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The Special Rapporteur of the Human Rights Council visited Republic of Poland from 5-22 May 2009 at the invitation of the Government, and therein after published a report concerning the mission. The main purpose of the visit was to assess and understand Poland’s trajectory regarding sexual and reproductive health rights and harm reduction policies.

On 15 June 2010 European Court of Human Rights passed a judgement in the case Grzelak v. Republic of Poland (no. 7710/02). The Tribunal stated that the lack of factual access to ethics classes in Polish schools constitutes a violation by the authorities of the right to cultivate religion beliefs and is of discriminatory character.

On 26 May 2010 the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights submitted to the Constitutional Court an amicus curiae brief in the case no. K 36/09. The case concerns the compliance of the reduction of retirement benefits of former officers of the communist state security services with Polish Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights.

A mission of more than 30 Belarusian, Lithuanian and Swedish young election observers are heading for Republic of Poland for this weekend. The monitors are going to observe the quality of election as Poles are voting for a new Head of State after the death of President Lech Kaczynski in a plane crash in the Russian Federation.

On November 3, 2009 the European Court of Human Rights passes a judgment in the case Lautsi v. Italy (Application no. 30814/06). It ruled unanimously that crucifixes displayed on the walls of Italian public school’s classes are contrary to parents’ right to educate their children in line with their convictions and to children’s right to freedom of religion.

The application for the 2011 session of the annual Human Rights Advocates Program (HRAP) at Columbia University is now available.

Republic of Poland was one of the Central European countries named in reports by Human Rights Watch and articles in The Washington Post in November 2005 as hosting USA Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) secret detention places. A few years have since passed and we are now much closer to the truth of Poland’s shameful involvement in the CIA rendition program.

Before one of the Polish courts assessor of the District Prosecutor Office brought an action claiming that she was subjected to employment discrimination concerning her disability. In a course of her work she suffered serious car accident and became a disabled person moving on a wheelchair. Subsequently she was dismissed from work.

For some time now the necessity of passing an act on civil unions has been discussed in the Republic of Poland. The Initiative Group for civil unions has been set up in order to carry debates all over the country with LGBT environments and find the best way to regulate the legal situation of people who live in homosexual relationships.