Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights expressed concern about situation on Poland-Belarus border

The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Michael O’Flaherty, has published today two letters sent on July 17th to the Polish Prime Minister and the Marshal of the Senate of Poland concerning the human rights situation on the border with Belarus, sb.by reports with reference to the Council of Europe press release

In his letter to Prime Minister Donald Tusk, the Commissioner expressed concern about the reported continuing practice of summary returns of persons across the Polish-Belarusian border – in contradiction with Poland’s obligations under international human rights law – and the human rights consequences of the so-called buffer zone established on part of that border. Michael O’Flaherty urged the Polish authorities to ‘ensure that all laws and practices in connection with the situation on Poland’s border with Belarus comply with the relevant Council of Europe standards in the field of human rights’.

In his letter to the Marshal of the Senate, Commissioner O’Flaherty expressed concern about the bill proposing to exempt from criminal liability certain categories of state agents deployed in border areas who – under certain conditions and in situations of urgency – use direct force or firearms in violation of the applicable rules or who authorise such use by others. According to the Commissioner, ‘the bill, if adopted, may create a legal and policy framework that provides a disincentive for state agents deployed in the border areas, or in other situations within its scope, to act in respect of the rules on the proportionality in the use of force and firearms’. Combined with the effects of the so-called buffer zone and the resulting decrease in the level of public scrutiny of the actions of security forces deployed there, the bill could thus ‘foster a lack of accountability and suggest a lack of commitment to human rights obligations’. The Commissioner called on members of the Senate to refrain from adopting the bill in its current form.

Recognising the seriousness and complexity of the tasks faced by the Polish authorities in managing migration at the border, the Commissioner stressed that ‘the invocation of national security cannot serve as a carte blanche to adopt measures that raise questions of compatibility with human rights standards’.