Chronicle
15 July 1999
Publications
June 7: Published the ERRC 1998 Annual Report.
June 15: Published the Country Report A Special Remedy: Roma and Schools for the Mentally Handicapped in the Czech Republic.
Camaigning for roma rights
April 27: Submitted cases of relevance to the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment in Italy and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, for consideration by the United Nations Committee against Torture at its 22nd Session on 27-28 April and 3-4 May, 1999.
May 28: Sent a letter to Czech Prime Minister Miloš Zeman urging his government to prohibit the construction of a wall to separate Roma and non-Roma in the northern Czech city of Ústí nad Labem.
June 15: Held a press conference to publicise law suit by Romani parents in the Czech Republic concerning discrimination and segregation in schooling, Prague, Czech Republic.
June 25: Sent the declaration of the participants in the Balkan Roma Conference for Peace and Security (Sofia, 18-19 June 1999) to the Secretary General of the United Nations, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, the Chair of the European Commission, the Chairman in Office of the OSCE, the Secretary General of NATO.
June 30: Sent a letter to the Interior Minister of Finland concerning Slovak Romani refugees arriving in that country.
July 6: Sent a letter to the Foreign Minister of Finland to protest the introduction of visas on Slovak citizens.
July 9: Issued a public statement on the situation of Roma in Kosovo.
Conferences and meetings
March 8-9: Participated in a session of Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination concerning compliance of the Czech Republic and Italy, Geneva, Switzerland.
March 3-13: Collaborated as a trainer in the "Roma Youth Leadership Training", Strasbourg, France.
March 16: Organised a workshop on litigation against educational discrimination, Budapest, Hungary.
April 7: Met with representatives of the Council of Europe's European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), Prague, Czech Republic.
April 15: Met with representatives of the Council of Europe's European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), Budapest, Hungary.
April 15: Met with representatives of the Human Development Unit of the World Bank to discuss the economic situation of Roma in Central and Eastern Europe.
April 16: Gave a lecture on human rights litigation, Faculty of Law, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic.
April 19: Participated in a round-table on Roma issues in central Europe in the context of EU enlargement, organised by the European Commission, Brussels, Belgium.
April 28: Gave presentation on human rights fact-finding for a group of Romani activists from Slovakia in a workshop organised and sponsored by the Slovak Helsinki Committee, Levoa, Slovakia.
May 8: Held a workshop on Human Rights litigation in national and international courts on behalf Roma in Granada, Spain.
May 14-19: Participated in a Roma Education Conference, Sofia, Bulgaria.
May 25: Met with a group of high school students in Lukavac, Bosnia, taking part in the Civitas programme, who have been carrying out a project on Roma Rights in Bosnia over the past seven months.
May 30: Gave a presentation on human rights fact-finding for participants in a Council of Europe human rights conference in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Council of Europe, Budapest, Hungary.
May 31-June 3: Participated on the seminar of the Council of Europe on "Human Rights Instruments", Strasbourg, France.
June 18: Spoke on the human rights aspect of the Kosovo crisis, at the International Council for Human Rights Policy, Geneva, Switzerland.
June 18-19: Co-organised the Balkan Roma Conference for Peace and Security in Sofia, Bulgaria.
June 21-22: Participated in a Roma media conference organised by Center for Independent Journalism and Roma Press Center, Budapest, Hungary.
