The situation of the Roma in Sweden should be addressed as part of the government’s strategy for Roma inclusion. However, the strategy has shortcomings from a rights perspective and lacks concrete measures to combat discrimination against the Roma in Sweden, Civil Rights Defenders writes in the newspaper SvD.
The Roma population in Serbia is continuously exposed to severe discrimination and persistently threatened or actually victimized by acts of forced eviction from their homes. To raise the awareness of their situation and to discuss what can be done to tackle discrimination, Civil Rights Defenders organised three round table discussions and street actions in October and November 2012.
We are deeply concerned about the poor conditions of 30 Roma families in Albania. In a letter to the local authorities we request that they make sure the families get access to running water, electricity and proper housing.
Several Roma families have recently been evicted and denied alternative accommodation. In a letter to the Albanian authorities we demanded them to protect the families from forced evictions. Read the answer from the Office of Prime Minister.
Several Roma families have recently been evicted and denied alternative accommodation, according to our partner Albanian Helsinki Committee. Civil Rights Defenders has sent a letter to the Albanian authorities demanding them to protect families from forced eviction and to respect the right to housing of Roma families.
We conduct systematic work against discrimination. Among other, this has lead to the adoption of anti-discrimination legislation in several countries in the Western Balkans.
Violations committed against Roma people in Moldova are seldom properly investigated nor are the persons responsible prosecuted. Together with the Roma National Center, Civil Rights Defenders provides free legal assistance, identifies and document victims of human rights infringements, monitor trials with the aim to contribute to reducing discrimination against Roma and to increase their access to justice.
In 2009 Civil Rights Defenders and Regional Centre for Minorities arranged the first LGBT conference “Justice in Balkans: Equality for sexual minorities” in Podgorica, Montenegro. It provoked a fierce discussion and for the first time brought the LGBT matter into the public debate.
The trial against the Roma minor in the village Jabuka in Serbia has started, We were again denied access to the court. We request that the boy is held in detention with other minors, and not with adults
Together with our partners we urge the Serbian authorities to make sure that the trial against the Roma boy B.J. be concluded as soon as possible, as the legal maximum of detention of minors has already been exceeded. We also insist to be allowed presence at the hearing.
Four Roma families were left without a roof over their heads at temperatures below zero when their barracks were demolished.Together with our partners in the coalition against discrimination we condemn in the strongest terms the authorities´ treatment of these people.
Civil Rights Defenders and its partners Lawyers Committee for Human Rights and Regional Center for Minorities were yesterday denied access to a court session in Pancevo, when demanding to monitor a case of principal importance. The case involves a Roma juvenile boy who is accused of having killed his Serbian friend.
The purpose of Civil Rights Defenders cooperation with BETA News Agency is to offer minority media outlets objective, timely and quality information from Serbia and the region in their own languages. The project provides high-quality news programs in 3 minority languages (Albanian, Roma and Hungarian) and represents minority media in itself.
Human Rights Watch appeals to European states to stop sending Roma back to Kosovo. In a report they point out that Roma who left for Western Europe but were sent back face serious human rights problems. We recently wrote an Op-Ed with the exact same message.
Roma in Sweden have been subjected to gross violations of human rights, as in many other parts of the world. The group has been persecuted and discriminated. Not long ago Roma women were subjected to forced sterilizations. In February 2007 the Delegation for Roma Issues was established by the government in order to promote the [...]
Sweden and other EU countries are deporting Roma to Kosovo in full knowledge that these people face abject poverty and systematic discrimination. We are calling for an immediate halt to the deportation and we urge the government to make every effort to get other EU Member States to follow suit.
The main objective of Civil Rights Defenders cooperation with the organisation ARKA is to register, and provide identification documents, to around 300 Roma individuals in Skopje, Kumanovo, Kratovo, and Kriva Palanka regions. The registration will give them access to basic human rights; such as the right to education, health care, social allowances, as well as the possibility to get a legal employment and the right to vote in general elections.
The purpose of our cooperation with Civil Rights Program/Kosovo is to provide free legal aid to vulnerable residents either from the majority community or one of the minorities, either living in Kosovo or as refugees in one of the neighbouring countries. The main target group however is individuals that lack personal identification documents.
Since 2006 Civil Rights Defenders has cooperated with Tirana Legal Aid Society, TLAS, in assisting Roma families to register their children, but also other members of the families, in order to help them get access to some of the most fundamental human rights; such as the right to education, health care, social allowances, as well as the possibility to get a legal employment and the right to vote in general elections. Hundreds of families have been assisted through our joint efforts so far.
The European Court for Human Rights has ruled that Bosnia and Herzegovina discriminated against Jews and Roma by forbidding them to stand for key elected posts, including parliament and the presidency.
In Macedonia, Roma children are placed in special classes and the segregation is widespread in many areas, Macedonian Helsinki Committee says in its latest monthly report on the human rights situation in the country.
One of the most significant achievements for Civil Rights Defenders in 2009 is our contribution to resolving the housing situation for one of the Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities in the region of Gjakova, Kosovo.
Systemic violations do not exist in the area of human rights in Montenegro, according to the report by Youth Initiative for Human Rights in cooperation with Civil Rights Defenders. However, there are problematic aspects related to freedom of expression and discrimination, among other.
After the forced eviction of 47 Roma families in one part of Belgrade, Serbia, the Swedish Helsinki Committee along with 42 NGOs demand urgent action from the authorities to solve the desperate situation of these 128 individuals in total. The authorities are urged to find appropriate alternative accommodation and to restrain from statements denying basic [...]
Natasha Jevtic Esbjörnson
Phone: +46 76 576 27 62
His burnt body was returned to the family in a plastic bag. The European Court has found Russia responsible for human rights violations in the North Caucasus, in more than one hundred cases, as a result of our work.
(Photo: Joanna Kurosz)
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