted an amicus curiae brief regarding the application of Article 1 of the Protocol No 1 of the European Convention of Human Rights to the facts of the present case.

The HFHR expressed its concern over the pressure brought by the authorities of Radom on the director of the municipal cultural centre “Resursa Obywatelska” (RO) to exclude a homosexual from the educational project “Żywa Biblioteka” (“Human Library”). The RO director said that she would host the project at centre on a condition that the project did not involve participation of the homosexual.

The Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights appealed to the General Prosecutor in the case of two journalists of Gazeta Giełda Parkiet newspaper. The intervention concerns investigation conducted by the District Prosecutor in Warsaw in the case of two former journalists of Gazeta Giełda Parkiet newspaper. The prosecutor ordered the Presspublica Company, a publisher of Gazeta, to secure and deliver data from email accounts of these journalists.

The Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights appealed to the Chairman of the Sport Main Commission of the Polish Speedway Association. According to press reports of March 2011, women still meet difficulties in access to speedway trainings and championships. Two years ago the regulations were altered to allow women to compete in all forms of speedway. Therefore, the Foundation appealed for actions promoting the principle of equality.