Tweet
Katowice, June 24th 2011
Dear Sir/Madam,
This is to inform you that a national population census was held in Poland from April to the end of June. The Silesian Autonomy Movement, a regional party active in the region of Silesia (Śląskie) where it has formed a ruling coalition, has just been informed that there was a serious violation of fundamental human rights during the census procedures.
It is noteworthy to mention that the census is conducted by three different means: using a so-called “hand-held” device carried by census collectors during their visit of citizens, through the internet and by telephone. Even though it was possible by the first two means for people to declare their Silesian nationality through choosing the option “other nationality” and entering “Silesian”, by the third means all data collected was automatically enterted as Polish in the “nationality” option.
The occurence of this violation was reported to Silesian Autonomy Movement officials by a person from the town of Piekary Śląskie (some 20 km away from Katowice, the regional capital) who was refused to be classified as “Silesian” during a telephone interview conducted by a census consultant.
Moreover, the census consultant has confirmed that all people interviewed by telephone will automatically be classified as Polish by nationality, which was further confirmed by a representative of the local Polish Central Statistical Office in Katowice, responsible for conducting the national census.
The procedures employed in this census are not only scandalous but violate basic human rights by distorting census results with regard to the various different nationalities existing in Poland.
We therefore would like to ask for your help with this. Please give us your support in our endeavour to publicize this issue. If possible please request an explanation from Polish officials.
With our best regards,
Jerzy Gorzelik – RAS President, Bartłomiej Świderek – RAS International Relations
Dear Sir/Madam,
This is to inform you that a national population census was held in Poland from April to the end of June. The Silesian Autonomy Movement, a regional party active in the region of Silesia (Śląskie) where it has formed a ruling coalition, has just been informed that there was a serious violation of fundamental human rights during the census procedures.
It is noteworthy to mention that the census is conducted by three different means: using a so-called “hand-held” device carried by census collectors during their visit of citizens, through the internet and by telephone. Even though it was possible by the first two means for people to declare their Silesian nationality through choosing the option “other nationality” and entering “Silesian”, by the third means all data collected was automatically enterted as Polish in the “nationality” option.
The occurence of this violation was reported to Silesian Autonomy Movement officials by a person from the town of Piekary Śląskie (some 20 km away from Katowice, the regional capital) who was refused to be classified as “Silesian” during a telephone interview conducted by a census consultant.
Moreover, the census consultant has confirmed that all people interviewed by telephone will automatically be classified as Polish by nationality, which was further confirmed by a representative of the local Polish Central Statistical Office in Katowice, responsible for conducting the national census.
The procedures employed in this census are not only scandalous but violate basic human rights by distorting census results with regard to the various different nationalities existing in Poland.
We therefore would like to ask for your help with this. Please give us your support in our endeavour to publicize this issue. If possible please request an explanation from Polish officials.
With our best regards,
Jerzy Gorzelik – RAS President, Bartłomiej Świderek – RAS International Relations
Comment