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61 people from 12 countries spent a week in Miedzeszyn near Warsaw and participated in the courses of the International Winter School on Human Rights organized by the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights. During the courses they familiarized themselves with the fundamental issues concerning human rights and the mechanisms of their protection. (24-FEB-05)

The Polish Sejm rejected the draft of the new Abortion Law prepared by the social democrats. The members of the parliament, exhorted by the right-wind parties and bishops to block the act, refused to even hold a debate on this topic and removed the work on the draft from the agenda. (23-FEB-05)

A court case of a prison inmate vs. a midwife and a doctor from prison in Grudziadz who neglected their duties – which resulted in death of an unborn child – begun last Wednesday in Grudziadz. Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights sent a representative to observe the trial. (12-FEB-05)

Again, lustration has become a hot issue of political debates and discussions throughout Republic of Poland. What contributed to it was the fact that a list of persons who cooperated or were recruited for cooperation with the Security Service (Sluzba Bezpieczenstwa) during the communist period has been taken out of the Institute of National Remembrance. (12-FEB-05)

Work is being carried out on the draft of a new Act on counteracting drug addiction. The current Act on counteracting drug addiction, which has been in force for 4 years, has not turned out to be useful. (28-JAN-05)

There are more and more signals concerning the violation of employees’ rights by stores and supermarkets in the Republic of Poland. The employees demand compensation from companies mainly for: overtime, unused holiday and dismissals contrary to the regulations. The first of such lawsuits was brought by Mrs. Bozena Lopacka against the company Biedronka, which belongs to the Portuguese chain Jeronimo Martins Distribution (JMD). (21-JAN-05)

The first session of the XXIV Human Rights School, organized by the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, took place on 7-9 January. Its participants represent various environments, including teachers, police officers, civil workers, clerics, non-government organization activists. There are still 8 sessions ahead of them and an examination in June. (14-JAN-05)

A new HFHR programme COURTWATCH was launched at the end of 2004. 100 people already participate in this programme and they include appropriately trained graduates of the School on Human Rights, as well as students, who cooperate with the HFHR. They observe the functioning of courts, especially the access to courts, the working habits of courts and judges, as well as the courts’ “friendliness”. (08-JAN-05)

On 26 December about three thousand Polish observers, sent by the OSCE and ENEMO, the student organisation Free Ukraine, the political parties Law and Justice and the Freedom Union, monitored the repeat second round of the presidential election in the Ukraine. (30-DEC-04)