Activities March-October 1996
12 October 1996
Publications
August 28: The ERRC published the Country Series report Divide and Deport: Roma and Sinti in Austria.
September 28: The ERRC published the Country Series report Sudden Rage at Dawn: Violence Against Roma in Romania.
October 3: The ERRC released a statement on Buckley v. the United Kingdom, the first case involving Romani plaintiffs heard before the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
The ERRC also issued numerous press releases on specific cases concerning violations of the rights of Roma.
Campaigning for Roma Rights
March 1: The ERRC sent a letter to the chairperson of Czech Parliament pointing out the inadequacy of amendments to the 1993 Czech citizenship law in rectifying the law's discriminatory treatment of Roma.
May 20: The ERRC sent a letter to the Minister of the Interior of Austria advocating the full and impartial investigation of the police beating of Violetta and Nicola Jevremović.
July 4: The ERRC sent a letter to the Military Prosecutor of Romania pointing out discrepancies between police and medical records concerning the shooting death of Mircea-Muresul Mosor by the chief of police of Valcele and calling for a detailed and impartial investigation.
July 23: The ERRC sent a letter to the General Prosecutor of Albania advocating a comprehensive investigation into the torture and killing of Fatmir Haxhiu.
August 21: The ERRC sent a letter to the General Prosecutor of Slovakia concerning the death of Jozef Mikloš addressing the inadequacy of measures taken by the competent authorities.
August 21: The ERRC sent a letter to the General Prosecutor of Slovakia concerning police abuse and the absence of due process during raids in the village of Jarovnice, Prešov District.
September 3: The ERRC sent a letter to the Minister of the Interior of Ukraine concerning the rape and beating by the police of Ms. E.H. in the street outside the Franka Ulica tabor in Mukačevo, Transcarpathian Oblast and the subsequent complete absence of any investigation.
Conferences and Meetings
March 8: Nidhi Trehan represented the ERRC at the PHARE Romani Leadership Training Seminar, Michalovce, Slovakia.
March 9: The ERRC held its first meeting of its Board of Directors in Budapest, Hungary.
March 15–16: Veronika Szente attended a seminar organized by the Legal Defense Bureau for Ethnic and National Minorities in Brasov, Romania.
April 30–May 2: András Bíró attended the second session of the United Nations Working Group on Minorities in Geneva, Switzerland.
May 3–4: As a delegate of the ERRC, Petra Kovács attended the "Romapress Working Group on Educational Discrimination Against Roma" in Budapest, Hungary.
May 3–4: Dimitrina Petrova, Nidhi Trehan and Petra Kovács participated in the "NEKI Conference on the Possibilities for Protecting Human Rights in Hungary" in Budapest, Hungary.
May 21: The ERRC began its Bosnia Project in the refugee camp in Debrecen, Hungary. Dimitrina Petrova, Petra Kovács and Claude Cahn were present.
June 14–15: Claude Cahn represented the ERRC at the "United Conference on Refugees," European Parliament, Brussels, Belgium.
June 29–30: Nidhi Trehan attended the "Conference on Minority Women in Central and Eastern Europe," Budapest, Hungary.
July 1: Dimitrina Petrova and Veronika Szente attended a meeting of the EUROMA Project of the Autonomia Foundation, Budapest, Hungary.
July 9–12: Nidhi Trehan participated in the University of Greenwich Conference "On Romani Studies and Work with Travellers", Greenwich, England.
July 12: András Bíró participated in a meeting of the European Union on Roma in Europe in Brussels, Belgium.
July 14–21: Dimitrina Petrova participated in and was a member of the steering committee of the symposium "Public Interest Law in Eastern Europe and Russia", Oxford, England, U.K.
September 1–8: Nidhi Trehan represented the ERRC at the Council of Europe Conference on Network Development for Romani Youth, Budapest, Hungary.
September 27: Dimitrina Petrova spoke at the Law School of the American University in Washington, D.C., on the role of foreign lawyers in establishing the rule of law in Eastern Europe.
October 10–11: Dimitrina Petrova served as independent expert at the Council of Europe Specialist Group on Roma, Strasbourg, France.
October 10–15: Csilla Dér attended a planning conference of United on strategies to combat racism and fascism, Stockholm, Sweden.
October 14: Dimitrina Petrova took part in NGO consultation on the collective complaints mechanism of the Social Charter of the Council of Europe, Strasbourg, France.
