Recent Romnews postings
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Date: Sat, 6 Jun 1998 12:58:28 +0300 (EET DST)
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Subject: Recent Romnews postings
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Recent Romnews postings
RNN / Depressive woman may must not be deported
Action group fights for young Yugoslavian woman
Achen/GERMANY (RNN Coresspondent) May the 20th 1998
The Union Roma and Sinti" reproaches the City: In spite of medical
certified suicidal tendencies of 29 years old Slavica Yurokoglu
because of manic depression, the City eagerly tries to deport her to
Yugoslavia without considering the consequences. Until now we got
along very well with the autorities", says Joachim Rosenberg of the
union. All the more we are now shocked about the handling of this
case". He considers it as irresponsible, that the woman has been
examined only somatically but not psychiatric. He, however, admits,
that the woman herself has behaved wrong, but she cannot be made
responsible because of her history. Meanwhile they have applied to the
committee on petitions.
Looking back: When Slavica was 1� years old, she came to Aachen with
her family. From 1989 until 1992 she lived in Turkey. This fact could
become fatal for her now. Since she came back, she is considered as a
civil war refugee and has been tolerated only until August 1997.
Several times she became guilty of crime and moreover, she did not
report her place of residence to the authorities. The court in Aachen
has meanwhile ordered custody until her deportation.
This story happened at the end of March (before the verdict): When
Slavica came home one night, she was beaten up. She fled to her mother
and was sent to hospital with concussion. When checking her
particulars the police found out, that her name was on a deportation
list. They brought her to the custody house".
Her lawyer, Michael Pre�ler, says: She herself could have avoided this
situation, it does not look very good for her at the moment". The
substitute documents from the Yugoslavian Embassy can arrive every day
and then the deportation will be implemented immediately.
The leader of the public affais office said that the physical
condition of Slavica Y. will be examined once more and that she would
not be deported if her state of health would not allow this.
Merima Alievska, also a member of the union, is afraid, that if
Slavica will be expelled from Germany, she will land on the streets"
after having left the plane.
-----------------------
Roma rights body slams Greek treatment of Romanies
Athens/GREECE (RNN Coresspondent) May 21st 1998
A European body for Roma rights on Tuesday slammed Greece for treating
its Roma in an inhuman and degrading manner, particularly regarding
their education.
Dimitrina Petrova, director of the European Centre for Romany Rights,
told at the end of a 10-day mission to Greece that the Roma "are not
treated and do not live like humans, they exist outside society, their
situation is totally unacceptable."
Non-governmental organisations (NGO) estimate that there are over
300,000 Roma in Greece, many of whom are itinerant.
Education for Greek Roma, of whom 80 percent are illiterate according
to local NGOs, is at the root of many of their problems, Petrova
noted. "In this field, Greece is the worst country in east and central
Europe," she said.
Petrova described as "stupefying" the poverty in which many Roma exist
and the level of police violence to which they are subjected.
"In many regions, it seems routine to badly treat and subject arrested
Roma to brutality," Petrova said, adding that these incidents were
never taken up by the authorities.
Petrova, who is of Bulgarian descent, attacked local authorities which
expelled Roma or drive them into insalubrious areas. They often refuse
to register the Roma, depriving them of their civic rights.
Her report, due to be published in three months, will urge the Greek
government to improve the status of Romanies in Greece.
The government in 1996 announced an ambitious plan for the social
integration of Greek Roma. The plan, which was to implement schooling
and health programmes, has remained a dead letter.
----------------------
Greece (RNN Coresspondent) May the 15th 1998
Greek Helsinki Monitor & Minority Rights Group - Greece
OPEN LETTER TO THE MINISTER OF PUBLIC ORDER
TOPIC: INCIDENT OF ILL-TREATMENT OF UNDERAGE ROMA BY POLICE OFFICERS
To the attention of the Minister of Public Order Georgios Romeos
11/5/98
Dear Mr. Romeos,
Our cooperating organizations would like to bring to your attention
two specific cases of ill-treatment of underage Roma during their
detention on 8/5/98 by police officers of the Police Department of
Mesologgi in Etoloakarnania.
In the 9/5/98 opinion of the medical examiner of the city of Patras,
Mr. Orfeas Peridis (25 Kolokotroni Street, Patra), the underage
persons Lazaros Bekos and Lefteris Kotropoulos (17 and 18 years old
respectively) have "medium body damages inflicted with a broken
instrument 24 hours ago." This proves in the clearest way that the
ill-treatment took place during the time of the young peoples
detention at the Police Station of Mesologgi.
During their expedition around Roma settlements all over Greece,
members of our organization and representatives of the European Roma
Rights Center managed to meet the two Roma victims. The latter claimed
- and their claims were supported by the visible bruises on their
backs - that after they were arrested, the policemen started hitting
their backs with a gun, a globe and a piece of iron, and kicking the
front part of their bodies. The underage Roma also stressed the fact
that the Deputy Director of Security kept asking them to name the
place which a third person used for selling hashish, while threatening
them with further beating.
After their refusal to disclose any information, the Roma got numerous
kicks by Security plainclothesmen who were shouting "you will die
here." On the next morning (9/5/98) the arrested Roma were again
beaten and then taken to the District Attorney, who scheduled their
trial for next Fall.
One other fact is also worth mentioning. During their stay in the
Police Station, the two detainees were not allowed to phone their
relatives.
We would also like to mention that during our fact-finding mission all
over Greece we managed to gather some thirty oral testimonies
concerning similar ill-treatment. Our organizations have undertaken
the legal support and the continuing monitoring of the case of the two
underage Roma in Mesologgi.
Keeping in mind all the above, we would like to ask you to get
personally involved in this case, so that the relative administrative
examination be carried out as soon as possible. The persons
responsible for this unacceptable cruelty should be suspended from
their duties as officers immediately, and then get the punishment they
deserve according to the laws. Apart from that, all necessary
measures should be taken, so that the two underage Roma and the other
Roma would not be submitted to new blackmailing from the policemen of
the area.
We also think that clear and detailed instructions about the treatment
of Roma should be sent to all Police Stations of the country. These
should include directions related to street control, as well as to the
whole procedure of taking Roma to court.
Finally, our organizations would like to stress that the above
incident of arbitrary police behavior happens at the start of Greeces
presidency of the Council of Europe. As could be naturally expected,
this event may provoke unfavorable impressions and well-founded
criticism internationally.
---------------------------------
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