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DESTROYING ETHNIC IDENTITY DESTROYING ETHNIC IDENTITY the Gypsies of Bulgaria the Gypsies of Bulgaria

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DESTROYING ETHNIC IDENTITY DESTROYING ETHNIC IDENTITY the Gypsies of Bulgaria the Gypsies of Bulgaria DESTROYING ETHNIC IDENTITY The Gypsies of Bulgaria June 1991 A Helsinki Watch Report 485 Fifth Avenue 1522 K Street, NW, #910 New York, NY 10017 Washington, DC 20005 Tel (212) 972-8400 Tel (202) 371-6592 Fax (212) 972-0905 Fax (202) 371-0124 Copyright 8 June 1991 by Human Rights Watch All Rights Reserved. Printed in the United States of America. ISBN 1-56432-032-4 Library of Congress Catalogue Card Number 91-73013 Cover Design by Charlotte Staub The Helsinki Watch Committee Helsinki Watch was formed in 1978 to monitor and promote observance of domestic and international compliance with the human rights provisions of the 1975 Helsinki Accords. The Chair is Robert L. Bernstein; Vice Chairs, Jonathan Fanton and Alice Henkin; Executive Director, Jeri Laber; Deputy Director, Lois Whitman; Washington Representative, Catherine Cosman; Staff Counsel, Holly Cartner and Theodore Zang, Jr.; Staff Consultant, Ivana Nizich; Orville Schell Fellow, Robert Kushen; Associates, Sarai Brachman, Mia Nitchun and Elisabeth Socolow; Intern, Jemima Stratford. Helsinki Watch is affiliated with the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights, which is based in Vienna. Human Rights Watch Helsinki Watch is a component of Human Rights Watch, which includes Americas Watch, Asia Watch, Africa Watch, Middle East Watch and the Fund for Free Expression. The Chair is Robert L. Bernstein and the Vice Chair is Adrian W. DeWind. Aryeh Neier is Executive Director; Kenneth Roth, Deputy Director; Holly J. Burkhalter, Washington Director; Susan Osnos, Press Director. Executive Directors Africa Watch, Rakiya Omaar; Americas Watch, Juan Mendez; Asia Watch, Sidney R. Jones; Helsinki Watch, Jeri Laber; Middle East Watch, Andrew Whitley. Table of Contents Preface....................................................................................................................................................1 Introduction........................................................................................................................................3 Discrimination Against the Gypsies: A Historical Overview...................................................................................................7 The Situation of the Gypsies Today..................................................................................... 17 Housing ............................................................................................................................20 Education ........................................................................................................................29 Employment...................................................................................................................40 Political Process.........................................................................................................42 State Media....................................................................................................................45 Police.................................................................................................................................46 Military...............................................................................................................................47 Treatment by Other Citizens ................................................................................49 International Law..........................................................................................................................53 Recommendations ......................................................................................................................59 Appendix A..........................................................................................................................................61 Appendix B.........................................................................................................................................69 Acknowledgments This report is based largely on information gathered by Theodore Zang Jr., Staff Counsel to Helsinki Watch and Lois Whitman, Deputy Director of Helsinki Watch, during fact-finding missions to Bulgaria in October 1990-January 1991 and March 1991-April 1991. It was written by Theodore Zang Jr. We visited numerous cities and villages with Gypsy populations, including the following: Sofia (Fakulteta district and "Cambodia" sub-district), Plovdiv (Stoliponovo district), Sliven (Peyo Dachev and Nikola Kochev districts), Vidin, Lom ("Bangladesh," Stadium, "Like it or Not," and Mladenovo districts), Kostinbrod, Petric, Archar, Dunavtsi, Razlog, Varna, and Vinogradets. We conducted several hundred interviews. Our interviewees included the President's advisor for nationalities questions, a former minister for higher education, a deputy minister for lower education, the press spokesperson for the Ministry of Defense, eight members of Parliament, the chair of the Democratic Roma Union, mayors and local council members, housing and education specialists who work with local councils, teachers and administrators who work in schools with large Gypsy enrollments, and police officers. We made a special effort to interview Bulgarians who live in close proximity to Gypsies to get their point of view. Helsinki Watch expresses its gratitude to Elena Marushiakova, a scholar at the Institute for Ethnography at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, for sharing her enormous knowledge about Gypsies in Bulgaria, and to Malina Poshtova, a fifth-year student at the University of Sofia, for interpreting and providing tireless additional assistance to Helsinki Watch. Helsinki Watch assumes full responsibility, however, for the contents of this report. Preface Gypsies in Bulgaria continue to experience gross human rights violations, despite the political changes that have occurred since Todor Zhivkov's resignation on November 10, 1989. Gypsies have always been the targets of discrimination, even during the monarchy. Beginning in the mid-1950s, the Communist government began to assimilate the Gypsies. The assimilation campaign lasted for some thirty years and affected nearly all aspects of Gypsy life. A Gypsy from Archar told Helsinki Watch: "In Bulgaria, there has never been equality in rights between Bulgarians and Gypsies." Today, the government continues to discriminate against Gypsies, and to deny them equal rights. The housing situation of the Gypsies illustrates the disparate treatment that they are accorded. Many Gypsies live in densely populated districts, in the outskirts of cities and villages. The services rendered by the local authorities in these ghettos are vastly inferior to the services provided in Bulgarian districts. The government's educational policies also discriminate against Gypsies. Most Gypsies attend segregated schools where they are denied an equal opportunity to learn the Bulgarian language. Many Gypsies attend special schools that teach technical skills. Gypsies who attend technical schools never have the opportunity to attend university. Gypsies are discriminated against in the workplace. Some told Helsinki Watch that they were denied promotions because they are Gypsies. Others said that they were the first to lose their jobs in enterprises making the transition to a free market economy. The government restricts Gypsies' political rights. Gypsies cannot form political parties based on ethnicity. The Democratic Roma Union, an organization that defends the social, cultural, and political rights of Gypsies, was denied registration as a political party in late 1990. Not a single political party defends the interests of Gypsies, and government officials at both the national and local levels rarely address their problems. More commonly, members of Parliament and other politicians criticize Gypsies for their unclean way of life, noisy parties, or black market activities, all stereotypes which fuel bigotry and hatred. One Gypsy told Helsinki Watch: "Your visit here was the first time someone showed an interest in our problems." 1 The state media portray Gypsies in an unfair light, and this instigates further discrimination against their community. Gypsies are victims of the nationalism that has surfaced in the aftermath of totalitarianism. They experience substantial social discrimination. Despite these hardships, the Gypsies exhibit a remarkable resiliency and retain hope that their human rights will one day be recognized by the state. Manush Romanov, a Gypsy who is a member of the Bulgarian Parliament, said: "It's actually providence that takes care of Gypsies, otherwise we wouldn't survive. We are optimists in spite of this." Another Gypsy said: "Thanks to God we have our jolly hearts and music. This is the only way we survive." To place this issue in perspective, it is sobering to realize that Gypsies are discriminated against throughout the world--including in the United States. As Helsinki Watch was preparing this report, an incident occurred in the United States that received front-page attention in the Bulgarian press. In April 1991, a grocery store owner in St. Anthony, Minnesota threw out a group of Bulgarian members of Parliament and journalists visiting his store. The owner, worried about shoplifters, thought that they "looked like Gypsies" and became suspicious. According to a U.S. State Department interpreter who was escorting the Bulgarians, the store owner said: "Put everything down and leave. We don't want your kind of people in this store."3 The store owner was reportedly concerned after hearing reports about bands of roving
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