ROMANIA

Human Rights Developments

Respect for the rights of minorities remained an elusive goal during 1993. The Roma (Gypsy) minority continued to face severe discrimination and mistreatment in Romania, and was often unable to obtain effective remedy for abuses. In September 1991, Helsinki Watch issued a report documenting numerous incidents of mob violence against the homes and persons of Roma, and the failure of the Romanian authorities to provide protection against such violence. More than two years later, no person had been convicted for the vigilante attacks, and Helsinki Watch had no information that local officials or police officers had been prosecuted or disciplined for their role in these violent attacks.

There were additional reports of violence against Romas in 1993. On September 20, Romas in the town of Hadareni were attacked by a large mob. During the violence three Romas were killed. One Romanian, who was stabbed by a Roma man during the violence, also died. In addition, thirteen houses of Romas were set on fire and destroyed, and another twenty-five were partially or seriously damaged. Reports indicated that the police were slow to arrive on the scene of the violence and did little or nothing to intervene to protect the Romas who were being attacked. The Romanian government responded more aggressively in the Hadareni case by, among other things, dismissing the county police chief and taking disciplinary measures against two local police officers.

The Hungarian minority continued to face obstacles in equal treatment in education and culture, and were underrepresented in both local and national government administration. The most serious abuses against Hungarians occurred at the local level, where local officials placed restrictions on freedom of assembly, association and speech.

The Romanian government failed to take measures that adequately remedy these abuses. Government officials were rarely disciplined, much less prosecuted, for committing clear violations of Romanian law. The legal mechanisms for holding abusive officials accountable remained weak, and there were inadequate safeguards to ensure that minorities could obtain sufficient legal remedy when violations occur.

In the spring of 1993, the government announced that it was replacing the co-prefects of Covasna and Harghita counties (one Hungarian, one Romanian), with two Romanians; Hungarians make up 85 and 90 percent of the population there respectively. Because of the government's decision, not a single ethnic Hungarian held this highest county government position. Moreover, as prefect of Covasna county, the government appointed a man who was closely associated with the highly nationalistic organization Vatra Romaneasca.

In the spring of 1993, the Romanian government announced the formation of the Council for National Minorities that had long been a demand of ethnic minorities in Romania and was viewed by many as a potentially significant step toward addressing minority concerns. However, little progress was made during the year to address the substantive concerns of minority groups.

Although the Romanian government made some recent attempts to distance itself from the extreme right-wing parties and their policies, it adopted at the same time several measures that were particularly insensitive to the concerns of minorities, as well as to all Romanians opposed to nationalistic and racist propaganda. In January 1993, President Ion Iliescu appointed Paul Everac to head the state-controlled Romanian Television. Everac had been widely criticized forbeing anti-Semitic and anti-minority.

In February 1993, the president of Romanian Television, Razvan Theodorescu, announced that the television program schedule would be reorganized, as a result of which the number of hours of minority programming would be reduced. Similarly, according to a directive by the Romanian Television leadership, news and current events were to be banned on minority-language broadcasts. The directive restricted such programming to cultural and "traditional" themes. While reports indicated that the directive might not be enforced in all cases, its existence left a strong impression that minority language programming was a target of the television leadership.

Helsinki Watch continued to receive reports of police brutality against detainees in 1993, including one case of a death in detention under suspicious circumstances. Costel Covalciuc, a thirty-five-year-old from the town of Dorohei, was arrested on June 29 for having allegedly threatened his wife and mother-in-law with a knife. He was tried and convicted the next day. On July 4, his family was informed that he had died that morning. Members of the family, who viewed Covalciuc's body at the morgue, reported visible signs of physical abuse. The autopsy report, however, concluded that Covalciuc had died of a heart attack, and the military prosecutor of Iasi concluded that there was no evidence of mistreatment in the case.

The Right to Monitor

Helsinki Watch was unaware of any instance in which human rights monitors had been hindered in their work by the Romanian government during the year.

U.S. Policy

In June, President Clinton issued the annual report to Congress on the implementation of the Helsinki Final Act and other Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) documents. The report concluded that respect for human rights had improved significantly in Romania, but also identified ongoing problems in the treatment of minorities such as the Hungarians and Romas.

On October 12, the U.S. House of Representatives approved by consensus a resolution restoring most favored nation (MFN) trading status to Romania. The Senate also approved restoration of MFN by unanimous consent on October 21. The Clinton administration had supported the resolution, stating that "to withhold MFN status would strengthen extremist groups and undermine the human rights progress made to date."

The Clinton administration made no significant public comment on human rights developments in Romania during 1993. An information sheet prepared by the State Department during Congress's consideration of MFN noted that Romania had "made vast progress on human rights." It also stated that "the government took steps to remedy scattered instances of racist violence in 1992/93."

The Clinton administration failed, however, to point out that the Romanian government had fueled ethnic tensions and hostilities by being slow to denounce firmly and clearly acts of vigilantism against Romas over the past four years. Moreover, the administration made no reference to the highly inflammatory role played by the state-controlled television by presenting highly biased reports on Romas.

The Work of Helsinki Watch

In addition to Helsinki Watch's ongoing effort to document the most serious human rights abuses in Romania, in 1993 Helsinki Watch focused extensive efforts on raising the profile of human rights issues in Romania in the Council of Europe, which was reviewing Romania's application for membership, and in the U.S. Congress, which was considering renewal of most favored nation trading status for Romania.

In January, Helsinki Watch issued a newsletter on conditions in police lock-ups in Romania. The newsletter concluded that:

Nearly every arrestee reported having been beaten by police investigators before arriving at the lockups. In some cases arrestees were beaten after they admitted to the crimes for which they were arrested but refused to confess to other, unsolved crimes.

In September, Helsinki Watch conducted an extensive investigation into the freedom of the press in Romania. A newsletter was planned for release in December 1993.

Helsinki Watch also concentrated, during 1993, on monitoring the treatment of ethnic minorities in Romania. On October 12, Helsinki Watch sent a letter to Prime Minister Nicolae Vacariou expressing concern about the death of three Romas and one Romanian during mob violence in the town of Hadareni, and about the police response to the violence. Helsinki Watch called on the Romanian government to take a clear position condemning violence against Gypsies and to guarantee the protection of all Romanian citizens from violence or bodily harm, regardless of their ethnic or national origin.

A report titled Struggling for Ethnic Identity: Ethnic Hungarians in Post-Ceausescu Romania, was issued in October documenting human rights abuses against the Hungarian minority since 1990, as well as the Romanian government's failure to take the measures necessary to remedy these violations. The report concluded that:

The government's willingness, on occasion, to manipulate ethnic tensions for political gain has done little to reassure Hungarians about the government's sincere commitment to the protection of minority rights. In- consistent policies toward minorities, as well as positive statements accompanied by little or no specific action, have increased suspicion that the Romanian government is more concerned about its international reputation than addressing concerns of minorities.

In November, Helsinki Watch conducted an investigation into ongoing human rights abuses against the Roma minority. A newsletter was projected for early 1994.