In a new report, the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) has criticized Poland for lack of progress in fighting anti-Semitic and racist discourse as well as a lack of comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation and the vulnerable situation of the Roma minority.

The report says that “it  is disturbing that discriminatory attitudes persist in Poland. Anti-Semitism is tolerated in parts of the political world and influential media. Racism among football fans, involving serious insults to Black players and crude references to the Holocaust, is a major problem which must be tackled by the authorities as well as by the Polish Football Association and football clubs.

“Some extreme right-wing organizations continue their activities unchallenged. There is an obvious need to curtail hate speech in publications and on the Internet. The courts have an important contribution to make in this respect and confidence should be built in the National Broadcasting Council’s ability to deal with complaints about ethical standards.

“There is no comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation, no independent specialized body to combat racism and discrimination on grounds of race, color, language, religion, nationality or national or ethnic origin and no independent police complaints mechanism".

ECRI is an independent human rights body of the Council of Europe, based in Strasbourg, France. It monitors problems of racism and intolerance, prepares reports and issues recommendations to the Council of Europe’s member states.

The full ECRI report is available here.