MINELRES: ERRC Welcomes UN Race Committee Findings on Hungary

[European Roma Rights Center]

September 16, 2002
ERRC Welcomes Concluding Observations on Hungary of the United Nations
Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

The European Roma Rights Center (ERRC), an international public interest
law organisation which monitors the situation of Roma in Europe and
provides legal defence in cases of human rights abuse, welcomes the
Concluding Observations of the United Nations Committee on the
Elimination of Racial Discrimination on Hungary's compliance with the
International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial
Discrimination (ICERD).

The Committee expresses its concern �at persisting intolerance and
discrimination especially in relation to the Roma minority��.
Specifically, the Committee �is concerned about the number of
allegations of ill treatment and discrimination against the Roma and
non-citizens by law enforcement officials, especially by the police�. In
spite of the measures provided for by the �Medium Term Package of
Measures to Improve the Living Conditions and Social Position of the
Roma Populations�, the Committee notes that �[abuse and discrimination]
practices have not ceased,� and recommends that the Government of
Hungary �consider recruiting more members of minority groups and
especially of the Roma minority in law enforcement bodies and
strengthening the existing legal aid system for alleged victims� and
�pursue and extend training programmes for judges and prosecutors aiming
at sensitising them to discrimination issues�.

As regards the right to education, the Committee is �concerned about
discriminatory practices resulting from the system of separate classes
for Roma students and from private schooling arrangements� and
recommends �that new programs integrate Roma children into mainstream
schools�. In the same time, �the Committee strongly recommends that the
State party reconsider allocating Roma children to schools and classes
for mentally disabled.�

As regards the right to work, �the Committee is concerned at the
proportionately higher unemployment rate among the Roma population� and
�recommends that the State party strictly apply existing
anti-discriminatory provisions in that field and ensure in particular
fair access of Roma to professional training programmes and to
professional activities.�

As regards the right to housing, �the Committee is concerned that the
Roma population is disproportionately subjected to discrimination in
respect of housing, and in particular, to forced evictions� and
�recommends that the State party take further positive measures to
effectively address the issue of discrimination with regard to housing.�

Another area of concern for the Committee is �discriminatory practices
against persons belonging to the Roma minority in respect of access to
public places, such as restaurants, bars or caf�s.� In this area, the
Committee �recommends that the State party continue to intensify its
efforts in combating such behaviour and raise awareness of the
population of all aspects related to racial discrimination.� The
Committee further encouraged the government to "complete its efforts as
soon as possible [...] on the elaboration of a comprehensive
anti-discrimination law [...]".

The full text of the UN Committee's Concluding Observations is available
on:
http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/(Symbol)/CERD.C.61.CO.6.En?Opendocument

The ERRC submitted written comments to the Committee for consideration
during its review of the Hungary�s compliance with ICERD on August
15-16, 2002, and, on the day of the review, representatives of the ERRC,
as well as of the Budapest-based non-governmental organisations
Hungarian Helsinki Committee and Roma Press Center held a joint briefing
on Hungary's record on discrimination before Committee members in
Geneva. The full text of the ERRC written submission to the Committee,
as well as other ERRC publications on Roma rights in Hungary, is
available on: http://www.errc.org/publications/indices/hungary.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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