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The Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, a civil society organization based in Warsaw, Republic of Poland and Wolters Kluwer Polska, the biggest publishing house in the field of law in the Republic of Poland, have signed a contract to cooperate in areas such as publishing, marketing and training.

European Commission appealed to EU Member States for prompt ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities as well as the Convention’s Optional Protocol. In relation to the above, the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights filled a letter to the Polish Prime Minister indicating that although Republic of Poland signed the Convention on 30 March 2007, it has not been ratified yet.

A British Sikh has been asked to take off his turban while going through security at the Warsaw Airport. According to his religion it is an insult to be made to take off the head covering. Therefore, Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights filed a letter to the Boarder Guard Office claiming that the demand to remove turban during safety check should be considered an act of discrimination against one’s religious beliefs.

According to the new amendment to the Polish Penal Code which came into force in June 2010, the production of items containing symbols of fascist and other totalitarian regimes with the intent to distribute them is prohibited. The project of the amendment started the countrywide discussion concerning the limits of the freedom of speech and expression.

The Polish Border Guard Office released a number of documents to the Warsaw-based Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, which, for the first time, provide details of the number of prisoners transferred by the CIA to a secret prison in the Republic of Poland between December 5, 2002, and September 22, 2003, and, in one case, the number of prisoners who were subsequently transferred to a secret CIA prison in Romania.

Polish Magazine “Polityka” published interview with Professor Irena Lipowicz, the new Ombudsman, about sexual minorities, partnerships, ethics lessons, the rights of the elderly, as well as whether she’ll be able to oppose the state and the Church.

Polish Prosecutor Office is considering the war crime charge for the highest rank government officials for the existence of CIA prisons in the Republic of Poland. The investigation on this issue lasts since 2008 and is classified. However, Polish daily newspaper “Gazeta Wyborcza” has found out that the prosecutor now wants to charge the officials for participation in war crimes in front of the Tribunal of State.

Polish daily newspaper „Gazeta Wyborcza” published an interview with Adam Bodnar, the Head of Legal Division of Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights in Warsaw, Republic of Poland. It concerned the latest news on the alleged existence of secret CIA prisons in the Republic of Poland. The Boarder Guard disclosed information that not only did CIA planes landed in the Republic of Poland, but also transported passangers, possibly terrorism suspects.

According to the Law on National Remembrance, individuals found to have collaborated with Polish communist security services prior to 1990 are denied access to the documents evidencing such collaboration. The European Court of Human Rights recently communicated to Republic of Poland two cases regarding this law, raising the issue of whether the law denies individuals accused of wrongdoing a meaningful opportunity to contest or even see the basis for such charges.