IHF REPORT 2006 HUMAN RIGHTS in the OSCE REGION 102 BULGARIA Civil Committee from Two Neighboring Which Was Expected to Strengthen the En- Bishoprics

IHF FOCUS: freedom of expression, free media and information; freedom of association and peaceful assembly; independence of the judiciary and fair trial; torture and ill-treatment; conditions in prisons and detention facilities; right to life; freedom of religion and religious tolerance; rights of persons with disabilities; national and ethnic minorities; equal rights of women and men; aggressive nationalism, racism and xenophobia; asylum seekers, refugees.

On 25 June 2005, regular parliamen- different rights and freedoms guaranteed tary elections were held in Bulgaria. The by the European Convention on Human elections were free and fair. The Bulgarian Rights (ECHR) and its protocols. The Bul- Socialist Party, which had been an opposi- garian government, however, failed to take tion force until then, won the most votes, any effective measures to hold account- but did not secure a sufficient number of able the institutions and officials that were seats in parliament to form a one-party responsible for these violations. government. After lengthy talks, the Socialist Party formed a new government Freedom of Expression, Free Media together with two other parties that had and Information taken part in the previous government, the The situation regarding freedom of ex- centrist National Movement of Sime- pression did not improve noticeably in on II and the Movement for Rights and 2005. There were remaining problems Freedoms, which primarily represents eth- concerning inadequate and discriminatory nic Turks. The main priority of the new media regulation, corruption and the use triple coalition was to ensure Bulgaria’s ac- of criminal prosecution for intimidation of cession to the European Union. journalists. During the year, different EU bodies Anti-minority hate speech dramatically actively monitored and evaluated the increased in some media and this problem country’s readiness for membership in the was not adequately dealt with by media union. In October, the European Com- regulatory mechanisms, in particular the mission published its annual report on Council for Electronic Media (CEM). A Bulgaria’s progress towards accession.1 In number of cable operators, most notably this report, the commission expressed se- the SKAT television network, daily broad- rious concern about the state of human cast programs containing xenophobic and rights in a number of areas, such as the racist discourse, although the Radio and use of force and firearms by law enforce- Television Act explicitly prohibits such ment officials, conditions in places of de- broadcasts. However, throughout the year, tention and the integration of minorities the CEM remained silent with respect to and people with mental disorders. As in these occurrences. This approach was in previous years, however, the report con- significant contrast to the one showed by cluded that Bulgaria met the so-called the CEM in 2003, when it – in violation of Copenhagen criteria established by the free speech standards – dissolved the Den European Council in 1993. television station because the program The European Court of Human Rights “From Telephone to Microphone” alleged- in Strasbourg (ECtHR) delivered judg- ly incited ethnic and religious hatred.2 ments in 23 cases involving Bulgaria. In all The failure of the CEM to adequately these cases, the court found violations of carry out its monitoring functions was also

