Leading Polish human rights advocate Marek Nowicki has died in a Warsaw hospital
at the age of 56.
Associates say he had been hospitalized for several weeks, but gave no cause of
death.

Marek Nowicki was one of the founders of the Helsinki Human Rights Foundation in
Poland. The organization grew from underground status, exposing violations of human
rights and abuses of power under the communist regimes in Poland and other East
European countries.

After the fall of communism, the Helsinki Human Rights Foundation was known as a
leading non-governmental organization in Poland.