EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
"We don't know where this campaign of hate will stop. Vehicles with homophobic slogans drive on the streets with impunity, but it's us who are to be punished and suffer. It is because of this long-standing activism that I am in a such bad state today" Jacek, a long-time activist and organizer of Equality March Amnesty International has repeatedly sounded the alarm about the actions of the authorities in Poland which have shrunk the space for civil society around the country, undermined the rule of law, attacked women’s and LGBTI people’s rights and those who defend them, particularly over the last five years. Although the space for civil society has been targeted and restricted by the authorties for all those standing up to defend human rights, there are specific ways in which state officials and the police have violated the rights of LGBTI people wishing to engage in the civic space. Hostile and stigmatising rhetoric against LGBTI people, including by high-level officials, is having increasingly harmful consequences that are clearly translating into more violence and discrimination on the basis of people’s actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. The atmosphere of hostility against LGBTI people has been particularly growing since the change of government in 2015, which has been accompanied with a sustained repression of their rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly. As demonstrated in this report, there is a direct link between the progressive erosion of these rights and the harassment, profiling and targeting of LGBTI activists. This report exposes the deplorable situation of LGBTI people and their allies in Poland. It evidences both the deliberate actions and failures to act by authorities and law enforcement officials that constitute violations of LGBTI people’s human rights and create a more dangerous environment for LGBTI people and those who support them. The findings of this research detail the extent of the violations of the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and expression documented by Amnesty International between 2017 and 2021. Each section analyses a different aspect of the obligations that states have under international human rights law to respect, protect and facilitate peaceful protests, followed by sections analysing the challenges faced by LGBTI defenders when engaging in the civic space. This report is the result of Amnesty International's research conducted between October 2021 and May 2022 across Poland. Researchers conducted 51 semi-structured interviews with 49 people, 44 of whom selfidentified as LGBTI people and five as allies. The organization also interviewed the legal representatives of over 20 individuals that have been facing cases in court and more than 15 representatives of NGOs, journalists and experts on LGBTI rights in Poland. Amnesty International also held interviews with “THEY TREATED US LIKE CRIMINALS” FROM SHRINKING SPACE TO HARASSMENT OF LGBTI ACTIVISTS Amnesty International
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