COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS CONSIDERS REPORT OF POLAND
The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has considered the fifth periodic report of Poland on how that country implements the provisions of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
Introducing the report, Radoslaw Mleczko, Undersecretary of State, Ministry of Labour and Social Policy of Poland, said that during the period covered by the report, Poland had joined the European Union. For individual citizens, Poland’s European Union membership translated into a higher standard of living, lower risk of unemployment, greater opportunities for education and professional development, and even the possibility of seeking a better life elsewhere in the Union. Since 2003, the situation in the labour market had been improving. Household budget surveys showed steady improvement of the financial situation of Polish families since 2004. As the global economic crisis continued, Poland’s hitherto high GDP growth rate had slowed down to 4.8 per cent in 2008, in comparison with 6.7 per cent in 2007. Registered unemployment had risen to 10.8 per cent in August 2009, in comparison to 9.1 per cent in the previous year. Nevertheless, the economy did not slip into a recession. The enjoyment of certain rights, such as the right to work, to an adequate standard of living, and to take part in cultural life, might thus be negatively impacted.
Questions and issues raised by Committee Experts included issues pertaining to the Polish Human Rights Ombudsman and its relationship with non-governmental organizations; measures to address discrimination faced by the Roma community; whether non-governmental organizations had been consulted in the drafting process of the report; discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation; how the State party planned to publicize the Covenant; the training of public officials and judges; hate crimes; how would the Government protect the equal rights of women while it prioritized its resources, when reacting to the economic crisis; whether Poland would ratify the Optional Protocol; the difference between ethnic and national minorities; the regulation of rest periods at the workplace, the daily work period and how overtime was paid; the minimum wage; and the status of the labour inspectorate and whether it currently had enough financial resources and manpower.
In concluding remarks, Mr. Mleczko said he was convinced that the information that had been provided reflected the importance that his Government attached to the implementation of social human rights. During the last few years, Poland had made significant progress in the implementation of these rights. They were aware that much remained to be done in order to overcome social problems. The current crisis limited the State’s ability to act, however it did not in any way release it from the obligation to implement the guidelines provided for in the Covenant.
Marchan Romero, Committee Chairperson, in concluding remarks, thanked the delegation for the constructive, productive and efficient dialogue. They had achieved a wide coverage of economic, social and cultural rights in their discussions due to the broad representation of the delegation.
The delegation of Poland also included representatives of the Permanent Mission of Poland in Geneva, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, the Ministry of National Education, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Interior and Administration and the Office for Foreigners.
On Monday, 9 November at 10 a.m., the Committee will take up the second periodic report of Madagascar (E/C.12/MDG/2). It is scheduled to consider the report over three meetings, concluding on Tuesday, 10 November at 1 p.m.
Report of Poland
The fifth periodic report of Poland (E/C.12/POL/5) notes that the Act on Employment and Counteracting Unemployment was replaced by the Act on Promotion of Employment and Labour Market Institutions in 2004 in order to extend the scale and effectiveness of the active forms of counteracting unemployment. The Act places special emphasis on the professionalism of employment services and introduces mechanisms which discourage passive attitudes among the unemployed. The Act identifies six groups of the unemployed in particularly difficult situations on the labour market: unemployed of up to 25 years of age; long-term unemployed; unemployed of over 50 years of age; unemployed with no professional qualifications; unemployed single parents raising at least one child of up to seven years of age; and unemployed disabled persons. Special instruments of professional activation have been provided for those persons.
In 2003, Poland ratified the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons Especially Women and Children. According to article 253 of the Penal Code, trafficking in persons, even at their consent, is a crime subject to penalty of imprisonment the term of which shall not be less than 3 years. On 16 September 2003 the Council of Ministers adopted the National Programme for
Fighting and Preventing Trafficking in Human Beings. The continuation of the programme for 2007-2008 is currently being prepared. The problem of trafficking in persons, including trafficking in women, is one of the tasks of the Central Team for Combating Trafficking in Persons, belonging to the structure of the Chief Police Headquarters. Its tasks include conducting preventive actions aimed at limiting trafficking in persons and human organs, pedophilia and child pornography; participation in the organization of international operations aimed at combating crime connected with trafficking in persons and human organs, pedophilia and child pornography; conducting investigation in the Internet environment - communicators, chats, fora and discussion lists; and systematic control of escort agencies, massage parlours and places of roadside prostitution.
