More police abuse of Roma in Romania
15 August 2001
Police officers beat a number of Roma on April 3, 2001, in the village of Gulia, Suceava County, northeastern Romania. A field investigation of the incident by the Bucharest-based non-governmental organisation Romani CRISS, the ERRC local partner in monitoring the rights of Roma in Romania, conducted on April 6, established that at around 6 PM on April 3, the Deputy Mayor of Dolhasca, four police officers, two public guardians, and four members of the Rapid Intervention Force were travelling in three cars through the village of Gulia. As they were driving, a Romani man driving a horse cart failed to give way to the vehicles and was stopped by the police. A police sergeant hit the man, Mr Gheorghe Muraru, with his fist, in full view of his fellow travellers and of some local Roma. The officer demanded Mr Muraru's identification documents, in order to issue him a fine, and then hit him again. Ms Elena Muraru, Mr Muraru's daughter, came to the scene, having been alerted that the police were beating her father. As she approached, the police officer allegedly hit her too, although she was carrying her three-year-old daughter in her arms. The officials then left the village.
According to witnesses interviewed by Romani CRISS, the group returned to the village after several hours, at approximately 8-8:30 PM the same evening. While the Deputy Mayor and the Chief of the Dolhasca Police Department briefly entered a shop, the rest of the group allegedly attacked the Roma present. One of the victims, Mr Florin Lăcătuş, told Romani CRISS that, as he was being beaten by a police officer and a public guardian, the Deputy Mayor, who had come out of the shop, asked him whether he was "Gypsy" or Romanian. When Mr Lăcătuş answered that he was Romani, the Deputy Mayor allegedly said, "Give him a lesson, boys," after which the two men again beat Mr Lăcătuş. A fourteen-year-old Romani boy, Constantin Decebal Stoică, was near the place of the incident and tried to run away but was stopped in the street by one of the police officers, who then physically assaulted him. The officer beat the boy with his fists and kicked him. The boy was taken home unconscious by local Roma, and was subsequently hospitalised in Iaşi. The Bucharest daily NaĹŁional wrote on April 5, that a group of 200 Roma had demonstrated in front of Dolhasca City Hall on the morning of April 4, protesting the violence in Gulia.
In response to the event, Romani CRISS filed a complaint against the police officer who beat Mr Decebal with the Military Prosecutor's office in Bacău, on June 1, 2001. On June 15, Romani CRISS received a response from the Suceava inspectorate, in which they were informed that the Military Prosecutor of Bacău has initiated a formal investigation of the police officer against whom the organisation filed a complaint.
In another incident of police abuse, a Romani local councillor in the village of BonĹŁida, Cluj County, northwestern Romania, has become the victim of recent intimidation attempts by local police for reporting police abuse of Roma in his area. Mr Augustin Moldovan presented accounts of abuse of local Roma at the hands of the head of the local police at a council session and is now facing charges of slander and demands for compensation of 50 million lei (approximately 2025 euro). There have also been attempts to intimidate both him and persons intending to testify on his behalf in the slander case.
According to the testimony of Mr Moldovan, given to the ERRC on March 10, 2001, he informed the members of the council at the council session of July 24, 2000, of the numerous individual reports of abuse of Roma by Mr Romul Orza, chief of police in BonĹŁida. His presentation came in response to a growing number of verbal complaints from Romani villagers against Officer Orza. Some of the complaints were reiterated to the ERRC during a field investigation in BonĹŁida on March 10. Mrs Viorica Jiga told the ERRC that her thirteen-year-old son, Ludovic Jiga, had been accused of stealing by Officer Orza and was beaten by him on July 23, 2000; Officer Orza also reportedly entered the Jiga home without a search warrant to look for the stolen goods. Mrs Jiga testified that Officer Orza drew his gun from its holster as he left her home, and said that, "All Gypsies should be shot." In another complaint against Officer Orza, Mr Bela Calo told the ERRC that years ago he had bought a rooster, not knowing that it was stolen. Officer Orza accused Mr Calo of theft, but the case never went to court. Nevertheless, Officer Orza put a picture of Mr Calo on public display, with his name and the caption "Fox from BonĹŁida." At the time of the ERRC visit, Mr Calo's picture was still up on the public notice board of the BonĹŁida police station but was subsequently removed at the request of the ERRC.
The initial council discussion on police abuse in BonĹŁida was followed by a meeting on August 11, 2000, at which representatives of the police were present. Following this meeting, the Vice-Commander of the Cluj police began an investigation in the village into the allegations. As a result of the investigation, Officer Orza was moved to policing duties in the neighbouring village of Gherla on August 17, 2001. On September 1, Officer Orza initiated slander proceedings against Mr Moldovan and filed charges of offence against authority. In an attempt to prove the truth of the numerous abuse allegations, Mr Moldovan filed a complaint against Officer Orza with the Military Prosecutor of Cluj on September 20, 2000. The Military Prosecutor's Office, however, closed the file on January 19, 2001 on grounds that "the complaint was not confirmed. On March 11, Mr Moldovan informed the ERRC that four people willing to testify on his behalf had been asked to go to the Gherla Police Station the following day. The requests were not properly stamped, and Mr Moldovan understood the invitations to be an attempt to intimidate the witnesses and consequently the four did not go to the Police Station as requested. As of August 23, 2001, Mr Moldovan and the four witnesses had heard nothing more in connection with this incident.
(ERRC, National, Romani CRISS)
