Human rights in Albania

International Roma Day highlights discrimination against European Roma

Amnesty International — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 00:00:00 +0000

International Roma Day on April 8 is an opportunity to celebrate Romani culture but also to highlight the persecution and discrimination that Roma people face in all areas of life.“Stereotyping and negative perceptions of Roma people, embedded by some media and parts of the European public opinion feed discrimination in all spheres of life,” said Jezerca Tigani, Europe and Central Asia Deputy Programme Director. “Governments must set the example and challenge social prejudices that foster discrimination against the Roma and ensure their equality. Instead, only too often governments neglect their responsibilities to their Roma citizens to the detriment of all.” The slideshow requires JavaScript and the Flash Player. Get Flash here.var flashvars = {data:”https://adam.amnesty.org/asset-bank/assetfile/154450.xml”, displayTime:”7″, onExternalSite:”on”, type:”photoEssay”, modules:”AssetBank”, modulePath:”https://adam.amnesty.org/images/slideshows/common/modules/”}; if (flashvars.type==”photoEssay”) { flashvars.controlMenuOptions = “AssetBank_viewAsset,AssetBank_addToLightbox,AssetBank_addAllToLightbox,thumbnailBar,titleBar,infoBar,autoResize,embiggen”; flashvars.title = “Roma forced evictions”;}; var params = {wmode:”transparent”,allowFullScreen:”true”}; var attributes = {}; swfobject.embedSWF(“https://adam.amnesty.org/images/slideshows/common/gallery.swf?latest”, “flashcontent”, “640”, “640”, “9.0.0”, “https://adam.amnesty.org/images/slideshows/common/expressinstall.swf”, flashvars, params, attributes); Numbering between 10 and 12 million people, the Roma are one of Europe’s largest and most disadvantaged minorities. “International Roma Day means nothing if governments fail to guarantee basic rights to Roma” said Jezerca Tigani.Even as events to mark this important annual event take place, Roma living in Belvil, an informal settlement in Belgrade, Serbia, will spend International Roma Day under the threat of forced eviction. They were told two weeks ago about the eviction, but have no information about where they will go or what will happen to them.Yet, a year ago on International Roma Day in 2011, the same Belvil residents were told by the City of Belgrade authorities that they would be resettled in prefabricated houses in settlements around the city. 12 months on, these promises have come to nothing”This has been a really hard year for Roma in Belgrade, with more than eight forced evictions since last April ” said Jezerca Tigani. “The Serbian government continues to deny Roma the right to adequate housing – as they have done since April 2009, when Roma evicted from another informal settlement near Belvil, and spent International Roma Day, homeless on the side of the road.”In Romania, 76 families, the majority Roma, have to live with the consequences of eviction. They were forcibly evicted from Coastei Street in the centre of the city of Cluj-Napoca in December 2010, and relocated on the outskirts of the city, where they live in overcrowded rooms next to a garbage dump and a former dump for chemical waste. Some of the Romani families were left homeless in the middle of the winter. For over a year they have been fighting for justice. “We were already socially integrated when living in Coastei Street, we used to have jobs, the children went to high school, we had decent living standards, we had access to the park, etc. Here, by the garbage dump, we feel like in a ghetto, we feel discriminated against from all points of view,” evicted Roma people told Amnesty International.Millions of other Roma live in informal settlements, without adequate housing and often without access to running water or electricity. They are at greater risk of illness, but less able to access the health care they need. In some countries Romani children are often placed in special schools designed for pupils with “mild mental disabilities” or segregated in separate schools and classes that offer an inferior education. In turn, they are severely disadvantaged in the labour market. Unable to find jobs millions of Roma cannot access better housing, afford medication, or pay the costs of their children’s schooling. Socially marginalized, the Roma are also politically excluded. The cycle continues, aggravated by the discrimination that is routinely denying the Roma equal opportunity, equal treatment and the full enjoyment of all their human rights.Racially motivated violence against Roma is becoming an alarming trend in recent years, with isolated assaults or vigilante attacks targeting Roma settlements or communities. Following a march attended by up to 2,000 people in the village of Gyöngyöspata by the far-right party Jobbik on 6 March 2011 three vigilante groups patrolled the village for almost a month. During this time, they were threatening, intimidating and harassing Romani residents. The Hungarian authorities failed to react adequately and prevent the abuses.Instead of counteracting stereotypes and prejudices that fuel intolerance and hatred towards Roma, some governments and public officials actually strengthen them in their public discourse.“It is time for governments in Europe to honour their obligations and protect their Roma citizens by ending discriminatory policies and practices that violate the human rights of Roma and keep them in a cycle of poverty and marginalization,” said Jezerca Tigani.

