MINELRES: ERRC Welcomes European Human Rights Court Ruling

[European Roma Rights Center]

European Court of Human Rights Finds Bulgaria in Breach of European
Human Rights Standards in Police Abuse Case

On June 13, 2002, the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg found
Bulgaria in breach of several provisions of the European Convention on
Human Rights in a case involving the death of a young Romani man while
in police custody. The case, Anguelova v. Bulgaria, was filed with
assistance from the European Roma Rights Center, an international public
interest law organization based in Budapest.

The applicant�s son, 17-year-old Anguel Zabchikov, was allegedly trying
to break into cars in a neighborhood in Razgrad, Bulgaria, sometime
after midnight on January 28, 1996. Neighbors alerted an off-duty
police officer, Sergeant Mutafov, who was in the area at the time.
Sergeant Mutafov chased Anguel Zabchikov and claimed that Zabchikov fell
on his face several times while trying to run away. He was arrested for
attempted theft and taken to the police station shortly before 1:00
a.m. By 3:00 a.m., his health had deteriorated significantly. He was
taken to the local hospital, where he died at around 5:00 a.m.

An autopsy the following day indicated that Anguel Zabchikov died from a
skull fracture sustained four to six hours before his death. A
subsequent report, based only on documentary evidence, concluded that he
had been injured ten hours before his death. Based on the second
report, the investigators concluded that the police were not responsible
for his injuries or death and terminated the investigation.

The Court unanimously held there had been a violation of Article 2
(right to life) of the European Convention on Human Rights with respect
to Anguel Zabchikov�s death, the failure to provide timely medical care,
and the failure to conduct an effective investigation. The applicant
submitted an expert medical opinion showing Zabchikov had severe
bruising on his right hand and other evidence of ill treatment. In
finding a violation, the Court noted that the police delayed contact
between Zabchikov and a doctor, may have tried to control which doctor
saw him, and manipulated the detention records. It further noted that
the case file contained no criticism or disapproval of the delaying
actions. With respect to the investigation, the Court questioned the
failure of Bulgarian authorities to clarify the obvious contradictions
between the first and second medical reports and concluded the
investigation was not objective and thorough. For the same reasons, the
Court found a violation of Article 3 (prohibition of torture).

Because there was no written order or proper record of Zabchikov�s
detention, the Court also found a violation of Article 5 (right to
liberty). Further, the Court found that the failure to conduct an
effective investigation into his death undermined the effectiveness of
any other potential remedies, and thus violated Article 13 (right to an
effective remedy).

The Court, while finding the applicant had raised �serious� arguments
that Zabchikov�s treatment by the police was in part a result of his
Romani ethnicity, held she had not proven her discrimination claim
�beyond a reasonable doubt�. In a thoughtful dissenting opinion, Judge 
Bonello noted his concern that the Court, in over fifty years, has not 
found a single instance of violation of the right to life or the right not 
to be subjected to torture induced by the race, colour or place of origin 
of the victim. Per Judge Bonello, �Kurds, coloureds, Islamics, Roma and 
others are again and again killed, tortured or maimed, but the Court is not 
persuaded that their race, colour, nationality or place of origin has 
anything to do with it.� He cited numerous reports of
inter-governmental organisations and human rights groups, such as the
European Roma Rights Center, documenting the �predilection displayed by
police officers for savaging Roma.�

The Court awarded EUR 19,050 for non-pecuniary damage and EUR 3,500 for
costs and expenses.

The European Court's ruling in Anguelova has particular significance for
Roma. Throughout Europe, Roma regularly suffer abuses � often extreme
abuses -- at the hands of the police and other representatives of the
state. The most common response on the part of investigative,
prosecutorial and judicial authorities to reports of police abuse of
Roma is indifference, neglect and/or hostility. Officers are rarely
prosecuted or even internally disciplined, even in cases in which police
have killed Roma. The European Court of Human Rights ruling in Anguelova
has vindicated the efforts of one Romani mother to see that her son's
death receives justice. Perhaps as importantly, the Court's ruling has
sent a clear signal to European states that abuses of Roma by state
actors cannot go without judicial remedy.

The full text of the decision is available on the website of the
European Court of Human Rights at http://www.echr.coe.int

Information about the human rights situation of Roma in Bulgaria is 
available at: http://errc.org/publications/indices/bulgaria.shtml



_____________________________________________

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

For correspondence, to subscribe and unsubscribe from this list, please use 
mailto:office@errc.org.