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Poland Under Communism
In the communist era, the Polish penal system basically
adapted the penal practices of the Soviet Union to suit
local
conditions. In both systems, cheap and disciplined prison
labor
played an important role in supporting the economy.
Forced,
uncompensated labor on private projects of prison
officials was a
source of particular resentment among inmates.
The civil upheavals of 1980 and 1981 expanded the
political
role of the penal system. Among the thousands of arrests
made
during that time, typical crimes were possession of
underground
leaflets, display of Solidarity symbols, organization of
meetings
and marches, and refusal to work in militarized
enterprises.
Solidarity activists generally were imprisoned in groups.
The
PZPR applied great pressure to civil and military judges
trying
such cases; under martial law, a military commissar
monitored
every court as well. Loyalty oaths were required of
judges, and
many who were deemed unreliable lost their positions.
When martial law ended in mid-1993, thousands of
political
prisoners who had been held without charges were
conscripted into
the army and sent to hard labor camps, where they were
subject to
military rather than civil law. In this period, military
courts
retained jurisdiction over all cases involving "public
safety,
order, or national security." The tougher sentences of the
martial law period remained in force and the right to
appeal
remained void.
Data as of October 1992
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