Chronicle
07 November 2001
Publication
August 24, 2001: Published a special publication for the World Conference Against Racism Roma Rights in Europe, detailing racial discrimination and violence against Roma in Europe.
August 24, 2001: Published a pamphlet for activists entitled "Recognising and Combating Racial Discrimination: A Short Guide".
September 7, 2001: Published the Country Report State of Impunity: Human Rights Abuse of Roma in Romania in English and Romanian.
Campaigning, Conferences and Meetings
April 27-28, 2001: Held second meeting of the Steering Committee for the joint three-year project "Implementing European Anti-Discrimination Law," undertaken together with Interights and Migration Policy Group and supported by the Open Society Institute, London, U.K.
May 11 and 21-22, 2001: Participated in the capacity of expert in a meeting of the so-called methodology group, set up under the auspices of a Stability Pact project undertaken by the Council of Europe to design and guide an anti-discrimination review in the Stability Pact countries, Strasbourg, France.
June 15-16, 2001: Held a meeting of rapporteurs from 14 countries covered by the joint anti-discrimination project "Implementing European Anti-Discrimination Law," to review and discuss their draft legal analyses commissioned by the project to compare existing legislation and practice in the 14 countries with the requirements of the EU Race Equality Directive and Protocol No. 12 to the ECHR, Brussels, Belgium.
June 29, 2001: Submitted written comments documenting widespread abuse of Roma in the Czech Republic to the United Nations Human Rights Committee, on the occasion of the Committee's review of that country in Geneva on July 11 and 12, 2001.
June 29, 2001: Submitted materials concerning the situation of Roma in Italy and Ukraine to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, on the occasion of the Committee's examination of the two countries during its session in Geneva starting July 30, 2001.
June 29, 2001: Submitted published documentary information concerning the situation of Roma in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia to the European Commission, timed to influence its preparation of the Fall 2001 Regular Reports on these countries' progress towards accession to the European Union.
July 20, 2001: Hosted a roundtable at the ERRC offices with various Hungarian partners to discuss action by civic organisations to promote comprehensive anti-discrimination in Hungary.
August 13-15, 2001: Carried out an advocacy trip to Prague, to meet with various representatives both within and outside the government to discuss anti-discrimination legal issues and related developments in the Czech Republic.
August 23-26, 2001: Hosted 53 Romani and non-Romani activists in Budapest as preparation for participation at the World Conference Against Racism in Durban, South Africa.
August 27-September 8, 2001: Took part in the World Conference Against Racism, Durban, South Africa.
August 31, 2001: Addressed the issue of Roma affected by violent conflicts in Kosovo and Macedonia, at a conference on violent conflict organised by the Council on Christian Approaches to Defence and Disarmament, in Birmingham, United Kingdom.
September 6, 2001: Spoke at the launch of the book Between Past and Future: The Roma of Central and Eastern Europe by the University of Hertfordshire Press, London, UK.
September 10-13, 2001: Contributed with a series of presentations on anti-discrimination law and policies to the OSCE Conference "Equal Opportunities for Roma and Sinti: Translating Words into Facts," Bucharest, Romania.
September 10, 2001: Led a working group on "Combating discrimination, effective policy making for the improvement of living conditions of Roma and Sinti, tackling the roots of East-West migration and asylum seeking" at an ad hoc meeting on Roma by the OSCE, Bucharest, Romania.
September 11, 2001: Acted as rapporteur for a working group on "Roma in situations of crisis and post-crisis rehabilitation in the OSCE region", at an ad hoc meeting on Roma by the OSCE, Bucharest, Romania.
September 20, 2001: Spoke about the social situation of young Roma at the conference on "The Social Situation of Young People in an Enlarged European Union" organised by the Brussels-based European Youth Forum, in Budapest, Hungary.
September 20-21, 2001: Attended the OSCE "Human Dimension and Implementation Meeting" in Warsaw, Poland.
September 21, 2001: Gave a speech about racial discrimination against Romani women at the public promotion of the book Romkinje (Romani Women) organised by the Centre for Women's Studies in Subotica, Yugoslavia.
September 27-28, 2001: Held third meeting of the Steering Committee for the joint three-year project "Implementing European Anti-Discrimination Law," undertaken together with Interights and Migration Policy Group and supported by the Open Society Institute, London, U.K.
October 4, 2001: Addressed a meeting convened by the European Parliament's Green/Free Alliance Group entitled "Roma and Sinti on the Eve of EU Enlargement," Strasbourg, France.
October 8, 2001: Spoke at a conference on Human Rights and Democratisation organised by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Dubrovnik, Croatia.
October 17, 2001: Spoke on the human rights situation of Roma in Slovenia at a press conference and a round table in Ljubljana, Slovenia, organised by the Ljubljana-based Peace Institute and the EU Accession Monitoring Program of the Open Society Institute from Budapest.
October 25, 2001: Acted as presenter on the issue of state protection of Roma in Romania at a meeting organised by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refuees for asylum adjudicators in Dublin, Ireland.
October 25-26, 2001: Traveled to Copenhagen to meet with Danish government officials and members of parliament ahead of the upcoming Danish EU presidency in the second half of 2002.
November 2-3, 2001: Participated in a conference on the Enlargement of the European Union, organised by the European Association of Lawyers for Democracy and World Human Rights, Frankfurt/Oder, Germany.
November 3, 2001: Acted as trainer for Romani mediators from former Yugoslavia at a workshop organised by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe within the frame-work of the "Roma in the Stability Pact" program, Skopje, Macedonia.
November 6, 2001: Spoke on race relations at a symposium of the Hudson Institute in Indianapolis, USA.
November 8, 2001: Hosted a visit by the Pakiv Leadership and Management group of Romani activists, Budapest, Hungary.
November 11, 2001: Held the first meeting of the ERRC Romani Language Advisory Committee, Budapest, Hungary.
November 15-17, 2001: Organised, together with Migration Policy Group and Interights, a transnational workshop on anti-discrimination legislation in the framework of the joint project "Implementing European Anti-discrimination Law", Sinaia, Romania.
November 22, 2001, 2001: Acted as a trainer for Romani journalists within the framework of a programme run by the Center for Independent Journalism, Bratislava, Slovakia.
November 25-28, 2001: Held a training workshop for ERRC local monitors and monitoring volunteers, Budapest, Hungary.
November 28-30, 2001: Attended a conference on Roma and education organised by the non-governmental organisation Save the Children, Budapest, Hungary.
December 3-4, 2001: Gave keynote speech at conference on Roma and education organised by the Open Society Institute, Budapest, Hungary.
December 6, 2001: Led a roundtable discussion on minorities, migration and the EU accession process as part of "Human Rights Week" at the Central European University, organised by the Human Rights Students Initiative, Budapest, Hungary.
December 6-7, 2001: Participated in the conference "Equal treatment between persons and prohibition of all forms of discrimination", organised by the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Rights of National and Ethnic Minorities, Budapest, Hungary.
