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ROMANIA
Country Reports on Human Rights PracticesÊÊ- 2004
Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
February 28, 2005
Romania is a constitutional democracy with a multiparty, bicameral parliamentary system, a prime minister who is the head of government, and a president who is the head of state. Traian Basescu was elected President on December 12 in elections characterized by irregularities, but which were judged generally free and fair. At year's end, Basescu appointed center-right a Liberal-Democratic (PNL-PD) Alliance leader, Calin Popescu-Tariceanu, as Prime Minister to lead a new government composed primarily of the PNL-PD, the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR), and the Romanian Humanist Party (PUR). This followed four years of government led by Social Democratic Party (PSD) Prime Minister Adrian Nastase and President Ion Iliescu. The Constitution provides for an independent judiciary; however, in practice, the judiciary remained subject to political influence. Widespread corruption remained a problem, although the Government took initial, but only partial, steps to address the problem.
The National Police are primarily responsible for law enforcement, the Gendarmerie for preserving public order, and the Border Police for maintaining border security. The Ministry of Administration and Interior (MOAI) supervises these organizations. The military has primary responsibility for protection against external threats. An internal intelligence service assesses threats to national security but has no law enforcement powers. Civilian authorities maintained effective control of security and intelligence organizations, although some concerns were expressed regarding the possible misuse of intelligence agencies for political purposes. Some members of security forces committed serious human rights abuses.
Romania is a developing country in transition from a centrally planned to a market economy with a population of approximately 21.7 million. Economic activity was primarily in the manufacturing, agriculture, services, and energy sectors. For the year, the economy grew approximately 8 percent, and the inflation rate was 9.3 percent. Average monthly gross salaries rose by 23.6 percent as compared to the same period in 2003.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its citizens; however, there were problems in some areas. Police officers sometimes beat detainees and reportedly harassed and used excessive force against Roma. While some progress was made in reforming the police, cases of inhuman and degrading treatment continued to be reported. Investigations of police abuses generally were lengthy and inconclusive, rarely resulting in prosecution or punishment. While civilian courts had jurisdiction over National Police abuses, abuses by other security forces remained in the military court system, where procedures were unnecessarily lengthy and often inconclusive. Prison conditions remained harsh and overcrowding was a serious problem; however, conditions improved somewhat. At times, authorities violated the prohibition against arbitrary arrest and detention.
Government action and inaction at times restricted freedom of speech and of the press. During the year, there was a pattern of intimidation, harassment, and violence against journalists who wrote critical reports on government activities or government and ruling party officials. Religious minorities complained of discriminatory treatment by authorities. Societal harassment of religious and sexual minorities, violence and discrimination against women, and restitution of property confiscated during the Communist regime remained problems. There were large numbers of impoverished homeless children in major cities. Trafficking in women and girls for the purpose of prostitution was a problem that the Government increasingly took steps to address. Discrimination and instances of societal violence against Roma continued. Child labor abuses continued. There were reports of government interference in trade union activity.
RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
Section 1
Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life
There were no politically motivated killings by the Government or its agents; however, there was one possible extrajudicial killing. In May, police shot and killed unarmed 31-year-old Nicusor Serban in Jegalia (Calarasi County) when he refused to stop after a police warning. Police were attempting to detain Serban on rape accusations. At year's end, the case was under continuing investigation by the police authority and the prosecutor's office of Calarasi County.
In December, outgoing President Ion Iliescu pardoned former miners' leader Miron Cozma, who was sentenced in 1999 to 18 years in prison for leading 1991 riots that led to the deaths of at least three persons and the wounding of many others. Widespread public opposition prompted Iliescu to rescind Cozma's pardon. Upon Iliescu's decision, authorities took Cozma into custody again and also booked him on separate charges.
In the past, police used excessive force that led to the deaths of citizens. Police authorities eventually decided that police officers were not responsible for the killing of prisoner Mihai Iorga, although an autopsy established that trustees and police officers beat him to death in 2002.
The nongovernmental organization (NGO) Roma Center for Social Intervention and Studies (Romani CRISS) continued to investigate the 2002 death of Nelu Balasoiu, a Romani man who was found dead in Jilava prison near Bucharest. In March, Balasoiu's family, Romani CRISS, and another NGO, the Association for Defending Human Rights in Romania-Helsinki Committee (APADOR-CH), appealed the December 2003 decision of the prosecutor's office not to open an investigation of the police officers involved in the case because the Balasoiu death had allegedly been due to health reasons. In June, a court of appeal in Craiova sent the file to the prosecutor's office for further investigation.
In October 2003, the Supreme Court gave 10-year prison sentences to two former agents of the disbanded security service for the 1985 beating death of dissident Gheorghe Ursu.
b. Disappearance
There were no reports of politically motivated disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
The Constitution prohibits such practices; however, there were credible reports that police beat detainees and used excessive force. Human rights organizations have cited numerous reports of police torture and mistreatment.
The law allows the use of firearms against persons fleeing arrest. In January, Bucharest police shot and wounded 22-year-old Marius Silviu Mitran after he failed to obey a police officer's order to stop his vehicle after committing a traffic infraction. Human rights organizations concluded that Mitran was injured due to the careless use of weapons in violation of the law. The case was under investigation by the Bucharest Prosecutor's Office at year's end.
In March, police from the Bucharest 14th precinct and members of the rapid intervention police squad allegedly physically assaulted a 15-year-old bystander, Cristian Bujor, who was passing by an incident between the police and a group of taxi drivers. The minor was hospitalized for only a day and a half, and the family suspected his early discharge was due to police pressure. The case was under investigation by the Bucharest Prosecutor's Office at the end of the year.
In June, a policeman allegedly physically assaulted a 12-year-old boy in Fetesti for having allegedly vandalized his car. Although police showed reluctance to open an investigation into the assault case, eventually the Fetesti Prosecutor's office began an investigation, which was ongoing at year's end.
In August, two members of the Service for Protection and Guard physically assaulted State Secretary on the National Audiovisual Council (CAN) Serban Pretor after forcing his car off the road in an apparent road rage incident. Police again hesitated to start investigations. The head of the local police in Medgidia was dismissed after he made public the identity of the assailants. Following broad media coverage of the case, authorities transferred the two assailants to reserve duty and sent the case to a civil court on the grounds that they were not on duty at the time of the incident. The lawsuit was still in progress at year's end.
Romani NGOs continued to claim that police used excessive force against Roma and subjected them to brutal treatment and harassment. In January, the head of a local police station and three civilians reportedly subjected a Romani couple, Stella and Sofron Varga, to verbal and physical violence in the village of Banisor, Salaj County. According to Romani CRISS, a police officer accosted the couple, who were selling wares with a valid sales permit, and demanded free goods for allowing them to continue their activity. The couple protested, and the situation became violent. After the woman filed a complaint, the Police Inspectorate of Salaj County concluded that the head of the police station was not at fault and that the police should investigate two civilians for their alleged violent actions.
In July, two police and five members of the police Intervention and Special Operations Squad (DIASS) entered the Romani community in the village of Valu lui Traian, Constanta County, and beat community members with clubs during a search for suspects in connection with an altercation between two Romani individuals and a neighbor. Thirteen Roma were injured in the alleged assault. According to Romani CRISS, the mayor threatened to expel the victims from the village if they filed complaints or wrote declarations against the police.
During the year, a county-level Council of Discipline of the Police Inspectorate found a plainclothes officer innocent in the June 2003 beating of Mihai Dumitru during a raid in Tulcea. The MOAI initially acknowledged the officer's guilt and proposed the Council of Discipline punish him according to the Police Officer's Status Law. The prosecutor's office referred the case to court for criminal prosecution, which was still in process at year's end. There were no developments in other cases reported in 2003, including: The physical assault by police on a married Romani couple in Simleul Silvaniei, Salaj County; the physical assault by an intoxicated police officer on 19-year-old Lucian Lacatusu in Parancea, Buzau County; and the alleged June police attack on four Roma from one family.
At year's end, the case of Mugurel Soare, against whom a police officer allegedly used excessive force, and Adrian Georgescu, a gay man who was harassed and subsequently left the country, were still before the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
Lesbian and gay rights NGOs complained that police singled out members of this community for violence and harassment and noted that few victims pursued charges due to fear of harassment by the local community and police or the belief that authorities would not carry out unbiased investigations.
Prison conditions remained harsh. There were 43 penal units, including 34 prisons, 6 prison hospitals, and 3 juvenile detention facilities. Overcrowding remained a serious problem, although there was a slight improvement over 2003. As of November, 39,629 persons, including 816 minors, were in prison or juvenile detention facilities, while the legal capacity of the system is 38,856.
Human rights organizations reported that the abuse of prisoners by authorities and other prisoners continued to be a problem. Human rights organizations alleged that the practice of giving certain privileges to an "elected representative" in each cell discriminated against the rest of the prison population. Such organizations also criticized the prison punishment system, stating that it has little positive impact for societal rehabilitation of the inmates. The Government undertook some efforts to alleviate harsh conditions, including partnerships with NGOs on rehabilitation programs for inmates and training courses to deter drug use and the spread of HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis.
In June, 24-year-old Ionut-Cristinel Maftei, who was serving a 5-year term for theft in prison in Iasi, entered a coma and died following a serious head injury received in his cell under unclear circumstances. Suspecting the involvement of the cell supervisor (a prison employee), Maftei's family filed a complaint against him with the Military Prosecutor's Office in Iasi in July.
Due to limited space available in the prison system, detainees awaiting trial were sometimes held in the same facilities as convicted prisoners. Conditions were roughly the same for both (same food, types of cells, etc.), but detainees were usually segregated from the general prison population and enjoyed more frequent access to visitors and generally free access to legal representatives.
Men and women, adults and juveniles, and pretrial detainees and convicted criminals were usually held separately.
In June, Parliament passed two new laws on prisons: One that modernizes the prison term system, and a second, on the status of prison cadres, that requires the demilitarization of prison staff.
The Government permitted prison visits by human rights observers and media representatives. The General Directorate for Penitentiaries reported that there were 7,127 individual or group visits by media and domestic and foreign NGOs to penitentiaries during the year.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention
The Constitution prohibits arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed these prohibitions.
The MOAI commands the National Police and the Gendarmerie as well as the Border Police, Alien Authority, National Office for Refugees, General Direction of Information and Internal Protection (classified information management), Special Protection and Intervention Group, and the Special Aviation Unit. The police are organized into the General (i.e., National) Police Inspectorate, the General Police Directorate of Bucharest, 41 county-level police inspectorates, a Directorate of Transportation Police, and 3 educational institutions for the training of policemen. Counties are responsible for police units located within their respective geographic areas.
While the police generally followed the law and internal procedures, corruption was a continuing problem. Low-level corruption, the omnipresent small bribe, was a main cause of citizens' lack of respect for the police and contributed to a corresponding lack of police authority. Extremely low salaries (sometimes not paid on time) contributed to the susceptibility of individual law enforcement officials to bribes.
The Government addressed these problems by increasing training to create a more professional police force and by punishing corruption. During the first half of the year, 96 police (of whom 26 were officers and 70 were agents) were found to have engaged in misconduct, resulting in 197 sanctions (of which 53 were for officers and 144 for agents). At the end of June, 12 police (4 officers and 8 agents) were undergoing criminal prosecution.
In April, the Government enacted a code of ethics for police officers that provides strict rules for the professional conduct of law enforcement. It specifically addresses corruption, use of force, torture, and illegal behavior and requires all law enforcement officers to follow the human rights provisions of the Constitution and international conventions. Unlawful or abusive acts may trigger criminal or disciplinary sanctions. In conjunction with the code of ethics, the Government created a permanent commission within the MOAI to monitor compliance with the code.
The police reform and demilitarization process continued during the year. In September, the Government issued a decision that would continue reform of MOIA internal affairs and control structures by creating a new Anticorruption and Professional Standards Department within the Intelligence and Internal Protection Directorate. In September, Parliament adopted a law on the organization and operation of the judicial police, who handle all criminal investigations. The law established a new police structure with double subordination, administratively to the MOAI and operationally to prosecutors trying individual cases. In October 2003, the Statute of the Police Officers was amended by a government ordinance detailing disciplinary actions against police officers, including suspension from active duty during criminal investigations.
The Constitution provides that only judges may issue arrest and search warrants. A judge may order temporary detention for periods of 30 or 60 days, depending upon the status of the case. The court may extend these time periods; however, pretrial detention cannot exceed 180 days. Pretrial detention counts toward sentence time if a detainee is convicted. Courts and prosecutors may be liable for unjustifiable, illegal, or abusive measures. The law requires authorities to inform those arrested of the charges against them and their legal rights. Police must notify detainees of their rights in a language they understand before obtaining a statement. In general, the proper authorities issued arrest warrants. The law provides for a bail system; however, it was seldom used in practice, reportedly because those who requested release on bail did not meet the legal requirements. Detainees generally had access to counsel and their families.
The law allows police to take any person who endangers the public, other persons, or the social order and whose identity cannot be established to a police station. Police often used this provision to detain persons up to 24 hours. Minors who are at least 16 years of age are subject to arrest for all offenses; minors between the ages of 14 and 16 are subject to preventive arrest if shown to have full mental capacity, but only in cases involving serious felonies and exigent circumstances; minors under the age of 14 cannot be criminally prosecuted. Under the law, the Government is obligated to provide legal counsel to minors who are detained or arrested during a criminal investigation or trial. The confidentiality of discussions between detainees and their lawyers was generally respected in practice.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial
The Constitution provides for an independent judiciary; however, members of the judiciary alleged that judges have been subject to political pressure.
In October 2003, the Constitution was amended to increase the role of the Superior Council of Magistrates (CSM) in selecting, promoting, transferring and disciplining "magistrates," a term that includes judges and prosecutors. The membership of the CSM was expanded from 17 to 19, and the Justice Minister was removed from the chairmanship of the council. At the end of September, three laws came into force that further implemented the amendments related to the judiciary by regulating the composition and role of the CSM, regulating magistrates' careers, and regulating the organization of the judiciary. These laws confirm the CSM's control over its members while retaining the Ministry of Justice's responsibility for administrative and budgetary matters.
In early December, elections for positions on the CSM were marred by accusations that some candidates pressured and intimidated their subordinates to vote in their favor. Other magistrates and civil society groups asked the Senate not to validate the results and to call for new elections. The Association of Romanian Magistrates filed an official complaint with the Senate regarding the appointment of the two civil society representatives, claiming they did not have the background, experience or moral stature to be credentialed members of the CSM, but rather received the nomination due to their loyalty to the then governing PSD party. The Senate had not acted on this matter by year's end.
The Government took some steps to fight corruption among officials, including members of the judiciary (see Section 3).
The law establishes a four-tier legal system, including appellate courts. Defendants have final recourse to the High Court of Cassation and Justice or, for constitutional matters, to the Constitutional Court. A prosecutor's office is associated with each court. The SCM nominates a candidate for General Prosecutor, whom the President appoints. The General Prosecutor is operationally independent from other members of the executive branch, including the Minister of Justice. The law permits the use of the native language of minorities in courts or with authorities.
The law provides for the investigation by civilian prosecutors of crimes by the National Police. Military prosecutors continue to try cases that involve "state security," and the Gendarmerie and Border Police continue to fall under military jurisdiction. Human rights NGOs noted that cases involving military personnel and the police continued to be tried by military courts. Military court investigations of police abuse were lengthy and not followed by further court actions. Local and international human rights groups have criticized the handling of cases by military courts, claiming that military prosecutors' investigations were unnecessarily lengthy and often inconclusive.
The law provides for the right to a fair trial; however, a widespread perception of judicial corruption remained. Trials are open to the public. The law does not provide for trial by jury. The Constitution provides for a right to counsel and a presumption of innocence until a final judgment by a court. The law requires that an attorney be appointed for defendants who cannot afford legal representation or are otherwise unable to select counsel; in practice, local bar associations provided attorneys to the indigent and were compensated by the Ministry of Justice. Both plaintiffs and defendants have a right of appeal. The law provides that confessions extracted as a result of police brutality may be withdrawn by the accused when brought before the court; the practice of extracting confessions through beating occurred occasionally in the past. There were no reported incidents of confessions resulting from police beatings during the year. The judicial system tended to be inefficient and slow.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
Restitution of church, communal, and individual property remained a serious problem marked by a cumbersome administrative process and slow return of property to owners. During the year, approximately 1,000 buildings, out of 128,000 claims, were restored to their former owners under the 2001 law that provides for the restitution of personal dwellings or buildings confiscated during the Communist regime. Approximately 15,000 properties have been returned since the law was enacted. Property restitution was particularly important for the Greek Catholic Church, which had all its properties, including churches, confiscated during the Communist regime. During the year, the Government took few steps to restore these properties, returning to the Church only 50 properties out of 2,207 claims under the 2002 law to restore confiscated church property. In the case of individual properties, the ECHR has ruled on 44 property restitution cases in favor of the former owners who either had been wronged in court or denied restitution on various grounds; one of these rulings occurred during the first half of the year. The Government generally respected ECHR rulings.
In March, Parliament adopted a law establishing guidelines for the restitution of properties confiscated from ethnic groups during the Communist regime. The Jewish community was expected to benefit both from religious and ethnic property restitution laws.
f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or Correspondence
The Constitution prohibits illegal searches. During the year, constitutional amendments entered into force that shifted the responsibility for issuing search warrants from prosecutors to judges. Human rights organizations and jurists continued to study the potential impact of these amendments on investigations conducted for national security purposes. Previously, the law allowed security officials to enter residences without authorization from a prosecutor if they deemed a threat to national security to be imminent. Such actions were historically rare.
The Constitution protects the privacy of legal means of communication; however, the law permits the use of electronic interception in both criminal and national security cases. In January, the Criminal Procedural Code was amended to shift responsibility for authorizing electronic interceptions from prosecutors to judges and require electronic interceptions in criminal cases to be conducted under the direction of a prosecutor. Nevertheless, the equipment to conduct such interceptions remained under the control of the Internal Intelligence Service (SRI), to which prosecutors did not have direct access.
