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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.

During times of conflict, the potential for human rights abuses abound, as the normal infrastructure for the protection of rights is disabled and emergencies are declared. Libya is in the throes of a revolution against the Libyan leader, Colonel Qaddafi, whose military maintains what control exists through the use of force. The rebels choose to wage war with the current administration. The UN Human Rights Council decided to take action in this case.

The Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights appealed to the General Prosecutor in the case of Adam Mamilov, Chechen citizen. The Foundation expressed it’s concern in reference to the cassation to the Supreme Court submitted by the General Prosecutor. The cassation concerns a final sentence in which the extradition of Adam Mamilov from Poland to Russian Federation was found inadmissible.

The United States government released, on 8 April 2011, its 35th annual Human Rights Reports detailing the human rights situation of 194 countries. In her introduction statement, US Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton, highlighted three global trends of concern: widespread crackdown on civil society, restrictions and monitoring of internet access infringing the freedom of expression, and repression and discrimination of venerable minorities.

„Let’s exterminate them, let’s strangle this plague”; this is a part of a song written by Polish rapper Bas Tajpana. In his opinion, all lesbian and gay people should be strangled or killed. This song song is undoubtedly an example of homophobic hate speech. In the light of Polish criminal law, homophobic hate speech is not a crime; only incitement to hatred on the grounds of race, nationality and belief is punished.