POLAND - HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL, DURBAN REVIEW, HRR

C O N F I D E N T I A L WARSAW 000231 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR IO/RHS - AMY OSTERMEIER AND GAYATRI PATEL E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/02/2019 TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL PL SUBJECT: POLAND - HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL, DURBAN REVIEW, HRR REF: A. STATE 18282 ¶B. STATE 17308 Classified By: Political Counselor Daniel Sainz for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Summary. The GoP is pleased with the USG decision to be an active observer at the Human Rights Council (HRC). Poland intends to run for a seat on the HRC in 2010. The GoP will remain part of the Durban Review process despite having little hope for the draft text. The Country Report on Human Rights Practices (HRR) in Poland elicited mixed but subdued media reaction, as well as MFA concerns that the report's format could leave readers with a distorted view of Poland. However, the MFA did not dispute the report's accuracy. End Summary. Human Rights Council -------------- ¶2. (C) The MFA is pleased that the USG has decided to re-engage with the HRC as an observer and announced the GoP will run for a seat on the HRC in 2010. In a March 2 meeting (following the February 27 delivery of Ref A),Deputy Director of the MFA Department for United Nations and Human Rights, Miroslaw Lucka, told us that the timing of U.S. re-engagement is "very good" because the HRC will begin discussions this year in preparation for the HRC 2011 review. Reflecting on the GoP decision to participate early on in the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process, Luczka and Jerzy Baurski, who works in the same department, said that Poland was fortunate to complete its review before members of the HRC had learned how to misuse the UPR. Luczka and Baurski said that the process itself was helpful to Poland, and that the MFA is leading a group of interministerial experts, which met most recently two weeks ago to take stock of Poland's implementation of the UPR recommendations. Durban Review -------------- ¶3. (C) The GoP has little hope that the current Durban Review text is salvageable or that a debate over the current text will yield a positive compromise. Nevertheless, Luczka said the GoP is participating in the discussions in cooperation with other EU countries. Luczka said that Denmark and the Netherlands hope a compromise solution is possible. Baurski said that the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights may present a new, much shorter text at the upcoming conference, and that this could be a way out of the current impasse. Polish Reaction to Human Rights Report -------------- ¶4. (C) An MFA spokesman told the media that the HRR generally presents Poland in a positive light. While the MFA does not agree with all of the details, he noted, many of the specific criticisms are being debated among Poland's government, public, and media. Luczka told us the format of the report is the MFA's primary concern, because isolated incidents, described without the proper context, might easily lead readers to make broad generalizations and create a distorted view of Poland's human rights situation. Zbigniew Girzynski (PiS),a member of the Sejm Foreign Affairs Committee, denounced the report's authors as having a "total lack of knowledge about Poland." In contrast, Adam Bodnar, the Helsinki Foundation's legal counsel, told the media that the U.S. report, while "strong" in its assessment, is "true" and "factual." ¶5. (C) Comment. The GoP continues to be an excellent interlocutor on human rights issues. We may have missed an opportunity to coordinate our approach with Poland in advance of the HRC's tenth session. Nevertheless, the MFA would welcome another DVC with Washington on human rights issues as follow-up to an inaugural DVC held in September 2008. ASHE