-----Original Message-----
From: European Roma Rights Center [mailto:errc@errc.org]
Sent: Thursday, May 31, 2001 8:47 AM
To: errc@errc.org
Subject: ERRC Letter to Romanian Mayor
On May 31, 2001, the European Roma Rights Center, an international public
interest law organisation which monitors the human rights situation of Roma
and provides legal defence in cases of human rights abuse, sent a letter to
Mr Dorin Florea, the Mayor of Tirgu Mures, Romania, to express concern
about reported harassment and attempted ghettoisation of members of the
Romani population of Tirgu Mures.
The ERRC has received information that on May 7, 2001, an order was issued
by the mayor's office to the public guardians civilians deputised by the
mayor to conduct rudimentary police duties - to take all beggars into
custody. Approximately forty Roma were reportedly detained the same day,
taken to a castle in Tirgu Mures and held there for identification
purposes. Those who were not resident in the town were expelled from the
city. On May 8, 2001, the action was repeated and a similar number were
reported to have been detained; of the seventy to eighty people stopped
over the two days, reportedly only two or three were non-Roma. The reported
justification for this action was to discourage beggars from coming to
Tirgu Mures. However, there is no indication that those who were detained
were begging.
In a second serious incident which would appear to be part of a series of
anti-Romani moves by municipal authorities in Tirgu Mures, it was reported
in the newspaper 24 ore muresene on May 10, 2001, that municipal
authorities had issued an order to evict the Romani residents of
Calarasilor Street. The reported official reason is that the street was
infested with rats. Authorities have reportedly threatened the Roma of
Calarasilor Street that the eviction order may be implemented during the
night. As of May 28, 2001, the eviction had not been carried out. The
removal of the Romani families from Calarasilor street would be
particularly unfortunate, as it is the last remaining place in Tirgu Mures
where Romani residents live alongside non-Romani, in non-segregated
housing, in any significant numbers.
In its May 31 letter, the ERRC reminded Mayor Florea of his duties under
international law to carry out his responsibilities in accordance with the
law and without discrimination as to race. In this regard, the ERRC urged
Mayor Florea not to authorise any further attempts at rounding up
"beggars". Furthermore, the ERRC submitted that Mayor Florea should
officially and publicly remove the threat of eviction from the Romani
residents of Calarasilor Street. Further information on the situation of
Roma in Romania is available on the Internet at:
http://errc.org/publications/indices/romania.shtml. The text of the ERRC
letter follows:
Honourable Mr Florea,
The European Roma Rights Center, an international public interest law
organisation which monitors the human rights situation of Roma and provides
legal defence in cases of human rights abuse, is concerned about the
reported harassment and attempted ghettoisation of members of the Romani
population in Tirgu Mures.
The ERRC has received information that on May 7, 2001, an order was issued
from your office to the public guardians civilians deputised by the mayor
to conduct rudimentary police duties - to take all beggars into custody.
Approximately forty Roma were reportedly detained the same day, taken to a
castle in Tirgu Mures and held there for identification purposes. Those who
were not resident in the town were expelled from the city. On May 8, 2001,
the action was repeated and a similar number were reported to have been
detained; of the seventy to eighty people stopped over the two days,
reportedly only two or three were non-Roma. The reported justification for
this action was to discourage beggars from coming to Tirgu Mures. However,
there is no indication that those who were detained were begging.
In a second serious incident which would appear to be part of a series of
anti-Romani moves by municipal authorities in Tirgu Mures, it was reported
in the newspaper 24 ore muresene on May 10, 2001, that your office had
issued an order to evict the Romani residents of Calarasilor Street. The
reported official reason is that the street was infested with rats.
Authorities have reportedly threatened the Roma of Calarasilor Street that
the eviction order may be implemented during the night. As of May 28, 2001,
the eviction had not been carried out. The removal of the Romani families
from Calarasilor street would be particularly unfortunate, as it is the
last remaining place in Tirgu Mures where Romani residents live alongside
non-Romani, in non-segregated housing, in any significant numbers.
Romania is a signatory to a number of international human rights treaties,
notably the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR),
the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
(ICERD) and the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The detention
of groups of people and their forced expulsion represents, inter alia, a
breach of the right to liberty and security of person as protected by
Article 9 of the ICCPR and Article 5 of the ECHR, as well as an unwarranted
restriction on the right to freedom of movement under Article 12 of the
ICCPR. Moreover, the evident disparate impact on Roma of the detention and
expulsion action engages Romania's responsibility under the ICERD, notably
Articles 5(b) and 5(d)(i), which commit parties to guaranteeing, without
distinction as to race, the right to security of person and the right to
freedom of movement respectively.
Concerning the threatened eviction of Roma living in Calarasilor street,
Article 8(2) of the ECHR states that all interferences with the exercise of
the right to respect for one's home and family life must be "in accordance
with the law" and be "necessary in a democratic society". We submit that
the proposed evictions of Romani families from homes they lawfully occupy
would arguably constitute a violation of Romania's international legal
commitments in this regard. Such attempts to rid an area of a town of
residents on the basis of their ethnicity would also constitute a breach of
Article 14 in conjunction with Article 8 of the ECHR, which protect the
right to respect for one's home and family life without discrimination on
any grounds, and Article 5(e)(iii) of ICERD, guaranteeing the right to
housing without discrimination on the grounds of race.
Honourable Mr Florea, we respectfully remind you of your duties under
international law to carry out the responsibilities of your office in
accordance with the law and without discrimination as to race, and in this
regard we urge you not to authorise any further attempts at rounding up
"beggars". Furthermore, we submit that you should officially and publicly
remove the threat of eviction from the Romani residents of Calarasilor
Street.
Sincerely,
Dimitrina Petrova
Executive Director
Persons wishing to express similar concerns are urged to contact:
Mr Dorin Florea
Mayor of Tirgu
Mures
4300 Tirgu Mures
P-ta Victoriei nr. 3
Romania
Fax: (40 65) 166 963
_____________________________________________
The European Roma Rights Center is an international public interest law
organisation which monitors the rights of Roma and provides legal defence
in cases of human rights abuse. For more information about the European
Roma Rights Center, visit the ERRC on the web at http://errc.org.
European Roma Rights Center
1386 Budapest 62
P.O. Box 906/93
Hungary
Phone: +36 1 4132200
Fax: +36 1 4132201
_____________________________________________
SUPPORT THE ERRC!
The European Roma Rights Center is dependent upon the generosity of
individual donors for its continued existence. If you believe the ERRC
performs a service valuable to the public, please join in enabling its
future with a contribution. Gifts of all sizes are welcome; bank transfers
are preferred. Please send your contribution to:
European Roma Rights Center
Budapest Bank Rt.
99P00402686
1054 Budapest
Bathory utca 1
Hungary
For correspondence, please use mailto:office@errc.org.
To subscribe and unsubscribe from this list, please visit
http://errc.org/publications/mlist/index.shtml
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.2 : Sun Nov 18 2001 - 12:13:00 PST