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Annual Report 2014

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Annual Report 2014 Annual Review >>> 1 Contents Editorial EDITORIAL 3 Dear members and sympathisers of the STP In April 2014, dozens of caravans drove onto the Allmend in Bern, as young Yenish STP CAMPAIGNS AND PROJECTS travellers protested against decades of political inaction. They'd simply had enough. Stop Antiziganism 5 The city of Bern showed no understanding. The police forcefully expelled the protes- “Roma for Roma” 8 ters, giving them each a number and separating them from their children. For some, “No dirty gold!” 11 this evoked terrible memories of the Nazi-era. However, the protest actions of the Sri Lanka 14 Yenish were effective. The lack of pitches and access points and the lack of recognition Further STP Projects 17 of the culture and ways of life of Roma, Sinti and Yenish as Swiss minorities were at STP Anniversary 19 last under discussion. Our constant pressure meant that the Federal Government introduced two working groups to look into both the problems suffered by the Yenish, Sinti and Roma and the lack of recognition of different ethnic groups. ANNUAL FINANCIAL STATEMENT Performance Report 22 We also achieved our first successes in the gold campaign. We found that the worst Balance 23 gold producers in Peru can no longer pass through Swiss gold-refineries. Since 1 Janu- Income Statement 24 ary 2014, gold exports and imports have finally been listed by producing country, so Appendix to the Annual Financial Statement 2014 25 that there is now more transparency. TEAM & BOARD 28 Through repeated protests, the STP also managed to ensure that in 2014, no Tamils were forcibly repatriated to Sri Lanka. Given the current human rights situation in Sri Lanka, it is irresponsible to put people at risk of arrest, arbitrariness and torture. As always, we wanted to operate efficiently in 2014. We were successful in this, and are proud that - with an organisation capital of CHF 351,000 - we are better placed than ever before. We can now definitively say that we have overcome the last remnants of the embezzlement of 2012. A big weight has been lifted off our shoulders. We have already celebrated this with many of you at our 25th anniversary celebrations in Bern. We are extremely grateful to everyone who, through their membership, donations and cooperation, has supported our activities. IMPRINT Editor: Society for Threatened Peoples Schermenweg 154, 3072 Ostermundigen, 031 939 00 00, [email protected], www.gfbv.ch Donation Account: Berner Kantonalbank BEKB: IBAN CH05 0079 0016 2531 7232 1 Text: Anne Cugni, Christoph Wiedmer, Erika Lerch Layout: Tania Brügger Marquez CHRISTOPH WIEDMER RUTH-GABY VERMOT-MANGOLD Editing: Nicole Huwyler, Anne Cugni Managing Director President 2 3 CAMPAIGNS & PROJECTS >>> Demonstration by the Yenish on the Kleinen Allmend in April 2014 Stop Antiziganism RESPECT AND RECOGNITION OF YENISH, SINTI AND ROMA IN SWITZERLAND The Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) is an independent voice for minorities and indigenous people which documents hu- Yenish, Sinti and Roma are often subject to prejudice and discrimination in man rights abuses through its campaigns and projects. The STP Switzerland. In April, the STP launched the campaign “Stop Anti ziganism campaigns for the interests of minorities and indigenous peoples – Respect and Recognition of Yenish, Sinti and Roma in Switzerland” (see with the authorities and decision-makers, and informs and raises the Infobox for more about antiziganism). On 8 April, International Roma- awareness among the general public. ni Day, the STP organised a protest in front of the Federal Palace together with Roma, Yenish and Sinti, as well as launching an effective appeal to In 2014, the STP primarily addressed the problem of anti- the Federal Councillor, Alain Berset. ziganism in Switzerland, the situation of internally displaced people in Kosovo, the effects of gold mining in Peru on indi- Following the European Framework Convention for the Protection of National genous people and the human rights situation in Sri Lanka Minorities, “travellers” have been officially recognised as a national minority following the civil war. Learn more on the following pages. since 1998, and since then, this has been the official term to be used by the Federal Administration. The term does not reflect the reality for the affected groups because it deals with a mixture of different ways of life and ethnic groups. There are 35 000 Yenish people living in Switzerland, of which only 3 000-5 000 live as “travellers”. Meanwhile, a few hundred Sinti live a mostly traveller way of life. It is estimated that 80 000-100 000 Roma live in Switzer- land, all of whom are settled. 