* Based on Bulgarian Helsinki Committee (BHC), Human Rights in Bulgaria in 2005. This report was written by Emil Cohen, Yonko Grozev, Margarita Ilieva, Krassimir Kanev, Slavka Kukova, Yuliana Metodieva, Svilen Ovcharov, Stanimir Petrov, Iliana Savova, Rositsa Stoykova. The report used mate- rials written by the Bulgarian Gender Research Foundation, Sofia and Plovdiv chapters, Animus Association, Women’s Alliance for Development, Centre Nadya Foundation, Demetra Association Foundation, P.U.L.S. Foundation, Centre for Women’s Studies and Policies. BULGARIA 101 documented by a large-scale study exam- October, the Court issued two judgments ining broadcasting in 20 European coun- – in the cases of UMO Ilinden and Ivanov tries. This study,3 published in October, rec- v. Bulgaria and UMO Ilinden PIRIN v. ommended that the Bulgarian government Bulgaria. In the former, the court held that adopt legislative amendments to better a series of prohibitions issued by local au- ensure the independence, including the fi- thorities concerning the holding of peace- nancial independence, of the regulatory ful public events by Bulgarian Macedo- body. nians were in violation of article 11 of the The use of criminal proceedings ECHR. In the latter case, the Court held against journalists continued in 2005. that the Bulgarian authorities had violated N The criminal case against the Roma- the same article when they, in 2000, de- nian journalist George Buhnici, arrested in clared unconstitutional and banned a political party with a predominantly Macedo- November 2004 for using a concealed nian membership. On 24 November, the camera to film illegal cigarette trade at the ECtHR delivered its judgment in the case Bulgarian-Romanian border, was finally of Ivanov and Others v. Bulgaria, where it brought to an end in December 2005. The found violations of article 11 and 13 (right Ruse Regional Court acquitted Buhnici of to an effective remedy) in relation to the all charges. banning of demonstrations by Bulgarian N In the fall of 2005, the Ruse District Macedonians in Sofia in August and Court ordered journalist Kalina Grancha- September 1998. rova from the Tutrakanski Glas newspaper During the year Bulgarian Macedoni- to pay a fine of EUR 250 for writing a de- ans faced new violations of their right to famatory article. The decision was ap- peaceful assembly. pealed before the Regional Court, but no N On 12 September, the police in Blago- hearing had been scheduled by the end of evgrad did not allow representatives of the the year. United Macedonian Organization UMO A survey on the relationship of Bul- Ilinden to lay flowers at the grave of Gotse garian media with PR agencies, which the Delchev, a 19th century Macedonian revo- Bulgarian Helsinki Committee (BHC) car- lutionary. The police confiscated their ban- ried out during the second half of 2005, re- ners, a poster and a wreath. Moreover, a vealed widespread corruption practices in number of UMO Ilinded activists were at- some media, including the acceptance of tacked by unidentified individuals on their payment in exchange for certain articles or way out of Blagoevgrad near the village of programs. The prevalence of corruption Chernice. The UMO Ilinden members sub- practices reflected the financial depend- sequently lodged complaints with the dis- ence of the editorial bodies of some media trict prosecutor’s office in Blagoevgrad and on certain economic and political circles. with the regional military prosecutor in Sofia. In October, the latter declared that Freedom of Association and Peaceful no crime had been committed, a decision Assembly which was upheld upon appeal by the Sofia appelate prosecutor’s office. In 2005, the ECtHR delivered three judgments against Bulgaria in which it There were also other cases during found violations of the right to freedom of the year in which the right to peaceful as- association and peaceful assembly (article sembly was violated. 11 of the ECHR). All three cases had been N On 22 August, the mayor of Varna filed by Bulgarian Macedonians. On 20 banned a gay parade under pressure of a

IHF REPORT 2006 HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE OSCE REGION 102 BULGARIA civil committee from two neighboring which was expected to strengthen the en- bishoprics. forcement of court judgments. In September, new legislation was adopted N In several cases in July, September, establishing a comprehensive legal aid sys- and November, authorities and private se- tem, which greatly broadened the scope of curity companies reportedly used illegal available legal aid. As of 1 January 2006, force and threats to disperse the partici- legal aid will be available in criminal, civil pants in protests held in connection with and administrative cases. the relocation of garbage dump sites around Sofia. Torture and Ill-treatment In January, the ECtHR issued a judg- Independence of the Judiciary and ment in the case of Kehayov v. Bulgaria, in Fair Trial which it found a violation of article 3 of the The main problems regarding the ECHR (prohibiting torture and inhuman or functioning of the judiciary persisted. degrading treatment or punishment). The These were related to the lack of adequate applicant had been detained in the Plovdiv guarantees of the independence of courts investigation detention facility for approxi- from institutional and private interests, the mately six months, where he was held in a ineffectiveness of pre-trial proceedings in cell measuring 10.5 square meters togeth- criminal proceedings, the length of prelim- er with three other detainees, with no pos- inary investigations in criminal cases and sibility for outdoor or out-of-cell activities. the length of some court proceedings. This was the first time the ECtHR has qual- Bulgaria was criticized by the Euro- ified detention conditions in Bulgarian in- pean Commission and the governments of vestigation detention facilities as inhuman several EU member states because of the and degrading. ineffectiveness of its judicial system. Con- In June, the Strasbourg court again cerns were mainly expressed about proce- found a violation of article 3 of the Con- dural and other violations in pre-trial crimi- vention in the case of I.I. v. Bulgaria. In this nal proceedings and the lack of adequate case, the applicant had been detained for measures to fight corruption in the judicial three months in a dark, poorly ventilated system. The Bulgarian government respon- and damp cell of six square meters to- ded to the criticism by adopting amend- gether with two to three other detainees. ments to the criminal procedure code in The ECtHR held that the fact that, during June, which inter alia transferred authority several months, the applicant had to over pre-trial investigations from investigat- spend practically twenty-four hours a day ing authorities to police. The government in an overcrowded cell without exposure also drafted constitutional amendments to natural light, and without any possibility related to the judiciary. These amend- for physical and other out-of-cell activities, ments were, however, yet to be submitted must have caused him intense suffering. to parliament at the end of 2005. During the year, the ECtHR found vio- Conditions in Prisons and 4 lations of the right to a fair trial (article 6 of Detention Facilities the ECHR) in ten cases involving Bulgaria. Prisons However, two positive developments also The number of persons held in Bulga- occurred with regard to fair trial guaran- rian prisons grew from 10,871 in 2004 to tees. In May, the National Assembly 11,436 in 2005. The problem of over- passed new legislation on private bailiffs, crowding was somewhat alleviated by new

HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE OSCE REGION IHF REPORT 2006 BULGARIA 103 legal possibilities for placing inmates in Differences in the practice of establishing prison hostels with lighter regime condi- violations and imposing sanctions and tions. The rise in the number of inmates seclusions, as well as differences in the op- placed in prison hostels did, however, not portunities to appeal such decisions, gave improve the situation in prison facilities for rise to complaints from prisoners. recidivists, where the problem of over- N In April-May, 37 foreign nationals serv- crowding was particularly bad. ing their sentences at the Sofia prison Bulgarian legislation did not establish went on hunger strike to protest discrimi- any standards concerning the living space natory practices toward non-national in- per prisoner. In most prisons, the living mates in terms of conditional early release, space was two square meters per person, leaves and placement in prison hostels. while the unoccupied area was less than one square meter per inmate. The most Investigation Detention Facilities overcrowded prisons had double or triple Based on its monitoring activities, the bunk beds. Overcrowding was greatest in BHC concluded in a report published in the prison in Plovdiv, where the number of 2005 that detention conditions in investi- inmates exceeded the capacity several gation detention facilities could be de- times, and there were also an urgent need scribed as inhuman and degrading and for measures to reduce overcrowding, in- were in the greatest need of reform. crease personal space and improve light- The number of detainees kept in the ing and ventilation in the prisons in Pleven 51 investigation facilities in the country and Varna. The prisons in Sofia, Vratsa, ranged between 850 and 900 per day. In Pleven, Stara Zagora, Plovdiv, Sliven, Varna the facilities in Plovdiv as well as in the and Burgas and the Atlant prison hostel all border facilities in Svilengrad and Slivnitsa, lacked in-cell toilets so inmates had to use the number of detainees exceeded the fa- buckets at night. cility’s capacity during parts of the year. In some high security facilities, materi- The material conditions in investiga- al conditions and possibilities for recre- tion detention facilities were not in accor- ational activities remained unsatisfactory. dance with international standards for the In the Burgas prison, inmates frequently treatment of prisoners. In spite of renova- complained about negative attitudes and tions, many of the investigation detention the use of physical force by prison staff to- facilities continued to lack adequate light- ward inmates. In other prisons, such com- ing, ventilation and hygiene. Moreover, the plaints were less common. Efforts by the general conditions in the facilities were competent authorities to investigate inma- worse than those in prisons. Most facilities tes’ complaints about abuse were obstruc- lacked places for outdoor activities and ted by the fact that prison medical person- rooms for family visits or attorney meet- nel were not instructed to document signs ings, and no meaningful activities for de- of self-injury, rape and violence. tainees were organized and detainees did In comparison to previous years, the not have access to television or radio. quantity and scope of re-socialization activ- At the initiative of the prosecutor gen- ities improved. However, the large number eral’s office, in February, prosecutors from of inmates per social worker – up to 100 the supreme prosecutor’s office of cassa- and more – prevented effective individual tion and the military and regional prosecu- and group work. tor’s offices carried out an inspection of all The disciplinary practices used in dif- investigation detention facilities and the ferent prisons continued to lack uniformity. sectors for remand prisoners in prisons.