For practical purposes, the SRI physically conducted all electronic interceptions. Previously, the law allowed the SRI to monitor communications after obtaining authorization from the "public prosecutor specially appointed by the General Public Prosecutor" for activities involving national security threats. In November, a new law on terrorism was enacted that creates a special procedure for authorizing electronic interceptions in national security cases and cases involving terrorist acts. The government institutions with competence in the field of national security must forward a written request for authorization to the General Prosecutor. If the request is found justified, the General Prosecutor submits it to the president of the High Court of Cassation and Justice. The final decision is taken in chambers by a group of specially designated judges. The warrant cannot exceed 6 months, but it may be extended by 3 months several times in justified situations. Special judges designated by the president of the High Court of Cassation and Justice must also approve any extension.
In exceptional circumstances (when there is a clear and present danger to national security), government institutions may begin interception without a warrant issued by the judiciary. Following this, however, a request for authorization must be submitted within 48 hours. In practice, the SRI continued to operate under its prior legislative authority. The SRI may legally engage in surveillance, request official documents or information, and consult with technical experts to determine whether a situation constitutes a threat to national security or to prevent a crime.
The law permits persons who were citizens after 1945 access to secret police files kept by the Communist government. A council approved by Parliament reviewed files and released the information unless it involved state secrets or threatened national security. The files remained in intelligence service custody. Observers criticized the law for exempting files of current intelligence service employees from review and for restricting the definition of "informer" to an individual who received payment for services, making impossible the identification of individuals who collaborated with the Securitate for other reasons, such as personal advancement or ideological commitment. The release of files in 2003 was impeded by the inability of the lustration council to meet with a quorum of members. The consistent absence of PSD and PRM members gave rise to speculation that neither of these parties desired to see progress in the release of files. During the year, the council's activity was slow and ineffective, in large part due to the inconsistent attendance by PSD and PRM members.
Under the law, foreign citizens of certain states, primarily less developed countries, must report their presence to police if they stay in private accommodations for 10 days or longer.
Romani NGOs monitored several cases of eviction of Roma living illegally on public land in Buzau, Galati, and Tulcea counties. In these counties, local authorities forced Roma found living illegally to relocate to their home counties. Romani activists disputed the legal grounds for these actions but did not pursue a legal remedy. There was also no action taken on the 2003 eviction of several dozen Roma living illegally on the outskirts of Bucharest's Militari district.
Section 2
Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press
The Constitution provides for freedom of speech and of the press, and the Government generally respected these rights in practice; however, certain legal prohibitions against "defamation of the country" and "offense to authority" potentially limited these rights. Romanian Public Television (RTV)--composed of four national stations--reportedly maintained internal rules that prohibited its journalists from speaking freely about political pressure and censorship. Print media also reported that job contracts at some private television stations also prohibited journalists from speaking freely about political pressures in news reporting or commentary. Journalists continued to be sentenced by courts for their articles and opinions. Investigations of violence and threats against journalists moved slowly.
Journalists and private citizens could generally criticize the government authorities, including those at senior levels, but there were a number of cases of local authorities intimidating their critics rather than responding to serious issues in substance. In addition, many media outlets--electronic and print--reportedly had substantial tax arrears. Media watchdogs alleged that fear of government audits and punitive tax actions to collect these arrears inhibited negative coverage of leading government figures.
Watchdog groups also expressed concern that the Government could exert pressure on the media through the advertising fees paid by state-owned companies. Representatives of NGOs such as the Center for Independent Journalism (CIJ) and Media Monitoring Agency (MMA) said that, by directing public funds toward certain media outlets, the Government could effectively control the content of media reports. The CIJ requested the former PSD Government to provide information about such fees and contracts by ministries or state-owned agencies for advertising in specific media outlets, as they involved public money. When the Government did not provide the information, the CIJ sued it with the support of lawyers provided by the Romanian Helsinki Committee. On October 25, the Bucharest Appellate Court ordered the Government to provide the CIJ information about advertising contracts; however, the Government had not produced the information by the year's end.
Independent media grew in an increasingly competitive market. Several hundred daily and weekly newspapers were published. Foreign news publications may be imported and distributed freely, but high prices limited their circulation. Several private television stations broadcast nationwide, and there were numerous other private local television and radio stations. More than four million households had cable television, giving significant portions of the population access to private and foreign broadcasts. State Television (RTV), state-owned Radio Romania (SRR), and the Europa FM radio network remained the only national broadcasters able to reach the majority of the rural population. Independent stations continued to enlarge their coverage by over-the-air, cable, and satellite transmissions.
Television remained the most widely available source of information, with almost 80 percent of the population obtaining their information from television newscasts. In the spring, the CNA released a report showing that 92 percent of the population watched television, almost 70 percent of them every day, for a daily average time of almost 4 hours. Approximately 95 percent of viewers watched the main newscasts on almost a daily basis. The report also showed that 66 percent of the adult population listened to radio and that over 90 percent of households had at least one television set.
The print and electronic media generally reflected the political views of their owners and covered a wide range of the political spectrum. Private television stations tended to avoid direct criticism of the PSD Government and the former ruling party, particularly on corruption or other controversial issues. Media monitoring reports suggested that this reluctance was due to owners' fears that the Government would retaliate by seeking back taxes or auditing stations. Media NGOs such as the MMA and CIJ reported that primetime newscasts of the main national television and radio networks were generally biased in the former governing party's favor. MMA reports showed that the electronic media's flagship daily newscasts most heavily covered the ruling PSD and its president Adrian Nastase, who at the time was also Prime Minister, and almost always portrayed them in a positive context. This was particularly notable during the presidential and parliamentary campaigns. A MMA report showed that, in most television and radio prime time news from October 21 to November 3, the PSD presidential candidate was most frequently associated with acts deemed positive, while the opposition candidate was generally associated with acts deemed negative. NGOs also reported that broadcast media substantially failed to cover allegations of fraud in the November 28 parliamentary and first round of presidential elections.
In March, the CNA prohibited a radio spot by the Bucharest daily newspaper Evenimentul Zilei that referred to acts of corruption involving then ruling PSD political figures featured in the newspaper's articles. The council asserted that the spot represented indirect political campaigning. Evenimentul Zilei asserted that the ban was a form of censorship exerted by the PSD through the council.
During the local election campaign, on June 6, the PSD filed a complaint against a private radio network, Radio Total, for a critical statement made by an NGO representative who was a guest on an election day program regarding the situation in her Bucharest neighborhood. Although the guest did not mention the name of the PSD mayor of the city sector, the ruling party considered the statement "a negative campaign for their candidate" on election day, when campaigning and other politically motivated activities were not legally permitted. The CNA fined the station. Two plainclothes police officers visited the station, stating they had come to "personally" deliver the PSD's complaint and speak with the reporter who interviewed the NGO representative. Evenimentul Zilei reported that it had similar experiences with police authorities.
Parliamentarians and their political allies purchased numerous independent media outlets in the provinces. In the spring, the respected financial magazine Capital published research indicating that politicians from the then governing PSD owned and controlled half of local television stations, either directly or through alleged intermediaries. The research commented that the only way a small local television station could survive was to reflect the political orientation of its owner, which enabled it to attract more advertising revenue to help deal with its financial problems. The research quoted sources as saying that local businesspeople in many regions were afraid to advertise in independent media outlets because they could suffer retaliation by financial authorities as the result of PSD pressure. Several British Broadcasting Company (BBC) affiliate stations, subsequent to their purchase, cut off BBC Romanian Service news programs, allegedly due to PSD pressure. Media watchdog groups warned numerous times about the lack of independence in many local media outlets, mostly due to financial constraints and pressure from local authorities.
During the year, threats and physical violence against journalists continued. There were reports of harassment, intimidation, various forms of pressure, and violence against journalists who were perceived as overly critical of national and local authorities. Some of this pressure allegedly occurred with at least tacit support of government and party officials. According to a MMA survey released in November, 60 percent of journalists polled reported having been pressured at some point by authorities to stop investigative reporting or to refrain from publishing the results.
The media reported several instances in which journalists from local newspapers received threatening telephone calls or had their finances subjected to scrutiny by local officials after they revealed alleged illegalities committed by local officials, such as their building luxurious villas or participating in businesses or activities that were subject to conflict of interest legislation.
In addition, the media reported cases of journalists who were videotaping various events, including arrests or investigations, being assaulted by local authorities or by relatives or acquaintances of the persons being filmed. Such incidents occurred in public places, including court buildings; the media reported that gendarmes and police frequently did not intervene. Some journalists in the provinces continued to face verbal harassment and even violent treatment from local authorities.
The MMA reported that in February, Hungarian-based journalist Zsolt Bayer, from the Hungarian publication Magyar Nemzet, was prevented from entering the country by border authorities. The authorities refused to state the reason for their actions, although Bayer was well known for his reporting in support of regional autonomy for ethnic Hungarians living in the country.
In March, magistrate Filip Victoria physically attacked Emil Soldan, a journalist from Orizont newspaper in Pascani, at the local city hall while Soldan was taking photos. Soldan had previously written several critical articles about the judge, accusing him of making personal profit from his position.
Also in March, Catalin Stefanescu, a reporter for Ziarul de Iasi, received death threats over the telephone after he reported on alleged illegal hunting in which the then mayor of Movileni locality was involved. A police investigation reportedly showed that the calls came from the mayor's house.
In June, the media reported that, in Targu Ocna, Mayor Stefan Silochi punched a female journalist, Mariuca Bobosa of the local daily Ziarul de Bacau, while she was filming a political rally from her car. Bobosa reported the incident to the police and also filed several court cases against the mayor; authorities were still investigating the case at year's end. Another journalist, Luminita Patrateanu from the daily Monitorul de Bacau, reported that Mayor Silochi had threatened her as well and said he "would kill all journalists" who write critical reports about him.
The media reported that, in June, the former mayor of the city of Bacau had a phone conversation with Sebi Sufariu, of the local newspaper Gazeta de Bacau, in which he threatened the journalist with death. The former Bacau mayor accused the media of being responsible for his election defeat. The newspaper filed a complaint against the former mayor. Similarly, in Vrancea County, daily Ziarul de Vrancea allegedly received repeated pressure and threats from local officials throughout the year, including from the president of the county council.
Journalists and media watchdog groups repeatedly expressed concern that publications printing investigative reporting against the PSD-led government faced direct or indirect pressure to curtail this reporting or change editorial views. In September, 55 journalists from the national daily Evenimentul Zilei signed a public letter protesting editorial pressures from the Swiss owner company Ringier, which was accused of being pressed by the PSD to soften the newspaper's antigovernment tone. Among many other allegations, Evenimentul Zilei reporters asserted that information on an investigation into a business run by the sister of the then prime minister was taken from their computers and printed in another daily published by Ringier, the tabloid Libertatea. The Libertatea article printed only the point of view of the prime minister's sister.
Some Evenimentul Zilei reporters alleged they had been harassed and threatened, particularly during the parliamentary and presidential campaign. In December, a secret services officer allegedly told a reporter that Evenimentul Zilei journalists should tone down their reports, otherwise their lives would "be put in danger." He reportedly said that the journalists might be beaten on the street when they left their offices and the attack could be disguised as a robbery.
In September, reporters of the national daily Romania Libera similarly initiated a protest against the German owner of the newspaper WAZ. The reporters and the daily's editorial board accused WAZ of attempting to change the newspaper's reporting and editorial tone due to Government pressure.
In October, investigative journalist Cornel Ivanciuc of the Academia Catavencu weekly alleged that he had been indirectly threatened by then Defense Minister Ioan Mircea Pascu. A former Romanian ambassador reportedly told Ivanciuc that Pascu wanted him to "calm down" and "mind his own business" with regard to an investigative report he was researching on a classified document held by the Ministry of Defense. Ivanciuc claimed the ambassador recounted elements of a private telephone discussion with a source about the document, leading Ivanciuc to believe his conversations had been intercepted and taped.
In October, the Senate withdrew the accreditation of the national daily Romania Libera for covering its activities. Romania Libera had printed an article alleging that the PSD general secretary of the Senate promoted employees in exchange for sexual favors. The Senate also asked Romania Libera to apologize publicly for the article. Following pressure from other media outlets, key civil society and legal figures, the Senate restored Romania Libera's accreditation.
In early December, RTV-1 news reporter Alexandru Costache, backed by several of his colleagues, denounced what he called government-pressured censorship and manipulation in an open letter to Evenimentul Zilei, accusing the station of deliberate and biased coverage in favor of the ruling PSD party during the Romanian presidential campaign runoff elections. The day after the letter was published, the station manager threatened Costache and his colleagues with arrest, prompting media NGOs such as MMA and Reporters Without Borders to offer the journalists legal protection and judicial assistance. The station reportedly responded by initiating internal ethics investigations into the journalists' actions.
During the year, there was no progress in several investigations into violence against journalists that occurred in 2003. Authorities failed to find the assailants in a case involving a journalist in Timisoara, who was severely beaten in December 2003. The reporter, who worked for the Timisoara bureau of the influential national daily Evenimentul Zilei, had frequently criticized ruling PSD party officials and their business activities in Timis County. The victim sued the police. Local officials were critical of law enforcement authorities for their lack of progress in the investigation.
Investigators also failed to identify the persons who beat two journalists from Romania Libera and Evenimentul Zilei in July 2003. The journalists had written numerous reports on alleged illegal activities of local authorities and miners' leaders in the region.
In April, authorities arrested several persons in the case of Szoltan Csondy, a journalist in Miercurea Ciuc working for the Hungarian-language paper, Hargita Nepe. Attackers in the hall of his apartment building had seriously injured him in December 2003. The journalist was known for his investigations into the city's underworld, in particular the activities of a local businessman, Istvan Csibi. Authorities arrested Csibi, who was linked to other crimes including attempted murder, robbery, and assault, and several of his accomplices; at year's end, there were more than a dozen court cases underway against Csibi.
During the year, the newspaper Gazeta de Sud appealed court-awarded damages of approximately $18,000 (600 million lei) to a past prefect of Olt County, Marin Diaconescu, for its reporting on the prefect. The General Prosecutor's Office rejected the appeal.
Laws restricting freedom of speech continued to cause concern among the media and NGOs. The offense of insulting authorities can be punished with a fine. In addition, the Government can punish libel with a prison term of 2 to 24 months, which can be increased to 3 to 36 months if the libel was directed at public officials. In addition, Article 168 of the Penal Code provides criminal penalties for spreading false information aimed at attacking national security. In June, Parliament adopted a new Penal Code which lowered the punishment for libel to 10 to 120 "days-fine," meaning a sentence is given as a number of days and the person receiving the sentence must pay a fine of between $3.30 and $33 (100,000 and 1,000,000 lei) for each day. The new Penal Code is scheduled to take effect in June 2005.
There were increased allegations of progovernment bias and self-censorship inside the state-owned Radio Romania (SRR). In April, a group of SRR news reporters made accusations regarding what they called sophisticated censorship in the newsroom. Cerasela Radulescu, one of the protesters, and members of opposition political parties charged that critical statements about former prime minister Adrian Nastase and other PSD officials were often edited out of the stories airing in the main newscasts and moved to other, less watched newscasts. In early December, Radulescu spoke publicly about her case, stating that the situation inside SRR has not changed significantly and that she had to move to another department because of management pressure and impediments to her work.
In March, a producer working for the local station of the state-owned RTV network in Timisoara alleged that network management had dismissed him in order to limit the material on the air.
During the year, a local court in Gorj County rejected a suit that a former editor and producer at the RCS television station brought against the station for failing to take action against RCS management's alleged censorship policies. The editor/producer left her job in March 2003 after her show was cut off in midbroadcast while she was discussing corruption scandals involving local leaders. In November, a Craiova Court decided that it was indeed a case of censorship and not a technical problem as management insisted. The Court ordered the CNA to sanction the television station.
The Government did not restrict access to the Internet or academic freedom; however, media reported that some sites with anti-PSD content, or that included embarrassing private transcripts from PSD meetings on governmental issues, were attacked or shut down.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association
The Constitution provides for freedom of assembly, and the Government generally respected this right in practice. The law provides for unarmed citizens to assemble peacefully, but states that meetings must not interfere with other economic or social activities and may not be held near locations such as hospitals, airports, or military installations. Permits are not required to assemble in some public places. However, when required, demonstration organizers must apply for a permit in advance. Authorities may prohibit a public gathering by notifying the organizers in writing within 48 hours of receipt of a permit request. The law prohibits counterdemonstrations that coincide with scheduled public gatherings. The law prohibits fascist, Communist, racist, or xenophobic symbols (such as statues of war criminals on public land), ideologies, or organizations. Participants in unauthorized demonstrations may be fined.
The Constitution provides for freedom of association, and the Government generally respected this right in practice. Political parties are required to have at least 25,000 members to have legal status, a number that some NGOs have criticized as being inordinately high.
c. Freedom of Religion
The Constitution provides for freedom of religion, and the Government generally respected this right in practice; however, there were some restrictions, and several minority religious groups continued to claim credibly that government officials and Romanian Orthodox clergy impeded their proselytizing and interfered with other religious activities.
The Government requires religious groups to register. However, there is no clear registration procedure. The lack of specific registration requirements made it almost impossible for groups to receive religious status under the law.
The Government gives official religious status to 17 religions. Only these recognized religions are eligible to receive state financial support. Recognized religions have the right to establish schools, receive state funds to build churches, pay clergy salaries, subsidize clergy housing, broadcast religious programs on radio and television, apply for broadcasting licenses for denominational frequencies, and enjoy tax-exempt status. The Government also registered religious groups as either religious and charitable foundations or as nonprofit cultural associations.