Introduction of Report
RADOSLAW MLECZKO, Undersecretary of State, Ministry of Labour and Social Policy of Poland, introducing the report and focusing on the challenges Poland currently faced in the area of social human rights implementation and their efforts to respond to them, said that in 2008, Poland underwent the Universal Periodic Review. The Human Rights Council had recognised the progress made by Poland in the area of human rights. The Council had also pointed to the problematic areas and the Polish Government had taken actions to address those problems.
Mr. Mleczko noted the fact that during the period covered by the report, Poland had joined the European Union. This year they had celebrated the fifth anniversary of their European Union membership. Its positive impact was clearly visible and it included accelerated GDP growth, modernization of government administration, and heavy investments in infrastructure projects and in human capital development.
For individual citizens, Poland’s European Union membership translated into a higher standard of living, lower risk of unemployment, greater opportunities for education and professional development, and even the possibility of seeking a better life elsewhere in the Union, said Mr. Mleczko.
Since 2003, the situation in the labour market had been improving, said Mr. Mleczko. Household budget surveys showed steady improvement of the financial situation of Polish families since 2004. The share of spending on foodstuffs had been decreasing, while spending on leisure was increasing.
The Government which had come into office after the 2007 elections had put forth a four-pillar programme: prosperity building, development, security and citizenship. This plan had been spelled out in the National Development Strategy 2007-2015 and in several government programmes and strategies. The main object of the strategy was to improve the quality of life in Poland. This was to be achieved by, among other means, increasing employment rates and improving the quality of jobs, said Mr. Mleczko.
Turning to population aging, Mr. Mleczko said that it would heavily impact the labour market as well as the social security system. Government policy had so far focused on providing the elderly with income and health care services, and on supporting the family in its protective functions. However, a new approach was required due to changes in the number and structure of the elderly population. In October 2008, the Government had adopted a programme entitled: “Solidarity across generations - Measures untended to stimulate labour force participation of people aged 50+”, whose main objective was to boost the employment rate among the elderly.
Starting in 2007, the active family policy had constituted an important element of the social policy. Its short-term objective was to improve the financial situation, and thus the quality of life of families, especially those with numerous children. The long-term objective was to reverse low birth rates in Poland, said Mr. Mleczko.
In recent years, significant changes had been introduced to the care system for children deprived of parental care, said Mr. Mleczko. Universal access to family-based forms of foster care would be guaranteed, as well as to professional foster care. Combating violence in the family had also been a priority in governmental policy.
On equal treatment regardless of national or ethnic origin, Mr. Mleczko said that under a 2005 Act, public authorities were mandated to take steps to protect, preserve and develop the identity of ethnic minorities, as well as to develop the recognized regional language. The Act also significantly extended the power of minority representatives on minority matters.
The educational system had been undergoing a comprehensive reform for a number of years. Its main aims had been adjusting curricula to the needs of the labour market and ensuring equal access to the education system. As to the equal access to the educational system, particular attention was paid to children from underprivileged backgrounds, and those with special educational needs and with disabilities. Availability of kindergarten facilities was also being increased, especially in rural areas, said Mr. Mleczko.
On health care, Mr. Mleczko said the Government had resolved to tackle the chronic indebtedness of Polish health care providers, especially hospitals. This year, the Government had adopted a three-year programme of “Support to local authorities in stabilizing health care system”.
As the global economic crisis continued, Poland’s hitherto high GDP growth rate had slowed down to 4.8 per cent in 2008, in comparison to 6.7 per cent in 2007. Registered unemployment had risen to 10.8 per cent in August 2009, in comparison to 9.1 per cent in the previous year. Nevertheless, the economy did not slip into a recession. To tackle the economic slowdown, the Government had adopted a stability and growth plan, said Mr. Mleczko. Yet, the Government projected that the current world crisis would continue to have an impact on Poland in 2010. The enjoyment of certain rights, such as the right to work, to an adequate standard of living, and to take part in cultural life, might be negatively impacted.
Questions by Experts on Articles One to Five of the Covenant
Addressing issues linked to articles one to five of the Covenant, Experts made a number of comments and asked questions on various topics. They said it was good to note that the provisions of the Covenant could be invoked in Polish courts.
Turning to the Ombudsman, an Expert noted that its mandate covered economic, social and cultural rights. But, according to information at his disposal, it seemed that the Ombudsman was not doing much work on discrimination in the workplace. This was quite serious and this concern had also been raised by the European Economic and Social Committee. Could the delegation elaborate on this issue?
Another Expert mentioned the discrimination faced by the Roma community, as far as housing was concerned. There were many programmes to address this issue but it seemed that the problems were still there. This seemed to be a persistent problem, what had been done to tackle it?
