Poland's new gun bill raises human rights concerns

Poland's parliament has approved controversial proposals to decriminalize in certain circumstances the use of firearms by border guards for self-defense.

NGOs say the legal changes run counter to human rights standards, but the government says they are needed to protect Poland's border with Belarus from violent migrant groups.

Last month, a 21-year-old soldier died after being stabbed while trying to stop illegal immigrants from entering the country.

Warsaw accuses Belarus of encouraging Asian and African migrants to enter Poland illegally to undermine the European Union.

Poland's new EU government had promised a way to help people with the migrant crisis.

Instead, following the stabbing of this soldier, it also established a temporary exclusion zone that prevents public scrutiny because journalists and NGOs must request passports to enter the area.

According to Deputy Minister of the Interior Maciej Duszczyk, 13 border guards have sustained permanent injuries following attacks on immigrants since the crisis began three years ago.

Mr Duszczyk said officers would only be exempt from criminal charges if they used their weapons in response to a direct attack to protect the lives of their colleagues.

“I would like to resolve any doubts about the extremeness of these provisions,” he wrote in response to concerns raised by the Council of Europe's Human Rights Commissioner, Michael O'Flaherty.

Mr O'Flaherty and other human rights organizations have urged MPs to reject these proposals saying they conflict with human rights standards.

He said the new rules could remove doubts about border guards using too much force.

“It may also lead to a situation where cases where the use of force or firearms improperly by agents of the state may lead to loss of life or bodily harm are not properly investigated, especially in cases where the victims are on the other side of the border,” he wrote in a letter to the Polish authorities.

The public seems to support Prime Minister Donald Tusk a strong border security situation, in one poll last month it received 86% support for allowing the military to use its weapons to repel attacks by some immigrants.

Many reacted angrily last month when the media revealed that three soldiers who were guarding the border were kept in handcuffs after firing more than 40 shots to warn a group of migrants who were breaking through the border fence.

Soon after, Mr Tusk announced plans to re-introduce the closure that prevents unauthorized people from entering the border and to change the gun laws.

Mr O'Flaherty urged in a separate letter to Mr Tusk to stop the practice of pushing back migrants, saying 7,317 people had been returned to Belarus, in some cases after seeking asylum in Poland, between December 2023 and June 2024.

In response, Mr. Duszczyk said: “I consider returning the migrants to the Belarusian side immediately after crossing the border as a proportional response.”

He said that immigrants who requested protection in other countries are not being returned.

NGOs estimate that 130 migrants have died in the border area of ​​Belarus and its three EU neighbours, Poland, Lithuania and Latvia in the past three years, many succumbing to exposure to sub-zero temperatures or drowning in swampy areas.

Mr Duszczyk said the new government had taken “sudden deaths at the border” as a policy, adding that 1,319 immigrants who entered Poland illegally in the past three years had been treated in Polish hospitals.

He said the non-permanent intervention teams that were established in February to search for people lost in the forests and swamps have helped 84 people.