Discriminatory Practices of the Luxembourg Police Against Roma Migrants from the New Member States
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Chachipe a.s.b.l. B.p.97 L - 7201 Béreldange e-mail: [email protected] Luxembourg, 24 February 2011 Mt. Martin Sehnayr Head of Cabinet Cabinet of Vice-President Viviane Reding Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship European Commission B - 1049 Brussels Discriminatory practices of the Luxembourg police against Roma migrants from the new member states Dear Mr. Selmayr, ln reply to your letter dated 6 December 2010, we would like to reiterate our concems regarding the mistreatment of Roma migrants by the Luxembourg police as part of a targcted campaign to deter Roma migrants from entering Luxembourg. We believe that the actions of Luxembourg police, which we have documented in our letters as th th th of September 14 , October 16 and November 2S , 2010 constitute an infringement of EU legislation, not only in terms of the right of freedom of movement, protected by Directive 2004/38/EC and article 2 §§ 1 and 2 of Protocol 4 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), but also in that they violate the right of non-discrimination and equal tteatment, which is guaranteed by Directive 2000/43/EC as weil as article 21(1) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (Charter) and by article 1 of Protocol 12 of the ECHR. Furthermore, the unjustified arrests, unjustified confiscation of the money obtained through begging, routine body searches and aileged beatings of Roma under arrest violate articles 4 (prohibition of torture and inhuman or degrading tteatment or punishment) and 6 (Right to liberty and security) of the Charter, article 1 § 1 (General Prohibition of Discrimination) of Protocol12 of the ECHR as weIl as articles 3 (prohibition of torture) and 5 § Ic (Right to liberty and security) of the ECHR and article 1 § 1 (protection of Property) of the Protocol ta the ECHR together with article 14 (prohibition of discrimination) of the ECHR. lnfringement tif Directive 2000/43/ Ee and the right ta non-discrimination The Romanian Roma, who come ta Luxembourg for the purpose of begging, are regularly arrested, handcuffed and taken ta the police station, where they are sometimes held for hours and subjected ta a complete body search, Theil money is confiscated. This is information we have collected during severa] visits ta Mont Saint Martin, a French municipality on the Luxembourg border and the domicile of some of the Romanian Roma begging in Luxembourg, 1 and which was also published in the Luxembourg weekly dLttzeburger Land on 15 October 2010 • The practice of body searching Roma has also been documented in a police report of 28 April 2 2005 • The Mont Saint Martin Roma further informed us that they were beaten by Luxembourg police for no reason", This has been confirtned by an anonymous observer participating in the internet 4 forum Les 4 Vérités on 18 October 2010 . One Roma claimed that he was forcibly ejected nom a police car in an isolated area". The Roma also informed us that they are regularly taken off the train connecting the French border town Rodange to Luxembourg City and forced to board one 6 returning to France • This information was also confirmed by a cross-border commuter, participating in the internet forum Les Frontaliers, on 21 April 2009, who further referred to an 7 article, which appeared in the online version of the Luxembourg daily Le Quotidien , as weil as by several police reports", These actions are part of a targeted campaign aimed at detetting Roma beggars nom entering Luxembourg. ln summer 2008, the Luxembourg police started a public information campaign warning the lO population about the activities of "organised beggars,,9. A flyer , also produced as a poster and widely distributed throughout the country", makes reference to a West European phenomenon with links ta petty crime. The beggars are portrayed as people appearing in groups and using different kinds of subterfuge in order to get money. Quoted amongst these schemes are child begging, the display of smail children and the simulation of handicaps. ln press releases, the beggars are referred to as people of mainly Eastern European origin, who systematically use begging in order to earn money12.This, as weil as the display of a picture of a woman, wrapped in a scarf and holding a doil in her arms to suggest a toddler, is a thinly veiled reference to the fact that the people who are targeted by this campaign are Roma. 1 Karin Waringo, "Mobile-home avec vue", in: d'Urzebuet;ger Land, 15.10.2010, available at : http://www.land.lu/index.php/printarchive/items/mobile-home-avec-vue.html, see for handcuffing at paras. 9, 12, and 24; for body search at paras. 13 and 14 2« Bettelei »,27.04. 15:00, Lieu: Luxembourg. Ville-Haute, in : Le bulletin depresse du 28.04.2005, available at http://www.police.public.lu/actualites /bulletin_presse/ 2005/ 04/ 20050428 / index.h tml 3 See note 1 at paras. 