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Albania: Temporary solutions are no solutions for evicted Roma families in Tirana

Amnesty International — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0000

The Albanian authorities must immediately provide adequate housing for around 35 Roma families who face imminent forced eviction or have already been forcibly evicted, Amnesty International said today. “Dozens of Romani people, including the elderly and small children, are facing winter on the streets – without a roof over their heads, without any certainty about their future security or adequate assistance from the authorities. Adults will find it difficult to support their families, the infirm – to access healthcare, children will not be able to go to school,” said Jezerca, Tigani, Europe and Central Asia Deputy Programme Director. “This is the result of decades of failure by the authorities to provide adequate housing to Roma, and other vulnerable groups in Albania, despite their national and international obligations.” Sixteen families face an imminent forced eviction from a site near an artificial lake where they took refuge after they fled a site near Tirana railway station, together with a dozen other families, after being attacked by outsiders a year ago. The authorities did not offer protection from the attacks or adequate housing but instead offered the Roma families alternative tented accommodation at a riverside site at Babrru, on the outskirts of Tirana. The majority of the families refused to go to Babrru which they considered to be dangerous for children, lacking necessary facilities, and offering inadequate protection from bad weather. Instead they built sheds near an artificial lake in Tirana, alongside seven Roma families who had already settled there several years ago. On 21 January 2012, officials from Tirana Municipality reportedly visited the site and told them to leave, without offering any alternative accommodation. The Roma families pulled down their sheds to save the building materials from the bulldozers and left on 24 January. On 27 January 16 of these families, unable to find another site, returned to the artificial lake and rebuilt their sheds and now face another forced eviction. 10 families from the Tirana railway station side did move to the Babrru tented site but have since been forced to leave due to a dispute over unpaid rent between the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, and the landowner. On 1 February, these families sought shelter and assistance from the People’s Advocate (Ombudsperson) who had found living conditions at the site to be very poor, lacking water, electricity, heating and medical supplies for children many of whom had suffered from ill health and malnutrition during a period of sub-zero temperatures. They set up their tents in the courtyard of the Ombudsperson’s office and on 2 February, it was reported they would be temporarily re-housed in a school gymnasium. None of these families was consulted or provided with adequate or formal notice of eviction. “The Albanian authorities are violating international law when they force people out of their homes without legal protection or alternative accommodation,” said Jezerca Tigani. “Thirty-five families are in urgent need of adequate homes. A school gymnasium is not adequate housing and nor does this address the issue of compensation for the destruction of homes, possessions and loss of income which the authorities have a duty to provide.” Under international law, evictions may be carried out only as a last resort, once other alternatives have been explored in consultation with the affected communities. The authorities should then provide them with adequate and formal notice of eviction. The authorities must ensure that no families are made homeless or vulnerable to the violation of other human rights as a consequence of eviction.

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Baltic Pride march gets green light in Latvia