One Expert found it strange that there had been no consultation process with non-governmental organizations with regard to the Committee’s last concluding observations and wondered what would happen with the Committee’s concluding observations coming out of the current review.
Other issues that were raised by Experts included discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation and what was being done to ensure that all organizations, especially lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender ones, were given a fair hearing in Poland; what was being done in order to increase the role of non-governmental organizations in public life; how the State Party planned to publicize the Covenant; the training of public officials and judges; and hate crimes.
One Expert noted that Poland’s core document was starting to get old and that it should be updated with Poland’s next submission. Also Poland should include information on articles one to five in its next report, contrary to what had been done this time.
Another Expert noted that the head of delegation, in his introductory statement had mentioned that, to combat the crisis, there would be an allocation of resources that would be distributed by priority needs. As there were currently no laws on equal rights between men and women and non-discrimination in Poland, how would the Government protect the equal rights of women while it prioritized its resources?
One Expert noted that the delegation of Poland, with 20 members, was quite strong. Looking at the ministries that were represented, he noted that the health, labour and social sectors were strongly represented. But it would have been good to also have representatives from the other sectors that were also of importance to the Covenant, such as cultural rights and the rights of ethnic minorities.
The Expert also noted, on ethnic minorities, that there was an Act on national and ethnic minorities, which tried to define what was what, but that after having read it several times, it was still not clear to him on what basis this distinction was made. Poland only recognized four ethnic minorities and nine national minorities. Could the delegation elaborate on this aspect?
Response by Delegation
Answering these questions and others, the delegation said that, on the participation of non-governmental organizations and trade unions in the preparation of the report, it was true that the social partners had not participated in the preparation of the report as it was the Government which had the duty to prepare the report.
The report was however a public document and everyone had access to it, as well as the documents which had served as the basis for the elaboration of the report. This was governed by the law on access to information, said the delegation.
As the Polish report was quite voluminous and the material scope was very broad it had been difficult to appeal to all interested actors and thus, the Government had waited for requests. As of next year, the report and the Committee’s concluding observations, as well as other documents would be posted on the Government’s website, said the delegation.
As regards to the signing of the Optional Protocol, the delegation said that Poland had actively participated in the negotiations and that they had already presented their position. Poland considered that the nature of international obligations regarding civil and political rights was different from economic, social and cultural rights. This differentiation had been drawn by States in a reasoned manner; it was not possible to change this. The Optional Protocol was thus not justified.
On the make-up of the delegation, a member of the delegation said that while not all ministries were represented, the delegation had been briefed on various issues and were also able to answer questions on issues linked to other ministries.
On the status of civil society in Poland, the delegation indicated that Poland had well developed trade unions and that non-governmental organizations were performing their roles very well.
On the Ombudsman for human rights, the delegation said they were not entitled to speak for it, as it was an independent institution. A member of the delegation read out an official statement by the Ombudsman, which was published on the Ombudsman website, to respond to an unfortunate statement he had made during a radio show. This event had prompted some civil society representatives to raise concerns over the position of the Ombudsman on certain human rights.
In the written statement, the Ombudsman apologized to all persons who had been hurt by his remarks during which he had allowed himself very unfortunate remarks, saying that he disliked feminists. This did not reflect his attitude towards the women’s human rights organizations with which he cooperated fruitfully, said the statement of the Ombudsman, read out by the delegation.
To show evidence that Poland was taking a serious approach with regard to equal treatment, the delegation highlighted the fact that among the basic rights granted by the Labour Code was the right of every employee to be equally treated. The Code also covered equal treatment and a ban on any forms of discrimination.
Turning to how Poland defined the difference between national and ethnic minorities, the delegation said that the definition was based on the legislative achievements of the United Nations, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the Council of Europe.
The delegation further indicated that the national minorities defined those Polish citizens who resided within the territory of Poland, due to the geopolitical changes that had happened in history, but whose ancestors had been associated with neighbouring countries. National minorities included, amongst others, Germans Russians and Byelorussians. Ethnic minorities were composed by communities differing from the majority in terms of cultural and religious aspect, who wished to continue to express this and who had no specific country of origin. Ethnic minorities included, amongst other the Tatar community, the Roma community or the Lemks.
The Government of Poland attached special attention to these very small ethnic minorities. Out of 40 million Polish citizens, only about 15 thousand were of Roma ethnic origin. Funds were allocated to them every year aimed at supporting the integration of the Roma minority, such as funds aimed at education, fight against unemployment, and other measures such as enabling the Roma population to find jobs more easily, and offering them vocational training.