The law provides for peaceful religious assembly; however, several minority religious groups again complained that, on various occasions, local authorities and Orthodox priests prevented religious activities from taking place, even when their organizers had been issued permits. The Evangelical Alliance continued to report difficulties obtaining approval to use public halls for religious activities following pressure by Orthodox priests. In some cases, Orthodox priests incited the local population against activities by the Seventh-day Adventist Church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and members of Jehovah's Witnesses. The press reported several instances of Romanian Orthodox clergy harassing members of other faiths, such as pressuring non-Orthodox school children to attend Orthodox religion classes or not allowing members of religious groups to proselytize near Orthodox churches.
Government building permit regulations equally allow recognized and unrecognized religious groups to build places of worship. Although most minority religious groups declared that they had received permits to build places of worship without difficulty, some continued to complain that permits were unduly delayed.
Several religious groups made credible complaints that, in some instances, local police and administrative authorities tacitly supported sometimes violent societal campaigns against proselytizing. In some localities, legal proselytizing was perceived as being directed at adherents of established churches, and conflicts occurred. Members of Jehovah's Witnesses and the Seventh-day Adventist Church continued to report such cases.
Religions with the highest concentration in a locality have the right to teach religion in public schools; however, a number of religious groups, including the Greek Catholic Church, the Baptist Church, Jehovah's Witnesses, and the Seventh-day Adventist Church, reported that they had been unable to hold classes because of the Orthodox clergy's influence. Additionally, the Seventh-day Adventist Church and Jehovah's Witnesses reported cases of children who were pressured to attend Orthodox religion classes.
A 2002 law provides for the restitution of large numbers of religious properties, but not places of worship. Pursuant to this law, religious groups submitted 7,568 property restitution claims by March 2003. Religious minorities frequently did not succeed in regaining possession of these properties, because many housed state offices, schools, hospitals, or cultural institutions that would require relocation, and lawsuits and protests by occupants delayed their physical return. A national commission began operation in June 2003 to consider restitution on a case-by-case basis. This process of systematic religious property restitution resulted in the return of 574 buildings since June 2003.
The Greek Catholic, or Uniate, Church made only limited progress in recovering properties taken by the Romanian Orthodox Church after their forced merger in 1948. The exclusion of places of worship from the 2002 restitution law primarily affected Greek Catholics; the Communists generally did not seize churches of other faiths. Authorities have returned only a handful of the approximately 2,600 Greek Catholic churches and monasteries taken. Apparently to avoid restitution, the Orthodox Church demolished many Greek Catholic churches under various pretexts, such as being structurally unsafe. A Greek Catholic-Orthodox commission continued to make little progress in resolving the restitution of the Greek Catholic churches from the Orthodox Church. Many courts refused to rule on restitution of Greek Catholic churches because of a 1990 decree mandating that dialogue between the two churches resolve the issue. In August, the Government issued a decree permitting the Greek Catholic Church to resort to court action whenever the bilateral dialogue fails; the Orthodox Church had urged the Greek Catholic Church to choose between dialogue and court action earlier in the year.
The historical Hungarian churches, including the Hungarian Roman Catholic and the Hungarian Protestant Reformed, Evangelical, and Unitarian churches, received only a small number of their properties back. Government decrees ordered the return of 33 buildings out of 1,630 buildings confiscated from those denominations, but they were able to take actual possession of only approximately 20. The 2002 law restituting church property returned 340 buildings to the Hungarian churches. The Jewish community received 42 buildings by government decree, but has obtained full or partial possession of only 29. The community also received back 48 additional buildings since June 2003 under the law on religious property.
In March, unidentified persons broke into a synagogue in Bacau and broke its windows. In August, Nazi and anti-Semitic signs were found on the inside of the walls of the Jewish cemetery in Sarmasu, Mures County. Authorities have not identified the perpetrators in either of these cases. There were no developments in the 2000-2003 desecrations of Jewish synagogues and cemeteries.
The extremist press continued to publish anti-Semitic articles. The Legionnaires (Iron Guard), an extreme nationalist, anti-Semitic, pro-Nazi group, continued to republish inflammatory books from the interwar period. In March, a private television station broadcast a talk show on "Gypsies, Jews, and Legionnaires," which voiced xenophobic, anti-Semitic, and racist views. The station owners did not respond to a protest sent by the Jewish Communities Federation.
Extremists made repeated attempts to deny that Holocaust activities occurred in the country or in Romanian-administered territory. Religious services (services for the dead) for legionnaire leaders continued to be held in individual Orthodox churches.
In June 2003, the Government denied the occurrence of the Holocaust within the country's World War II borders in a communique but subsequently retracted the statement and assumed responsibility for the World War II pro-Nazi regime's crimes against Jews. Although government spokesmen claimed that someone not authorized to do so had inserted the phrase containing the denial, the person responsible was neither identified nor reprimanded. In July 2003, in an interview with an Israeli newspaper, then President Iliescu appeared to minimize the Holocaust by claiming that suffering and persecution was not unique to the Jewish population in Europe. He later said that his interview had been presented in an incomplete and selective way.
In September 2003, the Government released a teaching manual for schools that dealt with Holocaust denial and provided figures for the number of Jews killed, details about concentration camps, death chambers, and the persecution of Roma, homosexuals and Jehovah's Witnesses. However, education on the country's role in the Holocaust was still limited and lacked a unified approach. In October 2003, the Government established an International Committee on the Holocaust in Romania to analyze and to improve public understanding of Holocaust events in the country. In November, the Committee, chaired by Nobel Prize Laureate Elie Wiesel and given full access to archives and other documents, submitted a report on its findings that detailed the history of the Holocaust in the country as well as the commission's conclusions and recommendations on how the Government could foster Holocaust awareness, remembrance, research and education. In May, the Government established an annual Holocaust Remembrance Day on October 9, a date selected to mark the Antonescu regime's initial order for the deportation of thousands of victims from Bassarabia and Bukovina to Transnistria in 1941.
The New Right (Noua Dreapta) organization (a small extremist group with nationalistic, xenophobic views) continued to harass verbally, and sometimes physically, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Bucharest and Iasi. Many representatives of minority religions credibly complained that private and governmental organizations operating hospitals, children's homes, and shelters for the elderly often permitted only Orthodox priests to provide religious assistance in them. Charitable activities by minority churches in children's homes and shelters often were interpreted as proselytizing. Orthodox priests reportedly denied permission to the Greek Catholic and the Seventh-day Adventist churches to bury members in several rural localities; it was not clear whether church or public cemeteries were involved.
In July, authorities charged an individual with dual Romanian and French citizenship with distributing nationalist-chauvinistic and fascist propaganda; the trial was in progress at the year's end.
In July 2003, a Brasov resident was given a suspended 2?-year sentence for nationalist-chauvinistic and fascist propaganda.
In December, then President Iliescu awarded the Star of Romania, the highest honor awarded by the state, to a politician known for his anti-Semitic and xenophobic views and to a historian noted for denying the participation of the World War II Romanian government in the Holocaust. The actions prompted protests in the media and from international human rights and Jewish community leaders.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign
Travel, Emigration, and Repatriation
The law provides for these rights, and the Government generally respected them in practice. The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not employ it.
The law provides for the granting of asylum or refugee status in accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, and the Government has established a system for providing protection to refugees. In March, the Parliament approved amendments to bring the law on refugees in line with the 1951 Geneva Convention, although the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) criticized the brevity of deadlines for court rulings and the appeal process in the amendments. In April, the Government drafted, with the support of the UNHCR and other organizations, a National Strategy on Migration, which outlined the main principles underlying its policy toward refugees. The Government also adopted legislation on integration of refugees in May and on the protection of refugee children in June. The former entitles refugees who are granted a form of protection in the country to employment, accommodation, medical care, social assistance, education, counseling, and Romanian language courses.
A 2003 law forbids expelling foreigners to a country where their lives may be in jeopardy. The law establishes a National Refugee Office (ONR) in the MOAI to receive, process, and house asylum seekers. A Refugee Integration Department was set up within the ONR. The Government reorganized the former Directorate for Foreigners and Migration Issues, which was subordinated to a directorate in the MOAI, under the Alien Authority, which reports directly to the Minister.
In practice, the Government provided protection against refoulement, the return of persons to a country where they feared persecution. During the first 7 months of the year, the ONR received 303 applications for asylum and 92 reapplications. Most of the applicants came from Iraq (91), China (60), and India (49). During the same period, 54 applications were approved.
The Government also provided temporary protection to individuals who did not qualify as asylees or refugees; however, there were reports that the Government denied some applications for refugee status without grounds. According to local NGOs, some individuals who were credible refugees were denied refugee status due to corruption in some agencies and changes in the refugee law that did not apply retroactively. For example, authorities denied the application for refugee status of three Sudanese Christian refugees who entered the country in 2001 on the grounds that they did not meet the criteria for such status. NGOs reported that these grounds for denial appeared to be baseless and that the three Sudanese would face persecution if returned. The ONR later denied the refugees' requests for access to a new procedure on two different applications. Authorities allowed them to stay in the country in a "tolerated status," which denies them access to social assistance and the right to work and move freely about the country. This status was contingent upon their ability to prove each month that they were actively seeking means to remove themselves from the country either to their homeland or another country. Senior officials at the Alien Authority confirmed that, in this status, they could be deported at any time.
There were no voluntary repatriations during the first 7 months of the year.
The Government cooperated with the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations in assisting refugees and asylum seekers. The Government funded programs to integrate refugees into society; refugee-focused NGOs developed similar programs. However, programs for integrating refugees developed slowly and had very limited funds and resources. There were 3 reception and accommodation shelters in Bucharest and a 20-bed shelter at the Bucharest Airport. The Alien Authority ran a detention shelter for illegal migrants close to the Bucharest Airport. Two additional shelters opened in Galati in May and Timisoara in February, with a capacity of 250 people each.
The MOAI and the Labor Ministry funded programs to assist asylum seekers and refugees, although some experienced repeated administrative difficulties in obtaining protected status due to officials' requests for substantial documentation. Government financial support (reimbursable loans for 6 to 9 months) was minimal and usually not enough to cover basic needs. An increasing number of illegal migrants regarded the country as a transit point to other countries.
Section 3
Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of universal suffrage.
The country held parliamentary and presidential elections on November 28 and December 12. The parliamentary elections resulted in no political bloc emerging with a clear majority. The center-left PSD initially held 113 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 46 seats in the Senate; the Romanian Humanist Party (PUR), which ran in alliance with the PSD, received 19 Chamber seats and 11 Senate seats; the center right Liberal-Democratic (PNL-PD) Alliance won 112 Chamber seats and 49 Senate seats; the extreme nationalist Greater Romania Party (PRM) received 48 Chamber seats and 21 Senate seats; and the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR) tallied 22 Chamber seats and 10 Senate seats. In addition, 18 ethnic minority parties were accorded individual seats in the Chamber, as provided in the Constitution. PNL-PD presidential candidate Traian Basescu's victory in the second round led to the formation of a new government at the end of the year by the PNL-PD, in coalition with the UDMR, PUR, and the ethnic minority representatives.
The November 28 parliamentary and first round of presidential elections were characterized by widespread irregularities, precipitated primarily by the Government's decision to abandon use of previously issued electoral identification cards and to allow citizens outside their home districts to vote at any polling place across the country. There were widespread allegations of individuals voting in multiple locations, including some reports that political parties supported these activities. There were also accusations of abuse of the so-called mobile ballot boxes transported to elderly or infirm voters; the prolonged presence of elected officials in polling places contrary to the law; and the placement of campaign posters near polling places in contravention of the law. Civil society organizations and opposition parties also claimed the Central Electoral Bureau allowed fraud to take place at a national level during the electronic tabulation of votes, although subsequent inquiries were inconclusive. The civil society NGO Pro-Democracy announced it would not observe the second round due to the poor execution of the first round, but changed its decision after the Government agreed to take steps to diminish possibilities for fraud.
In the second round of presidential elections on December 12, the Government limited the locations where voters outside of their home districts could vote, reducing the possibilities for multiple voting. However, the lack of sufficient alternate locations and the closure of these locations while many voters were still in line resulted in the disenfranchisement of hundreds and possibly thousands of voters, particularly in major cities. Members of the center-right opposition accused the PSD of intentionally restricting the vote in this manner, as transient voters in urban areas have historically supported the center-right. There were credible reports in some precincts that local officials or partisan election monitors instructed citizens on how to vote and instances of campaign posters being placed too close to polls.
In June, the country held two rounds of elections for mayors and county and city councils. International and civil society election observers noted some problems, primarily related to allegations of campaigning and other political activities on election day and near polling places, despite legal prohibitions. There were also some reports of abuse of mobile ballot boxes. In Cluj County, NGOs expressed concern that voters who turned 18, the legal voting age, between the two rounds of elections were not permitted to vote in the second round although they were apparently permitted to do so in other parts of the country. Observers noted that many discrepancies appeared to result from varying interpretations of sometimes vague voting regulations and procedures, rather than from any clear attempt by local or national electoral officials to influence outcomes.
The October 2003 referendum on proposed amendments to the Constitution was characterized by widespread efforts by government officials to ensure that it met the minimum 50 percent voter turnout required for the referendum to be legally valid. Civic action groups reported some notable irregularities, including political pressure on and by locally elected leaders and special lotteries and other material incentives to bring out the vote, and there were allegations of mobile ballot box abuse.
The Government made limited progress toward combating high-level corruption. During the first half of the year, Parliament passed legislation that in effect softened anticorruption laws affecting high officials and public servants. Implementation of other anticorruption legislation remained poor. There were no convictions of high officials, despite the media focus on a series of corruption cases involving members of the Cabinet and the ruling party.
At the same time, the Government took new measures to fight systemic corruption. It enacted legislation requiring certain public officials to file an asset disclosure statement, complementing anticorruption laws adopted in 2003 that clarified the definition of conflict of interest. The National Anticorruption Prosecutor's Office (PNA) is authorized to investigate charges of corruption based upon the offender's status as a public official, the amount of money involved in the corrupt activity, or the amount of loss to the public. Owing to a flood of minor cases inhibiting the PNA's work, an emergency ordinance was introduced during the year to restrict the PNA's jurisdiction to cases involving higher amounts of money--over $135,000 (100,000 euros)--or high-level government officials.
During the first 6 months of the year, the PNA opened 1,645 criminal investigations, of which 604 were resolved. A total of 91 cases involving 436 offenses and 221 individuals went to trial; a third of these cases involved persons in management positions. Of the cases that went to trial, 53 have resulted in the conviction of a total of 99 individuals.
In 2003, the PNA reported investigating 2,229 cases, of which it solved 951 cases and declined 563 cases for lack of jurisdiction; the remaining 751 cases were continued. In the resolved cases, the PNA drafted 146 indictments and tried 548 persons for a total of 1,428 alleged offenses. Almost two-thirds of those charged were in management positions, including an exÐminister, 2 government counselors, the head of a government agency, a prosecutor, a judge, a mayor, 42 directors and inspectors, 26 financial or banking clerks, 130 police officers, 6 public servants, 6 public order officers, 10 customs officers, 5 legal advisors, 5 financial guard officers, 20 military officers and noncommissioned officers, a lawyer, 2 university professors, and 90 administrators of commercial companies. Only 22 of the 548 persons sent to trial received final sentences, which averaged 3 years and 2 months in custody. Since late 2002, the PNA has convicted approximately 250 persons, or a quarter of those sent to trial.
During the year, the PNA received authorization to add 94 new positions to its investigative staff and to increase the staff salaries, which already ranked among the highest in the judiciary.
The PNA's mandate is to prosecute corruption at all levels without regard to the political affiliation of the accused. Although constitutional amendments in 2003 removed a number of procedural immunities that limited the prosecution of high public officials, the PNA has not yet demonstrated the ability to prosecute officials at this level successfully. Instead, PNA investigations of high officials tended to focus on members of former administrations, contributing to questions about the PNA's impartiality. In addition, prosecutors are obligated to open an investigation when presented a complaint that meets certain minimum standards. This made prosecutorial institutions less vulnerable to political influence, as all cases meeting minimum standards are investigated; however, it created a potential for persons to misuse the complaint process to gain political or economic advantage over a competitor.
Although the law limits the areas in which Members of Parliament may maintain a private legal practice, there was no visible enforcement mechanism for this rule.
The country has a transparency law that provides for transparency of decisionmaking. While the transparency law does not specifically require the Government to provide documents or information in response to citizens' requests, a separate law regarding freedom of information requires all public institutions to answer such inquiries. In practice, political decisionmaking was typically carried out with little transparency. The transparency law requires all central and local elected or appointed public administration authorities to make public draft laws and to consult with citizens and NGOs; however, authorities in areas of national defense and security, public order, and country's political and economic strategic interests, and other areas with classified information are exempted. In most cases, the authorities considered consultations with the civil society a formality. NGOs reported that, even when asked their opinion during the year on a draft law, the Government often ignored their proposals. The press is not allowed to attend the debates of the parliamentary commissions. Some ministries, such as the Ministry of Information Technology and Communications, complied with the consultation requirements, but not all did so.
While the law does not restrict women's participation in government or politics, societal attitudes were a significant barrier. In the new Parliament, 38 of 332 deputies and 13 of 137 senators were women. None of the 42 county prefects (appointed representatives of the central Government) who served under the PSD government were women. At year's end, the newly elected PNL-PD Government had appointed only 36 of the 42 prefects, of which 1 was a woman. There were 3 women in the new 25-member Cabinet.
There were 50 members of minorities in the 469-seat Parliament. The Constitution and law grant each recognized ethnic minority one representative in the Chamber of Deputies if the minority's political organization cannot obtain 5 percent of the votes needed to elect a deputy outright. Organizations representing 18 minority groups qualified for deputies under this provision in November.
Ethnic Hungarians, represented by the UDMR, obtained parliamentary representation through the normal electoral process. Roma were underrepresented in Parliament, having only one representative; low Romani voter turnout and internal divisions within the Romani community worked against the consolidation of votes for any single candidate, organization, or party. There were two Romani parliamentarians. During the year, the PSD had protocols of cooperation in effect with the German, Hungarian, and Romani minorities.
