ERRC: United Nations calls on governments to improve their treatment of Roma
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Subject: ERRC: United Nations calls on governments to improve their treatment of Roma
From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>
Original sender: European Roma Rights Center <[email protected]>
ERRC: United Nations calls on governments to improve their
treatment of Roma
UNITED NATIONS CALLS ON GOVERNMENTS TO IMPROVE THEIR TREATMENT OF ROMA
PRESS STATEMENT 21 AUGUST, 2000
The European Roma Rights Center (ERRC) welcomes the thematic
discussion held last week by the United Nations Committee on the
Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) concerning racial
discrimination against Roma. Upon release of the CERD's general
recommendation at the conclusion of the discussion, outlining a number
of measures that governments should take to improve the situation of
the Roma, Dimitrina Petrova, Executive Director of ERRC, stated, "This
event properly underscores the international community's concern about
widespread government failure to combat racism and discrimination
against Roma. The numerous shortcomings identified by the Committee
require urgent action by many European governments to bring their
legislation and practice into compliance with international law."
The CERD is a United Nations body charged with responsibility for
overseeing compliance with the International Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. It has been
ratified by virtually all European governments (the only exceptions
are Andorra, Ireland, San Marino and Turkey). Composed of eighteen
internationally-recognised experts, the CERD reviews states'
compliance with the Convention through a reporting procedure which
obliges governments to submit reports on a periodic basis. The August
session marks the first time in the Committee's 30-year-long history
that it has held a discussion on a thematic issue and adopted a
general recommendation dedicated to a specific ethnic group.
According to Michael E. Sherifis, Chairman of the Committee, "during
the consideration of periodic reports of several contracting parties,
it had emerged that the Roma people were discriminated against in many
countries [...]. The standards of the Convention were not met and in
fact many of its provisions were directly and constantly violated."
Among the specific violations highlighted by Sherifis were "Roma
children being placed in special schools for mentally disabled pupils,
depriving them of dignity and opportunities for the future in terms of
higher education and employment;" "forced relocation of Roma" and "the
existence of Roma settlements or camps in isolated locations,
sometimes close to rubbish deposits or contaminated industrial sites,
surrounded by walls or fences and lacking the very basic sanitary
facilities;" "excessive use of force by the police against Roma, and
physical violence by members of racist organisations against them,"
and that "discriminatory acts against Roma often went unpunished." The
Committee was "painfully aware" that "for centuries," the Roma had
been subjected to "ill-treatment, rejection, exclusion and
discrimination of various forms. [...] It was distressing to know that
at the beginning of the third millennium, the problem was still
there," Sherifis said.
In its general recommendation addressed to states parties to the
Convention, the Committee called on governments to undertake a number
of specific measures, including the following:
* "review and enact or amend legislation [...] to eliminate all forms
of racial discrimination against Roma;"
* "take appropriate measures to secure to members of Roma communities
effective remedies and to ensure that justice is fully and promptly
done in cases concerning violations of their fundamental rights and
freedoms;"
* "adopt and implement national strategies and programmes and express
determined political will and moral leadership, with the view to
improving the situation of Roma and their protection against
discrimination by state bodies, as well as by any person or
organisation;"
* "develop and encourage dialogue between Roma and central and local
authorities;"
* "ensure that legislation regarding citizenship and naturalization
does not discriminate against members of Roma;"
* "take all necessary measures to avoid any form of discrimination
against immigrants or asylum seekers of Roma origin;"
* "acknowledge wrongs done during the Second World War to Roma
communities by deportation and extermination and consider ways of
compensating for them;"
* in the field of racial violence, "ensure protection of security and
integrity of Roma, without any discrimination by adopting measures for
preventing racially motivated acts of violence against them;" "ensure
prompt action by the police, the prosecutors and the judiciary for
investigating and punishing such acts and [...] that perpetrators, be
they public officials or private persons, do not enjoy any degree of
impunity;"
"take measures to prevent use of illegal force by the police against
Roma, in particular in connection with arrest and detention;"
"encourage [...] communication and dialogue between the police and
Roma;" "encourage recruiting members of Roma [...] to the police and
other law enforcement agencies;"
* in the field of education, "act with determination for eliminating
any discrimination or racial harassment of Roma students;" "prevent
