Poland’s new weapons bill raises human rights concerns

The Polish parliament has passed controversial proposals to decriminalize the use of weapons by border guards for self-defense in certain cases.

NGOs say the legal changes violate human rights standards, but the government says they are necessary to protect Poland’s border with Belarus from increasingly aggressive migrant gangs.

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

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

Poland’s new pro-EU government has promised a more humane approach to the migrant crisis.

Instead, after the soldier’s stabbing, they re-established a temporary border exclusion zone that hindered public scrutiny because journalists and NGOs had to apply for permits to enter the area.

Thirteen border guards have suffered permanent health damage after attacks by migrants since the crisis began three years ago, according to Deputy Interior Minister Maciej Duszczyk.

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

“I would like to address any doubts about the excessive nature 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 organisations have called on MPs to reject the proposals, saying they violate human rights standards.

He said the new rules could remove a deterrent for border patrol agents from using excessive force.

“This can also lead to situations where cases of arbitrary use of force or weapons by state agents that may result in loss of life or physical injury are not properly investigated, especially in cases where the victim is on the other side of the border,” he wrote in a letter to Polish authorities.

The public appears to support Prime Minister Donald Tusk tough stance on border security, A poll last month found 86% supported allowing soldiers to use force to repel attacks by some migrants.

Many reacted angrily last month when media revealed that three border patrol agents were arrested and handcuffed after they fired more than forty warning shots at a group of migrants who were climbing the border fence.

Shortly afterwards, Mr Tusk announced plans to re-establish a no-go zone, banning unauthorized people from part of the border and changing gun laws.

In a separate letter to Mr Tusk, Mr O’Flaherty called for an end to the pushbacks, saying 7,317 people had been returned to Belarus immediately, in some cases after they had claimed asylum in Poland, between December 2023 and June 2024.

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

Migrants who request international protection are not being returned, he said.

NGOs estimate that 130 migrants have died in the border area between Belarus and its three EU neighbours Poland, Lithuania and Latvia over the past three years, many from sub-zero temperatures or drowning in swamps.

Mr Duszczyk said the new government had made “zero deaths at the border” a principle, adding that 1,319 migrants who entered Poland illegally in the past three years had been treated in Polish hospitals.

He said irregular intervention teams set up in February to search for people lost in forests and swamps had helped 84 people.