Attacks on Roma in Romania

10 July 2002

The Bucharest-based Romani organisation Romani CRISS reported that on May 8, 2002, a group of nearly two hundred fans of the Steaua soccer team attacked Roma and shouted racial slurs in Bucharest. Bigotry Monitor quoted Ciprian Necula, program co-ordinator of Romani CRISS as having stated that during the incident, the attackers shouted such slurs as "Gypsies out of Romania". According to the article, the attackers beat Roma, "entering their houses, destroying doors, and breaking windows."

In another case, on March 13, 2002, the Hungarian-language Romanian national daily newspaper Krónika reported that on the evening of March 5, 2002, at approximately 11:00 PM, around fifteen men armed with baseball bats entered the Romani settlement of Săcădat, in the village of Sabolciu in Bihor County and attacked Roma in the community. Romani residents, however, reportedly met the attackers with pitchforks and axes, causing the attackers to retreat. Approximately fifteen minutes following the initial attack, attackers allegedly entered the Romani settlement again and retreated when they again met with Romani resistance. According to the article, Roma from the Săcădat settlement now live in fear of being attacked again. The article also reported that during the week before the attack, Roma from the settlement had demonstrated in front of the Mayor's Office in order to receive social aid. According to Mr Gheorghe Chereji, Bihor County Chief of Police, the attacks had not been reported to the police.

(Romani CRISS, Krónika)