International human rights expert Erik Møse presented a report to the UN Security Council over the weekend, detailing human rights violations stemming from the ongoing Russian aggression in Ukraine.
Møse, who serves as Chairman of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, used the opportunity to tell Security Council members about the torture, killings, unlawful confinement, and other offenses committed by Russian troops in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.
“These reports based on numerous missions to Ukraine and other testimonies,” stated Møse, “show that the Russian authorities have committed a wide range of violations, many of which amount to war crimes.”
According to Møse, the violations include willful killings, attacks on civilians, unlawful confinement, torture, rape and sexual violence, and forcible transfer and deportation of children. Other violations include the use of explosive weapons in populated settlements, including attacks on energy infrastructure facilities.
“Regarding both the use of torture and the attacks on energy infrastructure facilities,” the Norwegian expert concluded, the Commission will “continue our investigations to determine whether they amount to crimes against humanity.”
Today is day 613 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Source: Polskie Radio, Radio Gdańsk
Andrzej Poczobut, a Polish journalist and activist imprisoned in Belarus, has been named one of this year’s winners of a prestigious Polish award for the protection and promotion of human rights.
Poczobut was chosen from more than a dozen individuals and organizations nominated for the Polish Prize of Sérgio Vieira de Mello, an annual award given to those working to further human rights and dialogue between cultures.
The Honorary Prize went to Poczobut, who was earlier this year to eight years in “a maximum security penal colony” in Belarus, in what was widely seen as a politically motivated case.
At the awards ceremony last week in Kraków, Paweł Radomski, director of the UN and human rights department at the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, praised Andrzej Poczobut’s attitude as “heroic,” telling attendees that the award “is not only an appreciation of the stance, sacrifices, and activities of Andrzej Poczobut, but also of all those who are prisoners of the Lukashenko regime.”
“Our aspiration,” Radomski continued, “is for Mr. Andrzej Poczobut, the regime’s detainees, and the entire Belarusian community to thrive in a country that is both free and democratic in the future.”
A human rights group in Mexico, Familias Unidas por Nuestros Desaparecidos en Jalisco (FUNDEJ), which helps find missing persons, won the top award in the Non-Governmental Organisation category.
In the Individual category, the award went to Polish journalist Marcin Żyła, an author of “reports, articles, lectures, broadcasts, and presentations about human rights, humanitarian aid and the current state of Europe.”
Source: Polskie Radio
The search for murder suspect Grzegorz Borys is now in its tenth day, with local and military police continuing to focus their search efforts on the Tricity Landscape Park (TPK) near Gdynia.
Borys is accused of murdering his six-year-old son over a week ago in an apartment in the Fikakowo district of Gdynia. Police remain convinced that the man is hiding in the forests near Gdynia and have appealed to local residents to stay out of the TPK in Gdynia, Gdańsk, and Chwaszczyno.
In a related story, a 19-year-old man from Ełk was detained by police after claiming he had met a man lighting a campfire in the forest who had threatened him with a knife. Police officers were immediately dispatched to the scene but could not confirm the report.
According to Commissioner Karina Kamińska from the Provincial Police Headquarters in Gdańsk, the young man will be charged with providing a false report and obstructing criminal proceedings and search activities, an offense punishable by up to 5 years in prison.
Source: Radio Gdańsk
PKP Intercity recently announced it would add additional wagons to trains popular among travelers during the All Saints’ Day holiday period.
The national railway operator announced on Friday that an additional 362 wagons would be added to 268 trains on popular routes from Warsaw, Krakow, Wrocław, Poznań, and Trójmiasto.
The additional cars were added to popular routes, such as to and from Trójmiasto to Warsaw, on Friday and will remain until November 5. Additionally, on October 31 and November 1, two ED-74 trains will be doubled, providing twice as many seats for passengers.
PKP also reminded passengers that during the All Saints’ Day holiday, mobile information will be available at the largest train stations in Poland to help passengers arrange transfers or find the correct platforms. The PKP Intercity hotline at +48 22 391 97 57 is also open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Source: Radio Gdańsk, PAP
Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz has advanced to the finals of the Swiss Indoors tennis tournament in Basel after a hard-fought win yesterday over France’s Ugo Humbert.
The Polish world No. 11 defeated the 28th-ranked French player 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 in the semifinals of the men’s singles at the indoor tournament in Switzerland on Saturday.
Hurkacz will now face the 7th-ranked French-Canadian Felix Auger Aliassime in the championship match scheduled for today at 15:30 CET.
Source: Polskie Radio, atptour.com
Weather
Today will be mostly overcast, with rain showers in the early afternoon accompanied by a light prevailing breeze from the south. Temperatures will stay on the cooler side, with an afternoon high of 11°C or 52°F, dropping to a low of 5°C or 41°F overnight. Slightly warmer but still overcast weather is expected tomorrow, with a chance for more rain returning on Tuesday.
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