By Małgorzata Kaczorowska
10 July 2003

A decision concerning a lawsuit filed with the Human Rights Tribunal in Strasbourg against Poland, on the grounds that it had refused to register the Union of Silesian Nationality Population, has not yet been made.

The jury of the Grand Chamber of Human Rights Tribunal heard July 2 the parties' arguments and postponed its decision for a few months in order to deliberate it.

During the first session of the court, 17 judges of the court's Grand Chamber asked questions regarding the electoral law in Poland, and on how many people use the Silesian language or dialect. The verdict, according to the court's procedure, will be announced in a few months.

Leaders of the Silesian Autonomy Movement (RAŚ) have been making efforts since 1992 to register an association named the Union of Silesian Nationality Population, but the Polish authorities have so far refused to register the organization.

In 2001, the Tribunal ruled that in having refused to register the organization, the Polish authorities had not violated the freedom to associate. Professor Krzysztof Drzewicki argued on behalf of Poland, saying that the organization's name unlawfully suggests there is a Silesian national minority in Poland, which would oblige the Polish government to give Silesians electoral privileges, which would not have to comply with the 5-percent threshold requirement. The court unanimously shared the opinion that the refusal to register the organization was substantiated. RAŚ leaders, however, lodged an appeal against the verdict. In 2002, the Tribunal agreed to review the appeal.

In their address to the tribunal, Silesians quoted the results of the general census of 2002, during which 173,000 people declared they were of Silesian nationality. Government representatives pointed out that there was no Silesian nationality, there might only be the issue of language and cultural differences. Drzewicki also argued that registering a Silesian national minority might stir an avalanche of similar demands on the part of highlanders, Kashubians and Mazurians.

The term Silesian as a nationality began to be used in mid-1990s by politicians linked to the Silesian Autonomy Movement, an organization designed to introduce economic and financial autonomy in Silesia. Gorzelik claims that "everybody has the right to choose a homeland that suits them. We, Silesians, also have this right. We have a separate language, culture and we feel we form a community. So we are a nation." Some commentators believe that choosing one's homeland in this case is not a freedom "to something," but a freedom "from something." In this case, the right to define oneself amounts to becoming independent from Poland.

National minorities involve 3.26 percent of Polish citizens. If Silesians are recognized as a nationality, they will be the largest minority; according to the last census there are 173,000 of them. Apart from them, there are 153,000 Germans, 49,000 Belarusians, 31,000 Ukrainians and 13,000 Romany.

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