MINELREL-L Archive (02082002-17:17:12-24662)

ERRC Welcomes Landmark Decision by Strasbourg Court in Expulsion Case


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Date: Fri, 8 Feb 2002 17:17:11 +0200 (EET)
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Subject: ERRC Welcomes Landmark Decision by Strasbourg Court in Expulsion Case


From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>

Original sender: European Roma Rights Center <[email protected]>

ERRC Welcomes Landmark Decision by Strasbourg Court in
Expulsion Case


ERRC Welcomes Landmark Decision by Strasbourg Court in Expulsion Case

The European Roma Rights Center (ERRC) welcomes the February 5, 2002
decision by the European Court of Human Rights, finding that Belgium
violated key provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights
when it collectively expelled, in October 1999, 74 Roma from Slovakia
who were seeking asylum in Belgium. In connection with the case, the
Court Tuesday awarded 10,000 euros in damages to a Romani family
called Conka, who had filed a complaint to the Court in relation to
the case.

The ruling is not only the first ever by the Court in a case involving
the collective expulsion of Roma, it is actually the first time the
Court has ever found a violation of Article 4 of Protocol 4 to the
European Convention, which bans the collective expulsion of aliens. It
is, in addition, the first time the Court has ever found a Western
European country in violation of the Convention where Roma rights are
involved. The decision also appears to break new ground in terms of
burden of proof issues. Commenting on the ruling, ERRC Executive
Director Dimitrina Petrova said, "This is a very important decision
for the Romani family concerned, and it also has implications for
future cases in the context of post-September 11 Fortress Europe
policies."

On October 5, 1999, Belgium expelled 74 Slovak Romani asylum seekers
after attempts to detain approximately one hundred and fifty Slovak
Roma in two Belgian cities. On September 30 and October 1, 1999, local
authorities in the city of Ghent ordered a number of Romani asylum
seekers to appear before the police. Some came to the police station
after receiving written summons, while others were reportedly detained
by police during house searches. Many Roma were reportedly lured to
the police office under the false pretext that they had to complete
additional forms as a part of their asylum application. Once at the
police station, the Roma were immediately detained and transferred to
a closed detention centre called "127bis Steenokkerzeel" on the
outskirts of Brussels. They remained in the centre for four days under
heavy police guard until their deportation on October 5. The Belgian
government's decision to proceed with the deportation came in the face
of a decision earlier the same day by the European Court of Human
Rights in Strasbourg expressly requesting that the Belgian government
stay deportation for eight days to permit consideration of whether
such deportation would violate the European Convention of Human
Rights. Detailed information on the case is available on the Internet
at: http://errc.org/publications/indices/belgium.shtml, as well as by
contacting the offices of the ERRC.
 
In connection with the case, Mr Jan Conka, his wife Maria Conkova, and
their children Nad'a Conkova and Nikola Conkova, with the assistance
of local counsel in Belgium, filed an application to the European
Court of Human Rights, asserting that their fundamental rights had
been violated. The ERRC assisted in preparing documentation for the
submission.

In its February 5 statement, the European Court announced that it had
found violations of the following articles of the European Convention
on Human Rights (excerpts from the reasoning of the Court in the Conka
case follow each Article violated by Belgian authorities):

Article 5(1), guaranteeing the right to liberty and security of
person: "[...] a conscious decision by the authorities to facilitate
or improve the effectiveness of a planned operation for the expulsion
of aliens by misleading them about the purpose of a notice so as to
make it easier to deprive them of their liberty was not compatible
with Article 5."

Article 5(4), guaranteeing the right to take proceedings by which
lawfulness of detention shall be decided: "[...] The Court identified
a number of factors which undoubtedly had made an appeal to the
committals division less accessible. [...] the authorities had not
offered any form of legal assistance at either the police station or
the centre. [...] Furthermore � and this factor was decisive in the
eyes of the Court � the applicants� lawyer had only been informed of
the events in issue and of his clients� situation at 10.30 p.m. on
Friday 1 October 1999, such that any appeal to the committals division
would have been pointless because, had he lodged an appeal with the
division on 4 October, the case could not have been heard until 6
October, a day after the applicants� expulsion on 5 October. Thus, the
applicants� lawyer had been unable to lodge an appeal with the
committals division."

Article 4 of Protocol 4, prohibiting the collective expulsion of
aliens: "[...] at no stage in the period between the service of the
notice on the aliens to attend the police station and their expulsion
had the procedure afforded sufficient guarantees demonstrating that
the personal circumstances of each of those concerned had been
genuinely and individually taken into account." The Court's finding of
a violation of Article 4 of Protocol 4 was its first ever. The wording
of the Court's decision on the Article 4 of Protocol 4 violation
suggests that the Court reached its decision as a result of being
unable "to eliminate all doubt that the expulsion might have been
collective." The Court appears to have adopted the reasoning that a
prima facie case under Article 4 of Protocol 4 may shift the burden to
the government to prove that a violation has not taken place.

Article 13 (guaranteeing the right to an effective remedy) taken
together with Article 4 of Protocol 4: "Ultimately, the alien had no
guarantee [...] that the Conseil d��tat would deliver its decision, or
even hear the case, before his expulsion, or that the authorities
would allow a minimum reasonable period of grace. [...] In conclusion,
the applicants had not had a remedy available that satisfied the
requirements of Article 13 to air their complaint under Article 4 of
Protocol No. 4."

The Court awarded the Conka family 10,000 euros for non-pecuniary
damage and 9,000 euros for legal costs and expenses. The full text of
the decision is available on the Internet website of the European
Court of Human Rights: http://www.echr.coe.int.

ERRC concerns related to the protection of Romani refugees are
available on the Internet at:
http://errc.org/publications/position/refugee.shtml. A position paper
on other ERRC concerns related to Fortress Europe policies and Roma is
available by contacting the offices of the ERRC.
 
_____________________________________________

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://www.errc.org.

European Roma Rights Center
1386 Budapest 62
P.O. Box 906/93
Hungary

Phone: +36 1 4132200
Fax:   +36 1 4132201

_____________________________________________

SUPPORT THE ERRC!

The European Roma Rights Center is dependent upon the generosity of
individual donors for its continued existence. If you believe the ERRC
performs a service valuable to the public, please join in enabling its
future with a contribution. Gifts of all sizes are welcome; bank
transfers are preferred. Please send your contribution to:

European Roma Rights Center
Budapest Bank Rt.
99P00402686
1054 Budapest
Bathory utca 1
Hungary

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