the segregation of Roma students, while keeping open the possibility
for bilingual or mother tongue tuition;" "cooperate actively with Roma
parents, associations and local communities;" "include in text-books,
at all appropriate levels, chapters about history and culture of
Roma;" "recruit school personnel from among members of Roma [...] and
[...] promote inter-cultural education;"
* in the field of employment, "adopt and make more effective
legislation prohibiting discrimination in employment, and all
discriminatory practices in the labour market affecting members of
Roma [...] and [...] protect them against such practices; take special
measures for promoting employment of Roma in public administration and
institutions, as well as in private companies;"
* in the field of housing, "develop and implement policies and
projects aimed at avoiding segregation of Roma [...] in housing;" "act
firmly against local measures of denying residence to, and unlawful
expulsion of Roma, and [...] refrain from placing Roma in camps
outside populated areas, isolated and without access to health care
and other facilities;"
* in the field of health care and social protection, "ensure equal
access of Roma to health care and to social security services and
[...] eliminate any discriminatory practices against them in this
field;" "initiate and implement programmes and projects in the field
of health for Roma" and "involve Roma associations and communities and
their representatives, mainly women, in designing and implementing
health programmes and projects concerning Roma groups;"
* in the field of access to public accommodations, "prevent, eliminate
and adequately punish any discriminatory practices concerning access
of members of the Roma communities to all places and services intended
for the use of the general public, including restaurants, hotels,
theatre and music halls, discotheques and others;"
* in the field of media, "act as appropriate for the elimination of
any ideas of racial or ethnic superiority, of racial hatred and
incitement to discrimination and violence against Roma in the media,
in accordance with the provisions of the Convention;" raise awareness
among media professionals "of the particular responsibility to not
disseminate prejudices and to avoid reporting incidents involving
individual members of Roma communities in a way which blames the
community as a whole [and] encourage methods of self-monitoring by the
media, such as respect for a code of conduct for media organisations,
in order to avoid racial, discriminatory or biased language;" "develop
educational and media campaigns and educate the public about Roma
life, society and culture and the importance of building an inclusive
society [...] respecting their human rights and their identity;"
"encourage and facilitate Roma access to media [...] and the
establishment of their own media, as well as the training and
formation of Roma journalists;"
* in the field of participation in political life and policy-making,
"take the necessary steps, including special measures, to secure equal
opportunities for the participation of Roma minorities or groups in
all central and local governmental bodies;" "develop modalities and
structures of consultation with Roma political parties, associations
and representatives, both at central and local levels, when
considering issues and adopting decisions on matters of concern to
Roma;" "involve Roma at the earliest stages in the development of Roma
policies and programmes and in their implementation and ensure [...]
transparency about such policies and programmes;" "organise training
programmes for Roma public officials and representatives, as well as
for prospective candidates to such responsibilities."
The Committee further recommended that governments "include in their
periodic reports [...] data about the Roma communities within their
jurisdiction, including statistical data about Roma participation in
political life and about their economic, social and cultural
situation, including from a gender-perspective, and information about
the implementation of this General Recommendation."
Finally, in three final recommendations not addressed to governments,
the Committee requested that:
* "intergovernmental organisations address, in their projects of
cooperation and assistance to different States parties [...], the
situation of Roma communities and favour their economic, social and
cultural advancement;"
* "the High Commissioner for Human Rights consider establishing a
focal point for Roma issues within the Office of the High
Commissioner;"
* "the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination,
Xenophobia and Related Intolerance give due consideration to the above
recommendations, taking into account the place of the Roma communities
among those most disadvantaged and most subject to discrimination in
the contemporary world."
ERRC and other non-governmental organisations contributed with written
and oral information to the Committee's thematic discussion. ERRC's
written submission, as well as other information concerning the human
rights conditions of Roma and the activities of ERRC, are available on
the Internet at http://errc.org or from ERRC upon request.
*****************
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
Telephone: (36 1) 42 82 351
Fax: (36 1) 42 82 356
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