MINELRES: Roma Rights Coalition Targets Italy at Upcoming UN Review
[email protected]
[email protected]
Sat Jan 19 09:49:46 2008
Original sender: European Roma Rights Centre <[email protected]>
UN Racial Discrimination Committee to Review Italy, as Italian Police
Continue to Terrorise Roma in Their Homes
18 January 2008, Budapest, Florence, Geneva, Mantova: Today a coalition
of human rights organisations submitted a comprehensive parallel report
on the human rights crisis of Roma and Sinti in Italy to the United
Nations Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial
Discrimination, in advance of the Committee�s upcoming review of Italy�s
compliance with the International Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Racial Discrimination. Coalition members include international
organisations European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) and Centre on Housing
Rights and Evictions (COHRE), and Italian organisations osservAzione and
Sucar Drom.
The report is based on extensive first hand research and experience of
the submitting organisations, and focuses on targeted anti-Romani racism
and actions which have risen to hysterical levels in Italy since 2006.
It also includes a series of recommendations for the Italian government
to improve the human rights situation of Roma and Sinti in Italy.
Featuring prominently in the report are high levels of anti-Romani
hatred propagated by prominent Italian public officials and media, as
well as the so-called �Pacts for Security� adopted in various Italian
cities in 2006 and 2007, and November and December 2007 emergency
decrees amending Italian legislation regulating the stay of EU citizens
in Italy. The substance and impact of these legislative and policy
actions are analysed in detail, with specific focus on the systemic
targeting of Roma and Sinti during police checks and raids on Romani
camps, forced evictions and the destruction of personal property and
documents, and other physically or otherwise abusive actions by state
and non-state representatives against Roma and Sinti in Italy.
The submission also explores concerns regarding failure of the Italian
government to grant minority status to Roma and Sinti, the continued
segregation of Roma and Sinti in Italy, limitations on the freedom of
movement of members of these groups, as well as problems with regard to
the segregated education of Romani and Sinti children.
The full text of the report and its annexes are available at:
Main report: http://www.errc.org/db/02/9B/m0000029B.pdf
Annex 1: Rome Pact for Security:
http://www.errc.org/db/02/9A/m0000029A.pdf
Annex 2: Milan Pact for Security:
http://www.errc.org/db/02/99/m00000299.pdf
Annex 3: Photo Annex: http://www.errc.org/db/02/9C/m0000029C.pdf
For further information, please contact:
Tara Bedard, ERRC Programmes Coordinator, [email protected]
Claude Cahn, COHRE Head of Advocacy Unit, [email protected]
Piero Colacicchi, osservAzione President, [email protected]
Bernardino Torsi, Sucar Drom President, [email protected]
--------------------------------------------------------
The European Roma Rights Centre is an international public interest law
organisation which monitors the human rights situation of Roma and
provides legal defence in cases of human rights abuse. For more
information about the European Roma Rights Centre, visit the ERRC on the
web at http://www.errc.org
To support the ERRC, please visit this link:
http://www.errc.org/cikk.php?cikk=2735
European Roma Rights Centre
1386 Budapest 62
P.O. Box 906/93
Hungary
Tel: +36.1.413.2200
Fax:
+36.1.413.2201
---------------------------------------------
This message was sent using Endymion MailMan.
http://www.endymion.com/products/mailman/ http://www.microlink.com/