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