Dr Adam Bodnar (CCL '01) was elected by the Polish parliament as Human Rights Defender (ombudsman) for Poland on August 7, 2015 (https://www.rpo.gov.pl/en/content/new-human-rights-defender). He will be the seventh ombudsman, following in the footsteps of Judge Ewa Letowska whose leadership and critical voice still defines the institution.
Dr Bodnar was the vice-president of the Polish Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights and also a faculty member at the University of Warsaw, Faculty of Law. He has served for many years as the strategic litigation director of HRFH and has several major victories before the Polish Constitutional Tribunal and the European Court of Human Rights to his name. His candidacy was supported by 65 non-governmental organizations dealing with human rights. He is expected to be a strong voice for fundamental rights and freedoms.
In an interview for Radio Poland’s English Service, Dr Bodnar talked about his priorities, noting that "We have a number of cases in Poland concerning police brutality. […] There’s an idea that the police should record all its actions and interventions and it should be the role of the Ombudsman to push for such changes," He also mentioned homelessness as a major problem. "Having homeless people is a violation of not only their social rights but also of the basic right - to human dignity."