Section 4
Governmental Attitude Regarding International and Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human Rights
A number of domestic and international human rights groups generally operated without government restriction, investigating and publishing their findings on human rights cases. Government officials were generally cooperative and responsive to NGOs, although some offices were slow to respond to inquiries.
Domestic human rights monitoring groups included APADOR-CH, the League for the Defense of Human Rights (LADO), the Romanian Institute for Human Rights, Pro Europa League, the Open Society Foundation, the Institute for Public Policy, and several issue-specific groups such as the Center for Independent Journalism, the Media Monitoring Agency, Accept, Romani CRISS, the Pro Democracy Association, and a local office of Transparency International. Other groups, such as political parties and trade unions, also monitored the observance of human rights. These groups, as well as international human rights organizations, functioned freely without government interference.
An ombudsman's office worked to protect citizens from abuse by public officials. In the first 9 months of the year, the office received 2,754 complaints, many of which it rejected because they involved problems requiring judicial action, which power the ombudsman's office does not possess. The office, which dealt not only with human rights, but also with all facets of citizens' interaction with the Government, was only moderately effective due to its limited authority and resources.
Section 5
Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution forbids discrimination based on race, nationality, ethnic origin, language, sex, opinion and political allegiance, wealth, or social background; however, in practice, the Government did not enforce these provisions effectively, and women, Roma, and other minorities were subject to various forms of discrimination.
The law prohibits discrimination based on a number of factors and enables persons to sue on the grounds of discrimination. In August 2003, a new ordinance increased fines for discriminatory acts up to approximately $1,200 (40 million lei). The National Council on Combating Discrimination is responsible for enforcing this law.
Women
Violence against women, including rape, continued to be a serious problem. Both human and women's rights groups reported that domestic violence was common. According to a 2002 U.N. survey, 45 percent of women have been verbally abused, 30 percent physically abused, and 7 percent sexually abused. While the law allows police intervention in domestic violence cases, there is no specific law to address spousal abuse or rape. The prosecution of rape cases was difficult because it required both a medical certificate and a witness, and a rapist could avoid punishment by marrying the victim. The successful prosecution of spousal rape cases was almost impossible. In June 2003, the Government moved responsibility for controlling domestic violence from the Ministry of Health to the Ministry of Labor and Social Solidarity. In January, the National Agency for Family Protection, an entity reporting to the Ministry of Labor and Social Solidarity, assumed responsibility for domestic violence cases. The law provides the same penalties for rape and sexual abuse without regard to the victim's gender; however, implementing regulations have not been completed.
There were reports of trafficking in women (see Section 5, Trafficking).
The Constitution grants women and men equal rights; however, in practice, the Government did not enforce these provisions, nor did authorities focus attention or resources on women's issues.
The law prohibits any act of gender discrimination, including sexual harassment. Few resources were available for women to deal with economic discrimination. Despite existing laws and educational equality, women had a higher rate of unemployment than men, occupied few influential positions in the private sector, and earned lower wages. A department in the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection was responsible for advancing women's concerns and family policies, including organizing programs for women, proposing new laws, monitoring legislation for sexual bias, targeting resources to train women for skilled professions, and addressing the problems of single mothers. There is an ombudsman in the Department for Child, Woman, and Family Protection to resolve complaints of discrimination.
Children
The Government administered health care and public education programs for children, despite scarce resources that limited the availability of services. International agencies and NGOs supplemented government programs in these areas.
Education was free and compulsory through the tenth grade. After the tenth grade, schools charged fees for books, which discouraged attendance for lower income children, particularly Roma. During the 2002-03 school year, approximately 99.8 percent of primary school-age children attended school, including kindergarten, according to the Ministry of Education. Overall, participation in the compulsory education system through grade 10 increased to 72.9 percent in 2002-03. The dropout rate during the 2002-03 school year was 1.25 percent in the compulsory education system.
The vast majority of HIV/AIDS cases in Romania (75.9 percent) involved children less than 14 years old. The National Union of the Organizations of Persons Affected by HIV/AIDS (UNOPA) reported that many children infected with HIV/AIDS suffered from interruption of treatment, limited access to schools, and delayed food allowances.
In June, Parliament passed comprehensive child welfare legislation that addresses children's rights, including establishing a children's court. The law is scheduled to take effect in January 2005; implementing legislation was adopted in August. During the year, children's courts mandated by the law became operational in two cities, Brasov and Iasi. Parliament also adopted new standards for providing services to abused and neglected children.
New adoption legislation nearly halted foreign adoption by limiting international adoptions to grandparents. At year's end, hundreds of cases that were in process when the law passed remained pending. The legal prohibition of foreign adoption and an increasing rate of child abandonment in hospitals (5,000 in 2003 and 2,500 by June) strained government resources.
Laws to protect children from abuse and neglect were inadequate, and there were reports that abuse of children was a problem. While there are criminal penalties, there was no consistent policy or procedure for reporting child abuse and neglect and no system for treating families who abuse their children. A task force coordinated by the National Authority developed standards, training, policies, and procedures for dealing with the problem.
Although illegal, marriages between Romani children under the age of consent were common. In October 2003, the Government ordered a 12-year-old Romani girl and a 15-year-old Romani boy separated and all intimate relations between them halted after a highly publicized marriage. However, human rights groups and the media reported that such marriages continued, frequently without notice or intervention by authorities.
Trafficking in girls for the purpose of forced prostitution was a problem (see Section 5, Trafficking).
Living conditions have improved in most childcare institutions in recent years. More than half of the 106,000 children in public care were placed with families (extended family, foster care), while the number of children remaining in state residential care (including special schools) dropped to 26,600. In practice, children below the age of 2 were no longer placed in institutions, but were instead placed with foster parents or extended families. A methodology for the closure of large residential institutions was being implemented; 50 large institutions were closed in 2003, although 62 traditional, dormitory-style institutions still housed over 100 children each. By April, 560 prevention and family reintegration services had been established (mother and baby centers and counseling services).
A growing number of services were available to support children with disabilities and their families to prevent their removal from home.
Child labor was a problem (see Sections 5, Trafficking and 6.d.)
A number of impoverished and apparently homeless children were visible on the streets of larger cities. While the Government did not have statistics on scope of the problem, police reports and social workers' estimates have placed the number of street children nationwide at 1,500. This number was lower than had been estimated in the past and questionable, given that street children were extremely difficult to count.
Approximately half of the children remaining in the large childcare institutions were between the ages of 14 and 18. Without changes to the system, a significant number were likely to leave these institutions with no skills and employment and no ability to earn a living or obtain housing. There was no systematic provision of labor market information, skills training, or job placement services for such persons and there was a high probability that they would gravitate to the streets, engaging in prostitution or crime. Although independent living programs were more widespread, a growing number of young persons were in need of these services.
The law requires the National Agency for Employment to provide up to 75 percent of the median national salary to employers for hiring persons between 16 and 25 years who are at risk of social exclusion. Effective January 2005, the new law provides that youth leaving the state institutional system may receive state assistance for an additional 2 years, during which they would receive skills training for independent living.
NGOs working with children remained particularly concerned about the number of minors in prison and continued to seek alternative solutions, such as parole (see Section 1.c.). Because time served while awaiting trial counts toward prison sentences, but not toward the time to be served in a juvenile detention center, some minors actually requested prison sentences.
Trafficking in Persons
The law prohibits trafficking; however, trafficking in persons continued to be a serious problem. There were some reports of police involvement in trafficking.
The law defines trafficking as the use of coercion to recruit, transport, harbor, or receive humans for exploitation. Coercion includes fraud or misrepresentation. Exploitation includes slavery, forced labor, prostitution, performance in pornographic films, organ theft, or other conditions that violate human rights. For minors under the age of 18, it is not necessary to prove coercion.
The law provides for 3 to 12 years' imprisonment for trafficking in minors between 15 and 18 years of age. Sentences are increased to 5 to 15 years for trafficking in minors under age 15, if there are two or more victims, or if a victim suffers serious bodily harm or health problems. The sentence for trafficking that leads to the death or suicide of the victim is 5 to 25 years. These penalties are increased by 3 years if the trafficker belongs to an organized crime group and by 2 years if coercion is applied against minors. Initial consent of a trafficked person does not exempt the trafficker from liability.
The Government increased its efforts against trafficking ,and police officers continued to pursue cases via their Human Trafficking Task Force. The police assigned 15 officers at headquarters in Bucharest and over 87 officers in 15 zonal centers across the country to investigate trafficking. Of the 87 officers assigned to zonal centers, 42 were women who had received training in antitrafficking procedures. They continued to expand interagency and local resources assigned to trafficking, and the Government established itself as a strong participant in regional law enforcement cooperation. In addition, the Government, through the Interministerial Working Group (IWG), began the process of creating an office at the national level, which would coordinate all trafficking-related matters and focus on the protection of victims. During the first 9 months of the year, police identified a total 964 victims of trafficking (573 women, 391 men). Of this number, 217 were minors (80 boys, 137 girls). A total of 934 individuals were under investigation for violations connected with trafficking, and, as of September, police had arrested 162 suspects and dismantled 208 trafficking networks. Authorities obtained 74 final convictions under the new trafficking laws. This contrasted with 2003, when police identified 658 crimes, investigated 488 persons and arrested 146, and dismantled 210 groups.
The country was a member of the Southeast European Cooperative Initiative (SECI) Center, a multinational organization composed of 12 governments with the purpose of combating transborder crime in the region. The Government participated actively with other SECI members in carrying out operations against trafficking. In February, with the facilitation of the Romanian Human Trafficking Taskforce manager, sex trafficking victims from Moldova testified in a Serbian court, which resulted in prison terms for 14 traffickers. In May and June, investigators from Romania and Turkey interviewed victims of a sex-trafficking ring in Turkey, which resulted in the arrest of five offenders and the immediate repatriation of five Romanian women. In July, a prosecutor and a police officer traveled from Bucharest to Spain to help shut down a Romanian operation which had trafficked 40 women.
During the year, the Prosecutor General's office had prosecutors in place throughout the country to prosecute trafficking and related cases. The Government prosecuted a few cases of pimping during the year. Prosecutions based on indictments under the trafficking law continued.
In September, the Government participated in the launch of the SECI Regional Anticrime Center's Operation Mirage 2004, which was aimed at countering trafficking and illegal migration in the Balkan region. During the operation, police identified 393 Romanian victims and 261 traffickers, and arrested or charged 130 traffickers.
The country was an origin and transit point for trafficked women and girls from Moldova, Ukraine, and other parts of the former Soviet Union who were trafficked to Bosnia, Serbia and Montenegro (including Kosovo), Macedonia, Turkey, Albania, Greece, Cyprus, Italy, France, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain the United Arab Emirates, Japan, and South Korea for sexual exploitation. Due to changing trafficking patterns, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) noted that it was not possible to estimate accurately the number of trafficked women. In 2003, the route of trafficking and the modus operandi changed. Recent trends indicated that traffickers rented private apartments, rather than using public bars and brothels, to conduct their illicit activities. Clandestine locations complicated the already difficult task of finding the victims and allowed traffickers to operate with less concerns about local authorities. In 2003, fewer victims were trafficked to the former Yugoslavia and a higher number of victims were trafficked to Western Europe. However, trafficking routes generally went from the border with Moldova to all Balkan countries. This pattern did not change during the year. Iasi and Timisoara remained major transit centers. While victims were primarily women and girls trafficked for sexual exploitation, there were reports that men were trafficked to Greece for agricultural labor.
For the year, the IOM reported that it assisted 130 trafficking victims, all of who were female, and 16 of who were minors. Of these, 120 victims were repatriated back to the country, and 21 were provided with integration assistance.
As of June, the country had approximately 34,000 children in orphanages, some of which reportedly paid insufficient attention to the dangers of girls being trafficked from their facilities. Persons forced out of orphanages between the ages of 16 and 18 often had no identity documents, very little education, and few, if any, job skills. NGOs believed that many girls from orphanages were unaware of the danger and fell victim to trafficking networks.
Women were frequently recruited by persons they knew or by newspaper advertisements. A friend or relative would make the initial offer, often telling the victim that she would obtain a job as a baby sitter or waitress. According to the IOM, most women were unaware that they would be forced into prostitution. A minority of trafficked women were sold into prostitution by parents or husbands or kidnapped by trafficking rings. Government officials reported that trafficking rings appeared to be operated primarily by citizens; several domestic prostitution rings were active in trafficking.
The Government continued to recognize that corruption in the police, particularly local forces, was a problem. The majority of the corrupt officers work for the Border Police and the Customs Agency. The Government continued training and made personnel changes in law enforcement agencies to improve the response to trafficking. Police continued to investigate suspected trafficking through border crossing checks, with Border Police questioning victims and attempting to identify traffickers. Organized Crime Directorate officers assigned to investigate trafficking questioned suspects who were identified by victims.
The law requires the Government to protect trafficking victims and authorizes undercover operations and electronic surveillance against traffickers. The law also eliminates criminal penalties for prostitution if the victim surrenders to authorities or cooperates in the investigation of traffickers.
The Government generally provided little aid to repatriated victims. The IOM, the MOAI, and a small number of local NGOs dealt with trafficking issues. The IOM and the MOAI continued to operate a shelter in Bucharest for up to 10 victims with the assistance of Romanian Orthodox Church social workers, NGOs in Bucharest, and the National Office for Refugees. The NGO Reaching Out continued to operate a shelter in Pitesti, and the local NGO Alternative Sociale continued to operate a shelter in Iasi with support from the IOM, the Orthodox Church, and limited support from the Government. The Government opened two of the nine shelters required by law, one in Mehedinti and the other in Timis.
During the year, numerous media stories and antitrafficking messages on government-sponsored television raised awareness of the problem. All relevant ministries participated in an IOM-coordinated Counter Trafficking Steering Committee and the IOM, with some support from foreign governments, continued its campaign to increase awareness of the problem.
Persons with Disabilities
Difficult economic conditions and serious budgetary constraints contributed to harsh living conditions for those with physical or mental disabilities. In February, 18 psychiatric patients in a Poiana Mare hospital died as a result of malnutrition and hypothermia. In response to these deaths, international human rights organizations targeted psychiatric hospitals in the country. A May Amnesty International (AI) report expressed concern that the placement, living conditions, and treatment of patients in several psychiatric wards and hospitals violated international human rights standards and best practices. AI urged the Government to reform the psychiatric health system. The Ministry of Health responded by issuing an order to increase the daily food allocation for psychiatric patients from approximately $1.50 (53,000 lei) per day to approximately $2.00 (70,000 lei). In April, the GOR allocated $1.8 million (60 million lei) to fund the Ministry's order and to rehabilitate seven psychiatric hospitals, including the hospital in Poiana Mare.
Outside of large institutions, social services for persons with disabilities were almost nonexistent. Many persons with disabilities could not make use of government provided transportation discounts because public transport did not have facilitated access. The law does not mandate accessibility for persons with disabilities to buildings and public transportation. In practice, the country had few facilities specifically designed for persons with disabilities. Very few handicapped parking spaces were available, virtually no public buildings were designed for wheelchair access, and most restrooms had no special areas for the physically challenged. Major shopping malls throughout the country were similarly ill equipped; only a few supermarkets in Bucharest had designs that enabled easy access.
In July, Parliament passed a law to amend the existing legislation on special protection and employment of persons with disabilities. The new law increased benefits for blind persons and for persons with serious disabilities.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities
The Department for Interethnic Relations and the National Office for Roma were responsible for monitoring the problems of ethnic minorities, maintaining contacts with minority groups, submitting proposals for draft legislation and administrative measures, maintaining links with local authorities, and investigating complaints. The Constitution authorizes citizens belonging to national minorities to express themselves in their mother tongue before courts of law.
In March, Parliament passed a law on local elections that potentially discriminated against some minority organizations by defining "national minorities" as only the ethnic groups represented in the Council of National Minorities and requiring that these organizations meet more stringent requirements to participate in local government compared to minority groups that were already represented in Parliament. For example, an organization of ethnic Hungarians, the Civic Union Of Hungarians, had to provide lists of at least 25,000 members from at least 15 counties and Bucharest, with at least 300 members in each county, in order to run candidates in the local elections, despite the fact that the UDMR is already in Parliament and allowed to run without providing proof of membership. The Law on General elections, adopted in September, included a similar provision.
Ethnic Hungarians are the largest minority, comprising 1.4 million persons, according to the 2002 census. The UDMR party was in a de facto political alliance with the ruling minority PSD Government. Beginning in 2001, the UDMR signed annual protocols of cooperation with the PSD. After the November and December national elections, the UDMR changed its allegiance and joined the new governing coalition led by the PNL-PD Alliance.
A government decree permits students in state-funded primary and secondary schools to be taught in their own language, with the exception of secondary school courses on the history and geography of the country. In the Moldavia region, some in the Roman Catholic Csango community, who speak an archaic form of Hungarian, repeatedly complained that there was no schooling available in their language. They established two school groups with Hungarian as the language of instruction in schools in Pustiana and Cleja during the 2002-03 school year. This initiative was expanded to 9 groups in 7 localities for the 2003-04 school year and to 24 groups in 9 localities, totaling 450 students, for the 2004-05 school year. However, they could not hold religious services in the community in their mother tongue, because of the opposition of the Roman Catholic Bishopric.
According to the 2002 census, the Romani population numbered 535,250, or 2.5 percent of the population. However, a 2004 European Commission report on health policy and the European Union estimated that the Romani population was between 1.8 and 2.5 million. The World Health Organization (WHO) reported that the Romani population represented approximately 10 percent of the total population. Romani groups complained that police brutality, including beatings and harassment, was routine (see Section 1.c.). According to the Government, only 27 percent of Roma had steady jobs and only half of those jobs were considered skilled. Illiteracy among Roma older than 45 years of age was approximately 30 percent.
