> ** Original Subject: ERRC country report: Campland: Racial Segregation of Roma in Italy
> ** Original Sender: European Roma Rights Center <[log in to unmask]>
> ** Original Date: Fri, 3 Nov 2000 08:46:07 -0500
> ** Original Message follows...
>Announcement of Publication
European Roma Rights Center Country Report
Campland: Racial Segregation of Roma in Italy
November 3, 2000
The European Roma Rights Center (ERRC), an international public interest
law organisation which monitors the situation of Roma in Europe and
provides legal defence in cases of human rights abuse, announces
publication of the Country Report Campland: Racial Segregation of Roma in
Italy. The report details ERRC concerns in Italy, including:
* The segregation of Roma in so-called "camps for nomads"
* Abuses of Roma by police and judicial authorities
* Instances of violence against Roma by non-state actors
* Discriminatory treatment of Roma in the provision of public services
* The denial of the right to education to Romani children
* A disturbing pattern of racist and anti-Romani speech by Italian public
officials
Report Summary
On May 17, 2000, Mr Paolo Frigerio, mayor of the town of Cernusco sul
Naviglio in the province of Milan, made a widely published statement in
which he promised that he would pay five million Italian lire
(approximately 2600 euros) of public local government money to any farmer
willing to spray manure on an area where a group of Roma were temporarily
residing in camper vans in the town. According to the mayor, "a bath of
manure is the only way to even the score with the Gypsies, an act of
justice equal to the manure they leave us when they move on." Mayor
Frigerio has not been alone in his use of anti-Romani hate speech. The Lega
Nord (Northern League), a prominent political party in Italy, frequently
uses racist and anti-Romani language in public statements. Mr Umberto
Bossi, leader of the Lega Nord, distributed fliers during the campaign for
recent regional elections which stated, "If you don't want Gypsies,
Moroccans and delinquents in your house, be the master of your own home in
a livable city and vote Lega Nord." In regional elections on April 16,
2000, the centre-right and extreme right, including the Lega Nord, swept
the country with a majority. Campaigning -- especially campaigning by
right-wing parties -- featured explicitly anti-Romani messages. For
example, in the town of Voghera, centre-right candidate Aurelio Torriani
distributed fliers intended to discredit centre-left candidate Antonella
Dagradi with the slogan: "The Gypsies will certainly vote for Antonella
Dagradi. Do you want to do the same?"
Inflammatory statements by Italian politicians fall on fertile ground.
Recent surveys indicate that Italians dislike and fear Roma, often on the
basis of little or no experience with them. In the minds of many Italians,
Roma are the archetype of unwanted "criminal" immigrants. This sentiment
reached fever pitch when approximately ten thousand Romani refugees arrived
in Italy during summer 1999, after being ethnically cleansed from Kosovo by
ethnic Albanians following the end of the NATO bombing and the Yugoslav
military action in the province.
Roma first arrived in Italy from the east having originally left India,
probably around the 10th century AD. The first record of Roma on the
territory of Italy dates back to the beginning of the 1400s. Found along
with some of the first records of the arrival of Roma in Italy, however,
are the first records of expulsion and persecution, for example, decrees
stating that it was not a crime to "burn or kill Gypsies," such as the one
issued by Maximilian I in 1500. Discrimination has burdened Roma throughout
their history in Italy.
There are no accurate figures on the current number of Roma in Italy. One
official count puts the number at 130,000, but the methodology used to
determine this figure is not known to the ERRC. Local non-governmental
organisations estimate that there are presently 60,000-90,000 Italian
Romani citizens and 45,000-70,000 Roma born outside Italy or born in Italy
to immigrant parents, mainly from Eastern Europe, especially the former
Yugoslavia. Many of the latter group have no legal status in Italy. Roma
who have managed to legalise their status often possess temporary residence
permits valid for various -- but exclusively short -- periods of time. The
overwhelming majority of residence permits issued to Roma are valid for
between one month and six months.
Most Roma in Italy live in a state of separation from mainstream Italian
society. For over half of Italy's Roma, this separation is physical: Roma
live segregated from non-Romani Italians. In some areas, Roma are excluded
and ignored, living in filthy and squalid conditions, without basic
infrastructure. These Roma "squat" abandoned buildings or set up camps
along the road or in open spaces. Their settlements are often called
"illegal" or "unauthorised". They can be evicted at any moment, and
frequently are. A racist society pushes these Roma to the margins and
hinders their integration. Where Italian authorities have expended energy
and resources on Roma, these efforts have in most cases not been aimed at
integrating Roma into Italian society. Quite the opposite: as the third
millennium dawns, Italy is the only country in Europe to boast a
systematic, publicly organised and sponsored network of ghettos aimed at
depriving Roma of full participation in, or even contact or interaction
with, Italian life. These Roma, in Italian parlance, live in "camps" or
ghettos that are "authorised".