19 and 25 4 Comment by Luc Sembour ([email protected]), on : «Le circulaire sur les Roms Illégale? », in: Les 4 Vérités, 18.09.2010, available at: http://www.les4verites.com/articles/ comments.php?articles_id=3178&page=3 5 See note 3 at para. 18 6 See above at paras. 18,22 and 23; see also: "Übergrenzsetzung von 8 Personen", 15.02.2007 [the date is incorrect and should be 15.02.2008], 14:00, Lieu: Luxembourg Hauptbahnhof, in: Le bulletin depresse du 16.02.2008, available at: http://www.police.public.lu/actualites/bulletin_presse/2008 /02/20080216 /index.html 7 Comment by neo1408, in: Les Frontaliers, 21.04.2009, available at: http://www.lesfrontaliers.lu/index.php?p=fonun&Ca=disc&Cid=42662 8 See notes 2 and 6 9 See "Rumanesch Heescheleit", RTL TV, 29.11.2009, available at: http://tele.rd.lu/waatleeft/ replay/ v/20091128/0/13081/, transcription attached, see Appendix-1; see also "Systematische Geldmacherei mit vorgetauschter Armut", in: Luxembur:ger Wort, 05.08.2010, available at: http://www.wort.lu/wort/ web /letzebuerg/ artikel/ 2010/08/106641/ systematische-geldmacherci-mit- vorgetaeuschter-armut.php; "Zahlreiche Bettler vor Einkaufzentren", in: WIlJIlJ.wort.lu20.02, .2010, available at: http://www.wort.lu/wort/web/lctzebuerg/artikeI/75526/zahlreiche-bettler-vor-einkaufszentren.php 10 See Appendix-2 11 See picture taken in September 2010 in the Aldringen subway, in the centre of Luxembourg City, Appendix-3 12 See for instance: "ZeugenaufrufBettler", 18.08 11:30, Lieu: Bettembourg, Zentrurn, in: Le bulletin depresse du 18.08.2010, available at: http://www.police.public.lu/actualites/bulletin_presse/2010/08/201 00818/index.htnù; "Wieder vermehrt Bettler unterwegs", 05.08.2010, available at : http://www.police.public.lu/functions/search/resultHighlight/index.php?1inkId=5&SID =b71 f68b40577d9d7749ba Oa78cec2803 The police campaign has been widely echoed by the media, which spoke about "false beggars" 13 who would "strip off' the population of its money'". The allegedly organised nature of the begging, which justifies the arrests on the motive of organised begging (mendicité en réunion), prohibited under article 342 of the Luxembourg Penal Code1S (begging per se being no longer prohibited in Luxembourg) and the implicit allegation of human traffi.cking, underlying the allegation that the beggars are being exploited by criminal gangs, have never been proven. ln an interview with the Luxembourg weekly Le Jeudi, Deputy Prosecutor Bob Piron explained that the allegation regarding the organised character of begging is essentially founded on "impressions", i.e., the presence of children in the streets and the fact that the Roma beggars are allegedly moving around in groupS16.ln practice, however, the police's allegations do not stand judicial review and, indeed, 99.9 percent of the cases are never brought before coure? Deputy Prosecutor Bob Piron has also confirmed that there was no "trafficking affair,,18or other evidence that the beggars were being exploited by "criminal networks'?", belying the allegations of the police. ln an interviewwith the Luxembourg daily "Luxembur:ger Won" on the issue of public security, the mayor of Luxembourg City, Paul Helminger stated that the former Minister of Justice, Luc 20 Frieden, gave order to the police to be tough on Romanian beggars • However, there is no evidence to suggest that other Romanian citizens have also been affected by the campaign. It is therefore clear that the campaign is directly targeted against Roma beggars, with the aim of deterring them from entering Luxembourg, which becomes even clearer when it is viewed in connection with the reform of the Luxembourg immigration law enforced in summer 2008. 13 « Faux mendiants: la police cherche des témoins », Point 24,19.08.2010, available at: http://www.point24.lu/point24/web/luxembourg/article/20100819/109298/faux-mendiants-la-police-cherche- des-temoins.php ; « Les mendiants escrocs », Le Quotidien, 17.04.2009, available at: http://www.lequotidien.lu/le- pays/3330.html; « Organisierte Bettler-Bande aktiv », Luxemburger Wort, 05.12.2008, available at : http://www.wort.lu/wort/ web /lctzebuerg /artikel/ 03611/ organisierte-bettler-bande-aktiv.php; "Systematische Geldmacherei mit vorgetàuschter Armut" and "Zahlreiche Bettler vor Einkaufzentren" at note 9 14 « Ces mendiants qui vous plument », News 352,05.08.2010, available at: http://bonjour.news352.lu/ edito-40053- ces-mendiants-qui-vous-plument.html 15 Article 342 of the Luxembourg Penal Code reads: "Seront punie d'un emprisonnement de huit jours à un mois: Tous ceux qui mendieront en réunion, à moins que ce ne soit le marie et la femme, le père ou la mère et leurs jeunes enfants, l'aveugle ou l'invalide et leur conducteur. » Available at : http://www.legilux.public.lu/leg/textescoordonnes/ codes/ code_penal! cp_L2T06.pdf 16 Interview with the Luxembourg weekly, Le Jeudi, 02.09.2010, available at: http://www.lejeudi.lu/Hebdo/2494.html 17 ln an interview with the Luxembourg weekly, waxx, Deputy Prosecutor Georges Oswald explained, that there is little jurisprudence regarding organized begging and that the existing jurisprudence is rather strict implying that for begging to be considered as organized it must involve the "active collaboration" of several people.