On human rights training, the delegation said that teachers were being taught how to provide human rights information. Border guards and prison service personnel, as well as judges and prosecutors, were also being trained in combating discrimination.
Clarification by Chairman
MARCHAN ROMERO, Chairperson of the Committee, reacting to the issue of the status of the Covenant, said that he respected the position of Poland but that the Committee did not share the view that the rights contained in the Covenant were of a different nature than civil and political rights. The Committee considered all the rights contained in the Covenant to be equally binding, as they were contained in an international treaty. It was however true that the implementation of the provisions of the Covenant differed from the implementation of civil and political rights.
All of the provisions contained in the Covenant had a minimum level of obligation, which had to be implemented in order to give substance to the rights contained in the Covenant. Further, States around the world had evolved towards the broader view that the rights of the Covenant were equal to political and civil rights, at least with respect to the minimum obligation. Mr. Marchero highlighted the fact that this view was visible when looking at the Vienna Declaration and the fact that the international community had recently adopted, by consensus, the decision creating the Optional Protocol.
Questions by Experts on Articles Six to Nine
Turning to articles six to nine of the Covenant, an Expert raised the issue of the differential treatment given to some migrant workers; resident permits were issued to Poles coming from the former Soviet Union. This meant that they were being favoured over other migrant worker. Was Poland planning to ratify the Convention on Migrant Workers?
Other issues that were raised pertained to, among other things, the regulation of rest periods at the workplace; the daily work period and how overtime was being paid; the minimum wage; what was done to ensure a dignified standard of living; the status of the labour inspectorate and whether it currently had enough financial resources and manpower; the practice of disciplinary firings; and whether Poland planned to update the 1998 Act on the Social Security System.
Another Expert highlighted the fact that the Polish Government, over the past year, had made great efforts which had resulted in the Polish economy, while facing the global economic crisis, not witnessing serious downturns. The Polish economy had not sunk into recession although the growth of GDP had become lower and Poland could still record a growth of about 11 per cent in 2009.
An Expert also noted that the report mentioned the fact that police intervention in cases of family violence was increasing, but for him that did not necessarily mean that the number of cases of violence itself had also increased.
Response by Delegation
Concerning the maximum number of hours of work, the delegation indicated that in some cases it could be up to 16 hours within a 24 hour period. This extension was permissible only if the work consisted of supervising equipment or for someone who was on the call. Any person worked a maximum of 40 hours in a five-day work-week.
On overtime and how it was remunerated, the delegation said that when an employee worked more than the mandatory eight hours at work within a 24 hour period, he was paid for every additional hour.
On the minimum wage, the delegation indicated that recently, as part of the Tripartite Commission, they had been able to agree with trade unions on a minimum wage, which accounted for 40 per cent of the average wage in Poland.
The delegation also said that there was no reference to equal pay between men and women in the Polish Labour Code.
On the State’s Labour Inspectorate, the delegation said that overall employment in the inspectorate had increased in past years. The number of labour inspectors had also been recently increased.
The delegation said that Poland expected to be able to achieve the European Union’s employment strategy by 2020. This seemed a bit late as it would be 10 years later than the initial objective, but this showed the gravity of the situation in Poland.
On the age of retirement and the difference between men and women, the delegation said that until recently it had been 56 for women and 61 for men. This had changed last year to 60 for women and 65 for men.
The delegation said that women in Poland were more and more aware that the later they went into retirement, the higher their pension would be. Discussion on the harmonization of the retirement age was ongoing in Polish society, including in the media, think-tanks and the Government and more and more people were realizing that the lower retirement age was harmful to women.
On foreigners, the delegation said that legislation provided for the fact that certain social services were granted to foreigners, depending on their status and whether they were refugees or under temporary protection status. Each social benefit had to be considered separately to see who was entitled to it.
Questions by Experts on Articles Ten to Twelve
In questions concerning articles ten to twelve, an Expert said that, with regard to health, neurosis and depression ranked very high among health problems affecting women in Poland. What was the situation with regard to the availability of mental health doctors in rural areas?
Also, children were increasingly developing food and respiratory allergies. What was the State party doing with regard to fighting pollution? Further, the Expert also asked what was being done to address the issue of tobacco consumption among women.
Since “binge drinking” amongst adolescents, children, and the unemployed was on the increase, what was the Government doing about it, asked an Expert.
Were contraceptives made available at affordable prices? Why had the law on equality not been approved yet and what were the difficulties it was encountering, wondered another Expert.