IHF REPORT 2006 HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE OSCE REGION 104 BULGARIA

The report published following this investi- he lived. Krastev frequently slept in a tiny gation concluded that the facilities in closet in the apartment building’s commu- Petrich, Gabrovo, Lom and Svilengrad nal parts. An old refrigerator that had been were completely unfit for use and that stolen the previous day sparked the attack. most other investigated facilities, with the Part of the beating took place in front of exception of the sectors for remand pris- two other police officers who were in D.B.’s oners in prisons and a few other facilities, company, who just looked on and did not did not correspond to the Council of intervene. Forensic doctors established Europe standards on minimal personal that Julien Krastev had died as a result of space, outdoor stay, lavatories, lighting, etc. multiple internal injuries. Sergeant D.B. The report recommended that all under- was detained, charged with premeditated ground facilities, which lack windows or murder and suspended from the police. communal lavatories, as well as facilities The Varna regional prosecutor’s office located on top floors, which cannot be re- brought the case to court, and at the end constructed to have lavatories, sinks and of the year a hearing was pending. The two windows, be taken out of service. other police officers who watched the fatal In a positive development, the deten- beating, however, were not standing trial. tion facility in Elhovo, which was one of N nine underground facilities, was closed On 14 August, 27-year-old Ivelin down in October. Instead a new facility Vesselinov, was beaten to death by Chief was opened, where conditions were in Sergeant P.B. from the sixth district police conformity with relevant standards. station in Plovdiv and two civilians. Vesselinov had stuck a syringe in a young Right to Life woman’s leg on the street. Chief Sergeant P.B. and the two men caught Vesselinov Legislative and practical safeguards for and started beating him. Later, Vesselinov the protection of the right to life remained was taken to the fifth district police station below international standards. Article 80 of in a patrol car. He collapsed and the emer- the Interior Ministry Act permitted the use gency team that arrived established his of firearms for the pursuit of suspects as death. Chief Sergeant P.B. was dismissed well as for the prevention of the escape of from work for breach of discipline and an suspects, even in the case of petty crimes. investigation was opened into the case of This provision remained unchanged when him and his two accomplices. The case a revised version of the law was adopted had not finished by year’s end. in early 2006. Four people lost their lives in 2005 as N On 10 November, 38-year-old Angel a result of excessive use of firearms by law Dimitrov-Chorata died in Blagoevgrad in enforcement officials. In some cases the the framework of a police operation called perpetrators were brought before court, but “Respect.” According to the Interior Ministry, in others the response of the investigating Dimitrov put up resistance when police authorities was inadequate, resulting in im- tried to arrest him and therefore they had punity of the perpetrators of these acts. to use force to secure his arrest. Shortly af- N On 14 April, Julien Krastev, a 37-year- ter he was handcuffed, Dimitrov fell to the old homeless man, was beaten to death ground, and the emergency medical team by Sergeant D.B. from the first district po- that was called to the place established his lice station in Varna. D.B. was returning death. Witnesses, however, reported that home from a nightclub when he saw Ju- Dimitrov had not resisted arrest and had lien Krastev in front of the building where begged the police to stop beating him be-

HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE OSCE REGION IHF REPORT 2006 BULGARIA 105 cause he was having difficulties breathing. vestigation. The case of Kiril Stoyanov, who The day after the incident it was an- was shot dead in Plovdid in March 2004, nounced that the forensic pathologists’ re- was suspended after the Plovdiv Regional port had concluded that Dimitrov had suf- Military Court confirmed an August 2004 fered a cardiac arrest and that the use of decision by the Plovdiv deputy regional force by police had not caused his death. military prosecutor to terminate an investi- Dimitrov’s relatives requested a new foren- gation into the case. Both men were of sic expert analysis, which found that Romani origin.5 Dimitrov had died as a result of trauma N In July, the Grand Chamber of the wounds (brain hemorrhage) caused by the ECtHR upheld the decision of the court in police beating. Interior Minister Rumen Pet- the case of the shooting of two Romani kov subsequently apologized to Dimitrov’s army conscripts by military police in 1996. relatives and the heads of the regional di- The court found a violation of the right to rectorate of internal affairs and the Regional life and discrimination on ethnic grounds Office for Combating Organized Crime re- in that the authorities failed to investigate signed. The police officers involved in the the possible racist motives behind the beating also left their positions. On 14 shooting.6 December, the Sofia district military prosecutor issued an order for the termination of the investigation into the case, a decision Freedom of Religion and Religious which caused great astonishment. On 8 Tolerance January 2006, the family’s lawyer appealed The discriminatory provisions of the this decision before the Sofia Military Court, 2002 Denominations Act, which restricted and on 19 January 2006, the court found the rights of non-Orthodox religious organ- irregularities in the factual and legal conclu- izations, remained in force.7 The Bulgarian sions of the prosecutor’s office order and Orthodox Church remained divided. therefore revoked the decision. The case N No measures were taken to hold ac- was thereafter referred for further inquiry. countable the perpetrators or to remedy N On 20 December, special police the effects of the police operation carried forces shot dead 30-year-old Hari Mil- out on 20 July 2004 in an attempt to kovski in Vlado Trichkov village, near Sofia. forcefully unite the Bulgarian Orthodox The man was shot in an operation to re- Church under the leadership of the gov- lease the British citizen Chistou Fanos, who ernment-backed Patriarch Maxim. In this had been taken hostage by Milkovski and operation, police stormed about 100 two other men after arriving in Bulgaria five churches and other buildings managed by days earlier. The hostage takers had asked the so-called “alternative Synod” and for £44,000 (about EUR 22,500) ransom handed them over to the jurisdiction of the for his release. The fatal shooting occurred so-called “canonical Synod” of Patriarch as the squad for fighting organized crime Maxim. The clerics who were forced to raided the house where Fanos was held leave their positions during the raid were hostage. An investigation was opened into not reinstated and the confiscated proper- the case. ty was not returned to its rightful owners. During the year, there was no progress Over 80 applications were filed with the in the case of Boris Mihailov, who was shot ECtHR in relation to the 2004 raid. The ap- dead by a law enforcement official from plicants, who totaled close to 800 people the Samokov District Police Department in – the largest number of applicants ever in August 2004. The case remained under in- a case involving Bulgaria, claimed a viola-

