{"id":653,"date":"2024-07-26T18:41:42","date_gmt":"2024-07-26T18:41:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=653"},"modified":"2024-07-26T18:41:42","modified_gmt":"2024-07-26T18:41:42","slug":"polands-new-firearms-bill-sparks-human-rights-concerns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=653","title":{"rendered":"Poland’s new firearms bill sparks human rights’ concerns"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\"ReutersReuters<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

A soldier stands guard near the fence on the Belarusian-Polish border<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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Poland\u2019s parliament has approved controversial proposals to decriminalize in certain circumstances the use of firearms by border guards in self-defence.<\/p>\n

NGOs say the legal changes contravene human rights standards, but the government says they are needed to protect Poland\u2019s border with Belarus from increasingly aggressive gangs of migrants.<\/p>\n

Last month, a 21-year-old soldier died after he was stabbed trying to prevent migrants enter the country illegally.<\/p>\n

Warsaw accuses Belarus of encouraging Asian and African migrants to enter Poland illegally to destabilise the European Union.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Poland\u2019s new pro-EU government had promised a more humanitarian approach to the migrant crisis.<\/p>\n

Instead, following the soldier\u2019s stabbing, it re-established a temporary border exclusion zone that hinders public oversight because journalists and NGOs must request passes to enter the area.<\/p>\n

According to Deputy Interior Minister Maciej Duszczyk, 13 border protection officers have suffered permanent health damage following attacks by migrants since the crisis began three years ago.<\/p>\n

Mr Duszczyk said officers would only be exempt from criminal liability if they use their weapons in response to a direct assault to protect colleagues\u2019 lives.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would like to resolve any doubts about the excessive nature of these provisions,\u201d he wrote in response to concerns raised by the Council of Europe\u2019s Commissioner for Human Rights, Michael O\u2019Flaherty.<\/p>\n

Mr O\u2019Flaherty and other human rights\u2019 organisations urged MPs to reject the proposals saying they contravene human rights\u2019 standards.<\/p>\n

He said the new rules may remove the disincentive for border patrols to use excessive force.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt may also lead to a situation where the circumstances in which the arbitrary use of force or firearms by state agents may result in the loss of life or bodily harm are not properly investigated, particularly in cases where the victims are on the other side of the border,\u201d he wrote in a letter to the Polish authorities.<\/p>\n

The public seems to support Prime Minister Donald Tusk\u2019s tough stance on border security,<\/a> with one poll last month finding 86% support for allowing soldiers to use their weapons to repel attacks by some migrants.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"EPAEPA<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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Many reacted angrily last month when the media revealed that three soldiers patrolling the border had been detained and handcuffed after they fired more than forty warning shots towards a group of migrants who were breaking through the border fence.<\/p>\n

Shortly afterwards, Mr Tusk announced plans to re-introduce the exclusion zone banning unauthorised people to enter part of the border and change the law on the use of firearms.<\/p>\n

Mr O\u2019Flaherty appealed in a separate letter to Mr Tusk to stop the practice of migrant pushbacks, saying 7,317 people had been summarily returned to Belarus, in some cases after they had requested asylum in Poland, between December 2023 and June 2024.<\/p>\n

In response, Mr Duszczyk said: \u201cI consider returning the migrants to the Belarusian side immediately after crossing the border as a proportionate reaction.”<\/p>\n

He said migrants who asked for international protection were not being returned.<\/p>\n

NGOs estimate 130 migrants have died in the border zone in Belarus and its three EU neighbours, Poland, Lithuania and Latvia in the last three years, many succumbing to exposure in sub-zero temperatures or drowning in marshy areas.<\/p>\n

Mr Duszczyk said the new government has assumed \u201czero deaths at the border\u201d as a principle, adding that 1,319 migrants who entered Poland illegally in the last three years have been treated in Polish hospitals.<\/p>\n

He said non-permanent intervention teams created in February to search for people who have got lost in forests and swamps have helped 84 people.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reuters A soldier stands guard near the fence on the Belarusian-Polish border Poland\u2019s parliament has approved controversial proposals to decriminalize in certain circumstances the use of firearms by border guards…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":654,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[1080,1084,1079,1082,1078,1083,1081],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nPoland's new firearms bill sparks human rights' concerns - Frisco Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The bill will allow troops to open fire on migrants crossing the border when soldiers feel under threat.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=653\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Poland's new firearms bill sparks human rights' concerns - 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