Underpinning the Italian government's approach to Roma is the conviction
that Roma are "nomads". In the late 1980s and early 1990s, many regions in
Italy adopted laws aimed at the "protection of nomadic cultures" through
the construction of segregated camps. This project rendered official the
perception that all Roma and Sinti are nomads and therefore should live in
camps, isolated from Italian society. As a result, many Roma have
effectively been forced to live out the romantic but repressive projections
of Italians; Italian authorities assert that their desire to live in flats
or houses is inauthentic and relegate them to "camps for nomads".
The description of Roma as "nomads" is not only used in the service of
segregating Roma, but also in order to reinforce the popular idea that Roma
are not Italians and do not belong in Italy. As such, government offices
addressing issues related to Roma are called "Offices of Nomad Affairs" and
fall under the competence of the Department of Immigration. Similarly, the
existence of local administrative offices for "Nomads and Non-Europeans"
indicates that Roma are commonly perceived as foreigners and vagrants in
the eyes of Italian authorities. The message to Roma is that they should
not consider themselves fully Italian.
Anti-foreigner sentiment and intense hostility towards Roma, accreting to
the focal points of ghettoised Romani camps throughout Italy, has in recent
years found expression in abusive raids conducted by police and other
authorities. Police misconduct in Italy ranges from verbal abuse to serious
ill treatment and shootings. During field missions in 1997 and 1999, and in
the course of regular monitoring beginning in 1998 and continuing to the
present, the ERRC has documented numerous cases of police abuse. Instances
of abuse include:
* Abusive raids, evictions and arbitrary destruction of property
* Abusive use of firearms
* Torture and physical abuse
* Discriminatory targeting of Roma by police
* Theft by authorities
* Confiscation of identification papers
* Sexually abusive searches of women
* Failure to provide proper interpretation to immigrant Roma accused of
criminal acts
* Failure to provide information concerning detained Roma
* Threats and violations of the right of assembly
* Inadequate sanction for officers who abuse their authority
In addition, anti-Romani hostility in Italy finds expression in
discriminatory treatment by judicial authorities; violence against Roma by
non-state actors; discriminatory treatment of Roma in the provision of
public services; the denial of the rights of Roma to education; and abuses
of the right to employment. Finally, Italian authorities now appear intent
on capitalising on anti-Romani sentiment in Italy by abusively expelling
Roma from the country.
In its Concluding Observations concerning Italy of March 1999, the UN
Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) condemned the
treatment of Roma in Italy. In particular, the Committee expressed concern
"at the situation of many Roma who, ineligible for public housing, live in
camps outside major Italian cities," and stated that "in addition to a
frequent lack of basic facilities, the housing of Roma in such camps leads
not only to a physical segregation of the Roma community from Italian
society, but a political, economic and cultural isolation as well." The
CERD further lamented "the continuation of incidents of racial intolerance,
including attacks against foreigners [...] and against Roma, [...] which
are sometimes not recognised by the authorities as having a racial
motivation or are not prosecuted;" and "reports of acts of violence and bad
treatment by police and prison guards against foreigners and members of
minorities in detention." In view of these serious deficiencies, the
Committee recommended that the Italian government undertake a number of
measures aimed at reducing racial intolerance and discrimination in
general, and against Roma in particular.
Today, more than one year after the CERD's findings and elaborate list of
recommendations, it is difficult to see any real effect of the CERD's
criticism. The will to expel Roma from Italy has grown, and prominent
politicians put forth real proposals that police should be allowed to shoot
at boats carrying foreigners in the Adriatic. Aggressive and abusive raids
by police and other authorities have continued apace. Italian politicians
have publicly offered hate and been rewarded by popular support. The public
has supported parties offering messages of hatred toward Roma and other
groups. Those Italian politicians who have refrained from anti-Romani
speech have remained silent, possibly in the keen awareness that the wind
is blowing with those who hate or appeal to those who hate. Moreover,
response by other European countries has been close to non-existent; there
has been little or no reaction to the rise of radical hate in Italy.