Some schools, such as in Cehei (Salaj County), Tg. Frumos (Iasi County), Geoagiu (Hunedoara County), Ardusat (Maramures County, Tg. Jiu (Gorj County) and others segregated Romani children. In April, following complaints by several NGOs that monitored such situations, the Ministry of Education prohibited segregation in schools by a notification that was not legally binding; Romani NGOs are presently pressing for the issuance of an order to this effect.
The National Council on Combating Discrimination received 157 public complaints during the first half of the year, of which 62 were resolved. The Council initiated another 17 cases from its own findings, bringing the total to 174 cases. Of the 62 resolved cases, the Council identified 12 cases of discrimination, applying 2 fines and 10 reprimands. Of these, three of the complaints involved discrimination against Roma, one against the Jewish community, and one against ethnic Hungarians. The Council set up a National Antidiscrimination Alliance, a forum for discussion with NGOs, in March 2003 and drafted a National Antidiscrimination Plan in September 2003.
Romani CRISS continued to monitor cases of alleged human rights violations in 10 counties and Bucharest. Human rights monitors followed 12 cases documented in 2003 and identified 27 new cases in these counties. Of the 27 cases, 20 involved discrimination, while 7 were cases of violence or abuse against Roma.
The Romani population continued to be subject to societal discrimination. A 2003 survey by the Press Monitoring Agency showed that approximately 80 percent of the television news on Roma concerned conflict-generating events, such as illegal migration and police raids in Romani communities, and used images reflecting stereotypes.
Romani NGOs asserted that, with the exception of setting up implementing bodies, the 2001 National Strategy for the Improvement of the Situation of Roma had few practical results. The National Office for Roma maintained a database on the living conditions and needs of the Romani community. However, the office was understaffed and undertrained, and its approximately $1.9 million (64 billion lei) budget was insufficient to implement the strategy.
During the year, little progress was made with regard to the implementation of the partnership protocol, signed by the Health Ministry and the Roma Party in 2001, that sets forth cooperative measures to ensure that Roma have access to health care. In 2003, Romani CRISS maintained a training program (with private funding) for Romani health mediators in cooperation with the Ministry of Health, and the Directorate of Public Health hired 160 such mediators. Romani CRISS and the Health Ministry continued their cooperation.
Romani CRISS was also involved in a national program of training police on conflict management and human rights. Police from 30 counties were trained on these issues.
Other Societal Abuses and Discrimination
Although homosexuality was decriminalized in 2001, NGOs complained that there was still a high degree of hostility against homosexuals, including violence by police (see Section 1.c.). NGOs claimed that this hostility prevented the reporting of some harassment and discrimination. Members of the gay and lesbian community also voiced concerns about discrimination in public education and health care systems.
The National Union of the Organizations of Persons Affected by HIV/AIDS (UNOPA) monitored the treatment of persons, many of them children, who were infected with HIV/AIDS. The number of cases of abuse decreased from 789 to 317, compared to the previous year. Half of the total cases were due to health system deficiencies. Some of the problems included denial of access to dentistry and dermatological services (7 cases), interruption of treatment due to poor hospital management, and interruption of treatment monitoring due to lack of monitoring tests. The UNOPA report, which covered only 15 of the 41 counties in the country, also included cases of limited patient access to education and delayed food allowances. Breaks in confidentiality were reported in 3 percent of the cases. According to UNOPA, the principle of confidentiality and the right to work were sometimes disregarded in cases of persons with HIV. For example, some employees reportedly were hired and fired according to their HIV status in violation of the labor laws.
Section 6
Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association
All workers, except certain public employees, have the legal right to associate freely and to form and join labor unions without previous authorization, and they freely exercised this right. Ministry of Defense, MOAI, and intelligence personnel are not allowed to unionize. The majority of workers were members of one of approximately 18 national trade union confederations and smaller independent trade unions. Workers cannot be forced to join or withdraw from unions, and union officials who resign elected positions and return to the regular work force are protected against employer retaliation.
The right to form unions generally was respected in practice. However, some employers have created enterprise-friendly unions. Some unions claimed that the Government interfered in trade union activities, collective bargaining, and strikes, and alleged that union registration requirements were excessive.
The law prohibits antiunion discrimination, and the Government generally respected this prohibition in practice.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively
The law provides workers the right to bargain collectively, but collective bargaining was hindered by state control of many industrial enterprises and the absence of independent management representatives at these entities. Contracts resulting from collective bargaining were not consistently enforced. Basic wage scales at state owned enterprises were established through collective bargaining with the Government. Public employees could not bargain for salaries, which were set by the Government. Unions claimed that downsizing decisions resulting from agreements with international financial institutions violated labor agreements.
The collective labor dispute law establishes the conciliation, mediation, and arbitration procedures that must be followed during strikes. The law provides for establishment of tripartite arbitration panels from arbitrators approved by the Economic and Social Council, where trade unions and employers' associations each have one-third of the membership. Nevertheless, mediation capability has not developed fully. Local panels were poorly trained, and unions continued to take disputes to the Government for resolution.
Lengthy and cumbersome conditions made it difficult to hold strikes legally. Unions may strike only if all conciliation means have failed and they give the employer 48 hours notice. Strikes for political reasons are prohibited. Companies can claim damages from strike organizers if a court deems a strike illegal. Unions complained that they must submit their grievances to government-sponsored conciliation before initiating a strike, and that the courts had a propensity to declare the majority of strikes illegal. Judges, prosecutors, and related Ministry of Justice staff are prohibited from striking, as are Ministry of Defense, MOAI, and intelligence service employees. As in the past, fear of job loss due to privatization motivated many strikes.
Labor legislation is applied uniformly through the country, including in the 6 free trade zones and the 31 disadvantaged zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor
The Constitution prohibits forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however, there were reports of Romani children involved in child labor and trafficking (see Sections 6.d. and 5, Trafficking).
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment
Child labor legislation was adequate; however, enforcement tended to be lax except in extreme cases, most notably those that attracted media attention, and child labor remained a problem. The Government recognized that child labor was a problem and continued to make progress in eliminating the worst forms of child labor.
The minimum employment age is 16 years, but children may work with the consent of parents or guardians at age 15, although only "according to their physical development, aptitude, and knowledge." Minors are prohibited from working in hazardous conditions. Violations of the child labor laws are punishable by imprisonment for periods of 2 months to 3 years. Working children under the age of 16 have the right to continue their education, and the law obliges employers to assist in this regard. The Ministry of Labor and Social Protection has authority to impose fines and close factories to ensure compliance with the law.
In May, the Ministry of Labor, Social Solidarity and Family issued jointly with UNICEF and the ILO a report on child labor which estimated that 3.9 million of the 5.6 million children in the country were "economically active." Over 300,000 (approximately 7 percent) were "child laborers," working without any contractual arrangements in agriculture or low skilled jobs, while 900,000 (19 percent) were working in households, especially in rural areas. Approximately 300,000 (6 percent) were engaged in hard work activities, while 60,000 to 70,000 (more than 1 percent) were involved in the "worst forms of child labor," including hazardous work, sexual exploitation, forced labor, trafficking, or criminal activity. This last category included more than 3,000 "street children" in the country. Child labor, including begging, selling trinkets on the street, or washing windshields, remained widespread in the Romani community; children engaged in such activities could be of any age.
A department in the Prime Minister's office is responsible for child protection. The Government established organizations in the counties and in Bucharest to enforce child welfare laws. The roles and responsibilities of the agencies that enforce child labor laws remained ill defined, and these laws were often enforced only when a particularly grave case became public. Despite the prevalence of child labor, there were no reports of anyone being charged or convicted during the year under any of the child labor laws.
With ILO support, the Government began implementing a comprehensive program to eliminate child labor that included measures to prevent the increase of child labor in both urban and rural areas; build the capacity of government and NGOs to address child labor cases; research the extent and nature of the child labor; and raise public awareness of the problem. The program's strategy was to identify vulnerable groups and initiate measures in partnership with government agencies, trade unions, universities, and NGOs.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work
Most wage rates were established through collective bargaining at the enterprise level and based on minimum wages for specific economic sectors and categories of workers. The Government set these minimums after negotiation with industry representatives and labor confederations. Minimum wage rates generally were observed and enforced. During the year, the minimum monthly wage was raised from approximately $72 (2.5 million lei) to approximately $85 (2.8 million). The minimum monthly wage did not provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family.
The law provides for a standard workweek of 40 hours or 5 days, with overtime paid for weekend or holiday work or work in excess of 40 hours, but not to exceed 48 hours per week. The code requires a 24-hour rest period in the workweek, although most workers received 2 days off per week. Paid holidays range from 18 to 24 working days annually, depending on the employee's length of service. The law requires employers to pay additional benefits and allowances to workers engaged in particularly dangerous or difficult occupations.
Neither the Government nor industry improved workplace health and safety conditions significantly. The Ministry of Labor, Social Solidarity, and Family established and enforced safety standards for most industries. However, it lacked trained personnel for enforcement, and employers often ignored its recommendations. Workers have the right to refuse dangerous work assignments but seldom invoked it in practice.
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2008 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices February 25, 2009 Romania is a constitutional democracy with a multiparty, parliamentary system and a population of approximately 21.4 million. The bicameral parliament (Parlament) consists of the Senate (Senat) and the Chamber of Deputies (Camera Deputatilor) ; both are elected by popular vote. The 2004 election of President Traian Basescu and November 2008 parliamentary elections were judged generally free and fair. Civilian authorities generally maintained effective control of the security forces. |
| The government addressed some human rights problems during the year; however, abuses continued to occur. There were reports of police and gendarme harassment and mistreatment of detainees and Roma. Prison conditions remained poor. The judiciary lacked the public's trust in its ability to apply the law impartially. Restrictions on freedom of religion continued to be a great concern due to the restrictive, discriminatory religion law. Property restitution remained slow, and the government failed to take action to return the Greek Catholic churches confiscated by the communist government in 1948. Corruption remained a widespread problem, and the country continued to be the subject of regular European Commission monitoring for progress in judicial reform and combating corruption. There were continued reports of violence and discrimination against women as well as significant lapses in the protection of children's rights. Persons were trafficked for sexual exploitation and also for labor and forced begging. The neglect of and inadequate assistance for persons with disabilities was a problem. While there were no confirmed reports of societal violence against Roma this year, extensive discrimination against Roma continued to be a problem. Homosexuals continued to suffer societal discrimination. Discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS, particularly children, was a serious problem. |
| RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS |
| Section 1 Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom From: |
| a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life |
| There were no reports that the government or its agents committed arbitrary or unlawful killings. |
| The Association for the Defense of Human Rights in Romania-the Helsinki Committee (APADOR-CH) asserted in previous years that the police made excessive use of firearms in cases of minor crimes. |
| On May 20, according to media reports, a transportation police agent shot and killed Vasile Manole, aged 21, who, alongside two other individuals, was allegedly stealing rail copper parts in Cernavoda. The three men reportedly did not stop when the police agent shot two warning shots. The Constanta prosecutor's office investigated the police agent for manslaughter. |
| There were no reported developments in the case of a 22 year old Romani man, Adrian Cobzaru, shot and killed by a police officer in Bucharest in 2006 while he was allegedly stealing goods. |
| b. Disappearance |
| There were no reports of politically motivated disappearances. |
| c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment |
| The constitution and law prohibit such practices; however, there were numerous NGO reports of police mistreatment and abuse of detainees and Roma, primarily through excessive force and beatings by police. There were also reports of mistreatment of abandoned children with physical disabilities in state institutions and of prolonged incarceration for misbehavior within state orphanages. |
| In many cases of police violence against Roma, police claimed they used force in self defense, responding to alleged hostility by Romani communities during police raids in search of criminal offenders. The Romani Center for Social Intervention and Surveys (Romani CRISS) and other NGOs continued to claim that police used excessive force against Roma and subjected them to maltreatment and harassment. |
| APADOR-CH reported cases of alleged police abuse. On April 12, Petre Cosmin Angelina was taken to the police headquarters in Campulung Muscel after he asked two police officers why they wanted to see his identification card. The officers allegedly beat him but did not bring any charges against him, did not ask him to write a statement, and released him one hour later. Angelina filed a complaint against the police with the prosecutor's office. |
| On the morning of May 23, the special forces of Satu Mare police reportedly broke down the door of a Romani person, beat him, and took him to the police precinct, where they continued to beat him upon his refusal to sign a declaration dictated by the police. |
| On July 4, the special forces of Satu Mare police allegedly physically abused a Romani couple and their minor daughter, taking them to the police precinct and beating them, following the couple's conflict with a neighbor. |
| On August 30, a traffic police officer stopped Iulian Rafael Macoveanu in Bucharest and demanded to see what he had in his plastic bag. Macoveanu had 52 pills of methadone and the prescription for the drug substitute. The officer called the precinct, and two more police officers arrived, allegedly brutalized and handcuffed Macoveanu, and took him to police headquarters. The police then allegedly beat him, confiscated his pills, fined him for public scandal, and released him without returning his pills. Police later denied that they confiscated the pills. |
| During the year three police agents were under criminal investigation for committing bodily harm with intent and serious bodily harm while on duty. |
| There were no further developments in the cases of criminal investigation police and the special intervention squad raids against Romani communities in Liesti, Galati County, in April 2007 and in Ciurea, Iasi County, in July 2007. The police claimed the raids were to arrest several convicted criminals. During the raids, police shot seven Roma with rubber bullets in Liesti and three in Ciurea, including two minor girls. According to police reports, the Roma's violent reaction led police to fire warning shots. The Roma claimed that the police opened fire on bystanders in Liesti who went outside to see what was happening. The family of one victim from Ciurea filed a criminal complaint against two police officers and the chief of the Iasi police inspectorate. |
| On September 19, APADOR-CH requested the police to expedite the investigation in the June 2007 case of three police officers' alleged assault of a university lecturer, Serban Marinescu. There were no developments in the case at year's end. |
| There was no further development in the August 2007 alleged beating of two persons by a police officer from Bucharest police precinct 22. |
| Criminal complaints alleging police abuse remained pending in the 2006 cases involving a complaint filed by five Roma in the village of Gepiu, Bihor County; the complaint filed by five Roma in the village of Bontida, Cluj County; and the case filed by Roma in Pata Rat, Cluj County. In March the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) found the country responsible for racially motivated inhuman and degrading treatment in the case of a Romani juvenile, Constantin Stoica, aged 14 at the time of the incident, whom police officers beat in the village of Gulia, Suceava County, in 2001. The ECHR also decided that the incident was not properly investigated and granted compensation of 15,000 euros (approximately $21,000) to the plaintiff. In December the ECHR ruled against the country in the case of Vili Rupa. The state was charged with inhuman and degrading treatment, lack of effective investigation, and violation of the right to fair trial. Rupa was mistreated by the police while being arrested in 1998 and held in degrading conditions during his detention in the Hunedoara and Deva police stations. According to the ruling, the state should pay damages amounting to 30,000 euros ($40,181) for costs and 11,374 euros ($15,234) for other expenses. ACCEPT, an NGO fostering lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights, complained that police singled out LGBT community members for violence and harassment. |
| Prison and Detention Center Conditions |
| Prison conditions remained harsh and generally did not meet international standards. However, authorities improved conditions in some prisons. |
| At the end of December 26,291 persons, including 434 minors, were in prison or juvenile detention facilities in a system with a stated capacity of 34,299. Although overcrowding did not represent a serious problem in theory, there were prisons where the standard of 43 square feet per prisoner, recommended by the Committee for the Prevention of Torture, was not observed. |
| Sanitation and hygiene in prisons did not meet international standards. Medical facilities were not sufficient to care for all prisoners and detainees. Heating and hot water were not available in several facilities and lighting was poor. In many penitentiaries prisoners complained about the insufficient availability of medications and medical treatment. |
| In June APADOR-CH representatives visited Jilava Penitentiary in Bucharest and reported that, despite some measures to improve detention conditions, the basement of the oldest building of the penitentiary was flooded and swarming with rats and cockroaches. Prisoners also complained about the existence of lice because of old, decomposing mattresses. |
| APADOR CH reported that prison meals did not provide the minimum necessary calories, water at some prisons was unsuitable for drinking, and access to health care was limited by a lack of doctors. According to an order issued by the National Authority of Penitentiaries, effective July 2007, prison doctors were authorized to treat only prisoners and not the prison staff and their families. APADOR-CH, ACCEPT, and the Center for Legal Resources (CRJ) also stated that daily activities, work opportunities, and educational programs continued to be insufficient. The government continued some efforts, including partnerships with NGOs, to alleviate harsh conditions and deter the spread of HIV and tuberculosis. |
| Media and human rights organizations reported that the abuse of prisoners by authorities and other prisoners continued to be a problem. According to media reports, prisoners frequently assaulted and abused their fellow inmates, and prison authorities tried to cover up such incidents. During the year media reported such cases in the penitentiaries in Vaslui, Galati, and Poarta Alba. |
| A June 24 visit by APADOR-CH and CRJ representatives to the Aiud penitentiary revealed low food quality, poor hygiene in detention areas, inadequate medical assistance, and inmates who were not aware of the educational programs available to them in prison. An unannounced visit by the justice minister to this penitentiary in March 2007 indicated similar shortcomings and resulted in the dismissal of the prison director. |
| There were no developments in the July 2007 death of a prisoner in the Rahova prison hospital in which APADOR-CH asserted that medical negligence may have played a role. |
| APADOR CH continued to call for the establishment of a joint medical commission of the ministries of justice and health to investigate the causes of deaths in prisons. The practice of designating some prisoners as "cell representatives," which granted them privileges beyond those available to the general prison population, was repeatedly criticized by domestic and foreign organizations. |
| According to APADOR CH, the practice of labeling certain prisoners as "dangerous" remained a problem in the absence of clear standards for such classification. Prisoners labeled "dangerous" were subjected to a variety of restrictions beyond those experienced by the general prison population and had no right to appeal that determination. NGOs also criticized the practice of subjecting prisoners to multiple punishments for a single act of misbehavior |
| APADOR CH also criticized the conditions in police detention facilities, noting poor sanitation conditions, lack of natural light, and the absence of activities for those detained. |
