HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE CONCLUDES CONSIDERATION OF ROMANIAN REPORT

MORNING
HR/CT/99/19
21 July 1999


Discusses 11th Meeting of Chairpersons of Treaty Bodies


The Human Rights Committee concluded consideration this morning of a fourth periodic report of Romania, saying the administration of justice still needed further reform to comply with the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

In preliminary observations and recommendations, the group also
expressed concern about the fate of street and abandoned children and called upon the Government of Romania to do more to end discrimination against Roma.

Responding to queries put yesterday, members of a Government delegation said, among other things, that reforms to ensure religious freedom were being carried out in Romania and that education in the mother tongues of the country’s minorities was being encouraged.

Final, written observations and recommendations on the report of Romania will be issued by the Committee towards the end of its three-week session, which concludes 30 July.

As one of 144 States parties to the International Covenant, Romania must present periodic reports to the Committee on efforts to implement the provisions of the treaty.

Also this morning, the Committee heard a report on the 11th meeting of Chairpersons of the six United Nations human-rights treaty bodies. The report was presented by Human Rights Committee Chairperson Cecilia Medina Quiroga.

When the Committee reconvenes at 3 p.m., it will meet in private to consider communications submitted to it by individuals claiming violations of their rights under the Covenant.

Discussion

In response to supplementary questions raised during yesterday's meeting, members of the Romanian Government delegation said, among other things, that problems faced by the Greek Catholic Church were being settled and that a law was being drafted aimed at restoring properties confiscated in the past. The Greek Catholic Church had been banned in 1948 and had remained so until 1989 when it was once again allowed a legal existence. The claim by that religious organization to its old places of worship had not yet been realized because of difficulties related to the extent of time over which it had been banned, the delegation said.

The delegation said that since 1995, the Government had required compulsory religious instruction in elementary schools. Such instruction was optional in higher education because of a lack of qualified teachers and facilities.

The delegation said education in Romania was carried out in Romanian and in the mother tongues of major minority groups. In addition, the Government had laid down the foundation for a multi-cultural university to include studies in German and Hungarian. Since Roma was not a written language, the Government was still seeking alternatives to the use of the Roma language in the Romanian school system.

On discrimination against the Roma people, the delegation said there were isolated cases of discrimination in society and in employment. The Great Romania Party had also been involved in racial discrimination directed against the Roma people, and some court cases on discrimination were being pursued.

Preliminary Observations and Recommendations

In preliminary observations and recommendations, Committee Chairperson Cecilia Medina Quiroga, speaking on behalf of the members of the Committee, congratulated the Government of Romania for reforms undertaken to bring domestic laws into line with the provisions of the International Covenant. She noted that there had been changes in the justice system and changes in the attitudes of judges.

Ms. Medina Quiroga expressed concern over street and abandoned children and recommended that the Government offer them names and register them. She also expressed concern about interference of the executive in the functions of the judiciary, which needed further reform in any case; about military justice, which required profound reform; about domestic violence directed against women; about the use of firearms by security forces; and about continued discrimination against the Roma community.

Report on Meeting of Chairpersons of Treaty Bodies

CECILIA MEDINA QUIROGA, Chairperson of Human Rights Committee, briefing the members of the Committee on the 11th meeting of persons chairing human-rights treaty bodies held in May 1999, in Geneva, said the session was a joint meeting with special rapporteurs on human-rights issues and was held in the absence of representatives of non-governmental organizations.

She said a lengthy discussion had taken place between the Chairpersons and representative of States. It was underlined that the six committees coordinated their tasks to lighten the burden of States in their reporting obligations. In the course of the discussion, the Chairpersons advised States that in their selection of committee members they should be careful to take into consideration gender equity, she said.