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Polish lawmakers voted on Friday (July 26) to allow security forces to use lethal force with impunity when responding to active threats, including on the tense Belarus border.
The pan-European human rights body the Council of Europe and other campaigners have expressed concern that police, border guards and soldiers may now be able to act without accountability, even to the point of killing people.
The bill, which still needs the president’s signature, was introduced after a Polish soldier was stabbed to death on the Belarusian border.
Poland, a NATO and EU member, has accused Minsk’s ally Moscow of trying to smuggle thousands of Africans into Europe by flying them first into Russia and then to Poland’s border with Belarus.
Under the new law, security forces will not be held criminally liable if they violate regulations and use weapons or direct force that poses a threat to personal or national security.
Michael O’Flaherty, the Council of Europe’s human rights commissioner, expressed concern that the bill could “result in a lack of accountability and demonstrate a lack of commitment to human rights obligations”.
He added earlier this month that “it could create a legal and policy framework that would provide a disincentive for state agents deployed in border areas or other contexts within their boundaries to not abide by proportionality rules on the use of force and firearms”.
Polish lawyer and activist Hanna Machinska said on Friday that “national security issues cannot be a carte blanche for human rights violations.”
“As some have said, having a rule like this is tantamount to a license to kill, which does not make any sense,” she told TOK FM radio.
Earlier this month, Poland said it would strengthen its military presence and fortifications on its border with Belarus due to “continued provocations”.
In June, a soldier patrolling the border was stabbed by a 5-meter-high metal fence that Poland built in 2022 to keep out migrants.
The Polish army also reported other attacks against troops in the border region.
Read more by Euractiv
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