MINELRES: ERRC: Rights of Romani Children in Poland

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Original sender: European Roma Rights Center <errc@errc.org>


October 1, 2002
European Roma Rights Center Press Release
United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child Reviews Poland

Today, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child reviews
Poland's compliance with the International Convention on the Rights of
the Child (ICRC). In the run-up to today's meeting, the European Roma
Rights Center (ERRC) submitted written comments to the Committee for
consideration during its review.

ERRC concerns as they relate to specific articles of the ICRC, and as
described in its written submission to the Committee on the Rights of
the Child, follow in summary:

As to Article 2, the Government has not taken appropriate measures to
ensure that all children are protected against all forms of
discrimination or punishment on the basis of the status, activities,
expressed opinions or beliefs of the child�s parents, legal guardians,
or family members. According to documentation by the ERRC and that of
other non-governmental organisations, Romani children in Poland, like
Romani adults, suffer widespread discrimination in virtually all spheres
of public lifefrom the administration of justice and the protection of
the family to education and housing.

As regards Article 3 of the Convention, the ERRC has documented a number
of cases in which Polish authorities have taken action against Romani
children and families in flagrant violation of the principle of the best
interests of the child. Areas of particular concern in this respect
include the treatment of alien Romani children on Polish territory and
the administration of juvenile justice.

As to Article 6 of the Convention, the Government has failed to ensure
to the maximum extent possible the survival and development of Romani
children. In particular, Polish authorities have engaged in
discriminatory practices in granting municipal housing to Romani
families, in developing the necessary infrastructure for a minimum
standard of living, and in facilitating the access of Romani children to
health care. Moreover, the development of entire generations of Romani
children to their full potential has been hindered by segregationist
practices in the field of education, providing Romani children
sub-standard education in often inadequate material conditions.

As to Article 9, the ERRC is concerned about a recurring pattern of
forced separation of alien Romani children from parents during expulsion
procedures from Poland. The ERRC has documented cases in which police
have placed Romanian Romani children in state care, without proper and
full judicial review and without taking into consideration the best
interests of the child. Parents of children remanded into state care are
frequently not provided with information concerning the whereabouts of
their children, much less with the opportunity to maintain personal
relations and direct contact, or to reunite with them.

As regards Article 12, the ERRC is concerned about the fact that the
views of Romani children and their families are often not taken into
consideration by Polish authorities in deciding upon the placement of
children in state care or in segregated school facilities. The ERRC has
also received reports of Romani children and their families whose views
have not been heard during the administration of juvenile justice.

As to Article 24, despite explicit constitutional provisions protecting
the right of access to health care for all Polish citizens, Romani
children in Poland are in practice often blocked from exercising this
right. The access of Romani persons to health services is often severely
impeded because many Romani communities live in segregated settlements,
in isolated villages or on the outskirts of the cities, in areas with
neither public transportation nor readily available telephone service.
Moreover, the extremely poor living conditions of Romani families
exacerbate their poor health.

As to Article 27, the ERRC is concerned about the standard of living of
Romani children, in particular in the area of housing. The majority of
Romani families in Poland live segregated from the rest of the
population, inhabiting sub-standard housing, barracks or shanties, with
insufficient sanitation, and without potable drinking water, electricity
or gas. Romani families are often denied requests for municipal housing.

As to Articles 28 and 29, the ERRC has documented systemic violations of
the right to education with respect to Romani children. These violations
take the form of widespread discriminatory and segregationist practices,
such as the segregation of Romani children in separate, substandard
classes or in classes for the mentally disabled, racially-motivated
abuse in school, and the apathy of Polish school authorities in
combating low attendance and high drop-out rates among Romani school-age
children.

As to Article 37, the ERRC is concerned about the recurrent subjection
of Romani children to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment or punishment by both state and non-state actors, as well as
about the unlawful or arbitrary deprivation of liberty of Romani
children. The ERRC has documented a number of cases in which children
have been subjected to such treatment by law-enforcement officials, as
well as by sympathisers of nationalist extremist and/or racist
movements. When such cases occur, they are rarely investigated
adequately, and even more rarely prosecuted by the authorities.

As to Article 40, police officials sometimes arbitrarily bring charges
against Romani youths and children who, under duress and without a full
understanding of the proceedings to which they are subject, confess to
crimes they may not have committed or to crimes with which they should
not have been criminally charged. Moreover, children alleged or accused
of having infringed the penal law are often subjected to torture and/or
physical abuse, and/or are not granted appropriate procedural guarantees
such as the right to legal assistance or to contact their families.

In light of the above, the ERRC recommends that the Government of Poland
undertake the following:

1. Promptly bring those responsible for racially motivated crimes
against Romani children and youth to justice.

2. Carry out thorough and timely investigations into all alleged
instances of police abuse of Romani children and youth, including
violence, unlawful searches, malicious investigation of violence against
Roma, harassment, and failure to investigate racially motivated crimes
and/or protect potential victims of violent attacks.

3. Bring Polish law into conformity with the requirements of Council
Directive 2000/43/EC, �implementing the principle of equality between
persons, irrespective of racial or ethnic origin� by adopting a
comprehensive anti-discrimination law. Ensure that the implementing body
mandated by the Directive is strong, fully independent and adequately
staffed and funded.

4. Ensure effective remedy for cases of discrimination against Romani
children and youth in the field of housing, health care, social
protection and other sectoral fields.

5. Terminate discriminatory and segregationist practices in the field of
housing, and provide Romani families with legally recognised habitable
shelter, security of tenure, and adequate basic infrastructure.

6. Implement a comprehensive school desegregation plan, such that all
Romani children may fully realise the right to education. Without delay,
end the practice of segregating Romani children into so-called �Gypsy
classes� or into classes for mentally disabled students. Integrate all
Romani students into mainstream classes and, where necessary, design and
implement adequately funded and staffed programmes aimed at easing the
transition from segregated to integrated schooling.

7. Design pre-school programmes for Romani children to learn the primary
language of schooling and to attain a level ensuring an equal start in
the first class of primary school.

8. Develop and implement catch-up or adult education programmes aimed at
remedying the legacies of substandard education and non-schooling of
Roma.

9. Where instances of abuse in the school system are reported  abuse
including exclusionary practices, physical and verbal assault,
humiliating treatment, and failure by teachers and school administrators
to protect Romani children from peer abuse  without delay, punish school
authorities responsible, and implement measures aimed at preventing
further abuse.

10. Develop curriculum resources for teaching Romani language, culture,
and history in schools, and make them available to all schools, so that
all children in Poland learn of the valuable contributions Roma have
made to Polish society.

11. Provide free legal aid to members of weak groups, including Roma,
children, and the indigent.

12. At the highest level, speak out against the problem of anti-Romani
sentiment and racially motivated crimes against Roma; at all levels,
acknowledge and speak out against racism, racially motivated crime,
patterns and practices of discrimination, and segregation. Address the
root problem of anti-Romani racism in Poland by developing and
implementing anti-racism curriculums for schools and campaigns for the
media, so as to address widespread negative attitudes against Roma and
racism generally.

13. Conduct comprehensive children�s rights, human rights and
anti-racism training for the national and local administration, members
of the police force and of the judiciary.

The full text of the ERRC submission is available on the Internet
http://errc.org/publications/legal/index.shtml.
Further information on the situation of Roma in Poland, including the
recently published ERRC Country Report "The Limits of Solidarity: Roma
in Poland After 1989", is available on the Internet at
http://errc.org/publications/indices/poland.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

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