Chronicle - Activities April - June 2000
11 July 2000
CAMPAIGNING FOR ROMA RIGHTS
April 10: In honour of International Roma Day (April 8), organised a workshop on Roma in the Kosovo Crisis at the Central European University, featuring a keynote speech by Mr Roger Errera of the French Council of State, Budapest, Hungary.
April 18: Representing 18 Romani children from the Czech city of Ostrava, the ERRC and local counsel filed an application with the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, to challenge systematic racial segregation and discrimination in Czech schools.
April 21: Co-operated with the Budapest-based Romani theatre company "Vareso Aver" to promote understanding of the situation of Roma in the Kosovo crisis at the premiere performance of a Romani-language version of Federico Garcia Lorca's classic "Blood Wedding", Budapest, Hungary.
April 21: Sent a letter to Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt to express concern at reports that Belgium planned to expel Slovak Romani asylum seekers.
May 19: Sent a letter to Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis to express concern at the recent decision by the Council of Magistrates Court of Thessaloniki to drop charges against officers involved in the 1998 killing of a Romani man named Angelos Celal.
May 30: Sent a letter to Italian Prime Minister Giuliano Amato to express concern about abusive raids by authorities on Romani settlements.
CONFERENCES AND MEETINGS
March 17-18: Attended conference on the legal defence of Roma in Hungary, organised by Legal Defence Bureau for National and Ethnic Minorities (NEKI), Budapest, Hungary.
March 24: Participated in a workshop on Roma-related human rights litigation, organised by the Bratislava-based League of Human Rights Advocates, the Slovak branch office of the Information and Documentation Center of the Council of Europe, the International Club of Peace Research and the Legal Defence Bureau for Ethnic Minorities in Slovakia, Košice, Slovakia.
April 6-7: Held keynote address at the Amnesty International meeting in Malmö, Sweden.
April 12-15: Attended the 9th meeting of the Specialist Group on Roma/Gypsies, Strasbourg, France.
May 1-2: Attended the First Preparatory Committee of the World Conference against Racism, organised by the United Nations and to be held in South Africa in August-September 2001, Geneva, Switzerland.
May 6-7: Attended the Stability Pact meeting for South Eastern Europe, Athens, Greece.
May 20-21: Participated in the "Individual v. the State", international conference at the Central European University, Budapest, Hungary.
May 23-25: Attended the governmental preparatory Technical Working Group meeting of the European Conference against Racism, Strasbourg, France.
May 25-28: Participated in the conference "The European Union and the Central Role of Human Rights and Democratic Principles in the Relations with Third Countries", Venice, Italy.
June 15: Attended conference to accompany publication of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) High Commissioner for National Minorities report on Roma and Sinti in the OSCE region, Bratislava, Slovakia.