| Many police detention facilities and some prisons did not provide for the confidentiality of discussions between prisoners or detainees and their lawyers in person or via telephone. |
| Unlike in previous years, there were no reports of juveniles being kept in cells with adults or pretrial detainees held with convicted prisoners during the year. |
| The government permitted prison visits by human rights observers, foreign government officials, and media representatives, and such visits took place during the year. |
| Regulations for religious assistance in prisons allow unrestricted access of all religious groups to prisoners. Orthodox priests no longer attended meetings between representatives of other faiths and prisoners. |
| d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention |
| The constitution and law prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention, and the government generally respected these prohibitions. |
| Role of the Police and Security Apparatus |
| The Ministry of the Interior and Administrative Reform is responsible for the national police, the gendarmerie, and the border police; the Office for Immigration; the General Directorate of Information and Internal Protection, which oversees the collection of intelligence on organized crime and corruption; the General Anticorruption Directorate; and the Special Protection and Intervention Group. The national police agency is the Inspectorate General of Police, which is divided into specialized directorates and has 42 regional directorates for counties and the city of Bucharest. The internal intelligence service also collects information on major organized crime, major economic crimes, and corruption. |
| While police generally followed the law and internal procedures, police corruption remained a significant reason for citizens' lack of respect for the police and a corresponding disregard of police authority. Low salaries, which were sometimes not paid on time, contributed to the susceptibility of individual law enforcement officials to bribes. Instances of high-level corruption were referred to the National Anticorruption Directorate, which continued to publicize its anticorruption telephone hotline to generate prosecutorial leads for corruption within the police. Eight thousand posters were displayed throughout the country to publicize the hotline. |
| Police impunity remained a problem. Complaints of police misconduct were handled by the internal disciplinary council of the units where the reported officers worked. During the year, there were 54 cases of criminal prosecution of police officers, of which 44 were for bribery and influence peddling, and 10 for abuse of office. |
| Police reform continued during the year. The government, with support from foreign law enforcement agencies, offered police training workshops on topics such as human rights and the treatment of criminal suspects. The police increased hiring of women and minorities. According to police statistics, there were 5,255 female police officers, representing 10.4 percent of the total force as of January. There were 176 Romani officers. A program to improve relations and promote cooperation between police and ethnic minorities was implemented during the year. Police also used Romani mediators to facilitate communication between Roma and the authorities and assist in crisis situations. |
| Arrest and Detention |
| The law provides that only judges may issue detention and search warrants, and the government generally respected this provision in practice. The law requires authorities to inform detainees at the time of arrest of the charges against them and their legal rights. Police must notify detainees of their rights in a language they understand before obtaining a statement. Detainees must be brought before a court within 24 hours of arrest. The law provides for pretrial release at the discretion of the court. A bail system also exists; however, it was seldom used in practice. Detainees have a right to counsel and generally had prompt access to counsel and to their families. Indigent detainees were provided legal counsel at public expense. |
| The law allows police to take any person who endangers the public, other persons, or the social order to a police station. There were allegations that police often used this provision to detain persons for up to 24 hours. APADOR-CH repeatedly criticized this provision, stating that it leaves room for abuse. Human rights NGOs complained that authorities were frequently able to listen to discussions between detainees and their attorneys in police detention facilities. |
| A judge may order pretrial detention for periods of up to 30 days, depending upon the status of the case. The court may extend these time periods; however, pretrial detention may not exceed 180 days. Courts and prosecutors may be held liable for unjustifiable, illegal, or abusive measures. |
| Amnesty |
| In February President Basescu issued pardons for five persons for medical reasons and because of their age. On July 3, the president signed a decree pardoning a woman for humanitarian reasons. |
| e. Denial of Fair Public Trial |
| The constitution provides for an independent judiciary, and the government generally respected judicial independence in practice. However, the judiciary lacked the public's trust that judges were accountable and did not serve political or financial interests. There was a widespread public perception that the judiciary was corrupt, slow, and often unfair. |
| The law establishes a four-tier legal system composed of lower courts (judecatorie), intermediate courts (tribunals), appellate courts, and the High Court of Cassation and Justice. There is a separate Constitutional Court composed of nine members who are limited to a single nine-year term. The president, the Senate, and the Chamber of Deputies appoint three members each. The Constitutional Court validates electoral results and makes decisions regarding the constitutionality of laws, treaties, ordinances, and internal rules of the parliament. A prosecutor's office is associated with each court. The court having original jurisdiction over a case is determined by the nature of the offense and by the position a defendant may hold in public service. According to a European Commission report released in July, "judicial reform is moving ahead but progress is uneven." The Commission also criticized "inconsistencies in jurisprudence by higher courts." |
| NGOs and public officials frequently criticized the judicial system during the year. One cause was the failure of the judiciary's oversight body, the Superior Council of Magistrates (CSM), to create procedures for addressing potential conflicts of interest among its members. The CSM's practice of delegating magistrates to nonjudicial positions within the judiciary and appointing them to various government agencies also contributed to depleting the already understaffed courts and prosecutors' offices. The general prosecutor criticized the High Court of Cassation and Justice for frequently returning case files to prosecutors for additional investigation rather than ruling on the case as presented. Such requests contributed to frequent delays in court procedures, increasing the chances of political interference. Observers also expressed concern over a lack of judicial impartiality, since some members of parliament continued to practice as defense attorneys, both personally and through their law firm associates. |
| The ECHR ruled against the country for denial of a fair trial in a large number of cases, the most recent ruling being issued on December 16 in the case of Vili Rupa. |
| Trial Procedures |
| Trials are open to the public. The law does not provide for trial by jury. The law provides for the right to counsel and a presumption of innocence until a final judgment by a court. The law requires that the government provide an attorney to juveniles in criminal cases; in practice local bar associations provided attorneys to indigents and were compensated by the Ministry of Justice. Defendants have the right to be present at trial, to consult with an attorney in a timely manner, to confront or question witnesses against them, to have a court-appointed interpreter, and to present witnesses and evidence on their behalf. Defendants and their attorneys have access to government-held evidence relevant to their cases. Both plaintiffs and defendants have a right of appeal. |
| The law provides for the investigation by civilian prosecutors of crimes by the national police and prison employees. Military prosecutors continued to try cases that involved "state security" in military courts. Other cases involving "state security" but not military issues were tried by civilian prosecutors. Crimes by the gendarmerie continued to fall under military jurisdiction. In previous years, local and international human rights groups criticized the handling of cases by military courts, claiming that military prosecutors' investigations were unnecessarily lengthy, biased, and often inconclusive. Some lawyers claimed that these investigations only served to discredit the reputations of their clients rather than hold them accountable for any actual wrongdoing. |
| Political Prisoners and Detainees |
| There were no reports of political prisoners or detainees. |
| Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies |
| Civil courts functioned in every jurisdiction. Civil courts do not use a jury and function in a similar fashion as the criminal courts. Crime victims can assert civil remedies in either civil courts or criminal courts if they choose. This can result in a combined civil/criminal trial to resolve all issues arising from the criminal case. The Ministry of Justice administers civil courts and the CSM oversees the magistrates. Civil courts operated with the same degree of judicial independence as criminal courts. |
| Litigants sometimes encountered difficulties enforcing civil verdicts because the procedures for enforcement of judgment orders were impractical and caused delays. |
| Administrative and judicial remedies were available for violations of civil rights by government agencies. |
| Property Restitution |
| The law allows for property restitution and establishes fines for officials who hinder the process. The law provides for a property fund of approximately 14 billion lei (approximately $4.2 billion) to compensate owners of properties that cannot be returned. However, the fund was not yet listed on the stock exchange. In June 2007 the government adopted an ordinance providing for cash payments in lieu of restitution of up to about 500,000 lei ($177,000), paid over a two-year period. Claims in excess of this amount are to be paid with shares in the property fund. The restitution process continued to be very slow during the year, and the large majority of restitution cases remained unresolved. |
| Former owners' organizations continued to assert that inertia hindered property restitution at the local level. In some cases local government officials continued to delay or refuse to provide necessary documents to former owners filing claims. They also refused to return properties in which county or municipal governments had an interest. |
| The ECHR ruled in favor of the former owners in a large number of restitution cases, which represent the majority of complaints to the ECHR from the country. The number of such cases theoretically decreased during the year because the state entered amicable agreements in 60 cases which the former owners would otherwise have won. In September the ECHR ruled in favor of a former owner, Gheorghe State Viasu, who, after lawsuits that lasted for years and resulted in two final court rulings, died without either receiving back his property or getting any compensation. The ECHR condemned the state both for violation of the right to property and for the inadequate legal framework to restore nationalized or confiscated properties. At year's end more than 100 restitution cases against the state were pending with the ECHR. |
| Of the 201,750 claims filed for restitution of buildings, 110,481 were resolved, 39,871 of which were rejected; 7,172 cases qualified for combined measures (i. e., restitution in kind plus compensation in stock from the property fund or in other assets or services) ; 47,076 cases qualified for restitution in equivalent; and 16,362 claims were resolved by return of the properties in kind. |
| There were numerous disputes over churches that the Orthodox Church did not return to the Greek Catholic Church despite court orders to do so. |
| f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or Correspondence |
| The constitution prohibits such actions, and the government generally respected these prohibitions in practice. Nevertheless, there was a widespread perception that illegal surveillance still exists. |
| The law permits the use of electronic interception both in criminal cases and for national security purposes. A judge has to issue a warrant upon request from the prosecutor investigating the case. In exceptional circumstances, when delays in getting the warrant from the judge would seriously affect the criminal investigation, prosecutors may begin interception without a judicial warrant. Following this, however, a request for authorization must be submitted within 48 hours. Some human rights NGOs have noted that under the national security law a prosecutor may authorize the issuance of a warrant for an initial period of six months, which can be extended indefinitely in three-month increments without judicial approval. There were reports of electronic interception used outside of these legal parameters. |
| On October 16, the Constitutional Court ruled that the laws on national security and protection of classified information are in line with the constitution. The lawsuit between businessman Dinu Patriciu and the Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI) resumed at the Bucharest Court of Appeal. In May 2007 the Bucharest Tribunal ordered the SRI to pay 50,000 lei (approximately $17,700) in compensation to Patriciu for illegally tapping his telephones. Both the SRI and Patriciu appealed the ruling. |
| According to Romani CRISS and media reports, evictions of members of the Romani community continued to occur in Bucharest, Craiova, Targu Mures, Cluj, and other localities during the year. |
| Criminal complaints filed by Romani CRISS and Romani families whose homes in Bucharest suburb Chitila were demolished in 2006 remained pending; the homes had been illegally erected on public land. |
| The 250 Roma evicted from their homes in Piatra Neamt in 2006 remained unable to return. They were evicted following a decision by the town's mayor to repair the block of apartments they were living in. There was no new information on the case at year's end. |
| There was no further development in the case of the vice mayor of Miercurea Ciuc, who in 2004 evicted and relocated approximately 140 Roma to a hazardous area near a wastewater treatment facility. The Roma lacked alternative housing and continued to reside in that area. |
| Section 2 Respect for Civil Liberties, Including: |
| a. Freedom of Speech and Press |
| The law provides for freedom of speech and of the press, and the government generally respected these rights in practice. Journalists and private citizens could criticize government authorities, including those at senior levels. There were isolated cases of authorities intimidating or censoring the press or attacking journalists. |
| Laws restricting freedom of speech continued to cause concern among the media and NGOs. The law provides criminal penalties for "insult and defamation." Insulting state insignia (the coat of arms, national flag, or national anthem) is also an offense punishable by imprisonment; however, there were no reports of prosecutions or convictions under these provisions during the year. |
| The independent media was active and expressed a wide variety of views without restriction. However, politicians and others with close ties to various politicians and political groups either owned or indirectly controlled numerous media outlets in the provinces, and the news and editorial tone of these outlets frequently reflected the views of the owners. The tendency towards the concentration of national news outlets in the hands of a few wealthy individuals continued with the purchase of some outlets and the creation of others. |
| During the year there were a number of instances of members of the public insulting, hitting, or harassing journalists; public authorities and politicians were responsible for some cases of harassment. |
| A report on alleged interventions by National Liberal Party (PNL) senator Norica Nicolai with the National Penitentiary Administration to secure a job for her niece was barred from broadcast by state television TVR on January 9, even though editors invoked the public interest. As a result, journalist and editor Radu Gafta resigned and accused TVR leadership of censoring several investigations. Gafta had previously supported the 2007 broadcast of a surveillance tape of an apparent bribe exchanged between two former government ministers. After the tape was broadcast on prime-time news, Gafta was moved to a lower-rated news program. |
| On February 20, the Timis County Court sentenced and fined Timisoara mayor Gheorghe Ciuhandu for inappropriately lifting the accreditation of Malin Bot, then a reporter for the daily Evenimentul Zilei, and for ordering police to prevent his entry into the city hall. |
| On March 12, according to media reports, Mihai Braha, a reporter for the weekly Ziarul Tau in Vrancea, was physically assaulted by a subject of one of his articles. Braha had written that the individual illegally obtained a house from Marasesti city authorities. |
| On April 11, bodyguards of Greater Romania Party (PRM) leader Vadim Tudor reportedly confiscated a camera from a newspaper photographer and returned it later with all the photos deleted. The photographer had taken photographs of Tudor and two other politicians leaving a restaurant. One reporter stated that Tudor verbally abused the media representatives and, after one of them tried to call police knocked the cellular phone out of his hand. |
| At the end of April Liviu Dragnea, a Social Democratic Party (PSD) member and then-president of the Teleorman County Council, asked the civil court in Alexandria to prohibit distribution of the daily Gazeta de Sud Est until the end of the local electoral campaign. Dragnea claimed that the daily published false statements about him. The court rejected the request. |
| In May PSD senator Adrian Paunescu publicly insulted journalist Cristian Patrasconiu, a reporter of Cotidianul, before and after he published a laudatory letter Paunescu had written to dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. Local media reported that Paunescu used terms including "stupid," "pig," "miserable," and "beast." |
| On May 30, Robert Mihailescu, the head of the Internal News Department of the government-owned Rompres news agency (now called Agerpres), was suspended for the public accusations of censorship he issued against Rompres management. Mihailescu and reporter Ovidiu Barbulescu had left the news agency, saying that news items about certain political candidates in the local electoral campaigns were suppressed. Mihailescu sued Rompres management. |
| In June investigative journalist Mihai Munteanu of the daily Evenimentul Zilei received death threats from unknown individuals after disclosures about weapons transactions and alleged Russian penetration of the country's defense industry. |
| In June the Constanta Court ruled in favor of the PSD mayor Radu Mazare in his civil suit against journalist Feri Predescu, who accused him of links with local criminals. Predescu, who was then the local correspondent for TVR and Evenimentul Zilei, was ordered to provide financial compensation to Mazare and to publish a public letter of apology in a national or local newspaper. In late November the court of appeal in Constanta upheld the decision. The Active-Watch Media Monitoring Agency condemned the court's decision. The general secretary of Reporters Without Borders, together with local journalists and activists, signed a letter of support for Predescu. |
| On November 12, three unknown persons assaulted Ioan Romeo Rosiianu, editor in chief of the weekly Necenzurat and a producer of Axa TV Transilvania, and Claudiu Florescu, a producer from the same station, in Baia Mare. The attackers reportedly told them to stop their media reports or be killed. Rosiianu, who previously reported on the local mayor's links to controversial businessmen, as well as the way local authorities covered up alleged financial illegalities, also received numerous threatening phone calls. Representatives of the police and prosecutor's office reportedly pressured the station to fire him, which it did. |
| Laszlo Kallai, a reporter for the daily newspaper Ziua who had investigated money laundering and real estate operations involving Vasile Muresan, the head of the local intelligence and internal protection department of the Interior Ministry in Baia Mare, claimed he and his family were threatened by Muresan. Kallai quit his position with the newspaper following these threats. |
| The law prohibits denial of the Holocaust in public. In February the Prosecutor's Office of Bucharest Sector 3 decided not to prosecute a professor who consistently denied in the media and in his books that the Holocaust had occurred in the country. The Federation of Jewish Communities and a Jewish NGO had filed a criminal complaint against him in January 2007. |
| The religion law includes a provision that forbids acts of "religious defamation" and "public offense to religious symbols." NGOs and the National Antidiscrimination Council (CNCD) expressed concern that the law could infringe on freedom of speech and conscience. |
| Internet Freedom |
| There were no reported government restrictions on access to the Internet. The Internet was widely available in the country, and costs decreased due to competition. Internet cafes were widely available nationwide. |
| Academic Freedom and Cultural Events |
| There were no government restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events. In October PSD deputy Mihai Tudose asked the mayor of Braila to dismiss the director of a local theater, allegedly because she allowed the staging of a critically acclaimed play which contained harsh language and scantily clad actors. |
| b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association |
| Freedom of Assembly |
| The law provides for freedom of assembly, and the government generally respected this right in practice. The law provides that unarmed citizens can assemble peacefully but states that meetings must not interfere with other economic or social activities and may not be held near locations such as hospitals, airports, or military installations. Organizers of public assemblies must request permits three days in advance, in writing, from the mayor's office of the locality where the gathering would occur. |
| Freedom of Association |
| The constitution provides for freedom of association, and the government generally respected this right in practice. The law prohibits fascist, communist, racist, or xenophobic ideologies, organizations, and symbols (such as statues of war criminals on public land). Political parties are required to have at least 25,000 members to have legal status, a number some NGOs criticized as excessively high. |
| c. Freedom of Religion |
| The constitution and the law provide for freedom of religion, and the government generally respected this right in practice; however, there were some restrictions, and several minority religious groups continued to claim credibly that government officials and Orthodox clergy impeded their proselytizing and interfered with other religious activities. |
| Under the religion law, the government implemented a discriminatory three tiered system of recognition: "grupuri religioase" (religious groups that are not legal entities), religious associations, and religions. Grupuri religioase are groups of individuals who share the same faith but do not receive any support from the state or tax exemptions. Religious associations are legal entities that do not receive government funding, have to be registered as such in a religious association registry, and are exempted from taxes only for places of worship. Religious associations must have 300 members from the country and are required to submit members' personal data to register, in contrast to nonreligious associations that can register with only three members. To receive religion status, a religious association must demonstrate 12 years of continuous religious activity and meet a membership threshold of 0.1 percent of the total population (approximately 22,000 members). |
