Anti-discrimination action in Romania
15 August 2001
On March 21, 2001, the Târgu-Mureş-based non-governmental organisation Liga Pro Europa, took legal action against the weekly newspaper Jurnalul de Mureş, in relation to a racially inflammatory article published by the weekly on March 16, on the basis of Article 317 of the Romanian Penal Code, which prohibits national-chauvinistic propaganda. The article contained an interview with two persons using pseudonyms who proposed to “clean the town of Roma.” The Târgu-Mureş prosecutor’s office responded in a letter to Liga Pro Europa dated July 3 that no crime had been committed. Liga Pro Europa wrote again to the prosecutor office asking for their reasoning in deciding that no crime had been committed but as of July 31, had received no response. The deputies from the Romanian parliamentary group on national minorities also warned that media attacks against minority communities in Romania have intensified, as reported by the Prague-based Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty on March 28, 2001.
The Romanian press has also featured discriminatory employment advertisements in recent months. From March 12-28, 2001, the Bucharest-based advertising daily newspaper Anunţul Telefonic published on several occasions an advertisement for security guards that explicitly excluded Roma from applying. The Bucharest-based non-governmental organisation, Romani CRISS, the ERRC local partner in monitoring Roma rights in Romania, filed a complaint against the newspaper on May 7, 2001, on the basis of the Law on Publicity. Articles 6(d) and 6(f) of Law 147/2000 prohibit publicity that includes discrimination on the basis of, inter alia, ethnic identity, and that creates an image prejudicial to dignity respectively. Romani CRISS received a reply on June 20, 2001, from the General Directorate of Inspection and Control of the Publicity Control Service stating that job announcements are not covered by the Law on Publicity; the letter suggested that the complaint be re-directed to the National Council for Combating Discrimination. The National Council, as mandated by Government Ordinance 137/2000 on the Prevention of All Forms of Discrimination, did not, however, exist as of August 17, 2001.
Other anti-discrimination action took place in the field of access to public accomodation. On February 6, 2001, Romani CRISS filed a complaint with the National Supreme Court against the owner of the “Angely” bar in the town of Piteşti, in Arges County, southern Romania. On January 26, 2001, bodyguards of the “Angely” reportedly barred two Romani men from entering. In response to the incident, on February 2 a team of four Romani persons — a Romani CRISS associate and three local Roma — attempted to enter the bar. The bodyguards once more blocked the group from entering, with an explanation that the owner reportedly “prohibits access to Gypsies.” This conversation was recorded on audio and video tape. Consequently, Mr Cristinel Feraru, Mr Madalin Morteanu, and Mr Virgil Petriu, with the assistance of Romani CRISS, filed a complaint against the bar owner. The first hearing in the case took place on April 24, 2001, and the next hearing was scheduled for September 3, 2001.
(ERRC, Liga Pro Europa, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Romani CRISS)
