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Text File | 1994-05-02 | 28KB | 533 lines

<text> <title> Romania </title> <article> <hdr> Human Rights Watch World Report 1992 Helsinki Watch: Romania </hdr> <body> Human Rights Developments In 1991, Romania continued to struggle with the legacy of its totalitarian past. Violent incidents persisted, especially against Romania's large ethnic minorities, although the violence received less attention in the Western press than in 1990, creating the misleading impression that the human rights situation was improving. In fact, significant ongoing human rights violations have been compounded by continuing political and economic instability, which has put in jeopardy the human rights gains made since the revolution. The Romanian police in 1991 responded with excessive force and violence to demonstrators and appeared to target journalists in particular. On January 11, during a large demonstration in the center of Bucharest, ten journalists covering the demonstration were beaten by the police. The next day, nine journalists standing in front of the National Theater and apparently separate from the demonstrators were seriously beaten by the police after they showed their press identification cards. Andre Iliescu, a journalist for Agence France-Presse, was hospitalized for injuries he sustained at the hands of the police. Four journalists were beaten by the police on January 13 under similar circumstances. On February 4, Minister of Interior Doru Viorel Ursu acknowledged that excessive force had been used by the police during the demonstrations. Five individuals responsible for the violence were removed from the police force. However, no officer was prosecuted for this excessive use of force. In general, members of groups critical of the Romanian government continue to be the targets of threats and intimidation. During 1991, Helsinki Watch obtained numerous reports from journalists and opposition activists who had received threatening telephone calls and letters. Individuals working directly with Helsinki Watch received threatening calls referring to specific Helsinki Watch projects in Romania. Helsinki Watch's correspondence to Romania was tampered with on several occasions during the year. Many other Romanians reported that their mail was opened regularly. Some believe, but cannot prove, that their telephones are tapped. Virgil Magureanu, director of the Romanian Information Service (RIS), acknowledged to Parliament in late 1990 that unidentified parties were continuing to wiretap telephones and open correspondence. Helsinki Watch has received no information that any individual has been investigated and prosecuted for illegal surveillance. Intimidation occasionally became violent, as several well- known members of the opposition discovered. For example, on January 3, Banu Radulescu, editor-in-chief of the independent journal Memoria, was attacked by two men who hit him in the mouth and kicked him after he fell to the ground. Although he dropped his bag, neither assailant tried to steal it. Ten days before the attack, Radulescu had received two threatening telephone calls following a newspaper announcement that the first issue of Memoria would appear shortly. The attack occurred after that issue was released. Similarly, Petru Cretia, a professor and a member of the Group for Social Dialogue, was attacked on the street on February 12 by unidentified men after receiving several threatening telephone calls to his house. The circumstances of the attack were similar to the Radulescu case. There was no attempt to steal Cretia's belongings. It is difficult to determine which groups or individuals are behind efforts to intimidate the Romanian opposition. Such attacks and threats are by their nature difficult to document and prove. However, most opposition leaders believe the intimidation is the work of former Securitate members who may have ties to individuals within the reorganized security police, the Romanian Information Service. Substantial evidence has emerged that former Securitate agents participated in violent events during 1990 and 1991. For example, some Romanians reported that they were able to identify former Securitate officers among the miners rampaging through Bucharest in June 1990, an incident which is described below. However, the Romanian government continues to ignore calls for a public investigation into the role played by the Securitate in Romanian society. In May 1991, journalists discovered several thousand partially shredded Securitate documents that had been buried near the town of Berevoiesti in mid-1990. The Romanian Information Service admitted that its officers had buried the files but claimed that this was done without the knowledge of RIS head Magureanu. Western and Romanian journalists reported that the files contain information on the Securitate's surveillance of the opposition after the 1989 revolution. State prosecutors announced in late May that they had begun an investigation into the burial, but no indictment has resulted. The violent events in Bucharest of June 1990 continued to reverberate in 1991. President Ion Iliescu responded to violent anti-government demonstrations on June 13, 1990, by appealing for assistance, which led to a violent rampage by miners on June 14 and 15. Thousands of miners terrorized opposition groups and newspapers, attacked opposition party headquarters and members, assaulted Gypsies, and committed random acts of violence against other innocent citizens. The trials of those arrested for the June 1990 anti-government violence continued into the spring of 1991. From the outset, there were irregularities in the handling of these cases. In many circumstances, arrest warrants were not issued until a week after individuals were detained, and detainees were denied their right to immediate access to counsel. What is more, many of those arrested were seized by miners, rather than legitimate police forces. The evidence of criminal conduct was often weak. By contrast, no miner was tried for the violent rampage through Bucharest. Nor was any soldier or police officer prosecuted for joining in the violence. No investigation was conducted into the role of former and current security police in the June events. The majority of defendants charged in connection with the anti-government riots were either acquitted or given suspended sentences. (On January 28, 1991, six defendants were acquitted and five given suspended sentences in the "File 2" trial. On April 15, thirteen defendants were acquitted, eleven were given suspended sentences, three were sentenced to "mandatory work" for periods ranging from two years to two years and eight months, and one who had a previous record was given a prison sentence.) Nevertheless, the trials have had a chilling effect on opposition activity, especially for those who lack international stature. Although no formal restrictions were placed on the former detainees' activities, the authorities advised all of them on their release not to attend opposition demonstrations or political meetings. Several have complained that uniformed police continue to visit their families and their neighbors. Many lost their employment and are having difficulty finding new jobs, possibly because of discrimination by pro-government factory directors against those involved in the anti-government demonstrations. In mid-January 1991, the parliamentary commission established to investigate the June 1990 violence issued majority and minority findings. Although the commission left many important questions unanswered, one conclusion is inescapable: the Romanian government, including President Iliescu, must accept responsibility for the violence by the miners. The majority report presents unrefuted evidence that prior to the events the government considered the use of extralegal force, and neither President Iliescu nor former Prime Minister Roman