| The law does not prohibit or punish assembly for peaceful religious activities; however, several minority religious groups continued to complain that local authorities and Orthodox priests prevented religious activities from taking place on various occasions, even when their organizers had been issued permits. |
| Some minority religious groups continued to allege that local authorities in some cases delayed or opposed granting construction permits for unjustified reasons. A Greek Catholic community in Pesteana, established in 2005, continued to face discrimination and harassment. Tensions continued during the year due to the Orthodox Church's refusal to comply with a 2006 court ruling allowing Greek Catholics access to the local cemetery. After year long opposition, local authorities issued a construction permit for a Greek Catholic church, and the cornerstone for the new church was blessed in October 2007. |
| Several minority religious groups reported difficulties in obtaining approval to use public halls for religious activities following pressure by Orthodox priests, especially in rural areas or small localities. The press and minority religious groups continued to report instances of Orthodox clergy harassing members of other faiths. Several religious groups made credible complaints that local police and administrative authorities in some instances seemed to tacitly support societal campaigns against proselytizing. Members of various minority religions continued to report that their charitable programs in children's homes and shelters were perceived as proselytizing directed at adherents of the Orthodox Church; however, no conflicts were reported. |
| In May the Greek Catholic Church in Certeze, Satu Mare County, received land for the construction of a church that local authorities, under the pressure of Orthodox priests, had refused to return for many years. Cases of refusal to return land occurred in Feleacu and Morlaca, Cluj County. |
| A Roman Catholic Csango community, an ethnic group that speaks a Hungarian dialect, continued to complain that they were unable to hold religious services in their mother tongue because of the opposition of the Roman Catholic Bishopric of Iasi. Although the religion law entitles religious denominations to bury their believers in other denominations' cemeteries if they lack their own cemetery and communal (public) cemetery, in numerous communities Orthodox priests reportedly continued to deny permission to the Greek Catholic Church, the Baptist Church, and the Baha'i Faith to bury their members in either religious or communal cemeteries. |
| Several religious groups reported that the access of religious groups to detention facilities continued to improve. Regulations for religious activity in prisons provide for unrestricted access of recognized religions and religious associations to any place of detention, even if their assistance is not specifically requested. |
| Only the 18 recognized religious groups have the right to teach religion in public schools. However, a number of recognized minority religious groups complained that they were unable to have classes on their faith offered in public schools. Attendance in religion classes is optional; however, the Baptist Church and Jehovah's Witnesses reported cases of children who were pressured to attend Orthodox religion classes. |
| A 2006 CNCD decision to ask the Ministry of Education to remove religious symbols from school classrooms except where religious classes were taught was not enforced because of several ongoing lawsuits. The Ministry of Education, the Orthodox Church, and several NGOs challenged the CNCD decision. On June 11, the High Court of Cassation ruled in favor of their challenge. |
| The restitution law permits religious denominations to reclaim previously nationalized properties that housed schools, hospitals, or cultural institutions; however, implementation of the law was slow during the year. Of the 14,716 claims for restitution of religious property since its establishment in 2003, the National Authority for Property Restitution (ANRP) returned 1,313 properties by the end of the year, and another 295 cases were approved to receive compensation. Approximately 350 claims were rejected. |
| Property restitution was particularly important for the Greek Catholic Church, whose properties, including churches, were confiscated during the communist regime. The Greek Catholic churches were given to the Orthodox Church after their forced merger in 1948, and many other Greek Catholic Church properties were taken over by the government. Since 2003 the government returned 120 out of 6,723 total properties claimed by the Greek Catholic Church. |
| The Orthodox Church continued to resist the return of churches it acquired from the Greek Catholic Church. While the law permits the Greek Catholic Church to take court action whenever its dialogue with the Orthodox Church over church restitution fails, lawsuits were lengthy because of delayed hearings and repeated appeals; however, the number of court rulings in favor of the Greek Catholic Church increased during the year. |
| By year's end the Orthodox Church had returned fewer than 200 of approximately 2,600 churches and monasteries claimed by the Greek Catholic Church. The Orthodox metropolitan of Banat and bishops of Caransebes and Oradea maintained positive relations with the Greek Catholic Church on restitution issues; however, most other Orthodox Church representatives refused to return properties, even when ordered to do so by a court, generating tension in many localities. In Valanii de Beius, Bihor County, the Orthodox Church refused for over a year to comply with a final court ruling restituting a Greek Catholic church; eventually, the Orthodox Church handed the church over on April 2. In Simand, Arad County, where the local Orthodox priest had refused to comply with a 2007 court ruling, at the end of June, after lengthy negotiations, the Greek Catholics received their church. Because of the failure to get back its churches, the Greek Catholic Church continues in some localities to hold religious services in the open, for example, in Sisesti, Maramures County, where a lawsuit over the former Greek Catholic church has been going on for 16 years. |
| The Orthodox Church continued to demolish Greek Catholic churches under various pretexts and also used other methods to shield churches from restitution. On May 8, in Ungheni, Mures County, the Orthodox Church began to demolish an 18th-century Greek Catholic church after constructing a new Orthodox structure around the old church. The Orthodox Church ignored a court injunction obtained by Greek Catholic Church to stop the demolition. |
| Similar demolition cases occurred in Badon, Salaj County in April 2007 and in Taga, Cluj County in 2006. |
| The historical Hungarian churches, including the Hungarian Roman Catholic and the Hungarian Protestant Reformed, Evangelical, and Unitarian Churches, received a small number of their confiscated properties from the government. Through the end of the year, Hungarian churches received 806 of the approximately 2,700 properties they claimed under the law on return of religious property. |
| According to Roman Catholic authorities and media reports, the issue of the 19-story building to be constructed within the protection zone around the Roman Catholic Saint Joseph Cathedral in Bucharest, a designated historical monument, remained unresolved. The church argued that construction of the building might damage the foundations of the cathedral. In July 2007 a court in Dolj County issued a ruling suspending construction. It was later upheld on appeal. On July 7, the Constitutional Court rejected the developer's claim that a provision of the law protecting historical monuments was unconstitutional. The construction remained halted at year's end. |
| Societal Abuses and Discrimination |
| According to the 2002 census, the Jewish population numbered 5,785. Acts of anti Semitism, including vandalism against Jewish sites, continued during the year. In most cases the Federation of Jewish Communities notified authorities, but perpetrators were often not identified. The NGO Center for Monitoring Anti Semitism in Romania (MCA Romania) noted that authorities tended to play down such incidents, usually attributing the acts to children, drunkards, or persons with mental disorders. |
| On October 22, vandals desecrated 131 gravestones at a Jewish cemetery in Bucharest. A spokesman for the local Jewish community considered this to be an act of vandalism unparalleled in recent times. The prime minister and Ministry of Justice, in separate public statements, condemned all acts of this kind, including acts of anti-Semitism and racism. The police identified four school children, aged between 13 and 15 years, who admitted to having vandalized the cemetery. |
| During the year the extremist press continued to publish anti Semitic articles. The Legionnaires (also known as the Iron Guard, an extreme nationalist, anti Semitic, pro Nazi group that existed in the country in the interwar period) continued to republish inflammatory books from the interwar period. Authorities occasionally investigated and prosecuted offenders, but all court cases resulted in acquittals. |
| The law prohibits denial of the Holocaust in public. In February the Prosecutor's Office of Bucharest Sector 3 decided not to prosecute a professor who consistently denied in the media and in his books that the Holocaust occurred in the country. The Federation of Jewish Communities and a Jewish NGO had filed a criminal complaint against him in January 2007. |
| During the year anti Semitic views and attitudes were expressed on the talk shows of private television stations, which failed to respond to complaints filed by Jewish organizations regarding such views. Extremists continued to publicly deny that the Holocaust occurred in the country or that the country's leader during World War II, Marshal Ion Antonescu, participated in Holocaust atrocities in territory administered by the country. |
| On May 6, the High Court of Cassation and Justice overturned a 2006 ruling by the Bucharest Appellate Court that partially exonerated Marshal Antonescu and some others convicted for war crimes. Antonescu was responsible for widespread atrocities against the country's Jewish community and Roma during World War II. |
| The government continued to make progress in its effort to expand education on the history of the Holocaust in the country and included the Holocaust in history courses covering World War II in the seventh through 12th grades. |
| On various occasions throughout the year, high-level officials continued to make public statements against extremism, anti Semitism, and xenophobia and criticized Holocaust denial. In January government officials and members of parliament attended and addressed the commemoration of the 1941 pogrom in Bucharest. In September the government sponsored a regional conference in Bucharest on combating anti-Semitism. The country commemorated National Holocaust Day in October with events in several cities that were attended by key dignitaries. |
| The law to combat anti Semitism and prohibit fascist, racist, and xenophobic organizations includes the persecution of Roma in addition to Jews in its definition of the Holocaust, since approximately 14,000 Roma were killed in the country during that period. |
| On October 29, the Bucharest city council approved the construction plan for a Holocaust Memorial to be erected in downtown Bucharest. Construction had not begun at year's end. |
| For a more detailed discussion, see the 2008 International Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt. |
| d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of Refugees, and Stateless Persons |
| The law provides for freedom of movement within the country, foreign travel and repatriation, and the government generally respected these rights in practice. The government cooperated with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations in providing protection and assistance to refugees, asylum seekers, stateless persons, and other persons in need of international protection. |
| The law prohibits forced exile, and the government did not employ it. |
| Protection of Refugees |
| The law provides for the granting of asylum or refugee status in accordance with the 1951 UN Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 protocol, and the government has established a system for providing protection to refugees. The law on asylum, which is based on European Union (EU) legislation, prohibits the expulsion, extradition, or forced return of any asylum seeker at the country's border or from within the country's territory but extends the application of the exclusion clauses to "aliens and stateless persons who planned, facilitated or participated in terrorist activities as defined by international instruments to which the country is a party. |
| The law provides for the concept of safe countries of origin, and aliens coming from such countries have their asylum applications processed in accelerated procedure. Safe countries of origin are considered EU member states as well as other countries that fulfill certain conditions. |
| During the year the government opened an emergency transit center in the city of Timisoara. This is the second facility of its type in the world for the interim receipt of refugees pending processing and final transit to a receiving country. According to the UNHCR, conditions are acceptable. During the year, the center housed refugees from Sudan, Eritrea and Iraq, as well as a few dozen other asylum seekers whose refugee status determination was pending. |
| In practice the government provided protection against the expulsion or return of refugees to countries where their lives or freedom would be threatened; however, the UNHCR considered the time limits provided by the law for submitting appeal applications and court procedures to be too short. The UNHCR stated that government-sponsored programs for integrating refugees continued to improve, although more needed to be done in terms of identifying training opportunities for refugees, improving Romanian language courses, and ameliorating availability of information both for beneficiaries of the integration program and for public servants who administer it. |
| According to the Immigration Office, during the year there were no cases of temporary protection to individuals who may not qualify as refugees under the 1951 convention or the 1967 protocol. However, the government granted refugee status to 99 persons, subsidiary protection to 30 persons, and "tolerated persons" status to 139 persons. |
| Stateless Persons |
| Citizenship is derived at birth by those who have at least one Romanian parent. The law provides for birth registration as a basic right; however, some children were not registered at birth and were rendered de facto stateless by their lack of and inability to obtain identity documents. According to the country's Immigration Office, there were 268 stateless persons of foreign and national origin in 2008. However, the country has a substantial Romani population, and according to a survey released by the government in August, 1.5 percent of Roma lacked birth certificates, while other surveys indicate between 1.9 and 6 percent of Roma lacked identity cards. While some of these stateless persons were born in the country, limited information was available on the nature of this problem. |
| Section 3 Respect for Political Rights: the Right of Citizens to Change Their Government |
| The law provides citizens with the right to change their government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of universal suffrage. |
| Elections and Political Participation |
| The country held national elections for parliament in November. Despite some irregularities, including some allegations of vote buying, the elections were generally judged free and fair. The left-of-center Social Democratic Party (PSD), in alliance with the Conservative Party (PC), won 33 percent of the popular vote, and 114 seats in the 334-seat Chamber of Deputies and 49 seats in the 137-seat Senate. The right-of-center Liberal Democratic Party (PD-L) won 32 percent of the popular vote, and 115 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 51 seats in the Senate. Following the elections, these two parties formed a coalition government. Meanwhile, the center-right National Liberal Party (PNL) with 19 percent of the vote, and 28 Senate and 65 Chamber of Deputy seats, sat in the opposition along with the Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR), which won 6 percent of the vote, and nine Senate and 22 Chamber seats. No other parties won more than 5 percent of the vote as required by law to enter parliament. |
| Media and government officials criticized the uninominal voting system, which assigns parliamentary seats to party members based on a complex formula, for being too complex for many voters to understand and for awarding seats to party members who finished second or third in their district. |
| The law requires political parties to register with the Bucharest Tribunal and to submit their statutes, program, and a roster of at least 25,000 signatures. These 25,000 "founding members" must be from at least 18 counties, including Bucharest, with a minimum of 700 persons from each county. The party statutes and program must not include ideas that incite war, discrimination, hatred of a national, racist, or religious nature, or territorial separatism. |
| Organizations of ethnic minorities can also field candidates in elections if they meet requirements similar to those for political parties. The law defines "national minorities" as only those ethnic groups represented in the Council of National Minorities. The law requires that the organizations that are not represented in the parliament meet requirements that are more stringent than those of minority groups already represented in parliament. Such organizations must provide the Central Electoral Bureau a list of members equal to at least 15 percent of the total number of persons belonging to that ethnic group according to the most recent census. If 15 percent represents more than 20,000 persons, then at least 20,000 names from at least 15 counties plus the city of Bucharest, with no fewer than 300 persons from each county, must be submitted. Human rights NGOs criticized these requirements as discriminatory and aimed at eliminating competition to the mainstream organizations representing Hungarians and Roma, namely the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR) and the Roma Party Pro Europe. |
| While the law does not restrict women's participation in government or politics, societal attitudes presented a significant barrier. There were 38 women in the 334-seat Chamber of Deputies and eight women in the 137-seat Senate. At year's end, only two prefects (governors) of the 42 counties were women. |
| According to the constitution, each recognized ethnic minority is entitled to have one representative in the Chamber of Deputies if the minority's organization cannot obtain the 5 percent of the votes needed to elect deputies outright, but only if the organization in question gets 10 percent of the average number of votes nationwide necessary for a deputy to be elected. Organizations representing 18 minority groups received deputies under this provision. There were 49 members of minorities in the 471 seat parliament, nine in the upper house and 40 in the lower house. |
| Ethnic Hungarians, represented by the UDMR, were the only ethnic minority to gain parliamentary representation by passing the 5 percent threshold. Only one Romani organization, the Roma Party Pro Europe, was represented in parliament. Low Romani voter turnout due to lack of awareness, means, or identity cards further exacerbated the situation. |
| Government Corruption and Transparency |
| The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption, but the government did not implement the law effectively. The country is subject to a special European Commission mechanism for regular monitoring for progress in justice sector reform. |
| The authorities' generally ineffective response to corruption remained a focus of public criticism, political debate, and media scrutiny throughout the year. NGOs and the media continued to note that no major case of high-level corruption had yet resulted in judgments involving prison sentences. While there were some convictions of lower-level officials for corruption, the European Commission, in its July interim progress report, criticized court sentences as "lenient and inconsistent" and parliament for lacking an "unequivocal commitment to rooting out high level corruption." Moreover, there were efforts to weaken the criminal procedure code, such as through parliamentary provisions requiring authorities to notify suspects that they are being wiretapped. |
| The National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) was responsible for investigating and prosecuting high-level corruption, including cases involving members of parliament and government officials. Many anticorruption advocates criticized the justice minister's decision not to renew the mandate of the DNA head, whose anticorruption efforts were strongly praised by European Commission officials and media. He continued in his position on an interim basis at year's end. |
| The DNA continued its coordination with antifraud units set up within various ministries. The Interior Ministry's Anticorruption General Directorate, which investigates alleged corruption within the ministry, maintained an anticorruption telephone hotline to receive tips regarding corrupt officers from the general public. The Antifraud Department attached to the prime minister's office continued to investigate cases involving the misuse of EU funds. The Ministry of Defense also maintained its own antifraud section. According to the European Commission, the system to allow individuals to report suspected cases of corruption was neither accessible nor comprehensive, and implementation of rules to protect the confidentiality of whistle blowers was deficient. |
| There was little progress made in 10 cases involving former government ministers, due to the decision of the former parliament to block the investigation and to the dismissal of cases by the High Court of Cassation and Justice. The High Court's dismissal was based on the need to return the files of ministers to parliament for clearance (in three cases). By year's end, two of the 10 cases had been sent to court, three were with DNA, one had been rejected by parliament, and three were still pending in parliament. |
| In July 2007 the Constitutional Court declared that an ordinance permitting the DNA to initiate criminal investigations against former ministers without presidential or parliamentary authorization was unconstitutional. Such authorization was previously required only prior to investigations against current government members. This procedural ruling resulted from an appeal in a case against former prime minister Adrian Nastase, who challenged the constitutionality of the ordinance that made it possible for former ministers to be investigated without following the procedure mandatory for incumbent ministers. |
| In March the Constitutional Court resolved the dispute between the General Prosecutor's Office and parliament over what specific authorizations were required for criminal investigations against former and current ministers. The court ruled that parliament must approve investigations against ministers who are sitting members of parliament, while the president would have to approve investigations of ministers who are not serving in parliament. In October the Constitutional Court lowered the number of votes needed from members of parliament to authorize criminal investigations against cabinet ministers. |
