Human rights situation and challenges in Poland today. Racism and Xenofobia in time of Corona - Jacek Dzięgielewski "NEVER AGAIN" Association

Human rights situation and challenges in
  Poland today. Racism and Xenofobia
           in time of Corona

              Jacek Dzięgielewski
           “NEVER AGAIN” Association

”NEVER AGAIN” Association
https://www.facebook.com/respect.diversity/

”NEVER AGAIN” Association – Mission
• COUNTERACT RACISM, XENOPHOBIA AND INTOLERANCE

• HATE CRIME MONITORING

• EDUCATION AGAINST RACIAL AND ETHNIC PREJUDICES

Marcin Kornak ‘Brown Book’

Hate crimes and incidents
in the ‘Brown Book’:

• murders (more than 70 in Poland from
 1989 till today),
• assaults and beatings motivated by racism, neofascism and xenophobia,
• insults against persons deemed to be ‘foreign’, ‘non true Pole’,
• hate speech in media,
• radical nationalist demonstrations,
• destructions of cemeteries,
• on the stadiums: antisemitic and racist songs and banners.

Hate in Times of coronavirus

• Since the beginning of the pandemic we have observed hate speech,
  discrimination and physical violence towards people from Asia and
  other nationalities / ethnic origins
• We also noted lots of hate online, including popular YouTube
  channels
• The hate was also taking place in the public media – television and
  radio
• With the restrictions and people staying home, majority of the above
  issues moved to the Internet

Report “Virus of Hate”

• As a reaction to the mentioned incidents, the “NEVER AGAIN”
  Association published a special edition of the “Brown Book” entitled
  “Virus of Hate”
• The report received widespread attention in Polish and foreign media
  and sparked the debate about hate in times of coronavirus

Some of the incidents noted in our report

• WARSAW. On February 15, the driver of an Uber taxi asked two girls
  who placed an order for his services about their nationality. They
  were Vietnamese students of Collegium Civitas. One of them related:
  “The driver stated that if we were of Chinese origin, he would not
  allow us to get in his car.”

• WARSAW. On February 28, in a wedding dress salon, two saleswomen
  indulged in acts of discrimination against two customers of
  Indonesian origin. They refused them service simply based on ethnic
  background of both women. The saleswomen, totally without reason,
  concluded that Asian women may infect them with Coronavirus. The
  owner of the salon was called in to the scene and he confirmed that
  the saleswomen will not service customers from Indonesia. He
  allegedly insisted that both women leave his store.

• WÓLKA KOSOWSKA. In March, xenophobic commentaries appeared in
  the Internet, accusing people living in Wólka Kosowska, a community
  near Warsaw, of alleged contribution to the Coronavirus epidemic.
  The commentaries incited violence against them. (This community is
  home to a well-known trading centre in which vendors come from
  many countries, mainly from Vietnam. In actual fact, it was the multi-
  cultural community of Wólka Kosowka which as the first in Poland
  organized a system of special sanitary and warning procedures about
  Coronavirus many weeks before the pandemic reached Poland).

• WROCŁAW. On March 1, during mass in the St. Michael Archangel
  church, the priest stated in his homily that the Coronavirus epidemic
  is “God’s punishment for living in the sin of homosexualism”. He is
  said to have added that Chinese people are “dirty, they eat bats and
  dead fetuses”. Invoking this type of xenophobic bias, the priest
  attributed the fault for the epidemic to the Chinese.

• WARSAW. On March 6 a group of young women and men shouted the
  word “Coronavirus” in a sneering manner at three female students of
  Collegium Civitas, all of them Vietnamese. Xenophobic behaviour was
  manifest by attributing to all people of Asian origin connections with
  the Coronavirus epidemic. None of the people assembled there
  reacted to the aggressive shouting.

• WARSAW. On March 6, a passenger on a train from Kołobrzeg to Cracow
  summoned health services because she was of the opinion that another
  traveller constituted a threat. As the main reason she quoted Asiatic
  features of the other traveller. Writer Irek Grin, travelling on the same train
  noted: “A certain lady called the police and heath services because she
  decided in her own mind that the man had Coronavirus”. The train was
  stopped for several hours at the Central Station in Warsaw, all cars were
  locked, passengers were ID’ed by the police and controlled by Railway
  Security with dogs. As it turned out, it was a false alarm, stemming from
  Coronavirus scare, associated with people who resemble Asiatics.

• WROCŁAW. On March 8 a group of assailants hit a Chinese inhabitant
  of the city - a citizen of Poland to the point at which he lost
  consciousness. The men spat in his face and felled him to the ground
  with fists. “Luckily, a passer by quickly came to the aid of the man
  lying on the ground and began to help him, involving other people
  who happened to be close by. My husband was hit straight in the face
  and was bleeding profusely. It’s good that people came to his aid at
  once” - said the wife of the victim. The man was taken to a hospital.
  He has lived in Wrocław for 25 years and is a well-known chef.

