Like every year, ODF took an active part in the OSCE’s Warsaw Human Dimension Conference. Unlike in 2022 we didn’t just focus the assembly’s attention on rule of law challenges in Poland, but also presented our findings on financial exclusion stemming from the abuse of AML/CFT laws by authoritarian states.
The Warsaw Human Dimension Conference is a 10-day event dedicated to discussions on human rights and fundamental freedoms within the OSCE area. Organised by the OSCE Chairpersonship of North Macedonia in 2023, with support from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), the conference evaluates the implementation of OSCE Human Dimension commitments.
Participants address topics such as democratic institutions, the rule of law, tolerance, non-discrimination, fundamental freedoms, and humanitarian issues. Representatives from OSCE participating States, intergovernmental organisations, civil society, and other stakeholders attend. The conference fosters dialogue, encourages presentations of current work, and highlights urgent issues for the international community, hence ODF has a major presence there every year. Apart from presenting our work and priorities during the plenary session, we organise hearings, or side events, allowing us to dive deeper on specific OSCE human dimension commitments which are part of our advocacy work.
As part of the plenary, our Martin Mycielski took the floor to remind foreign diplomats & representatives of international institutions of the continuing abuses by Zbigniew Ziobro’s politicised public prosecution. The topic was especially timely considering the peak of the electoral period and last chance for Poland to move away from the authoritarian path of the Law and Justice government. ODF’s VP presented the latest edition of our annual report on the prosecution service, mentioning cases of persecuted activists like Bart Staszewski and our own Bartosz Kramek, politicians like then-opposition leader Donal Tusk and Roman Giertych, entrepreneurs like Piotr Osiecki and Przemysław Krych or artists like rapper Mata & writer Jakub Żulczyk.
Martin also asked Poland’s ambassador to the OSCE, who had earlier praised OSCE’s electoral observers, how the government plans to explain to them the state TV propaganda clearly favouring the ruling party ahead of the elections. Martin also invited the session’s participants to join ODF’s special launch event for our 2023 report, which took place within the WHDC on the upcoming Monday.
ODF’s second intervention during the plenary session was delivered by our Chief Advocacy Officer, Kasia Szczypska. She highlighted the financial exclusion resulting from the abuse of Anti-Money Laundering & Counter Financing Terrorism (AML/CFT) rules, which has turned into a low-cost weapon for oppressive governments to retaliate against their adversaries. Kasia presented our own case of being de-banked in Belgium as an example. The abuse has disrupted the lives and human rights activities of many others much more than ourselves, from Erdogan’s critics like Ismail Sezgin to freedom fighters like Alexei Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation. Our CAO presented a vital, practical solution to such situations: Bitcoin, which has served as a lifeline against financial exclusion and political repression, facilitating humanitarian fundraising and aid delivery. Most recently, it even protected Guatemala’s elections against tampering.
On October 6th, ODF’s Bartosz Kramek was invited to speak within an expert panel on integrating civil society in the work of national parliaments and international parliamentary organisations. The event was organised by OSCE PA Vice-President Kyriakos Hadjiyianni (Cyprus) and featured, apart from Bartosz, Andrew Gardner from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, and Nana Kalandadze, Programme Manager at International IDEA. During his remarks, ODF’s Supervisory Board Chair stressed that ensuring smooth access for civil society to the sessions of parliaments and transnational institutions, in order to update parliamentarians on emerging threats to democratic societies, remains of vital importance. In that context he mentioned ODF’s recommendations to revamp the rules of procedure of parliaments and parliamentary assemblies, increasing transparency and facilitating the work of NGOs.
Last but not least, on October 9th, as our main input to the conference, ODF had the honour to organise the most popular (as it turned out) side event of the session: the launch of our 2023 Malicious Prosecution report, featuring a stellar array of speakers:
- Leszek Balcerowicz, former deputy PM and Finance Minister
- Przemysław Krych, Founder of Cornerstone Investment Management
- Piotr Osiecki, Founder of Altus TFI
- Jakub Karnowski, economist and former Chairman of the Board of PKP S.A. (Polish state railways)
- Bartosz Kramek, ODF’s Supervisory Board Chair
- moderated by ODF’s Vice-President Martin Mycielski
Following an introduction to the challenges to the rule of law and Polish economy from Prof. Balcerowicz, the panellists recounted their own stories of falling victim to Zbigniew Ziobro’s politicised prosecution service – from being punished for philanthropic endeavours to becoming a scapegoat for Law and Justice’s largest financial scandal. All of the above are of course described in detail in our report, as well as in dedicated mini-reports in the cases of P. Krych and P. Osiecki. The room was packed to the brim with diplomats, representatives of international institutions and media, with the presentations being recounted i.a. by leading Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita.
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