January 14, 1997
Between January 11 and 14, 1997, the European Roma
Rights Center, together with the EUROMA program of the Autonomia Foundation
(Hungary) and the Human Rights Project (Bulgaria), convened a symposium
in Budapest on legal defence of the rights of Roma. The four-day meeting
brought together more than 50 lawyers and human rights activists from more
than a dozen countries -- primarily in Central and Eastern Europe -- who
work in the field of public interest law.
The gathering, the largest of its kind to date,
served as a forum for lawyers from different countries to share information
about legal developments across the region of importance to human rights
for Roma. Participants assessed the relative costs and benefits of legal
strategies currently employed to obtain redress for abuse. Symposium members
also discussed formalising a network of Roma rights lawyers and activists
to undertake the following tasks: (i) systematically share information
about judicial and legislative developments -- i.e. the passage of laws
and issuance of court decisions -- concerning human rights for Roma; (ii)
create a central archive of international and domestic legal documents
concerning criminal and criminal procedure law, human rights law, and constitutional
law; and (iii) with the assistance of the European Roma Rights Center,
provide network members with legal research and advice on issues of comparative
and international law and legal practice.
The symposium made clear that, even as the human
rights situation of Roma in a number of countries remains precarious, a
growing body of public interest lawyers is beginning to achieve notable,
if limited, progress. Nonetheless, enormous contributions of time, energy
and resources will be required in the future to ensure that Roma are afforded
all legal guarantees to which they are entitled. The symposium highlighted
a number of problems which impede access to justice for many Roma throughout
Central and Eastern Europe, including the following: (i) widespread failure
by law enforcement authorities to register and investigate reports by Romani
victims of violence and discrimination; (ii) non-existent or inadequate
review of prosecutorial decisions not to indict those who perpetrate crimes
against Roma; (iii) serious legal obstacles which hamper Romani victims
of crime who seek to bring civil legal actions for financial or other compensation;
and (iv) the routine denial of access to effective legal representation
for Roma charged with crimes.
European
Roma Rights Center
PO Box 10/24
H-1525 Budapest 114 HUNGARY
The European Roma Rights Center is an international initiative which
acts as public advocate on behalf of Roma for the effective protection
and advancement of Roma rights. Its purpose is to
advocate for the transnational, geographically diverse Romani community
and be a legal resource for Romani rights. The European Roma Rights Center
works to give Roma tools to combat discrimination and win equal access
to government, education, employment, health care, housing, and public
services.
Email: ClaudeCahn@compuserve.com |