• WROCŁAW. On March 12, the Internet TV known as NTV
  (“Independent Television”) hosted Ewa Pawela (who introduces
  herself as “whistleblower of mind control”, co-founder of the Stop
  Organized Electronic Tortures association) voiced conspiracy theories
  pertaining to the origins of the Coronavirus epidemic. She claimed
  that “according to very serious scientific reports […] there is no
  possibility for it to be a natural virus”. She stated that “traces of
  programming of that pathogen” have been found and that the virus
  “has been produced in a laboratory, probably a military one with a
  very high degree of security” and that it was a “biological weapons
  laboratory”.

• GDAŃSK. On March 15, the management of a student dorm of one of
  Gdańsk universities suddenly forced a student of Japanese descent to go
  into quarantine only because he met with his own father, a university
  professor from Tokyo who was legally present in Poland. The decision of
  the dorm superintendent was not justified by any procedures that bound
  students of Polish ethnicity. The embassy of Japan intervened in this
  matter. As the father of the student wrote in a letter to the “NEVER AGAIN”
  Association, “it is difficult to understand such a decision other that
  simplified association of Coronavirus with Asians”.

Conspiracy theories

• Another concerning thing in the wake of coronavirus crisis is the rise
  in conspiracy theories, especially voiced by supporters of the far right
• They involve negation of existence of the virus, suggested genocide or
  depopulation either by the virus itself or the vaccine against it, and
  also an act of biological war (the virus as biological weapon)
• What is even more disturbing, several celebrities started supporting
  those conspiracy claims

• WARSAW. On March 21 on Twitter carrying a video with the
  participation of the Israeli ambassador in Poland, Alexander Ben Zwi,
  there appeared many antisemitic commentaries. The ambassador
  was informing Israeli citizens travelling in Poland about ways of
  getting back to that country, in connection with the Coronavirus
  epidemic. In reaction to his statement, delivered in Hebrew, Internet
  users posted, among other, the following commentaries:

• - “When you leave, Poland will get rid of the worst virus”,

• - “Oh yes… get the f.ck out of here!”,

• - “God speed, you f.cking Ikies”,

• - “Have a good one way journey!”,

• - “Take with you ¾ of your people in our government”,

• - “One way ticket…”,

• - “See you never again”,

• - “Never come back. Amen”,

• - „F.ck off, you cabalistic half-wit, together with them”,

• - “Finally a sound decision, please don’t come back and take all of your compatriots with you”,

• - “And don’t you ever come back”,

• - “Let them also take with them Jews with Polish citizenship”,

• - “Let this be the end of your parasitic existence in Poland”

• - “Raus home” [where “raus” is in German, a relic of Nazi occupation when soldiers yelled at people to get
  away – translator’s note].

• The ambassador’s statement was also commented on by Wojciech
  Sumliński, investigative journalist and columnist. On March 29, in a
  conversation published on YouTube in the wRealu24 channel (Internet
  television) he sneeringly said: “Only rarely do I agree with the Israeli
  ambassador! I think that this is an excellent idea that Jews really
  return to their fatherland!”

• WARSAW. On April 3, father Sławomoir Abramowski the parish priest of the
  St. John Paul II church in the district of Bemowo, published on Facebook a
  post in which he indicated ‘how much good had happened in Europe
  thanks to the [COVID 19 – translator’s note] disease’. Among the positive
  aspects of the pandemic, he mentioned the lack of marches for the rights
  of sexual minorities. Abramowski accused their organisers of spreading the
  coronavirus: “There are no gay parades now. It will be a long time before
  they return to Spain, because it was just such a demonstration by
  thousands of «genderists» disregarding the epidemic that became a
  biological bomb spreading the plague in Madrid.”

• POLAND. On April 6, the Sport. pl portal carried numerous racial
  commentaries below an article published within the context of the
  Coronavirus pandemic, but this time aimed at people of African origin. The
  text referred to a proposition by two French physicians to test the new
  vaccines on inhabitants of Africa. Against such notions, protests were
  expressed publicly by sportsmen, among others, Samuel Eto’o (former
  member of the FC Barcelona team) as well as Austrian footballer of
  Nigerian origin David Alaba (Bayern Munich), who wrote: “Trying a Covid-
  19 vaccine in Africa??? Are these two guys doctors or clowns? This is a kind
  of racism I could never imagine. Disgraceful and unacceptable! We all have
  to stand together and work hand in hand to fight this virus”.

• SZPROTAWA. On April 8, local media reported that the security guard
  of the Biedronka store at Młynarska Street did not let a Ukrainian
  enter the store because of his origin. One of the witnesses of this
  event reported: “When the young man wanted to enter the store, the
  security guard asked him if he was Polish or Ukrainian. When he
  replied that he was a Ukrainian, he heard that he could not go inside.”
  The employee’s xenophobic behaviour probably stemmed from the
  belief that all persons of Ukrainian origin in Szprotawa were carriers
  of the coronavirus.

