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The Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights has on numerous occasions expressed its concerns regarding examples of applying regulations of the Penal Code that penalize defamation towards journalists in the Republic of Poland. At the same time, the Foundation has long demanded for Article 212, which provides grounds to sentence an individual even to the punishment of imprisonment for defamation, to be removed from the Polish Penal Code.(08-NOV-07)

In recent months, lawyers from the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights Legal Assistance for Refugees and Migrants Program regularly received information from foreigners, who were granted the permit for tolerated stay in Republic of Poland, about problems associated with issuing resident cards. The above information was confirmed during conversations between the Program’s lawyers and officials from the Office for Foreigners.(03-NOV-07)

The ´Thursday Club´ [Klub Czwartkowy] was officially opened on Monday, 8 October 2007. The meetings are a new initiative of the Young Journalists Association POLIS, a member organisation of the HR House in Warsaw, and are partially linked with the journalist workshops organized by this association. The club members’ meetings are held every week and Halina Bortnowska is their animator.(26-OCT-07)

On 10 October 2007 in Kosovo, the Parliamentary Commission for Legislative and Constitutional Matters approved a short list (3 candidates) for the Ombudsperson in Kosovo position. The Parliament will vote over them soon. The same day, Marek Antoni Nowicki, former Ombudsperson in Kosovo, at present the President of the Board of the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, sent an open letter to the President of the Assembly of Kosovo, Mr. Kole Berisha, in which he wrote about his concern regarding the current election procedure. ( 19-OCT-07)
 

On 26 September 2007 the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe decided to hold the ‘European Day against the Death Penalty’ every year on 10 October. However, the Day is not an official EU holiday. An international conference against the death penalty was held on Tuesday 9 October in Lisbon (Portugal) by the Council of Europe, the Portuguese presidency of the European Union and the European Commission. (11-OCT-07)

On 21 September, the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MSZ) informed that Republic of Poland had refused to grant consent for OSCE/ODHIR observers to come to the Parliamentary elections that are scheduled for 21 October 2007. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Anna Fotyga, assessed on that occasion that the note submitted to Republic of Poland regarding the observers’ arrival is an “inappropriate document”. As she emphasized, “Poland is a country with a stable democracy”. The OSCE itself considered the refusal as unprecedented. (04-OTC-07)

In March 2007, the European Court of Human Rights acknowledged the legitimacy of the complaint lodged by Alicja Tysiac against the refusal to perform an abortion and awarded her 25 thousand Euros compensation. In June, the Polish government appealed the verdict and called for renewed consideration of the complaint. The Court in Strasbourg dismissed the appeal and upheld the compensation awarded in March. (26-SEP-07)
 

Having Poland’s veto in prospect, Portugal, which heads the EU, has abandoned plans to establish the European Day Against the Death Penalty on 10 October. The decision regarding the Day was supposed to be taken during the session of the EU Justice Council on 18 September 2007. The item was taken off the agenda at the last moment. The Portuguese side decided that a confrontation between Republic of Poland and the remaining 26 EU countries is pointless. (20-SEP-07)
 

The ´Prom´ Foundation of Educators and Youth, the Association of Young Journalists POLIS and the Viridarium Polish Students Group against Anti-Semitism and Xenophobia – one of the member organisations of the Human Rights House in Warsaw – are the authors of the educational project ´Warsaw Diversified: Youth Program aimed at Accepting Differences´ [´Warszawa Roznolita: Mlodziezowy program akceptacji roznic´]. (14-SEP-07)