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ROMANIA PRESENTS REPORT TO COMMITTEE ON ELIMINATION OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION
03 August 1999
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AFTERNOON
HR/CERD/99/35
3 August 1999
Experts Decry Discrimination against Roma Community
The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) began consideration this afternoon of a report of Romania, with members of the panel expressing concern about continued discrimination against Roma.
The Committee’s rapporteur for the Romanian document, Mario Jorge Yutsis, said there were still economic, social and political restrictions against the Roma, or Gypsies, in Romania and that it was difficult for members of this minority group to find jobs or receive on education.
Romanita Vranceanu, Deputy Secretary General of the Romanian Ministry of Justice, presented her country’s report and said the promotion and protection of human rights had been given a special place in Romania since the country had begun its transition to democracy and a market economy.
The Romanian delegation included Ioan Maxim, Permanent Representative of Romania to the United Nations Office at Geneva; Mircea Moldovan, Assistant People's Advocate (Ombudsman); Dan Oprescu, Head of the National Office for Roma, Governmental Department for the Protection of Minorities; Petru Gavrilescu, of the Human Rights Directorate of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; and Alexandru Farcas, Counsellor at the Permanent Mission.
Also participating in the discussion were Committee Experts Ivan Garvalov, Theodoor van Boven, Michael P. Banton, Rudiger Wolfrum, Regis de Gouttes, Luis Valencia Rodriguez and Eduardo Ferrero Costa.
As one of 155 States parties to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, Romania is obligated to submit periodic reports to the Committee on measures taken to implement the treaty.
When the Committee reconvenes at 10 a.m. Wednesday, 3 August, it will continue its consideration of the report of Romania. It also is expected to examine implementation of the Convention in Antigua and Barbuda under its review procedure for countries with long-overdue reports.
Report of Romania
The fifteenth periodic report of Romania (document CERD/C/363/Add.1), enumerates administrative and legislative measures taken by the Government to implement the provisions of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. It says the institution of Ombudsman was created in March 1997 to ensure respect for the rights and freedoms of citizens. In addition, article 317 of the Penal Code provides that nationalistic or chauvinistic propaganda and incitement to racial or national hatred should be punished by a term of imprisonment of between six months and five years.
The report says that the policy of the Romanian Government towards prohibiting and eliminating all forms of racial discrimination enjoys the support of civil society, non-governmental organizations and the press. There is new awareness of the rights of members of national minorities as a result of a profound change of attitude in Romanian society, it remarks, and the Government believes that major progress has been made in democracy and in the elimination of all forms of discrimination.
The report states that Romania is fully engaged in the dynamics of a transition to a market economy. At the same time, not all economic policies have had the effect of ameliorating the difficult economic conditions of the population. These difficulties affect the living standards of Romanian citizens in general, regardless of race, colour, or ethnic or national origin, the report says.
Presentation of Romanian Report
ROMANITA VRANCEANU, Deputy Secretary General of the Ministry of Justice of Romania, said the promotion and protection of human rights had been given a special place in Romania in the context of the democratic transformation the country was going through at present.
Romania had acceded to all important international instruments in addition to its ratification of the European Convention on the Protection of Human Rights and other important conventions of the Council of Europe, Ms. Vranceanu said. In addition, Romania, through a law published in July 1998, had withdrawn its reservation to article 22 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination with regard to an appeal to the International Court of Justice in the event of dispute between two States.
Ms. Vranceanu affirmed that the protection of the rights of persons belonging to national minorities represented one of the major objectives of the Government. Following the recommendations of the Committee and other international bodies, Romania had demonstrated its interest in appropriate measures to create a climate of multi-cultural tolerance in society. In 1997, a department for the protection of national minorities had been created in the Prime Minister's Office. Recently, in July 1999, the Government had adopted a law aimed at restitution of land and properties belonging to minorities which had been confiscated in 1940.
Concerning the Roma community, Ms. Vranceanu said that in order to encourage the members of the community to participate in decision-making related their own affairs, a working group comprising members of Roma associations had been created. The Government had been providing financial and technical assistance to the group, she said.
Discussion
MARIO JORGE YUTSIS, the Committee expert who served as country rapporteur for the report of Romania, welcomed the resumption of dialogue between the Romanian officials and members of the Committee. He said the report presented much information in response to the requests of the Committee. In addition, a series of positive aspects should be commended, such as laws on refugees and the on prohibition of racial bias.
Mr. Yutsis said that creation by the Government of Romania of a national agency for action against racism, xenophobia, anti-semitism and intolerance, the RAXI foundation, was a great achievement.