4 5 LAUNCH OF THE NATIONAL YENISH, SINTI AND ROMA DAY “The STP motivates us on our long road to no longer feeling On 8 April, the “Day of the Yenish, Sinti and Roma”, all three ethnic groups inferior and ashamed of our- stood together, at the STP’s initiative, to bring attention to their situation in selves. We are human beings Switzerland. In a protest action on the Bundesplatz in Bern that was highly like everyone else, cultured, visible in the media, the Yenish, Sinti and Roma demanded that they be finally often with a long educational recognised as minorities with equal rights. The STP also demanded that the background, a degree and a completely normal career.” Federal Council form a taskforce with representatives from the Federal Adminis- tration, cantons and members of the Yenish, Sinti and Roma communities. An important demand of the coalition is for the European Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities to finally be implemented in Swit- zerland. Switzerland has been obliged to do this since 1998. Moreover, the coalition demands that the Federal Council, Parliament and authorities do more Milena Petrovic Roma Activist & Actress to fight antiziganism. YENISH PROTEST CAMP ON THE KLEINEN ALLMEND Along with the introduction of the taskforce, the STP demanded in the consul- At the end of April, around 120 Yenish families occupied the Kleine Allmend tation process of the Kulturbotschaft 2016-2020 that the subsidies for Yenish, for two days. They demanded more pitches and access points, as well as their Sinti and Roma be doubled, that greater priority be given to informing the recognition as a Swiss minority group. In spite of the fact that a dialogue was general public about the concerns of the minorities and that equal partici- taking place with the cantonal authorities, the city council sent the police in pation of minorities be anchored into the political body. In a draft to Parlia- to clear the peaceful camp. The city council showed no political will to find a ment, the Federal Council declared itself ready to consider the first of these peaceful solution. The Yenish protesters were subject to both actual physical demands. However, the equal political participation still remains a blind spot. attacks and degrading verbal attacks from police officers, which were witnessed The Kulturbotschaft was definitively adopted in May 2015. first-hand by the STP. The STP demanded an independent investigation into the disproportionate police actions as well as into the political handling of the protests. So far, however, these demands have not been met. STP DEMANDS TASKFORCE AND MORE CULTURAL SUBSIDIES In June, the Federal Council argued for the creation of a national taskforce, ANTIZIGANISM which had previously, at the behest of the STP, been postulated to National The term “antiziganism” has become established in the disciplines of histo- Councillors. The aim of the taskforce is to produce an action plan for the ry and the social sciences to describe the destructive combination of struc- implementation of legal obligations towards the Yenish, Sinti and Roma com- tural discrimination and cultural stigmatism of Yenish, Sinti and Roma. munities. The STP welcomed the creation of this taskforce, but demanded from Like many forms of racism, antiziganism functions without the actual pre- sence of those subject to it. When there are no Yenish, Sinti and Roma, anti- the beginning, full and equal participation of the affected minorities in the ziganism is still present. The subjects rarely have the opportunity to speak taskforce. These concerns were only taken into account after the majority of out. Along with the media, the Federal Council and the federal authorities the minority group representatives had left the first meeting of the taskforce are responsible for tackling increasing antiziganism in Switzerland. in protest. 6 7 “The Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) has employed Roma to deal with their own community to improve the human rights situation of this minority group. The STP has engaged Roma to work for the Roma in order to better understand the needs and have better access to the Roma community. The STP has made Roma voices heard and enabled many young activists to work towards improving the situation of this minority group.” Dzafer Buzoli STP Representative in Kosovo >>> Demonstration on International Roma Day on 8 April law, “internally displaced persons” have the right to suitable housing and both social and reintegration assistance. However, many RAE are still excluded from these programmes leaving them in a precarious situation. It is often difficult “Roma for Roma” for Roma to assert their right to their former property. The STP is aware of cases in which the claims of RAE have been rejected due to ethnic prejudices. UNITED AGAINST DISCRIMINATION IN KOSOVO THE STP DEMANDS THE UN HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL TO ACT (UNHCR) The status and protection of internally displaced persons is not clearly defined Even after the end of the Kosovo War in 1999, thousands of Roma, Ashkali in human rights legislation. An international convention on their protection and Egyptians (RAE) are still registered as so-called “internally displaced and a clear legal definition do not exist.
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