The ERRC report Campland: Racial Segregation of Roma in Italy concludes
with thirty-one recommendations to the Italian government, including:
* Cease discriminatory expulsions of Roma and group expulsions targeting Roma;
* Cease abusive police raids; bring collective police action into line with
international law;
* Thoroughly investigate all allegations of alleged police brutality, theft
and other corrupt behaviour, as well as other forms of abuse, and bring
errant police officers to justice;
* Initiate measures to ensure that all Roma in Italy currently without
residence permits are provided with assistance in acquiring one;
facillitate access to Italian citizenship for Roma who have resided in
Italy for five years or more;
* Sanction inciteful hate speech against Roma to the fullest extent of the
law, especially hate speech by public officials;
* Thoroughly investigate all reported allegations of racially motivated
crime against Roma and bring perpetrators to justice;
* Implement measures to abolish segregation in the field of housing in
Italy, including but not limited to abolition of the system of segregated
dwelling areas known as "camps for nomads"; as swiftly as possible,
implement measures aimed at integrating Roma fully into Italian society in
the sphere of housing and ending both state-sponsored exclusionary policies
as well as similar practices by private actors;
* Investigate allegations of racial discrimination in the criminal justice
system;
* Address immediately all problems barring Romani children from integration
into the mainstream of the Italian educational system; adopt an action plan
for overcoming all barriers to the full integration of Roma in the Italian
education system; design and implement programs for the Italian school
system to heighten awareness of Romani history, culture and language among
Roma and non-Roma; provide adequate transportation in each district for
Romani children to be taken to school;
* Make available to all Romani communities in Italy legal services to
compensate for the relative exclusion of Roma from Italian society and the
Italian legal system; guarantee immediate access to legal counsel from the
moment of detention and throughout preliminary investigations for all those
detained. For those who cannot afford legal counsel, provide such
assistance free of charge, as required by Article 6(3) of the European
Convention on Human Rights;
* Design and implement public education programs aimed at reducing the
current high levels of anti-Romani sentiment in Italian society.
The ERRC Country Report Campland: Racial Segregation of Roma in Italy
appears simultaneously in an Italian translation distributed by the Italian
monthly journal Carta.
***
Other reports by the European Roma Rights Center:
* A Special Remedy: Roma and Schools for the Mentally Handicapped in the
Czech Republic (June 1999)
* A Pleasant Fiction: The Human Rights Situation of Roma in Macedonia (July
1998)
* Profession: Prisoner: Roma in Detention in Bulgaria (December 1997)
* No Record of the Case: Roma in Albania (June 1997)
* The Misery of Law: The Rights of Roma in the Transcarpathian Region of
Ukraine (April 1997)
* Time of the Skinheads: Denial and Exclusion of Roma in Slovakia (January
1997)
* Sudden Rage at Dawn: Violence Against Roma in Romania (September 1996)
* Divide and Deport: Roma and Sinti in Austria (September 1996)
To receive a copy of Campland: Racial Segregation of Roma in Italy or other
reports by the European Roma Rights Center, the ERRC requests a donation of
8 US dollars per report to cover printing and shipping costs. Requests for
reports should be directed to:
Nora Kuntz
European Roma Rights Center
H-1386 Budapest 62
PO Box 903/96
Hungary
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
The full texts of all ERRC reports, including Campland: Racial Segregation
of Roma in Italy, are available on the European Roma Rights Center Internet
website at: http://errc.org/publications/reports/index.shtml
***
E Europako centro vash e Romenge chachipena del raporto pala e Romengi
situacija an Italija
O rajo Paolo Frigerio, an 17.05. 2000, sherutno manush andar Italiako foro
savesko anav si Cernusco sul Naviglio (savo perel an provincija Milan)
kerda jekh oficijelno skrinisaripe/ramosaripe. E zurnalura thaj e
televizija trade avri informacija kaj kava sherutno forosko manush phenda
kaj ka pokinel pandz milionura lire andar e forosko fondo e manushenge save
kamen te shuven gunoj po than kaj e roma shuvde pire karavanura/kampura an
kava foro. O sherutno manush rajo Paolo Frigerio phenda: "Numaj kana shuvel
pe' o gunoj po than kaj e Roma sesa pire karavanonenca shaj hosel pe' o
melalipe save von keren kana dzan po aver than". Si vi aver manusha ande
Italija save chi kamen e Romen. Jekh politikaki partija (grupo) savi
akharel pe' Lega Nord sajekh oficijelno vorbil kontra e Roma. Kana sasa
regionalno politikako alosaripe/elekcija an Italija o rajo Umberto Bossi
dija pe but thana e lila an save phenda "Te chi kames e Romen, e manushen
andar o Maroko thaj e delikventuren an tjiro kher, te kames te aves
sherutno an tjiro kher , te kames te tjiro foro avel uzo de tjiro glaso
pala amari politikaki patija". Pe regionalne alosaripa save sesa an 16. 04.