He further said the report asserted that Romania was an integrated State and indivisible. However, Romania did not give the Committee the definition of minorities, and did not discuss their development. The Hungarian minorities in Romania, for instance, had taken such an assertion as a sign of intolerance. The country presented itself as a nation-State which was indivisible. In the past, particularly during the reign of the former President Ceaucescu, there had been tension among the Hungarian minority, who later joined the revolt which resulted in the President's demise.
Referring to a demonstration organized by the Roma community, the attitude of the police had been criticized, said Mr. Yutsis, quoting a report from Amnesty International. He asked the delegation if the problem of the Roma community was social or racial. Further, the slavery practiced against the Roma people had ceased only in 1850. What was the exact number of the Roma population?
Mr. Yutsis said that in a number of cases of anti-Roma violence, members of the majority community had justified their behaviour in part by charging that law-enforcement officials had failed to take appropriate steps when members of the Roma community committed illegal acts. However, police forces had intervened more promptly to prevent violence since 1993, he said.
Mr. Yutsis said an analysis of the Romanian mass media had been conducted in 1997, and, as reported by Human Rights Watch, it had found that the Roma were portrayed as criminals -- made vivid with such terms as "Gypsy Mafia" and "gang of dangerous Gypsies" -- and that this depiction generated fear in the majority population. Moreover, reporting the ethnicity of Roma criminals and suspects when these facts had no relevance to the story, implied that there was a definite relationship between being Roma and being a criminal or a "Mafioso".
Mr. Yutsis went on to say that there were still economic, social and political restrictions against the Roma. The Roma could not find employment and were not provided with educations. If there was a social problem concerning the Roma people, what was the basis for that? Why were they excluded? Was there not positive discrimination aimed at helping the Roma community?
Other Committee experts expressed concern about the situation of the Roma. An expert, quoting the Minority Rights Group International's World Directory of Minorities of 1997, said that Roma in Romania continued to suffer strong discrimination, with half of the adult Roma population being unemployed, 27 per cent of Roma children below the age of 14 being illiterate, and as much as 40 per cent of Roma children failing to attend the first years of school.
Furthermore, they said Roma sources reported continued violence against Roma and alleged more than 100 attacks on their settlements in the country between 1990 and 1994. There also were alleged reports of police harassment of Roma and failure by police to respond promptly when Roma called for assistance.
HR/CERD/99/35
3 August 1999
Experts Decry Discrimination against Roma Community
The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) began consideration this afternoon of a report of Romania, with members of the panel expressing concern about continued discrimination against Roma.
The Committee’s rapporteur for the Romanian document, Mario Jorge Yutsis, said there were still economic, social and political restrictions against the Roma, or Gypsies, in Romania and that it was difficult for members of this minority group to find jobs or receive on education.
Romanita Vranceanu, Deputy Secretary General of the Romanian Ministry of Justice, presented her country’s report and said the promotion and protection of human rights had been given a special place in Romania since the country had begun its transition to democracy and a market economy.
The Romanian delegation included Ioan Maxim, Permanent Representative of Romania to the United Nations Office at Geneva; Mircea Moldovan, Assistant People's Advocate (Ombudsman); Dan Oprescu, Head of the National Office for Roma, Governmental Department for the Protection of Minorities; Petru Gavrilescu, of the Human Rights Directorate of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; and Alexandru Farcas, Counsellor at the Permanent Mission.
Also participating in the discussion were Committee Experts Ivan Garvalov, Theodoor van Boven, Michael P. Banton, Rudiger Wolfrum, Regis de Gouttes, Luis Valencia Rodriguez and Eduardo Ferrero Costa.
As one of 155 States parties to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, Romania is obligated to submit periodic reports to the Committee on measures taken to implement the treaty.
When the Committee reconvenes at 10 a.m. Wednesday, 3 August, it will continue its consideration of the report of Romania. It also is expected to examine implementation of the Convention in Antigua and Barbuda under its review procedure for countries with long-overdue reports.
Report of Romania
The fifteenth periodic report of Romania (document CERD/C/363/Add.1), enumerates administrative and legislative measures taken by the Government to implement the provisions of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. It says the institution of Ombudsman was created in March 1997 to ensure respect for the rights and freedoms of citizens. In addition, article 317 of the Penal Code provides that nationalistic or chauvinistic propaganda and incitement to racial or national hatred should be punished by a term of imprisonment of between six months and five years.