Amnesty International — Fri, 15 May 2009 00:00:00 +0000

The Baltic Pride march due to take place on Saturday 16 May in Riga, Latvia, will go ahead after a ban against the event was lifted on Friday morning. Riga City Council (RCC) had revoked permission for the march, organized by the Latvian organization Mozaika, the Lithuanian Gay League, and Estonian Gay Youth, on Thursday. The organizers made an injunction to the court and were granted a hearing on Friday at 10am at Riga’s Municipal Court, which overturned the decision to ban the march. Amnesty International has welcomed the decision to allow the march. “We are happy that the rule of law has prevailed,” said Amnesty International’s Europe and Central Asia Deputy Director David Diaz-Jogeix, speaking from Riga. “We are confident the Latvian authorities will ensure the right to freedom of assembly and expression in tomorrow’s Baltic pride, according to Latvia’s international and european human rights obligations”. Over 70 Amnesty International activists from 23 European countries are intending to travel to Riga to participate in the march and related events. The proposed Baltic Pride march was authorised by the RCC’s Commission on Meetings, Marches and Demonstrations on 8 May, following a series of agreements between the organisers, the City Council and the police on the march’s venue and the necessary security arrangements. On Wednesday, a majority of Riga’s City Council members signed an open letter to the Executive Director of the City Council, Andris Grinbergs, calling on him to revoke permission for the march on the grounds that it was offensive to public decency and posed a threat to public security. The Council members stated that if the Executive Director did not revoke permission by 4pm on 14 May, they would seek to overrule the decision through a vote in the City Council. Other planned Pride events in Russia and the Ukraine this weekend have been banned. A march planned for Saturday in Moscow, Russia, has been banned for the fourth year running. A spokesperson for Moscow’s mayor is reported to have said that organizers of LGBT parades are seeking “not only to destroy moral pillars of our society but also deliberately provoke disorder, which would threaten the lives and security of Muscovites and guests of the city.” Members of the LGBT movement in Moscow planned to hold their action on May 16 regardless of whether they get permission or not. The Moscow government is declaring that no gay parades have been and will be held in Moscow. The Moscow march is planned to coincide with the Eurovision Song Contest final, which is also taking place in Moscow on Saturday. The Dutch entrant to the competition, pop singer Gordon, has said that he will refuse to take the stage if Russian police violently suppress the march. Municipal authorities in Mykolayiv City, Ukraine, have banned LGBT groups from holding public events as part of a “Rainbow spring 2009” festival for the second year running. The organizers had planned to mark International Day Against Homophobia on Sunday, 17 May. The municipal authorities, in a message to the Mykolayiv Association of Gays, Lesbians and Bisexuals, LiGA, said that “holding of this event creates the danger of social unrest; it would undermine peace and the public order and would result in massive clashes and conflicts.” The Central Administrative Court of Mykolaiyv delivered their judgement upholding the banning of the Rainbow Spring Festival at midday on Thursday.

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Baltic Pride march banned in Latvia

Amnesty International — Thu, 14 May 2009 00:00:00 +0000

The planned Baltic Pride march due to take place on Saturday in Riga, Latvia, has been banned. Riga City Council (RCC) revoked permission for the march, organized by the Latvian organization Mozaika, the Lithuanian Gay League, and Estonian Gay Youth.

The organizers have complained to the courts and have been granted a hearing at 10am on Friday to allow the march to go ahead as originally planned.

The proposed Baltic Pride march was authorised by the RCC’s Commission
on Meetings, Marches and Demonstrations on 8 May, following a series of
agreements between the organisers, the City Council and the police on
the march’s venue and the necessary security arrangements.

On Wednesday, a majority of Riga’s City Council members signed an open letter to the Executive Director of the City Council, Andris Grinbergs, calling on him to revoke permission for the march on the grounds that it was offensive to public decency and posed a threat to public security.

The Council members stated that if the Executive Director did not revoke permission by 4pm on 14 May, they would seek to overrule the decision through a vote in the City Council.

Amnesty International condemned the decision not to allow the march.

“This is a disgraceful move by the Riga City Council,” said Nicola Duckworth, Amnesty International’s Director of the Europe and Central Asia programme. “The decision is unlawful under Latvian law and violates the rights of Baltic LGBT people to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.

“The Council should immediately reverse its decision and allow the march. Amnesty International fully supports the legal challenge by the organizers.”

Over 70 Amnesty International activists from 23 European countries are intending to travel to Riga to participate in the march and related events.

Planned Pride events in Russia and the Ukraine have also been banned.

A march planned for Saturday in Moscow, Russia, has been banned for the fourth year running. A spokesperson for Moscow’s mayor is reported to have said that organizers of LGBT parades are seeking “not only to destroy moral pillars of our society but also deliberately provoke disorder, which would threaten the lives and security of Muscovites and guests of the city.”

Members of the LGBT movement are threatening to hold their action on May 16 regardless of whether they get permission or not. The Moscow government is declaring that no gay parades have been and will be held in Moscow.

The march is planned to coincide with the Eurovision Song Contest final, which is taking place in Moscow on Saturday. The Dutch entrant to the competition, pop singer Gordon, has said that he will refuse to take the stage if Russian police violently suppress the march.

Municipal authorities in Mykolayiv City, Ukraine, have banned LGBT groups from holding public events as part of a “Rainbow spring 2009” festival for the second year running. The organizers had planned to mark International Day Against Homophobia on Sunday, 17 May.

The municipal authorities, in a message to the Mykolayiv Association of Gays, Lesbians and Bisexuals, LiGA, said that “holding of this event creates the danger of social unrest; it would undermine peace and the public order and would result in massive clashes and conflicts.”