Other questions asked by Experts included what was the perspective about same-sex marriages in Poland? Were there any projects to draft legislation forbidding corporal punishment?
Response by Delegation
Responding to these questions and others, the delegation said that they had indeed observed that depression grew faster among women than among men. But this was a feature of the illness itself. More mental clinics were being built in rural areas.
Allergies to pollens were a natural civilization development, and Poland was currently experiencing a shortage of doctors who were able to treat these allergies, said the delegation. The Ministry of Health had recognized this as being a priority issue and was trying to increase the number of doctors specialized in this area by offering grants to those medical students that wished to specialize in this area.
Obesity was not a problem as big in Poland as in other developed countries, said the delegation, but they had started implementing programmes to fight obesity.
Concerning the National Programme on Social Protection and Social Exclusion and to what extent social rights were being dealt with in this programme, the delegation said that the aim of this programme was not to promote any particular set of human rights. The idea was rather to coordinate various Government policies and to achieve better governance.
On housing, the delegation indicated that this February the Government had amended the law on financial assistance for social housing.
Concerning the Roma and their access to housing, the delegation said that they did not know of any case of a refusal and that such an issue had never been raised by any representatives of the Roma community. The delegation wished to have access to the data that was available to the Committee stating the contrary.
With regards to abortion, there had been no proven incident of a death of any woman as a result of abortion during the last year, said the delegation.
Questions by Experts on Articles Thirteen to Fifteen
On articles thirteen to fifteen, an Expert wondered what the State party had done with regards to the recommendation of the Committee to include sexual education in the national school curricula.
Another Expert wondered what measures had been undertaken to protect women from clandestine abortion.
An Expert noted that while the delegation had spoken a lot about the Roma minority, not much was said about other minorities and wondered whether it was only the Polish Roma minority which had problems. Further, how many Roma children were in primary schools? Were there any students in university and higher institutions that were of Roma origin?
What measures had the Government put in place to address homophobic incidents and homophobic bullying in schools, wondered an Expert.
Another Expert noted that not much information was available in the report about higher education. Could the delegation give some clarification and comments with regard to the status of free education in Poland? It seemed that most of the university students had to pay fees in practice and that only a limited of seats were covered by the State scholarships.
As some sectors of the society might be negatively affected by the current economic crisis and as the participation in cultural life was also a substantive right and with a wide spectrum, an Expert wondered how the delegation perceived the negative aspect of the crisis on culture. Were there any subsidies for the promotion of cultural life that had been cancelled? Had there been any other savings which had been made with regard to access to culture?
Response by Delegation
On the inclusion of sexual education in the national curricula, the delegation said that such courses were included in it, as well as courses on conscientious parenthood; and methods and means of conscientious procreation. This had only recently been implemented, through an amendment that was adopted in September. All pupils had to attend these educational classes as mandatory classes, unless their parents would submit, in written form, a request to stop the participation of their children in such classes.
On homophobia events in schools, the delegation said that a textbook for teachers dealt with all aspects of discrimination and human rights.
On the number of Roma in Poland, the delegation said that it was about 15,000. The number of Roma pupils in schools was 2,012. In higher education, 68 Roma were college students.
On culture, the head of the delegation indicated that, for many years he had had the responsibility of organizing cultural events. He had organized scores of exhibitions and concerts funded by the Government and the private sector. Their fears about the financing of culture stemmed only from deep concerns and they did not want the crisis to impact their cultural life. They would do their best to provide different forms of financing to enhance access to culture for their citizens.
Concluding Remarks
RADOSLAW MLECZKO, Undersecretary of State, Ministry of Labour and Social Policy of Poland, thanked the Committee for the dialogue. He was convinced that the information that had been provided reflected the importance that his Government attached to the implementation of social human rights. During the last few years, Poland had made significant progress in the implementation of these rights. They were aware that much remained to be done in order to overcome social problems and they would consider the opinions submitted by the Committee members regarding the situation in Poland as an important road sign in their efforts to implement social human rights.
Mr. Mleczko said they were also aware of the need to continue their efforts to further improve the implementation of economic, social and cultural rights. The current crisis limited the State’s ability to act, however it did not in any way release it from the obligation to implement the guidelines provided for in the Covenant.
MARCHAN ROMERO, Committee Chairperson, thanked the delegation for the constructive, productive and efficient dialogue. They had achieved a wide coverage of economic, social and cultural rights in their discussions due to the broad representation of the delegation.
For use of the information media; not an official record
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