Biuletyn Informacji Publicznej RPO

• Nagroda Rafto za rok 2018 została przyznana Adamowi Bodnarowi oraz kierowanemu przez niego Biuru Rzecznika Praw Obywatelskich, za zajęcie zdecydowanego stanowiska w obliczu obecnej sytuacji politycznej w Polsce
• W imieniu Biura razem z RPO Adamem Bodnarem nagrodę odebrała w Bergen 4 listopada Kamilla Dołowska, dyrektorka Zespołu Prawa Cywilnego BRPO

Nagroda imienia profesora Thorolfa Rafto

Nagroda imienia profesora Thorolfa Rafto za zasługi dla praw człowieka (The Professor Thorolf Rafto Memorial Prize, Raftoprisen) przyznawana jest od 1987 r. Prof. Thorolf Rafto działał na rzecz praw człowieka, zwłaszcza w krajach Europy Środkowej: Polski, Czech i Węgier. Ciężkie pobicie w 1979 r. przez komunistyczne służby specjalne w Czechosłowacji przyspieszyło jego śmierć w 1986 r.

Fundacja z siedzibą w Bergen, która działa na rzecz upamiętnienia dorobku prof. Rafto, skupia się na działaniach edukacyjnych na rzecz praw człowieka i wolności.

Odbierając nagrodę, Adam Bodnar przypomniał związki prof. Rafto z Polską – jego spotkania z Karolem Wojtyłą, Lechem Wałęsą czy Adamem Michnikiem w latach 70. i osobisty wymiar, jaki nadały słowu „Solidarność”. Przypomniał też słowa Czesława Milosza z „Traktatu Moralnego”:

Nie jesteś jednak tak bezwolny, bo choćbyś był jak kamień polny
Lawina bieg od tego zmienia, po jakich toczy się kamieniach

- Ta nagroda to wyraz solidarności nie tylko ze mną, ale ze wszystkimi, którzy walczą w Polsce o wolność, prawa człowieka i rządy prawa – z obywatelami, akademikami, sędziami, prawnikami, z każdym, kogo niepokoi niedemokratyczny kierunek zmian w naszym kraju. Razem możemy zmienić bieg lawiny – powiedział Adam Bodnar

Dyr. Kamilla Dołowska podziękowała za wyróżnienie w imieniu Biura, w którym pracuje od 20 lat. – Pracujemy dla ludzi, także niezamożnych, niewykształconych. To o ich prawa upomina się Rzecznik Praw Obywatelskich.  Jego przysięga składana przed Sejmem – że będzie bronił Konstytucji i chronił prawa i wolności obywateli – to także nasza przysięga.

Wystąpienie Adama Bodnara 

Dear Honourable Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I would like to express my gratitude for receiving the Rafto Memorial Prize. It is a great honor for me and for my team, working in the Office of the Polish Ombudsman. I would like to thank the Award Committee for this honorable distinction. I would like also to thank the Rafto Foundation for Human Rights as well as Students Rafto Group for the whole work connected with the Award. You are giving a wonderful example of true hospitality and perfect organization. You really inspire how to do things well. After this experience I start to understand what koselig means in practice.

On a personal note I would like to thank my wife Magdalena Bodnar, who is here with us today. You cannot perform well in the role of the Ombudsman in a difficult political times, if you do not have the overwhelming support of your beloved one.

Professor Thorolf Rafto in 70s and 80s was travelling often to Poland. He took his students and showed deep interest in Polish matters. He met Lech Wałęsa, Adam Michnik or Karol Wojtyła – key figures for Polish contemporary history. By providing his expertise and sharing internationally knowledge on Polish dissident movement, he showed what is his personal understanding of “Solidarność” (Solidarity). I treat this award as the solidarity of citizens of the Human Rights City of Bergen not only with myself, but with all those who fight in Poland for freedom, human rights and rule of law: civil society, members of academia, judges, prosecutors, attorneys, and each and every member of the society who is concerned with the process of undemocratic changes.

Polish poet, Nobel Prize winner Czeslaw Miłosz in 1947 wrote that “The avalanche changes direction depending on what rocks it encounters in its path.” (Moral Treatise).

Unfortunately, when we celebrate the 70^th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights we also see that the avalanche of authoritarianism, populism, hatred, illiberal values, and undermining the rule of law is becoming bigger and bigger, with every day and with every month. This process takes place in different countries and on different continents. The avalanche on its path takes more and more snow. It is sudden, unexpected and determined.

But we all here could be rocks which are encountered in the avalanche path. It depends upon us what kind of rocks we are – whether we are truly devoted to human rights and rule of law, whether we can defend what we believe in and what was created as a consequence of mass tragedies of the Second World War. If we take the Constitution, rule of law and human rights as granted, the avalanche may just go – rocks will be flat and easy to overcome. But if we stand up to rights, each rock might be sturdy, massive, colossal or even monumental. All together we may change the course of avalanche or even stop it.

Thanks to international solidarity between Norwegian and Polish civil society we can stand together. For the sake of Polish democracy and rule of law, but also for the sake of other countries suffering similar problems. So – Let’s Stop Avalanche. Together.

Wystąpienie dyrektor Kamilli Dołowskiej

Distinguisged guest, ladies and gentlemen

It is a great honor and privilege to represent the entire Commisioner’s for Human Rights Office at today’s ceremony. I have been working at the Office for over 20 years now, so this award is also, for me personally, the reason for enormous satisfaction. For all these years I have been working with people not only with extensive knowledge and rich experience but above all with great passion.

Our team knows that in the center of our work is always an individual, a human, often poor, weak, uneducated and it is Commisioner’s obligation to stand up for his rights.

We all feel that the Comissioner’s oath, taken before the Sejm of the Republic of Poland to faithfully follow the Constitution and to safeguard human and civil freedoms and rights, is our own oath.

Me and my colleagues are grateful that the Rafto Foundation appreciated our work and our mission in Commisioner’s Office - especially in these days, very difficult for all human rights defenders in Poland. It is very important for us.

Thank You