Chronicle
16 December 2004
Campaigning, Conferences and Meetings
June, July and August, 2004: Three teams of ERRC staff and interns conducted field research into the human rights situation of Roma in various regions of Russia.
June 16-17, 2004: Participated in an OSCE meeting on the relationship between racist, xenophobic and anti-Semitic propaganda on the Internet and hate crimes, Paris.
June 28-30, 2004: Participated in a consultation meeting convened by Minority Rights Group on initiating a two-year anti-discrimination training and advocacy project administered jointly by the Minority Rights Group, the ERRC and the Swedish Ethnic Minority Ombudsman’s office, London.
July 2004: Sent written comments to the Romanian and Bulgarian Governments (Ministries of Labour and Social Affairs) and the European Commission (DG Employment and Social Affairs) on the draft Joint Inclusion Memoranda (JIM) to be signed by the two candidate countries and the European Commission in Brussels, October/November 2004, as the basis of future coordinated policies on social inclusion and eradication of poverty.
July 2, 2004: Presented the ERRC activities at a meeting of the Europe-wide umbrella organisation Social Platform, Budapest.
July 7, 2004: Held training for Romani activists in advocacy skills in Lutzk, Ukraine.
July 8, 2004: Provided written comments to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women concerning the situation of Romani women in Spain.
July 5-14, 2004: Held the annual ERRC Summer Workshop for Romani activists in cooperation with the Canadian Human Rights Foundation, Budapest.
July 22-23, 2004: Participated in the Social Forum, an event organised within the United Nations Subcommission for the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights, and noted the situation of Roma in Europe as a discriminated and vulnerable group, Geneva.
July 25, 2004: Held a consultation meeting on initiating a joint project involving the ERRC, the Brussels-based European Roma Information Office (ERIO) and the International Helsinki Federation (IHF), as well as local partners, to focus on documentation and advocacy in the fields of education and employment, Budapest.
July 27-28, 2004: Presented ERRC ethnic data concerns at a conference on the subject convened by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Bratislava.
July 30-August 3, 2004: Undertook an advocacy mission to Greece, together with newly elected Member of the European Parliament Livia Jaroka, to press for Roma rights change in Greece, Athens.
August 4, 2004: Served as the host in an online discussion on the situation of Roma in the context of EU Enlargement organised by TOL, Prague.
August 9, 2004: Presented oral and written comments on Slovakia’s compliance with the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) at a meeting of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on the subject, Geneva.
August 10, 2004: Held a press conference jointly with ERRC partner organisations Milan Simecka Foundation and the League of Human Rights Advocates to discuss ERRC concerns in Slovakia and the proceedings of the UN Committee hearings the previous day, Bratislava.
August 16, 2004: Provided written comments to the European Commission “Green Paper: Equality and Non-Discrimination in an Enlarged European Union”, an opportunity offered by the European Commission’s DG Employment and Social Affairs for NGOs and the general public to provide their comments on issues related to equality and non-discrimination.
September 2-3, 2004: Participated in brainstorming seminar “Monitoring and Evaluation Methodologies of National programs and Strategies for Roma or Travellers” organised by the Council of Europe, Strasbourg.
September 3, 2004: Provided written comments concerning racial segregation of Roma in Croatian schools to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, timed for that bodies review of Croatia’s compliance with the International Convention on the Rights of the Child.
September 3, 2004: Submitted a letter of concern regarding segregation of Romani children in the Croatian educational system to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, reviewing Croatia’s compliance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child at its 37th session, September 13-October 1, 2004.
September 9-10, 2004: Participated in several meetings with EU officials and members of different DG’s to discuss the situation of Roma form the accession countries (Bulgaria and Romania), the action plan of the governments and the development of the progress report about those countries, Brussels.
September 11-12, 2004: Participated in a European Network against Racism (ENAR) Conference on Combating Racism and Xenophobia as a Crime, Brussels, Belgium.
September 13, 2004: Participated and submitted written statement, as well as delivered oral statement, to the OSCE Conference on Tolerance and the Fight against Racism, Xenophobia and Discrimination, on the serious situation of Roma and Russia, in Brussels.
