the Law on Granting Protection to Foreigners under which those who cross the border PORTUGAL “irregularly” must leave the territory of Poland and are banned from re-entry. The law thus Portuguese Republic makes it generally impossible for people who Head of state: Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa Head of government: António Costa enter “irregularly” to seek asylum in Poland. On 2 September, the President declared a state of emergency on the border with A decade-old procedure that infringed the Belarus, which prohibited access to the rights of protesters in Lisbon was exposed. border area by journalists, media workers Migrant agricultural workers continued to and NGOs, and barred lawyers from live in overcrowded and substandard accessing asylum seekers.5 On 1 December, conditions, leaving them vulnerable to an amendment to the law on border Covid-19. Racism within the police protection banned entry into the border area remained a concern. High levels of violence without time limits. against women persisted. TORTURE AND OTHER ILL-TREATMENT FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND In April, Abu Zubaydah, a Palestinian ASSEMBLY national detained in Guantánamo Bay, In June, it emerged that since 2011 Lisbon’s submitted a petition to the UN Working municipal authorities had been passing Group on Arbitrary Detention calling for his personal information to foreign embassy release. Abu Zubaydah had been held in a officials about protesters who demonstrated secret detention site in Poland between 2002 in front of their embassies. The authorities and 2003, and Poland again failed to agreed to conduct risk assessments to implement fully the ECtHR ruling and carry ensure the rights to privacy and peaceful out an effective investigation of the case. assembly. RIGHT TO PRIVACY REFUGEES’ AND MIGRANTS’ RIGHTS In December Ewa Wrzosek, a Warsaw district The government took measures to facilitate prosecutor and member of Lex Super Omnia, access to Covid-19 vaccination for people an association defending the rule of law, was with irregular immigration status. notified by Apple that her phone had been In May, a Covid-19 outbreak among 13,000 targeted by Pegasus spyware from migrant agricultural workers in Odemira surveillance company NSO Group. exposed their poor living conditions in substandard, overcrowded houses or 1. Poland: Briefing on the Rule of Law and Independence of the container dwellings. The workers, mostly Judiciary in Poland in 2020-2021 (Index: EUR 37/4304/2021), 17 from south and south-east Asia, were June temporarily rehoused to prevent further 2. Poland: Third-party Intervention to the European Court of Human infections. Rights in the Case of Igor Tuleya (Index: EUR 37/3548/2021), 20 Following the Taliban seizure of power in January Afghanistan, Portugal resettled 764 Afghan 3. Poland: Roll Back of Reproductive Rights is Dark Day for Polish nationals seeking safety. Women, 27 January In May, three officials of the Foreigners and 4. Poland: Digital Investigation Proves Poland Violated Refugees’ Borders Service (SEF) were sentenced to Rights, 30 September between seven and nine years’ imprisonment 5. Poland: State of Emergency Risks Worsening Already Dire Situation for the assault, aggravated by unintentionally for 32 Asylum Seekers at Border, 2 September causing his death, of a Ukrainian national who had died in SEF custody in March 2020. In December, on appeal, the sentence was increased to nine years’ imprisonment for all. Amnesty International Report 2021/22 303