2000 e politikake partije save si pe chachi rig thaj vi e partija savi
akharel pes Lega Nord phende an piri kampanja sa majbilache pala e
nacionalne minoritatura save train an Italija. Varesave politikake partie
uzes phende sa majbilache pala e Roma. An foro savo akharel pe' Voghera o
rajo Aurelio Torriani savesko politikako gindipe dzal pe chachi rig (pe
nacionalistikani rig) skrinisarda/ramosarda thaj dija e manushen e lila an
save phenda: "E Roma ka alosaren /ka den piro politikako glaso e rajo savo
akharel pe' Antonella Degradi. Kamen vi tumen te ladzaren korkore tumen?" E
manusha save kamen kadi partija kerde vi jekh gilji thaj dije lake anav
"Romani devleski gilji" o teksto si: " De amen jekh miliono po jekh chon, e
foroske chi trubun e love pala khanchi aver, shuv/tho amen pe majangluno
than e lilesko pala e manusha save adzukaren te o foro del len o kher,
godolese/vash-odi kaj amen sam nomadura thaj phiras tele-opre thaj chi
kamas te mudarel amen o Voghero thaj e gadze save trajin ando foro." O
teksto kadale giljaski sas ramosardo pe lila savi sas reklama kadale
partiake pala e politikake alosaripa.
Kadala nacionalistikane ramosaripa save vazde e italijake politikakemanusha
phabarde bari jag mashkar e manusha save trajin an Italija. Na- dumutane
rodipa/ankete phenen kaj e italijake manusha chikamen vol daran e
Romandar vi kana chi dzanen khanchi lendar. Italijako zurnalo "La stampa"
ramosarda an artiklo savo inkljistilo an 21.V. 2000 kaj e oficialno
regionalno institucija IRES an foro Piedmont kerda anketa e italijake
na-romane chavrenca (pe anketa sas 1,521 chavre katar ohto dzi kaj 9 bersh)
te dikhen sostar e na-romane chavre daran. Tranda thaj shov procentura
phende kaj majbut daran katar e droga, katar e Roma thaj katar e manusha
andar o Maroko. Ohtovardesh thaj duj procentura phende kaj si len dar
godolese kaj godo sikada len lengi familija, dad, dej, e sikavne ande
shkola. An 1999 bersh o Dokumentacioino centro savo zutil e nomaduren thaj
savo beshel an Sant' Edigio regija kerda jekh anketa an savi puchla: "Kamen
te e nomadura shuven/thon pire karavanura an kava regiono?" Eftavardesh
procentura e manushendar save lije than an anketa chi kamle e nomaduren an
lengo regiono. Lengi explanacija sas kaj e nomadura choren, kaj si melale,
kaj choren e chavren.
E baza pala gasavo Italijake manushengo gindipe pala e Roma si fakto kaj
von gindin kaj si e Roma nomadura. Pe agor e ohtoto decenija an kava
milenijum thaj po starto an injato decenija bish regionura ande Italija
krerde nevo zakono savo akharde "protekcija vash e nomadengi kultura" thaj
sar posibiliteto te realizuin kava zakono kerde specijalne kampura pala
nomadura. Kava projekto si kerdino godolese kaj oficijelno gindipo sas kaj
e Sintura thaj e Roma si nomadura thaj von shaj train numaj an karavanura
ande izolacija dur katar Italijake civilura. Sar rezultato but Roma si
tradine te train ande kampura pal "lengo mangipe te train sar aver manusha
ande khera naj autentiko" phenda e Italiako governo. Jekh italijako
reprezentanto an jekhethaneski-unija phendas po kidipe an Geneva an 1999
bersh kaj e Roma si naturalne nomadura save kamen te aven numaj an lenge
kampura.
E deskripcija pala e Roma kaj shaj aven numaj nomadura chi vazdel pe' opre
numaj kana karel pe' lengi segregacija akana e manusha phenen kaj lengo
than chi trubul te avel ande Italija. Kana vorbil pe' pala e Roma sar
integralno kotor an sasti Italijaki rashtra e Italijake manusha sajekh
hatjaren jekh baro nacionalizmo. Sa so si an relacija pala e Roma von
bichalen po jekh than savo akharel pe "ofiso pala e nomadurenge butja" thaj
oficijelno responsabiliteto pala kadale butja si governosko kotor pala e
emigracija. O fakto kaj an varesave forura vol regionura si specijalne
ofisura pala e "Nomadura thaj na-Europake manusha" phenel amenge kaj e Roma
an Italija si prezentuime sar manusha bi-rashtrako saven naj kher thaj save
phiren opre-tele. E Roma uzes hatjaren kaj e Italijake manusha chi kamen len.
