Actions taken:
Polish Red Cross is the Republic of Poland’s national society of the Red Cross in the understanding of the Geneva Conventions on the Protection of Victims of War of 12 August 1949 (JoL, item 171) and Protocols additional to the Conventions of 8 June 1977 (JoL 1992, item 175). It operates on the basis of the Act of 16 November 1964 on the Polish Red Cross (JoL, item 276) and the Statute (i.e. charter) enacted thereunder and approved by the Regulation of the Council of Ministers of 20 September 2011 (JoL of 2011, item 1284). The Republic of Poland appreciates the unique role of the PRC and its commitment to fulfilling the mission of preventing human suffering and mitigating its consequences, as well as protecting the human dignity, without any discrimination on the grounds of ethnicity, race, sex, religious beliefs or political convictions.
The Republic of Poland and PRC continue their ongoing collaborative activities for the assurance of protection of and aid to those in need. The Polish Red Cross also actively participates in consultations regarding amendments of the current documents or introduction of new regulations in the scope of its activity. It also participates in meetings of the Commission for International Humanitarian Law at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including the preparation of the 4th Report on the implementation and dissemination of international humanitarian law in the Republic of Poland for 2015-2018. The PRC cooperates with the Police, State Fire Service and territorial self-governments supporting civil protection system(participation in exercises and rescue maneuvers).
Particularly noteworthy is the fact that PRC runs the National Information and Search Office (called Tracing Office) at the request of the State. From January 1, 2013, the Minister of the Interior and Administration supervises the entirety of tasks related to the PRC’s activities in the scope of the Office’s operation. The Office cooperates, inter alia, with the Central Tracing Agency of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva and the ICRC Delegates in areas affected by armed conflicts, the International Tracing Office in Bad Arolsen (Germany) and several dozen National Societies of the Red Cross and Red Crescent. In Poland PRC cooperates with many institutions that have information about the victims of World War II and contemporary armed conflicts (including the Institute of National Remembrance, the Warsaw Uprising Museum, the Jewish Historical Institute, the Council for the Protection of Memory of Combat and Martyrdom, the Office for Foreigners, Archives state). For many years, there has been a constant number of requests for tracing submitted. On annual basis, it is about 600 applications for family reunion, 1,800 applications for issuing certificates confirming the wartime fate, 3,900 applications for seeking war graves and 3,100 correspondence regarding the verification of war victims and transferring some of them to prosecutor investigations. At the same time, it is noted that the nature of these matters is changing. In the last four years, apart from traditional applications for family reunion, a new phenomenon appeared, covered by the internal Red Cross procedure, called the allegation of arrest by the International Committee of the Red Cross. The vast majority of regular applications concerned inquiries about the period of World War II.On the initiative of the Polish Red Cross, in December 2017, the Parliamentary Team of the Polish Red Cross was established. This is an apolitical group of senators and MPs interested in supporting PRC activities. In 2017-2019, three meetings of the Team took place, during which the history and activities of the National Society were presented and the possibility of amending the Law on the Polish Red Cross was discussed. The Team was also included in the celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the PRC in 2019 (the press conference on the opening of the celebration, the PRC exhibition in the Sejm of the Republic of Poland).