The report says that the policy of the Romanian Government towards prohibiting and eliminating all forms of racial discrimination enjoys the support of civil society, non-governmental organizations and the press. There is new awareness of the rights of members of national minorities as a result of a profound change of attitude in Romanian society, it remarks, and the Government believes that major progress has been made in democracy and in the elimination of all forms of discrimination.
The report states that Romania is fully engaged in the dynamics of a transition to a market economy. At the same time, not all economic policies have had the effect of ameliorating the difficult economic conditions of the population. These difficulties affect the living standards of Romanian citizens in general, regardless of race, colour, or ethnic or national origin, the report says.
Presentation of Romanian Report
ROMANITA VRANCEANU, Deputy Secretary General of the Ministry of Justice of Romania, said the promotion and protection of human rights had been given a special place in Romania in the context of the democratic transformation the country was going through at present.
Romania had acceded to all important international instruments in addition to its ratification of the European Convention on the Protection of Human Rights and other important conventions of the Council of Europe, Ms. Vranceanu said. In addition, Romania, through a law published in July 1998, had withdrawn its reservation to article 22 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination with regard to an appeal to the International Court of Justice in the event of dispute between two States.
Ms. Vranceanu affirmed that the protection of the rights of persons belonging to national minorities represented one of the major objectives of the Government. Following the recommendations of the Committee and other international bodies, Romania had demonstrated its interest in appropriate measures to create a climate of multi-cultural tolerance in society. In 1997, a department for the protection of national minorities had been created in the Prime Minister's Office. Recently, in July 1999, the Government had adopted a law aimed at restitution of land and properties belonging to minorities which had been confiscated in 1940.
Concerning the Roma community, Ms. Vranceanu said that in order to encourage the members of the community to participate in decision-making related their own affairs, a working group comprising members of Roma associations had been created. The Government had been providing financial and technical assistance to the group, she said.
Discussion
MARIO JORGE YUTSIS, the Committee expert who served as country rapporteur for the report of Romania, welcomed the resumption of dialogue between the Romanian officials and members of the Committee. He said the report presented much information in response to the requests of the Committee. In addition, a series of positive aspects should be commended, such as laws on refugees and the on prohibition of racial bias.
Mr. Yutsis said that creation by the Government of Romania of a national agency for action against racism, xenophobia, anti-semitism and intolerance, the RAXI foundation, was a great achievement.
He further said the report asserted that Romania was an integrated State and indivisible. However, Romania did not give the Committee the definition of minorities, and did not discuss their development. The Hungarian minorities in Romania, for instance, had taken such an assertion as a sign of intolerance. The country presented itself as a nation-State which was indivisible. In the past, particularly during the reign of the former President Ceaucescu, there had been tension among the Hungarian minority, who later joined the revolt which resulted in the President's demise.
Referring to a demonstration organized by the Roma community, the attitude of the police had been criticized, said Mr. Yutsis, quoting a report from Amnesty International. He asked the delegation if the problem of the Roma community was social or racial. Further, the slavery practiced against the Roma people had ceased only in 1850. What was the exact number of the Roma population?
Mr. Yutsis said that in a number of cases of anti-Roma violence, members of the majority community had justified their behaviour in part by charging that law-enforcement officials had failed to take appropriate steps when members of the Roma community committed illegal acts. However, police forces had intervened more promptly to prevent violence since 1993, he said.
Mr. Yutsis said an analysis of the Romanian mass media had been conducted in 1997, and, as reported by Human Rights Watch, it had found that the Roma were portrayed as criminals -- made vivid with such terms as "Gypsy Mafia" and "gang of dangerous Gypsies" -- and that this depiction generated fear in the majority population. Moreover, reporting the ethnicity of Roma criminals and suspects when these facts had no relevance to the story, implied that there was a definite relationship between being Roma and being a criminal or a "Mafioso".
Mr. Yutsis went on to say that there were still economic, social and political restrictions against the Roma. The Roma could not find employment and were not provided with educations. If there was a social problem concerning the Roma people, what was the basis for that? Why were they excluded? Was there not positive discrimination aimed at helping the Roma community?
Other Committee experts expressed concern about the situation of the Roma. An expert, quoting the Minority Rights Group International's World Directory of Minorities of 1997, said that Roma in Romania continued to suffer strong discrimination, with half of the adult Roma population being unemployed, 27 per cent of Roma children below the age of 14 being illiterate, and as much as 40 per cent of Roma children failing to attend the first years of school.
Furthermore, they said Roma sources reported continued violence against Roma and alleged more than 100 attacks on their settlements in the country between 1990 and 1994. There also were alleged reports of police harassment of Roma and failure by police to respond promptly when Roma called for assistance.
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