An 1999 bersh e Jekhethaneske nacije (o komiteto savo kamel te kerel
eliminacija pala e rasno diskriminacija-CERD) uzes phenda kaj chi kamel
godo so e Italija kerel e Romenca. Specijalno o komiteto phenda an realcija
pala e teza kaj "Roma nashti trajin an normalne khera sar aver manusha
numaj an kampura" kaj si godo na numaj fizichko sgregacija godo si vi
politikaki, ekonomikani thaj kulturaki izolacija. O CERD maj dur phendas
kaj si "hoji savi si an relacija pala e rasno na-tolerancija, kaj si
Romengi tradimata savi e policija thaj e sherutne institucije varekana chi
kamen te dikhen thaj chi kamen te vazden po krisi", "kaj trubun te keren
pe'e raportura save vatjaren pala e violencija e policijaki kontra e
manusha save naj Italijanura thaj save si an phanglipe", "kaj si bari
na-edukacija e manushengi savi keren butji an policija thaj save
reprezentuin o zakono". O komiteto vadzi/inke jekhvar phenda kaj si les
bari dar pala o nevo zakono savo o Italijako senato oficijelno trubul te
vazdel opre. An godo nevo chachipasko dokumento e Roma naj akceptuime sar
nacionalno minoriteto thaj godo chi ka kerel pozitivne efektura te e Roma
aven protektuime. An relacija pala kadala problemura o Komiteto dija
varesave sugestije e Italijake governose sar si: te kerel pe' majbari
prevencija te na barol e rasno na-tolerancija thaj e diskriminacija kontra
e manusha save naj Italijanura thaj save si Roma, te na avel bilacho
tretmano e Romen save si an phanglipe, te dikhel pe' maj bari sama pe Roma
save trajin/dzivdinen ande Italija te na kerel pe' diskriminacija kontra
lende. Ando nevo raporto (pala o CERD) trubun te phenen egzakto sarsavi si
e etnikani kompozicija/save nacije sa trajin an Italija, an procentura
trubul te phenel pe' sode manusha train an Italija saven si Italijako
rashtrako pasporto pal si aver nacijako thaj pe aver rig trubul te phenel
pe' sode manusha trajin saven naj Italijake rashtrako pasporto, trubul te
kerel pe' implementacija pala o kotor 6. katar e konvencija (savi si an
relacija pala e manushenge chachipena) thaj trubul te phenen sode manushen
trade po krisi godolese kaj kerde rasno diskriminacija. Trubul te kerel pe'
edukacija pala e manusha/policajcura save prezentuin o zakono te dzanen so
si godo rasno tolerancija thaj manushengo chachipe; Trubul te kerel
pe' jekh komisija savi ka lel sama pala e problemura save si an relacija
pala e minoritetura thaj e diskriminacija.
Adjes jekh bersh thaj majbut dekana o CERD dija pire sugestije, kritika,
phenda so e Italijako governo trubul te kerel varesave bare efektura vadzi
nashti dikhen pe'. E Italijake manushengo mangipe te traden e Romen andar e
Italija si akana majbari deso sas. Varesave manusha save keren buti an
politika dije piri sugestija kaj e policajcura trubun te pushkin pe/maren
andar e pushka pe manusha save choral perdal o Adriako baro paji kamen te
den an Italija. E Italijake politikake manusha oficijelno phende kaj chi
kamen e manushen save naj Italijanura sar rezultato e Italijanura dije piro
politikako glaso vash lenge. E politikake manusha save phende kaj naj
kontra e Roma achile bi vorbako thaj dikhen kaj e bavlal phurdel pe rig kaj
si e politikake manusha save si nacionalistura. Aver Europake
rashtre/phuvja chi dije varesavo zuralo azutipe te phagavel pe' o
nacionalizmo an Italija. Dzi kaj pe jekh rig e Europa oficijelno phenda kaj
chi kamel nacionalisturen an Austrija save dije an nacionalno governo pe
dujto rig achili kashuki po nacionalizmo an Italija.
*****************
NEW NUMBERS FROM NOVEMBER 27, 2000:
TEL.: +36 1 4132200 -- FAX: +36 1 4132201
The European Roma Rights Center is an international public interest law
organisation which monitors the rights of Roma and provides legal defence
in cases of human rights abuse. For more information about the European
Roma Rights Center, visit the ERRC on the web at http://errc.org.
European Roma Rights Center
1386 Budapest 62
P.O. Box 906/93
Hungary
Telephone: (36 1) 42 82 351
Fax: (36 1) 42 82 356
>** --------- End Original Message ----------- **
|