The Central Administrative Court of Mykolaiyv delivered their judgement upholding the banning of the Rainbow Spring Festival at midday on Thursday.

“These bans demonstrate a clear lack of understanding of the obligations of the state and the local authorities to protect and respect the right to freedom of expression of all people, including those holding minority views,” said Nicola Duckworth.

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Man’s death highlights plight of Albania’s adult orphans

Amnesty International — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 00:00:00 +0000

Renato Kaleshi, aged 35, who was raised in Albanian state orphanages, died of pneumonia on 12 February in Vlora after living for years in conditions of misery.

The degrading and unhygienic accommodation in which Renato Kaleshi lived and died highlights the failure of the Albanian state to fulfil its legal obligations to ensure that orphans, when they reach adulthood, have access to adequate housing and to assistance and protection.

Renato Kaleshi had been paralyzed since childhood, allegedly following a fall which occurred while he was under state care in an orphanage, and since 1993 had relied on a wheelchair for mobility. He also suffered from heart problems. For the last 11 years, he had been living in squalid conditions in the semi-derelict former residence hall of the Commercial School in Vlora, together with nine other adults orphaned in childhood (adult orphans).

The group live in great poverty in this building, which is infested with mice, reeks of drains and has broken windows. They have no individual privacy, sharing two or three rooms between them. Nor do they have any security of tenure. The building is now private property and the owner is reported to have asked them to leave. The municipal authorities, who are primarily responsible for ensuring alternative adequate accommodation, have repeatedly failed to do so.

Albanian law grants orphans priority in housing and employment on completion of their education at the age of 18, with the aim of protecting them and integrating them into society. The right to adequate housing is also guaranteed in international law, under Article 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, ratified by Albania. The Albanian state has blatantly disregarded these obligations.

Some 320 other adult orphans are living in similar conditions in “orphan ghettoes” in other towns in Albania. They often have few qualifications and are unemployed or do casual labour for low wages, surviving on minimal state assistance.

These adults, who were orphaned as children and raised in state care, have no possibility of renting or purchasing housing on the open market. The conditions in which they live exacerbate the stigma and social exclusion which is the fate of many orphans, undermining their ability to create warm and stable homes for themselves and for their own children, and rendering them vulnerable to exploitation.

Amnesty International calls on Vlora municipal authorities to urgently fulfil their legal obligation to provide the remaining adult orphans living in the former Commercial School with adequate housing. It also calls on the Albanian central authorities and municipal authorities throughout the country to take steps, as a matter of priority, to realize the right of the most vulnerable members of society, among them adult orphans, to adequate housing.

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Europe moves to protect trafficked people

Amnesty International — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 00:00:00 +0000

Europe has taken a further step towards protecting people who have been trafficked with the entry into force of a new convention on Friday. The 14 states that have so far become parties to the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings have committed themselves to ensuring greater respect and protection of the rights of trafficked persons.

Amnesty International, Anti-Slavery International and La Strada International welcomed this major step for people trapped in a modern form of slavery, for which Amnesty International has been campaigning for years. The organizations called on the other 33 member states of the Council of Europe, as well as the European Union, to follow the others’ lead.

Trafficked persons, when they come to the attention of the authorities, are rarely treated as victims of heinous crimes. Typically, they are treated as criminals, unlawful aliens or, in cases in which the authorities seek to pursue their trafficker, useful tools of the criminal justice system. The psychological, medical and social consequences of their ordeal and the underlying root causes are rarely addressed.

Assistance, when offered to trafficked people to recover from their ordeal, is frequently made conditional on their agreement to cooperate in prosecutions against their traffickers. Such cooperation often places trafficked persons and members of their families in further danger at the hands of the traffickers.

The parties to the Convention – Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Georgia, Malta, Moldova, Norway, Romania and Slovakia – have committed themselves to taking a different approach. They have agreed to take individual and collective action to criminalise trafficking as well as a range of other minimum steps necessary to respect and protect the rights of trafficked persons.

These steps include ensuring that:

a mechanism is in place for the accurate identification of trafficked persons;
persons reasonably believed to have been trafficked are granted time to recover and are offered assistance and protection—regardless of whether they agree to participate in any proceedings the authorities may decide to pursue against those responsible for their ordeal;
trafficked persons have access to redress, including compensation.

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