Press-conference: Human Rights Activists Accuse Authorities of Being Anti-Gipsy
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Memorial.Rus
Apr 4, 2012, 7:19:47 AM4/4/12
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Press-conference at Anti-Discrimination Center (ADC) «Memorial» in
Moscow
On April 5th 2012, at 12.00 am, The Independent Press-Center (Prechistenka, 17/9)
Human Rights Activists Accuse Authorities of Being Anti-Gipsy
From the scandals of Olympic contructions in Sochi to missing of a child in Bryansk : in different areas, representatives of authorities draw attention away from real problems by faked charges and chase of Gipsies.
Participants are:
Marina Dubrovna, lawyer (Sochi)
Sergey Golubok, lawyer (Saint Petersburg)
Alexander Klein, Gipsy activist,
Anna Udiyarova, lawyer of ADC «Memorial».
Every year, April 8th is the International Gipsy Day and it is an important occasion to think about the rights of this still discriminated people. Gipsies are the biggest ethnic minority of modern Europe; public programs started in many countries to overcome the marginal position of this perpetually persecuted people. Unfortunately, most of the time, representatives of Russian Federation remember Gipsies when they need to «find culprits», to create semblance of investigation for serious crimes and to lead populist election campaigns. For examplre in Bryansk because of the disappearance of a child, Gipsies of the city were suspected of abduction, which provoked a cruel campaign lead by the law enforcement agencies: policemen encircled Gipsies' settlements (camps), burst into houses, made photos of every child. Many «volunteers» supported Gipsies' persecution. Gipsies had to suffer all these humiliations in spite of the lack of evidence (the child was killed by the parents as it turned out). Is it not similar to the «Beylis' case», which happened a century ago and during which, in prerevolutionary Russia, authorities willingly grasped the occasion to accuse Jews of «ritual murder» of a young boy (also killed by his stepfather) and provoked an unheard-of wave of antisemitism and pogroms, in the hope that the people would persecute the most unprotected people?
Along with that, in all areas, Gipsies constantly become the victims of policemen' arbitrariness and violence, but these crimes are not made public and are not investigated. Recently, criminal case against policemen who were accused of beating and insulting Gipsies' women in police offices, was closed in Ryazan.
Situation is getting worse because representatives of different levels of the power regularly allow themselves public expression of xenophobia against Gipsies, which is widely spread by mass media. Thus, according to mass media, the mayor of Sochi, Pakhomov, many times demanded his employees for taking measures towards Gipsies of the city. The Anti-Discrimination Center « Memorial » supports the Gipsies' activist, who is ready to file a complaint to CERD (UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination) against the mayor Pakhomov.
The participants of the press-conference (lawyers, human rights defenders and the complainant – Gipsy activist) will speak about counteraction to Gipsies' rights violations.
Press-conference will take place on April 5th at 12.00am in the Independent Press-Center, at Prechistenka Str, 17/9, tel: +7 495 637-3126. http://infolegal.ru/ (in Russian).
ADC «Memorial»: tel. +7(812) 317-89-30, +7(812) 575-90-50 ; http://memorial.spb.ru/?lang=en
April 4, 2012
On April 5th 2012, at 12.00 am, The Independent Press-Center (Prechistenka, 17/9)
Human Rights Activists Accuse Authorities of Being Anti-Gipsy
From the scandals of Olympic contructions in Sochi to missing of a child in Bryansk : in different areas, representatives of authorities draw attention away from real problems by faked charges and chase of Gipsies.
Participants are:
Marina Dubrovna, lawyer (Sochi)
Sergey Golubok, lawyer (Saint Petersburg)
Alexander Klein, Gipsy activist,
Anna Udiyarova, lawyer of ADC «Memorial».
Every year, April 8th is the International Gipsy Day and it is an important occasion to think about the rights of this still discriminated people. Gipsies are the biggest ethnic minority of modern Europe; public programs started in many countries to overcome the marginal position of this perpetually persecuted people. Unfortunately, most of the time, representatives of Russian Federation remember Gipsies when they need to «find culprits», to create semblance of investigation for serious crimes and to lead populist election campaigns. For examplre in Bryansk because of the disappearance of a child, Gipsies of the city were suspected of abduction, which provoked a cruel campaign lead by the law enforcement agencies: policemen encircled Gipsies' settlements (camps), burst into houses, made photos of every child. Many «volunteers» supported Gipsies' persecution. Gipsies had to suffer all these humiliations in spite of the lack of evidence (the child was killed by the parents as it turned out). Is it not similar to the «Beylis' case», which happened a century ago and during which, in prerevolutionary Russia, authorities willingly grasped the occasion to accuse Jews of «ritual murder» of a young boy (also killed by his stepfather) and provoked an unheard-of wave of antisemitism and pogroms, in the hope that the people would persecute the most unprotected people?
Along with that, in all areas, Gipsies constantly become the victims of policemen' arbitrariness and violence, but these crimes are not made public and are not investigated. Recently, criminal case against policemen who were accused of beating and insulting Gipsies' women in police offices, was closed in Ryazan.
Situation is getting worse because representatives of different levels of the power regularly allow themselves public expression of xenophobia against Gipsies, which is widely spread by mass media. Thus, according to mass media, the mayor of Sochi, Pakhomov, many times demanded his employees for taking measures towards Gipsies of the city. The Anti-Discrimination Center « Memorial » supports the Gipsies' activist, who is ready to file a complaint to CERD (UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination) against the mayor Pakhomov.
The participants of the press-conference (lawyers, human rights defenders and the complainant – Gipsy activist) will speak about counteraction to Gipsies' rights violations.
Press-conference will take place on April 5th at 12.00am in the Independent Press-Center, at Prechistenka Str, 17/9, tel: +7 495 637-3126. http://infolegal.ru/ (in Russian).
ADC «Memorial»: tel. +7(812) 317-89-30, +7(812) 575-90-50 ; http://memorial.spb.ru/?lang=en
April 4, 2012
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