Association Against Anti-Semitism And Xenophobia Open Republic, among other 193 polish NGO, signed an appeal to the President of the Republic of Poland to veto the amendment to the  Law on Assemblies, as it is against the Constitution of the Republic of Poland and ratified international agreements.

2nd of December 2016 r. the Seym adopted an amendment to the Law on Assemblies. During the works on the amendment the voice of numerous NGOs was completely ignored and remained unheard. At the very beginning, there was a paragraph giving the priority to the assemblies organized by public authorities and churches. The Senate during the works on the amendments removed the paragraph giving that priority, giving priority only to periodic assemblies. The Law was delivered to the President and is still limiting the equality among the citizens and the freedom of speech.

According to the Constitution and European Convention on Human Rights the key factor for judging if the assemble is legal is its peaceful character, not its periodical character or the character of its organizer (e.g. the authorities or religious association). The current legislation is able to effectively protect public order and the safety of the protesters. The proof, among many others, may be the course of events that happened 11th of November 2016 in Warsaw.

That is why absolutely unnecessary are also other propositions, such as proposed demarcation of at least 100 meters from two demonstrations taking place close to each other. This can lead to a situation, when the opposing protest loses the visual contact with the main protest, and this may lead to abusing the freedom of  public expression.

As the Constitutional Court points out “the freedom of assembly serves as a stabilization to the existing social and political order, and above all to the governance. It is a form of active participation of the citizens in the life of the state and by that the concern for the common good.

There is no permission to arbitrary and unreasonable restrictions of civil rights. The decision to limit them must be stem from the strong reasons of the national security and the security of its citizens. Today there is no such a threat, and the proposed change seem to be dictated by political convenience and the convenience of the public authorities. Therefore, we firmly oppose to the instrumental limiting of our rights and freedoms for the purpose of political power.

Letter of Intent

The content of the appeal with the list of the signatories