ERRC COUNTRY REPORT: Roma Rights in Russia

11 May 2005

Announcement of Publication
European Roma Rights Centre Country Report
In Search of Happy Gypsies: Persecution of Pariah Minorities in Russia

Moscow.

The European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) announces publication of the Country Report "In Search of Happy Gypsies: Persecution of Pariah Minorities in Russia". The Report presents the findings of close to five years of comprehensive research into the human rights situation of Roma and other pariah minorities in Russia.

ERRC monitoring of Roma rights in Russia has revealed an alarming pattern of human rights abuse of Roma and other people perceived as "Gypsies". The magnitude of the abuse is only comparable to that of the perpetrators' impunity. Anti-Romani racism is widespread in Russia today. The law guarantees equal treatment and protection against discrimination of all people in Russia, yet Roma, among several other ethnic minorities, find themselves excluded from the equal protection of the law, or in fact frequently any protection of the law. Indeed, the authorities whose duty is to uphold human rights are often themselves implicated in gross human rights violations or acquiesce in them. Violence and abuse of Roma by law enforcement and judicial authorities, often motivated by racial animus, persists unchallenged and unremedied. Racism also effectively precludes many Roma from accessing education, health care, housing, employment, and public services.

Russia today is characterised by episodes such as the following:

• A local deputy expresses his willingness to lead the process of setting Gypsies' houses on fire;
• The authors of a textbook for use in school recommends that pupils "not touch Gypsies" because "there is a risk of major diseases";
• A Romani woman gives birth in a field because emergency staff refuses to bring her to the hospital;
• A TV channel with national coverage broadcasts, without any form of commentary, the appeals of a man suggesting the use of napalm on Roma.

Widespread scepticism regarding the rule of law and rampant corruption at various levels of government have created an environment systemically thwarting human rights and fundamental freedoms in Russia. Certain ethnic minority groups, including Roma, find themselves particularly at risk of being targeted for abusive measures, especially in the context of stepped up efforts to fight terrorism, organised crime and drug dealing. Three campaigns dominating Russian internal security policy at present -- the "war against terrorism", the "war against corruption" and the "war against drugs" -- are strongly associated with three most stigmatised ethnic and national groups -- "persons of Caucasian nationality", Jews, and "Gypsies". The "war on drugs" has gradually generated, during the 1990s, the image of the typical drug dealer, namely, the "Gypsy". Today, the identification of the Roma with drug dealing has reached a point of near synonymous usage in the media.

Anti-Romani racism is widespread in Russia today. Entrenched assumptions that Roma have a natural proclivity to crime lead to systematic denial of fundamental rights to Roma because of their ethnicity. Racial discrimination against Roma is manifested in routinely carried out abusive raids on Romani neighbourhoods by law enforcement organs; unlawful and unprovoked use of violence during detention; disproportionately frequent detention; arbitrary and disproportionate checks of personal documents; extortion of money; arbitrary seizure of property; fabrication of criminal cases. "In Search of Happy Gypsies: Persecution of Pariah Minorities in Russia" presents evidence of persistent racial profiling and abuse of Roma by the organs of the criminal justice system. Arguably the most extensive racial profiling of Roma in Russia has occurred in the framework of the series of police raids targeting Romani communities and officially named "Operation Tabor" -- a title which unequivocally relates the action to Roma. Racial profiling of Roma and subsequent detention is often accompanied by fabrication of incriminating evidence against Roma, usually through "planting" of drugs. Individuals on whom drugs were "found" have been found guilty and sentenced to imprisonment or released in exchange of bribes extorted from their families.

Human rights violations against Roma, often motivated by racial animus, persist unchallenged and unremedied. Intimidation and harassment by police, and the perception of the victims that law enforcement officials are immune from sanctions, are a powerful deterrent for many Roma to seek justice. Roma are frequently reluctant or fully unwilling to seek justice for illegal acts by police. In the few known instances in which Roma filed complaints against police officers, the complaints have been rejected or the criminal cases against police officers were eventually terminated for lack of sufficient evidence for the alleged illegal actions. Racism also affects access of Roma to protection against violence and abuse by private actors. Public authorities have done little to nothing to counteract the wave of anti-Romani racism. In some instances, law enforcement officials knowingly failed to prevent violent assaults on Romani communities. Racial discrimination of Roma in the criminal justice system creates an environment in which both public officials and private actors feel confident that they will be absolved from responsibility for racially-motivated violence and abuse and exposes the victims to further violence and abuse.

Racism also effectively precludes many Roma from accessing education, health care, housing, employment, and public services. Discrimination against Roma in access to social and economic rights takes two broad forms: Many individuals are subjected to direct discrimination and therefore face less favourable treatment on grounds which expressly relate to their ethnicity. Roma also experience indirect discrimination in access to social and economic rights, denied to them on grounds that Roma do not have personal documents, including residence registration. The system of residence registration itself has caught many Roma in Russia in a vicious circle of abuse generating further abuse: Roma are not able to secure residence registration, often as a result of arbitrary refusal of authorities to register them. At the same time, Roma are targeted for disproportionate checks of identity documents by the police and failing to produce them, they are often subjected to detention and ill treatment.

"In Search of Happy Gypsies: Persecution of Pariah Minorities in Russia" was prepared on the basis of extensive ERRC research in Russia beginning in July 2000 and continuing to the present. The facts presented have been documented (1) during ERRC field missions run directly from the ERRC's Budapest office, (2) by ERRC local monitors based in various regions as well as (3) reported to the ERRC by local Romani and other human rights activists. During field research missions, the ERRC has obtained first hand information from Romani victims of human rights violations, their relatives, lawyers and other individuals who were engaged in helping the victims. The ERRC has also met public officials to raise ERRC's concerns and urged them to act in order to resolve situations in which violations of fundamental human rights await justice. The views of Russian public officials communicated to the ERRC in official correspondence and during public events are also part of this report.

"In Search of Happy Gypsies: Persecution of Pariah Minorities in Russia" was produced as part of a project supported by the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Materials included in this report are also the result of work undertaken with the generous support of the Ford Foundation, the Open Society Institute, the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Sigrid Rausing Trust.

English- and Russian-language versions of the report are available on the ERRC Internet website: http://www.errc.org/cikk.php?cikk=2241.

Paper copies of the report are available upon request by contacting the ERRC office. The ERRC kind requests a donation of Euro 25 per copy of the report, to be paid via bank transfer to the following:

Budapest Bank
Bathori utca 1
1054 Budapest
Hungary
Name of Account Holder: European Roma Rights Centre

USD Bank Account Number: 99P00402686
(USD IBAN: HU21-10103173-40268600-00000998)

EUR Bank Account Number: 30P00-402686
(EUR IBAN: HU54-10103173-40268600-00000307)
SWIFT (BIC) code: BUDAHUHB