Background

The UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence has dedicated increasing attention to questions of memorialization, in which he observed:

“… the crucial role played by memorialization processes in the context of transitional justice, which is fully recognized by the rules and standards of contemporary international law. The work carried out on these past violations serves as a basis for reflection on the present and identification of contemporary issues related to exclusion, discrimination, marginalization and abuses of power, which are often linked to toxic political cultures. Positive work in the area of memory not only helps to build democratic cultures in which human rights are respected but also fulfils the legal obligation of States to guarantee human rights.”

Antigypsyism has contributed to the history and memory of the Romani people to be erased from public spaces and/or misrepresented by collective memory. This phenomenon has had strong negative implications on the human rights of Roma. In September 2022 and May 2023, OHCHR convened a global meeting on Roma and memorialization, as well as a follow-up meeting on Memorialization as a Strategy to Tackle Antigypsyism in the Americas.

The Romani Memory Map initiative also aims to contribute to the upcoming 80th anniversary commemorations of International Roma Holocaust Memorial Day on 2 August 2024, which commemorates the anniversary of the August 2-3 liquidation of the “Zigeunerlager” in Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, and the killing by the Nazis of several thousand Roma over the course of one night.

Learn more about OHCHR’s work on Roma rights