METHODOLOGY

Amnesty International has continuously monitored the human rights situation of LGBTI people in Poland. This report seeks to analyse the trajectory of two interlinked rights – freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of expression – in the context of shrinking space for LGBTI rights defenders in Poland over the period 2017-2021. There is a direct link between the progressive erosion of these rights and the harassment, profiling and targeting of LGBTI rights activists. The report is based on the qualitative research carried out between October 2021 and May 2022. Amnesty International conducted 54 semi-structured interviews with 49 people, 44 of whom self-identified as LGBTI people and five as allies. Research into government responses to LGBTI groups was conducted mainly through desk research, consultations with experts and analysis of official correspondence between representatives of the Polish government and the Commissioner for Human Rights (Ombudsman). Amnesty International also analysed the content of two parliamentary questions to the Ministry of the Interior regarding anti-LGBTI hate crimes and LGBTI refugees. 1 Amnesty International sought to include among those interviewed and consulted persons representing diversity in terms of sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and sex characteristics, although the organisation was not able to interview intersex people. Amnesty also sought to include the views of people from diverse socio-economic backgrounds from various regions of Poland, 2 though most individuals interviewed lived in large Polish cities, often declaring a direct link between their relocation to urban centres and their activism for LGBTI rights. The report uses the pronouns preferred by the individuals. In compliance with informed consent given by interviewees and as is the norm in Amnesty International’s investigations, we provide the date of when the interview took place but have protected the identity of some of the people with whom we have spoken by using a pseudonym or other means to anonymize the individual, their location, nationality and any other identifying details, in accordance with their wishes. Eleven interviews were conducted virtually or by telephone, the remaining ones were face-to-face interviews at the headquarters of Amnesty International Poland or at a location selected by the interviewees. All of the interviews were conducted in Polish by a native-speaking researcher. Amnesty International 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. The report also relies on publicly available information from the Ombudsman’s Office, particularly when it constituted a record of communication between them and relevant state actors in cases described in the report.

1 Poland, Parliamentary question to Ministry of Interior on LGBTI asylum seekers, 16 February 2022 (answered on 8 March 2022), sejm.gov.pl/Sejm9.nsf/interpelacja.xsp?typ=INT&nr=31375&view=5; Poland, Parliamentary question to Ministry of Interior on hate crimes motivated by homophobia, biphobia and transphobia, 18 January 2022 (answered on 11 April 2022), sejm.gov.pl/sejm9.nsf/interpelacja.xsp?typ=INT&nr=30504. 2 Both from the east (Białystok), west (Poznań, Gorzów Wielkopolski, Gniezno), north (Trójmiasto, Szczecin) and south (Częstochowa, Kraków) of Poland.

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Amnesty International also held interviews with representatives of Poland’s Human Rights Commissioner’s (Ombudsman’s) Office and members of Parliament. Amnesty International also met with the Plenipotentiary for Human Rights of National Police of Poland. Additionally, the research team requested information from the municipal authorities of Dębica and Białystok, but only received information from the officials in Białystok. Requests for official meetings were sent to the Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Justice and Headquarters of National Police in accordance with the Right of Reply Procedure on 15 June 2022. All representatives of the Polish authorities mentioned in the report were provided with an opportunity to respond to its main findings prior to publication. Amnesty International has received written responses from the Ministry of Interior3 and the Headquarters of National Police;4 the Ministry of Justice decided not to respond to Amnesty International’s request for the statement. 5 Responses received are reflected in this report. Amnesty International observed four Equality Marches – in Bydgoszcz, Bialystok and Płock in 2019 and in Bialystok in 2021 – and four court hearings in proceedings against LGBTI activists charged with offending religious beliefs in Płock and one hearing of an activist charged with damaging a monument in Warsaw. Researchers also spoke to organizers and participants of the Equality Marches in Bialystok, Czestochowa, Gniezno, Krakow, Lublin, Lodz, Nowy Sacz, Rzeszow, Tri-City, Poznan, and Warsaw. It also participated in the Congress of Equality Marches 2021 in Łódź in October 2021. Amnesty International was also witness to the events of 7 August 2020, when police used unlawful force to disperse a spontaneous protest against the preventative detention of LGBTI activist Margot Szutowicz.

AKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Amnesty International thanks all those who took the time to share their experiences, expertise and views during the research for this report. In particular, the organisation would like to thank LGBTI individuals for so courageously and generously sharing their personal experiences and/or putting their friends and acquaintances in contact with our researchers. We are also grateful to the lawyers, academics and representatives of NGOs and collectives who generously shared their time and knowledge. Amnesty International also acknowledges the responses of the Ministry of Interior and Headquarters of National Police to our requests for information and meetings. The Ministry of Justice has informed Amnesty International it is not willing to respond to the request for a meeting or statement.

3 Response of the Ministry of Interior to the request for information and meeting sent by Amnesty Internationa, 4 July 2022, on file with Amnesty International. 4 Response of the National Chief of Police Jarosław Szymczyk, dated 27 June 2022, to the request for information and meeting sent by Amnesty International on 15 June 2022, on file with Amnesty International. 5 Information with a refusal response provided by the Secretariat of the Ministry of Justice on 4 July 2022.

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