IHF REPORT 2006 HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE OSCE REGION 106 BULGARIA tion of article 9 of the ECHR (freedom of veral months earlier. The fine was upheld thought, conscience and religion) and arti- by a Plovdiv court in December. In April, a cle 1 of the first additional protocol to the group of Mormons were banned from dis- convention (protection of property). tributing brochures with religious content The year also saw the success of the in Pleven. ultra-nationalist Ataka (“Attack”) coalition, N In October, two Protestant preachers which openly campaigned against religious were attacked by a group of Muslims in minorities and what it called “sects,” in the Gotse Delchev while they were distributing June parliamentary elections. The Ataka invitations for the showing of a film with coalition received 9% of the votes, and evangelic content. A similar incident oc- thereby secured 21 seats in the parlia- curred in August in the village of Grohotno ment. However, by the end of the year, where student evangelists distributing four MPs had left the group to become in- films with Biblical content were met by a dependent MPs.8 protest demonstration led by local imams. N In an article published in the Ataka The permission for distributing the film newspaper on 25 October, one of the MPs was subsequently withdrawn by the village representing the coalitions wrote: “Our cru- mayor. sade against the Jehovah’s Witnesses is only the beginning of a far-reaching politi- N In October, a company in Veliko Tur- cal and public campaign which ATAKA will novo refused to allow German citizen Kris- undertake against the sect invasion in tina Engel to take up an internship that al- Bulgaria…”, because “a series of unsolved ready had been agreed upon after she crimes, including murders, point to a reli- openly declared that she belonged to the gious motive and lead to existing cult Jehovah’s Witnesses. Engel filed a com- groups and sects in Bulgaria.” plaint with the Anti-Discrimination Commission. N On 25 November, Pavel Chernev, MP from the Ataka coalition, called on Interior N On 26 October, the Interior Ministry Minister Rumen Petkov to “instruct” the se- banned Rev. Dr. Sun Myung Moon, foun- cret services to “take under their control der of the Unification Movement, from en- and supervision” denominations like the tering the country. The visit was part of a Jehovah’s Witnesses. In response to this world tour of 100 cities and its aim was to statement, the interior minister stated that establish a Bulgarian branch of the World “the Jehovites continue to violate the com- Federation for Peace. The ban was moti- mitments [they have undertaken] and to vated due to the “complicated situation in use every attempt of state interference to the country” following the high-profile case discredit Bulgaria and to file applications involving the shooting of banker Emil before the International [European] Court Kyulev the previous day. The authorities of Human Rights in Strasbourg.”9 did not provide any written document ex- Several cases in which the rights of plaining the decision. members of non-traditional religious As in previous years, foreign mission- groups were violated were also reported aries faced difficulties in their attempts to during the year. receive work permits in Bulgaria. N On 12 July, Hans Amon, a Jehovah’s Some media published material incit- Witness, was fined EUR 100 by the Plovdiv ing hatred on religious grounds. The SKAT municipality for “distributing brochures TV channel, known as an Ataka mouth- with religious content in a public place” se- piece, led a systematic campaign against

HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE OSCE REGION IHF REPORT 2006 BULGARIA 107 the so-called sects. Following programs tinued use of the practices of seclusion broadcast on the SKAT TV, inhabitants of and immobilization, which were in viola- the Meden Rudnik neighbourhood in tion of international standards, remained a Burgas staged a protest against the 2 cause of serious concern. Moreover, the October opening of a Jehovah’s Witnesses treatment offered to people with mental prayer house in their neighborhood, argu- disorders was typically only of a medicinal ing that it posed a danger to their children. nature, while adequate programs for the The building was attacked with stones on rehabilitation and re-integration into socie- 18 and 19 October. ty of patients were lacking. Few efforts Minority religious communities contin- were also made to recruit qualified and ued to experience unequal access to na- motivated medical and other staff to insti- tional TV broadcasts; the large TV channels tutions and homes for people with mental with national coverage broadcast as a rule disorders. only programs with Orthodox Christian ori- In some state psychiatric hospitals, entation. For the fifth year, an application such as the ones in Byala, Lovech, Patale- of the United Church of God for a radio li- nitza and Karlukovo, material conditions cense was turned down by the Council for were appalling. Rooms and other facilities Electronic Media because of a “lack of were dilapidated and scantily furnished, technical possibility.” there was no running hot water and hygiene was poor. Rights of Persons with Disabilities The two social care institutions for A new Health Act adopted in January people with developmental disabilities that established new safeguards against arbi- the Committee for the Prevention of trary placement in mental health institu- Torture criticized after its 2003 visit to tions. A new procedure was introduced, Bulgaria – the social care home for wo- which requires the preparation of an ex- men in the village of Razdol and the social pert opinion about the mental state of the care home for men in the village of Pastra individual to be confined in mental health – continued to function. There were some hospital and the danger this person is as- improvements in the material conditions sessed to pose. The whole procedure is to of other social care homes, but no real be carried out before a court, legal repre- progress was observed with respect to the sentation of the person whose case is un- overall quality of life of patients. der consideration is mandatory, and time During visits to psychiatric hospitals, limits were established for the preparation BHC researchers established several cases of the expert opinion and the court hear- of death of patients, which were not ade- ing. The maximum length of involuntary quately investigated or not investigated at treatment that a person can be ordered to all. undergo was reduced from six to three months and the court’s decision can be National and Ethnic Minorities appealed. According to the Protection from Dis- The BHC observed certain problems crimination Act, which entered into force concerning the application of the new pro- on 1 January 2004, a Commission for Pro- cedure for compulsory treatment of pa- tection from Discrimination was to be es- tients, but overall a much smaller number tablished by March 2004. With over a of patients were unlawfully placed in men- year’s delay, this commission started work- tal institutions and treated involuntarily ing and receiving complaints in 2005, but than in previous years. However, the con- did not issue any decisions during the year.