• WARSAW. On April 8, the program Express Biedrzyckiej, appearing on
  YouTube within the channel of the daily “Super Express”, which was
  devoted mainly to the problem of the Coronavirus pandemic, Janusz
  Korwin-Mikke, MP from the Confederation (“Konfederacja”) party,
  made the following statement: “Men must be able to kill. If we are
  not able to kill, we will be slaughtered by Arabs, by the Chinese, by
  anyone”. The host of the programme, Kamila Biedrzycka did not react
  to this statement in any way.

Polish singers – Edyta Górniak and Ivan
Komarenko

Edyta Górniak

• Popular Polish singer, Edyta Górniak, supported conspiracy theories
• She arranged by herself an interview with xenophobic, hateful far-
  right YouTube channel wRealu24 and thanked the host of the show
  for the “in-depth analysis” of COVID situation
• She said that the virus is being used purposefully
• She also mentioned that she won’t allow any vaccine to be given to
  her and her child, instead choosing death if necessary

Ivan Komarenko

• Another popular Polish singer, representing our country on the
  Eurovision song contest in 2005
• He gave interview for YouTube channel wRealu24, talking about
  dangerous vaccines, non-existent pandemic and WHO /
  pharmacological companies creating coronavirus panic to make
  money

• WARSAW. On March 25, in an interview transmitted by YouTube on
  the wRealu24 channel (Internet TV), one of the leaders of extreme
  right and ex Catholic priest Jacek Międlar voiced conspiracy theories
  connected with the Coronavirus pandemic. He stated: “There also
  appears such a theory that this Coronavirus is a part of a plan for
  depopulation, about which Prince Charles spoke […].

• POZNAŃ. On March 28, Gandi Ganda (real name Piotr Miężał) spun
  conspiracy theories on his Facebook profile, accusing Chineses of
  intentional creation of the state of pandemic of Covid-19. The
  musician stated: “And what if the present situation is the result of
  actions by the Chinese regime which decided that a «third world war»
  should break out and take over economic supervision in a manner
  that doesn’t leave anything to illusion? […] They could have
  cultivated that virus which was found to be a shot right on the mark
  and then create a performance for the entire world.”

• - “We already know that WHO is playing not under the baton of the
  Chinese but that of the Jews. They want to paralyze Europe’s
  economy and then Jews will finish up the destruction of the European
  Union. Later, the World Bank will give the funds, and all that will
  travel to their pockets. There will come about a depopulation and
  change of population in Europe to Asians and Africans”,

• - “Jews were looking for a biological weapon against the Palestinians.
  Something went a bit wrong because they have genes similar to those
  of Palestinians. If Palestinians were destroyed, Jews would die
  together with them”,

• - “The Chinks have infected half the world, most probably resorting to
  fraud and now, f.ck it all, making money on facemasks and respirators.
  I would force them to face a tribunal. This chief of WHO is also one
  better con man. Ethiopian commie”,
• - “Coronavirus is an ideal disease. The mortality rate is not too big but
  its rate of spread allows it to block the entire system of health care.
  And this evokes panic. Those Chinks have configured it well”,
• - “A prophecy says that Poland will save the world from the yellow
  plague and total annihilation of mankind. We will then become the
  most powerful nation”,

• - “Man, understand that the virus was manufactured in a Chinese soap
  factory. In Germany and Italy they bought out all soap because they are
  sluts and had no soap at home. Poles have soap. So why virus?”,

• - “Life during the Coronavirus epidemic is like a Chinese man – zero
  morality, everyone cares only for himself and it’s better to stay at home”,

• - one of the Internet surfers also attached a photo inciting violence – it
  showed a man who aims his pistol and the caption reads: “Japs, Chinks”.

How to overcome this crisis?

• There are two main fields of action. First, monitoring – the “Virus of
  Hate” report by the ”NEVER AGAIN” Association, first report in Poland
  of such kind. Similar actions bring widespread attention to the
  problem and ensures it does not remain unnoticed.
• Secondly, to counter the conspiracy theories, we need to constantly
  refer to scientific knowledge, proven facts, evidence-based medicine.
  We have to listen to the voice of experts and not celebrities who find
  it useful to voice their opinions on every possible topic, having no
  professional medical background.

• Thank you for the attention!
• All questions are welcomed, I will try to answer all of them and
  inform you about the situation in Poland.

You can find the contact information to the
“NEVER AGAIN” Association below:

• redakcja@nigdywiecej.org ; info@neveragainassociation.org
• phone: +48 601 360 835
• www.neveragainassociation.org
• facebook.com/Respect.Diversity
• twitter.com/StowNIGDYWIECEJ