Dear Mr. Minister,

In connection with the discussion taking place in recent days, also in the media, concerning the appointment of Col. Henryk Biegalski to the post of General Director of the Prison Service, we feel obligated to inform you that

the Helsinki Committee in Poland, in chapter VII of its Report entitled: “Human and civil rights in the Polish People’s Republic (PRL) (13.XII.1981 – 31.XII.1982)”, submitted in 1983 to the OSCE Review Conference in Madrid by the underground Temporary National Commission of NSZZ “Solidarność”, stated as follows:

“On 23 July 1982, at 5:30 a.m., a brutal operation was launched at this prison (the Prison located at ul. Kurkowa 12 in Gdansk) intended to prevent the prisoners’ hunger strike, which was anticipated by the authorities but never initiated. The prisoners were escorted out of their cells by prison officers armed with nightsticks and guns. In the corridor they were stripped and beaten and dogs were set on them. They were beaten for not taking their dinner. 20 juvenile prisoners, weak from a 40-minut bath in hot water, were pulled out by the hair and also beaten. Neither the prisoners awaiting psychiatric hospitalization nor those who were ill were spared. For certain at least 15 people were victims of the massacre.”

We would additionally like to inform that the report was published in Polish by the Literary Institute in Paris in 1983, as part of the “Culture” Library Volume 381 (citation from chapter VII, p. 122)

With kindest regards,

On behalf of the Helsinki Committee in Poland and the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights Marek Antoni Nowicki

cc. Polish Press Agency (PAP)