September 17, 2004: Held a briefing with Romani women’s rights activists in Croatia hosted by the Union of Romani Women “Bolja Buducnost”; discussed future field research aimed at collecting information about Romani women’s rights for the purposes of submitting a shadow report to CEDAW on the occasion of its review of Croatia in January 2005.
September 20, 2004: Presented materials to the Council of Europe’s Advisory Committee to the Framework Convention on the Protection of National Minorities on Roma rights issues in Hungary, Budapest.
September 23, 2004: Testified at a briefing on Roma in Russia before the US Helsinki Commission, Washington DC.
September 20-24, 2004: Conducted an advocacy tour on the situation of Roma in Russia at US governmental institutions, including State Department, the National Security Council, and the USAID, Washington DC.
September 27-28, 2004: Participated and provided input into the Roma Housing Workshop, organised by the Council of Europe in cooperation with the Council of Europe’s Development Bank, the World Bank and Open Society Institute, within the larger process of the Decade of Roma Inclusion, Budapest, Hungary.
September 28, 2004: Submitted an ERRC country Report and other information on Poland to the Human Rights Committee, for assistance during the review of Poland’s compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (the Covenant), at its 82nd session, October 18-November 5, 2004.
September 28, 2004: Held a training seminar in Warsaw, Poland, for Judges and lawyers on the EU Race Equality Directive.
September 30-October 4, 2004: Undertook an advocacy mission to Macedonia related to the adoption of a government strategy on Roma, anti-discrimination law, and refugee and stateless persons.
September 29-October 2, 2004: Participated in an international conference “New Tactics in Human Rights” organised by the Helsinki Citizens Assembly, Ankara, Turkey.
September 30-October 1, 2004: Acted as a trainer at a regional training for young Romani activists organised by the Swedish Helsinki Committee in Ohrid, Macedonia.
October 1, 2004: Held a roundtable discussion in Warsaw, Poland, for parliamentarians and senior officials on the EU Race Equality Directive.
October 5, 2004: Participated in the OSCE Annual Human Dimension Meeting, and organised a sideevent on “Roma and the right to adequate housing” jointly with the OSCE/ODIHR Contact Point on Roma and Sinti Issues, Warsaw, Poland;
October 8-9, 2004: Participated in the seminar “The social inclusion strategy in a growing Union: NGOs speak up”, convened by the European Anti-Poverty Network in Warsaw, Poland.
October 11, 2004: Presented Roma housing rights concerns in Greece, in cooperation with the Greek Helsinki Monitor (GHM) and the Center for Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) at a hearing held by the European Social Committee in relation to the collective complaint against Greece filed under the European Social Charter filed by the ERRC.
October 14-15, 2004: Participated in an International Steering Committee on the Decade of Roma Inclusion which discussed the launching of the Decade in 2005 and the Action Plans for the Decade prepared by the governments participating in the Decade.
October 20, 2004: Participated in Council of Europe’s ECRI consultation on the role of ethnic data in combating discrimination, Strasbourg.
October 29, 2004: Participated as a panelist on anti-discrimination legislation at the Annual Conference of the International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA), Budapest.
November 4-5, 2004: Participated as a speaker in the OSCE Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting on Internally Displaced Persons and the side event on “Situation of the Roma Internally Displaced Persons in the Framework of the Implementation of the OSCE Action Plan” organised by the ODIHR Contact Point for Roma and Sinti, Vienna.
November 9, 2004: Held a roundtable for city and police authorities and local Romani organisation in Kremenchug, Ukraine.
November 18, 2004: Participated in a high level consultation with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Geneva.
November 22-23, 2004: Participated as speaker in the conference “Equality in a Future Europe” organised by the Dutch Presidency of the EU, the Hague.
December 1, 2004: Held a training workshop for Judges and lawyers on anti-discrimination law in Prague, Czech Republic;
December 2, 2004: Held a training workshop for NGO activists on anti-discrimination measures in Prague, Czech Republic;
December 3, 2004: Held a strategic discussion on specialised equality bodies in Prague, Czech Republic.
December 9, 2004: Participated in an International conference entitled “Human Rights and Education in Combating Discrimination”, Bratislava, Slovakia.