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However, a number of important court National TV at an unfavorable hour (5 decisions concerning alleged racial dis- p.m.), and weekly broadcasts on TV crimination against Roma were handed Rhodopi in Kardjali and TV Roma in Vidin. down on the basis of the Protection from In January, the CEM turned down a re- Discrimination Act. In a decision that was quest of a Macedonian organization to air unprecedented in both Bulgaria and programs in Macedonian on national tele- Europe as a whole, the Sofia District Court vision. ruled in October that Roma children had been subjected to racial segregation in Equal Rights of Women and Men school. In other court rulings, commercial In the field of equal rights of women enterprises running cafeterias, restaurants and men, the most important develop- and hotels were found guilty of ethnically ment during the year was the adoption based discrimination for denying Roma and enforcement of the Domestic Vio- customers access to service. There were lence Protection Act. This act, which was also judgments against private employers promulgated in the State Gazette on 29 who had refused to hire Roma. March 2005, defines domestic violence as While developments in the judicial any act, or attempted act, of physical, psy- sphere were positive, an adequate policy chological or sexual violence and abuse or for the integration of the Roma communi- of coercive restriction of freedom and pri- ty continued to be lacking, despite official vacy targeted at a person with whom the declarations in support of the Decade of perpetrator is related, cohabits or shares a Roma Inclusion, which was launched in dwelling (article 2). February as a joint initiative of eight Central According to the act, regional courts and Eastern European countries. are to issue court protection orders for the There were new cases of forced evic- purpose of restraining a perpetrator of do- tions: mestic violence from committing further N On 31 August, over 20 Roma houses acts of violence, removing him or her from were demolished in a Roma neighbor- the common dwelling, or constraining his hood in Sofia on the order of the munici- or her access to places commonly fre- pal administration. The inhabitants were quented by the victim, including his or her left homeless. In September, the municipal workplace. Court proceedings may be in- authorities of another Sofia district at- stituted upon application by the victim or tempted to demolish an entire Roma upon request by the director of the Social neighborhood existing since the beginning Assistance Directorate. Along with protec- th of the 20 century. No provisions were tion measures, all court orders impose a made for alternative housing for the peo- fine of 200 to 1000 leva (approximately ple living in this neighborhood. The project EUR 100 to 500). In the absence of other was temporalily halted by the prosecutor evidence, a protection order may be is- and court pending a clarification of the sued solely on the basis of the victim’s grounds for the demolition. statement. Radio and TV broadcasts in minority If an application includes evidence of languages remained limited. The only mi- a serious threat to the life or health of the nority programs that were broadcast were victim, the relevant regional court is to is- programs in Turkish on Bulgarian National sue an emergency protection order within Radio (on short and medium waves and 24 hours of the receipt of the application. therefore with limited audience), a 10- Emergency protection proceedings may minute daily news bulletin on Bulgarian be initiated not only upon application by

HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE OSCE REGION IHF REPORT 2006 BULGARIA 109 the victim but also upon application by a ganda by major political forces or law en- direct relative of the victim. Police author- forcement authorities, and while media ities are responsible for forwarding to frequently addressed issues of equality court emergency protection applications and anti-discrimination, no media outlet that they receive, and are further assigned took a clear stance against the hate speech an important role in the execution of pro- used by the Ataka coalition by refusing to tection orders. publish such material. There was, however, The ministers of the interior, justice, civil society mobilization on the issue. labour and social policy, health, education Dozens of civil society organizations and science, and of finance were tasked formed the coalition “Citizens against with elaborating a Domestic Violence Hatred” and filed a lawsuit for incitement Prevention and Protection Program within to discrimination against Volen Siderov. six months of the entry into force of the The court’s judgment was yet to be deliv- act. The act also envisioned cooperation ered at the end of the year. between state authorities and NGOs, which are working in this field and are reg- Asylum Seekers and Refugees istered under the Social Assistance Act, in The number of asylum seekers de- the implementation of prevention and pro- creased in a trend that continued from the tection programs. previous year. Asylum applications were At the end of the year, a total of 80 filed by a total of 822 people from 38 court cases had been brought under the countries, which was 27% less than in new law in Sofia, and 40 in Plovdiv. 2004. A major reason for the continued decrease in asylum applications were Aggressive Nationalism, Racism and stricter border control measures carried Xenophobia out in the framework of Bulgaria’s acces- The ultra-nationalist Ataka coalition, sion to the EU. which gained representation in parliament A number of amendments to the in the June elections, systematically used Asylum and Refugee Act that were adopt- aggressive racist and xenophobic propa- ed during the year resulted in a higher ganda. Its propaganda was mainly targeted standard of protection of asylum seekers against Bulgaria’s Roma population. and refugees, but other amendments Representatives of the coalition repeatedly marked a deterioration of existing stan- described the Roma as a “criminal com- dards. For example, the definition of “fam- munity” and a “threat to the Bulgarians” ily member” was narrowed; the standard because of their high birth rates. The coun- of protection of unaccompanied minors try’s Turkish, Jewish, Muslim and other mi- was made worse; and the number of in- norities were also verbally attacked by the terviews required during the asylum proce- movement and its leader, Volen Siderov, dure was reduced from two to one. made himself known as a radical anti- Access to the asylum procedure was Semite and Holocaust-denier. The party’s not always guaranteed and asylum seekers entry into parliament, and the media cov- were denied entry to the country in viola- erage it enjoyed, contributed to negative tion of the principle of non-refoulement. stereotyping of Roma and other minority There was no progress in the planned con- groups in political and public debate and struction of regional departments of the impeded integration efforts. State Refugee Agency at the main points There was no adequate response to of entry to the country, the Sofia airport the rise in racist and xenophobic propa- and the Kapitan Andreevo border check

IHF REPORT 2006 HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE OSCE REGION 110 BULGARIA point, and therefore no asylum determina- asylum procedure was secured only as a tion procedures were conducted at the result of BHC intervention. borders. At the same time, the State During the year, 86 people were Refugee Agency only examined asylum granted asylum – 78 of them were given cases that were directly referred to it by humanitarian status and eight refugee sta- border police. In all 63 asylum cases that tus. The overall refugee determination rate were referred to the State Refugee Agency thus remained low, or 10% of all regis- by border police in 2005 access to the tered asylum applications.

Endnotes 1 European Commission, Bulgaria: 2005 Comprehensive Monitoring Report, Brussels, 25 October 2005, available at www.europa.eu.int/comm/enlargement/report_2005. 2 For more information on this case see the chapter on Bulgaria in IHF, Human Rights in the OSCE Region. Report 2004 (Events of 2003), at www.ihf-hr.org/documents/ doc_summary.php?sec_id=3&d_id=3860. 3 Television across Europe: regulation, policy and independence, EU Monitoring and Advocacy Program at Open Society Institute, October, 2005. 4 See also IHF, Places of Detention in Bulgaria - Report from the visit of the delegation of human rights NGOs to places of detention in Bulgaria on 27 and 28 September 2004, 1 April 2005, at www.ihf-hr.org/documents/doc_summary.php?sec_id=3&d_ id=4131. 5 For both cases, see Human Rights in Bulgaria in 2004, annual report of the BHC, available at www.bghelsinki.org. 6 Case of Nachova and Others v. Bulgaria, Applications nos. 43577/98 and 43579/98, European Court of Human Rights, 6 July 2005. 7 For an analysis of the discriminatory provisions of the law, see Human Rights in Bulga- ria in 2002, available at www.bghelsinki.org/. 8 Another three MPs left the Ataka parliamentary group in early 2006. 9 See Minutes from the parliamentary meeting for parliamentary control, response of Interior Minister Petkov to question of Ataka MP, Pavel Chernev, at www.parliament.bg/? page=plSt&lng=bg&SType=show&id=69.

HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE OSCE REGION IHF REPORT 2006