MINELRES: ERRC: Lawsuit at UN Race Discrimination Body against Serbia and Montenegro

[MINELRES moderator]

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


European Roma Rights Center Press Release:

LAWSUIT FILED WITH THE UNITED NATIONS COMMITTEE ON THE ELIMINATION OF
RACIAL DISCRIMINATION FOR REFUSAL TO ALLOW ROMA INTO DISCOTHEQUE IN
SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO

On April 2, 2003, the European Roma Rights Center (ERRC) and the
Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) jointly filed an application against
Serbia and Montenegro with the United Nations Committee on the
Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) on behalf of Dragan Durmic,
a young Romani man who was denied entry into a local discotheque because
of his ethnicity. Although the incident occurred over three years ago,
Serbian authorities have never conducted an appropriate investigation
nor responded to either the criminal complaint or the constitutional
court petition lodged by the victim. Article 60 of the Serbian Criminal
Code prohibits the denial or restriction of citizens' rights based on
race or ethnicity, with punishment ranging from three months' to five
years' imprisonment.

The HLC, along with the Democratic Union of Roma, in February 2000
responded to numerous complaints about the widespread denial of access
to Roma to clubs, discotheques, restaurants, cafes and swimming pools
solely on the basis of their race by conducting "tests" of several
establishments. One such establishment was a local discotheque,
"Trezor", located in downtown Belgrade. The HLC sent one Romani couple,
one non-Romani couple, and one non-Romani man as testers to Trezor. All
of the testers were neatly dressed and well-behaved -- thus the only
apparent difference was the color of their skin. The Romani testers,
including Dragan Durmic, tried to enter the club but were stopped by the
bouncer. The bouncer told them there was a private party in progress and
that they could not enter without an invitation. The non-Romani male
tester stood close enough to hear the conversation. He explained to the
bouncer that he did not have an invitation and asked whether he could
enter. He was allowed in without any problems. Similarly, the other
non-Romani testers were allowed to enter with no questions asked, no
mention of a private party, and no need for invitations. Mr Durmic filed
a criminal complaint, to no avail, and a petition with the
constitutional court, which has been ignored.

The lawsuit seeks a declaration that Serbia and Montenegro has violated
the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial
Discrimination, requests a comprehensive criminal investigation into the
incident, seeks just compensation for the victim for humiliation and
degradation suffered from the discrimination, and requests Serbian 
authorities to take effective measures to ensure an end to racial
discrimination in admission to the discotheque.

More information on the situation of Roma in Serbia and Montenegro can
be 
found at:
http://www.errc.org/publications/indices/serbia_and_montenegro.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.