MINELRES: Landmark Ruling in 1993 Romanian Mob Violence Case

[European Roma Rights Center]

Justice May Finally Come to Families of Romanian Pogrom

Nearly ten years after mob violence left three Romani men dead and the 
houses of14 Romani families destroyed in Hadareni, Romania, the European 
Court of Human Rights on June 3 agreed to review the claims of 24 of the 
victims, finding the complaint raised "serious issues of law and fact under 
the Convention". The applicants are represented by the European Roma Rights 
Center, a public interest law organization based in Budapest that monitors 
the human rights situation of the Roma throughout Europe and provides legal 
defence in cases of abuse.

Following an altercation in which a non-Romani boy was killed, a mob of 
non-Romani villagers hunted down the alleged perpetrators and set fire to 
the house in which they were hiding. Two were brutally murdered when they 
tried to escape, and the third burned to death in the house. The mob, 
including members of the local police force, went on to destroy 14 
additional houses of Romani families. Ten months later, three individuals 
were charged with the murders but later released and their arrest warrants 
cancelled by the General Prosecutor. The complaints against the police were 
referred to the Military Prosecutor's Office, which issued a decision not 
to prosecute. That decision was upheld on appeal.

Nearly four years later, following international outcry over the incident 
and the failure of Romanian authorities to bring justice to the victims, 
the Public Prosecutor in Mures County finally issued an indictment against 
11 civilians suspected of committing the crimes, later expanded to include 
others. In a judgment issued 17 July 1998, the Targu-Mures court began by 
noting, "Due to their lifestyle and their rejection of the moral values 
accepted by the rest of the population, the Roma community has marginalised 
itself, shows aggressive behavior and deliberately denies and violates the 
legal norms acknowledged by society." Twelve individuals were convicted of 
destruction of property and disturbance, including the Deputy Mayor of 
Hadareni, and five of murder. The sentences ranged from one to seven years, 
later shortened on appeal. The Supreme Court later acquitted two of the 
defendants and those remaining in custody were pardoned by the Romanian 
President in June 2000. A civil court rejected all of the claims for 
non-pecuniary (moral) damages, finding the crimes were not of such a nature 
as to produce moral damage.

Because the incident occurred prior to Romania's ratification of the 
European Convention on Human Rights, the applicant's claims under Article 2 
(right to life) and Article 3 (freedom from torture or inhuman or degrading 
treatment) arising from the incident itself were dismissed on 13 March 
2001. The claims remaining before the Court, which were declared admissible 
in the 3 June 2003 decision, include the applicants' claims under Article 3 
(freedom from torture or inhuman or degrading treatment) and Article 8 
(respect for private and family life) arising from the inhuman conditions 
in which they were forced to live following the destruction of their homes, 
as well as Article 6 (right to a fair trial) based on the delayed civil 
proceedings against the civilian defendants and the inability to pursue 
civil claims against the police because of the refusal by Romanian 
authorities to prosecute them. In addition, significantly, the Court will 
consider the applicants' complaint that they were subjected to 
discrimination by judicial bodies and officials in connection with the 
above claims because of their Romani ethnicity, including the anti-Romani 
statements in the Targu-Mures judgment of July 1998.

"These families have been living in horrendous and inhuman conditions since 
1993," stated Jean Garland, Legal Director of the ERRC. "The European 
Court's willingness to hear their claims sends an important message that 
crimes such as those they have suffered cannot remain without due legal 
remedy. We are confident that justice will finally be done."

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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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