| The law empowers the National Integrity Agency (ANI) to audit officials' declarations of assets, incompatibilities, and conflicts of interest. The law stipulates that the ANI can identify "unjustified" wealth, meaning that proof of illegal activity is required before an investigation may be initiated. The government amended the ANI law by emergency ordinance the same month it was created, lowering the standard of investigation to proof of unjustified wealth, defined as a change in assets that cannot be justified based on an official's legitimate sources of income. The ANI is authorized to examine annual asset declarations, but not bank accounts or other assets of individuals without their permission. Anonymous tips of an official's unjustified accumulation of assets cannot be used as grounds to initiate investigations, absent a decision by the head of the agency to initiate an ex-officio investigation. Some critics have noted that this discretionary authority should be vested in more than a single individual. |
| There were reports of political interference in the ANI's activities. An ANI inspector disclosed that a member of the National Integrity Council, which oversees the ANI, pressured ANI officials to stop an investigation against one of her clients. The ANI president demanded that the individual in question have her mandate revoked. Overall, the independence of the ANI is limited due to its inability to hire and fire staff. |
| In December, following the elections, all but two government ministries were renamed. Critics claimed that this measure was undertaken to erode the civil service protection of many mid-level positions within the renamed ministries, thus opening those offices to political influence. |
| The law provides for public access to government information related to official decision making; however, human rights NGOs and the media reported that the law was poorly and unevenly applied. Procedures for releasing information were arduous and varied greatly by public institution. On numerous occasions, NGOs and journalists took cases to court to obtain information. |
| Although the government ordered the intelligence services to release the files of the communist era Securitate intelligence service, the powers of the National College for the Study of Securitate Archives (CNSAS) were curtailed following a January 31 Constitutional Court ruling that the CNSAS law was unconstitutional. A government ordinance and a later law allowed the CNSAS to continue operation, but it was no longer entitled to issue verdicts that identify individuals as Securitate collaborators. |
| There were reports that local authorities occasionally impeded journalists, NGOs, and the general public from accessing public information that could have proved detrimental to select political interests. |
| Section 4 Governmental Attitude Regarding International and Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human Rights |
| A number of domestic and international human rights groups generally operated without government restriction, investigating and publishing their findings on human rights cases. Government officials were generally cooperative and responsive to their views. However, there were some problems. After two NGOs, the Center for Legal Resources and Terra Millenium III Foundation, won a joint lawsuit against Bucharest City Hall over the legality of a city construction project, the city requested a court to dissolve the NGOs. A law adopted in December forbids NGOs to have names that could falsely associate them with authorities or public institutions of national or local interest. Some NGOs, such as the Romanian Academic Society (SAR), thought that the law was aimed at harassing NGOs unpopular with government officials. |
| The ombudsman's office to protect citizens' constitutional rights had limited power and no authority in cases requiring judicial action. The office handled 6,090 complaints during the first nine months of the year. |
| The National Council for Combating Discrimination (CNCD) is an independent governmental agency that is under parliamentary control. During the year the CNCD received 837 public complaints of discrimination, of which 462 were resolved. Of these cases, 116 involved alleged discrimination on the basis of nationality and ethnicity and 15 involved discrimination on religious grounds. The CNCD received 62 complaints regarding discrimination against Roma in the areas of the right to personal dignity (30 complaints), access to public services (13 complaints), access to education (4 complaints), equal access to employment (6 complaints), and access to public places (6 complaints). The antidiscrimination law provides fines for discriminatory attitudes ranging from 400 to 4,000 lei ($156-1,560) for discrimination against individuals and approximately 600 to 8,000 lei ($140-1,400) for discrimination against groups of persons or communities. |
| Both chambers of parliament have a human rights committee; since these committees were comprised of political party representatives, their recommendations often reflected parties' views. |
| Section 5 Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons |
| The law forbids discrimination based on race, gender, disability, ethnicity, language, or social status, among other categories. However, the government did not enforce these provisions effectively in some circumstances, and women, Roma, and other minorities were often subject to discrimination and violence. |
| Women |
| Rape, including spousal rape, is illegal. The prosecution of rape cases was difficult because it required a medical certificate and a witness, and a rapist could avoid punishment if the victim withdrew the complaint. The successful prosecution of spousal rape cases was more difficult because the law requires the victim to personally file a criminal complaint against the abusive spouse and does not permit other parties, such as relatives or support organizations, to file a complaint on the victim's behalf. The law provides for three to 10 years' imprisonment for rape; the sentence increases to five to 18 years if there are aggravated circumstances. There were 36 rapes reported during the first half of the year. NGOs provided counseling and shelters for rape victims. |
| Violence against women, including spousal abuse, continued to be a serious problem, and the government did not effectively address it. The law prohibits domestic violence and allows police intervention in such cases; however, the law on domestic violence was difficult to apply because it contradicts the criminal procedures code and does not include provisions for the issuance of restraining orders. NGOs reported that domestic violence was common. According to the National Agency for Family Protection (ANPF), there were 8,484 reported domestic violence cases involving women and minor girls during the first nine months of the year. During the first two quarters of the year, there were 177 cases of death as a result of domestic violence. According to a nationwide survey, conducted by the Center for Urban and Rural Sociology (CURS) in March and April, 21.5 percent of the women reported being subjected to domestic violence at least once in their life, and 11.1 percent during the past year. The criminal code imposes aggravated sanctions for violent offenses committed against family members. |
| The courts prosecuted very few cases of domestic abuse. Many cases were resolved before or during trial when victims dropped their charges or reconciled with the accused abuser. In cases with strong evidence of physical abuse, the court can prohibit the abusive spouse from returning home. The law also permits police to fine the abusive spouse for disturbing public order. A total of 56 shelters provide free accommodation and food for a period between seven days and three months, and 40 centers provide legal and psychological counseling. There are also six counseling centers for aggressors. However, the centers were insufficient and unevenly distributed, and some parts of the country lacked any kind of assistance. During the year the National Domestic Violence Coalition, composed of more than 30 NGOs, continued to work with the ANPF to organize a number of domestic violence awareness campaigns. |
| The ANPF worked with the Romanian Orthodox Church to develop services for victims of domestic violence. The Romanian Orthodox Church was involved in a national campaign to stop violence against women, including domestic violence, and together with the Ministry of Education, developed a training program for priests in rural areas to support and combat domestic violence against women. The local budgets of the counties allocated approximately 650,000 lei ($200,000) for counseling and support to domestic abuse victims. |
| Prostitution is illegal but was prevalent. Police generally limited their intervention to fining prostitutes for loitering or disturbing the peace. According to local media, there were anecdotal reports that sex tourism existed in Bucharest and other major cities. The law does not provide punishment for clients of prostitutes, unless the prostitute was a minor and the client admitted knowing that fact before the act. |
| The law prohibits any act of gender discrimination, including sexual harassment; however, the population's awareness of the problem continued to be low. No effective programs existed to educate the public about sexual harassment. |
| The law grants women and men equal rights, including under family law, property law, and in the judicial system. In practice, the government did not enforce these provisions, nor did authorities focus attention or resources on women's issues. Women had a higher rate of unemployment than men and occupied few influential positions in the private sector. According to a September 2007 Partnership for Equality Center survey, differences between the salaries of women and men continued to exist in all sectors of the economy. As a rule, women had lower levels of education and worked in lower paid jobs. |
| Romani women often lack the training, marketable skills, or relevant work experience to participate in the formal economy. According to a 2006 Open Society Institute (OSI) report, only 26 percent of Romani women interviewed were part of the workforce. The average monthly income of women surveyed by OSI was 106 lei ($37). |
| The ANPF is responsible for advancing women's concerns and family policies. During the year the ANPF spent 178,000 lei (approximately $530,000) to support domestic violence prevention services in partnership with civil society and to develop services for the social reintegration of family violence victims and of perpetrators. |
| The law on equal opportunities for men and women provides protection to public as well as private sector employees and gives a female employee returning from maternity leave the right to return to her previous or similar position. |
| Children |
| The government publicly committed itself to children's rights and welfare, but competing priorities, bureaucratic inefficiency, and poorly allocated resources prevented this commitment from being fulfilled in practice. |
| Birth registration was not universal, and some children were denied public services as a result. The most common reason that some children were not registered at birth was that parents did not declare the child's birth to authorities. This was sometimes because parents lacked identity documents or residence papers or because the birth took place abroad in countries where parents were illegally present. Most such children have access to schools, and authorities assisted in obtaining birth documents for unregistered children. However, the access of such children depended on the decision of school authorities. Undocumented children also faced difficulties in getting access to health care. There were also reports of mistreatment of physically disabled abandoned children in state institutions and of prolonged incarceration for misbehavior within state orphanages. |
| Public education was free and compulsory through the 10th grade or age 16. After the 10th grade, schools charged fees for books, which discouraged lower-income children, particularly Roma, from attending. The UN Children's Fund reported that approximately 90 percent of primary school age children attended school. Conditions within the schools were often not conducive to learning. |
| Child abuse and neglect continued to be serious problems, and public awareness of them remained poor. The media reported several severe cases of abuse or neglect in family homes, foster care, and child welfare institutions. According to the National Authority for the Protection of Children's Rights (ANPDC), during the first six months of the year child welfare services identified 5,815 cases of child abuse, neglect, and exploitation resulting in their separating 938 children from abusive families and providing services to 4,240 children and their families. However, community-based social services remained unevenly distributed, raising serious concern that children and families lack access to basic social services. |
| Trafficking in girls for the purpose of sexual exploitation was a problem. There also were isolated cases of children who prostituted themselves for survival without third-party involvement. |
| In an April 2007 report, the Center for Legal Resources documented violations of basic human rights in institutions for children and youth with mental disabilities, including the lack of adequate services, limitations of individual freedom, and placement of children under two years of age without mental disabilities in such institutions. |
| While the law protects children from abuse and neglect, the government has not established a mechanism to identify and treat abused and neglected children and their families. The abandonment of children in maternity hospitals remained a problem, with 715 left in hospitals by their parents in the first half of the year according to official statistics. NGOs claimed the official statistics did not accurately account for many abandoned children; many children living in state institutions were never officially recognized as abandoned. |
| The legal age of marriage is 18, but girls as young as 15 may marry in certain circumstances. Illegal child marriage was common within certain social groups, particularly the Roma. There is no estimate regarding the extent of the practice, and information about individual cases surfaces only from time to time in the media. |
| According to ANPDC, at the end of June there were 1,058 homeless children nationwide. NGOs working with homeless children believed there were two or three times that number. NGOs noted that the number decreased only because the children have grown up, but that the individuals remained on the streets. |
| Trafficking in Persons |
| The law prohibits all forms of trafficking; however, trafficking in persons continued to be a serious problem. The law defines trafficking as the use of coercion, including fraud or misrepresentation, to recruit, transport, harbor, or receive persons for exploitation, including slavery, forced labor, prostitution, being a subject in pornography, organ theft, or other conditions that violate human rights. For minors under the age of 18, it is not necessary to prove coercion. |
| The country was a point of both origin and transit for trafficking in persons. While the majority of trafficking cases involved international trafficking between the country and Western Europe, particularly Italy and Spain, cases of domestic trafficking were also reported. Victims, primarily women and children, were trafficked for sexual exploitation, labor, and forced begging. In the first 11 months of the year, the government identified 1,211 victims of trafficking, a smaller number than in the same period of 2007 (1,723), of whom 595 were female and 179 were minors. For all of 2007, the government reported 1,780 victims of trafficking. Women between the ages of 18 and 25 were most likely to become victims of trafficking for sexual purposes. Children were more likely to become victims of trafficking if they came from orphanages or single-parent homes or lived in a dysfunctional family environment (e. g., families with financial difficulties, abuse, or alcoholism). During the year, there was an increase in the number of victims trafficked for labor and a decrease in those trafficked for sexual exploitation. For the first time, the number of male victims was higher than that of female victims. Sixty-one percent of the victims came from rural areas and were trafficked mainly for forced labor or begging. |
| Government officials reported that small groups of citizens were the most common operators of trafficking rings; several domestic prostitution rings were also known to be active in trafficking victims into, through, and from the country. In recent years the number of women and minors involved in trafficking as recruiters has increased; however, the overall number of trafficking victims dropped from 2006 to 2007, a trend that continued during the year, according to the National Agency against Trafficking in Human Beings (ANITP). |
| Most victims were trafficked through or out of the country under seemingly legal means. Traffickers used employment agencies and travel companies as fronts for their activities. It was not difficult for traffickers to obtain legal work papers for the victims they intended to traffic. Most women trafficked for sexual exploitation were recruited either by persons they knew or by responding to newspaper advertisements. |
| During the year, there was one case of a male police officer from Timisoara who was involved in the sexual exploitation of trafficking victims and was arrested on charges of human trafficking and complicity to in promoting prostitution. |
| Following the country's entry into the EU in January 2007, the vast majority of trafficking victims left the country through legal means, thereby eliminating the need for traffickers to rely on bribing officials to get trafficked persons out of the country. |
| The sentencing guideline for convicted traffickers is three to 12 years. The law provides for five to 15 years' imprisonment for trafficking in minors, for multiple victims, if a victim suffers serious bodily harm or health problems, or if the trafficking is done by a public servant during his or her official duties. A sentence of 15 to 25 years is mandated for trafficking that leads to the death or suicide of the victim. These penalties are increased by two to three years if the trafficker belongs to an organized crime group and by five years if coercion is applied against minors. |
| ANITP, which has 15 regional centers, is responsible for collecting all information related to trafficking in persons and coordinating government efforts to combat trafficking and treat trafficking victims. Regional centers coordinated victim/witness cooperation with law enforcement and helped victims access social services. Foreign donors supported training programs on victim/witness coordination offered during the year. Such programs helped victims better negotiate the cumbersome judicial system and led to more frequent convictions of traffickers. However, victims continued to face discrimination from the society at large, especially in small villages, due to cultural biases against women who are victims of trafficking. |
| ANITP further developed its national trafficking database to expedite identification of victims and improve victim assistance by implementing new statistics-gathering procedures. |
| The law requires the government to protect trafficking victims, but implementation of the law remained weak and uneven. Reports of law enforcement officials losing contact with identified victims were common. Some identified victims reportedly chose not to press charges to avoid cumbersome judicial procedures. Although the government trained border police to encourage victims to identify themselves, few victims were willing to do so. |
| A technical secretariat, established by ANDPC in 2005 and charged with implementing a national action plan to fight child trafficking and exploitation, carried out activities related to repatriation, protection, and social reintegration of unaccompanied children in difficulty in other countries, regardless of whether such children were victims or offenders. During the reporting period, the country's diplomatic missions reported that 385 unaccompanied children were identified in 22 European countries and the United States, a slight increase over 2007, when 373 such children had been identified. Most of these children were found in Italy and Spain. According to the ANPDC, by the end of the reporting period, 125 of these children had been repatriated. Most of the other children are receiving child welfare services in the countries where they were found. |
| During the year the government worked with domestic and international NGOs to build public awareness of trafficking risks and to improve the services offered to victims, developing seven national awareness campaigns. In addition, the regional centers sponsored five local campaigns in cooperation with local authorities and NGOs. Public officials made public statements during the year about the trafficking problem. During the year, the regional centers trained 1,156 rural policemen with regard to human trafficking problems. |
| ANITP continued to implement programs that started in 2007 and initiated new programs. In December ANITP began a project, financed by the EU and supported by several European NGOs, to support the institutional capacity to prevent human trafficking. The project involves research, a campaign against sexual exploitation of women, and training of rural police and other local actors in order to strengthen a national referral mechanism. In 2007 the ANDPC, the National Antidrug Agency, and territorial general directorates for social assistance and children's protection implemented a program in several cities to monitor child labor. The project established a system of services for the protection, rehabilitation, and social reintegration of child victims of domestic and international trafficking. |
| The State Department's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can be found at www.state.gov/g/tip. |
| Persons with Disabilities |
| The law prohibits discrimination against all persons in employment, education, access to health care, or the provision of other services. However, the government did not fully implement the law, and discrimination against persons with disabilities remained a problem during the year. |
| The law mandates accessibility for persons with disabilities to buildings and public transportation. In practice the country had few facilities specifically designed for persons with disabilities; however, their number increased during the year. |
| According to reports by human rights NGOs, the placement, living conditions, and treatment of patients in many psychiatric wards and hospitals did not meet international human rights standards and were below professional norms. Most psychiatric hospitals had poor hygiene, insufficient heating, and insufficient food rations. Some hospitals lacked running water, were heavily overcrowded, lacked a sufficient number of beds, and had no mechanism for complaints of abuse. Patients were in many cases secluded in rooms with metal bars on the windows based on arbitrary decisions of the staff. Conditions in psychiatric wards did not improve during the year. |
| While the government adopted an action plan regarding persons with mental disabilities in 2005, NGOs asserted that it failed to improve conditions in psychiatric institutions and had not implemented most aspects of the plan. The provision of community based mental health care services remained inadequate. |
| The NGO Center for Legal Resources (CRJ) criticized the government for its treatment of children with mental and physical disabilities. Children reportedly were being detained in adult facilities, some children were kept in permanent restraints, and abuse and neglect were commonplace throughout the country's mental institutions and health-care facilities. The CRJ also continued to report that minors with mental disabilities were routinely mistreated in government-run care institutions. These children were subjected to both verbal and physical abuse, including being tied to their beds, beaten, and threatened that they would be sent to psychiatric hospitals. In February the CRJ urged the government to take urgent measures to ensure the observance of the basic rights of children with mental disabilities in such institutions, reiterating criticism of the use of physical restraint for such children. |
| Some minors were sent to psychiatric hospitals without the consent of their legal guardians. According to human rights NGOs, there was no system to ensure that the rights of children with mental disabilities were observed in government-run care institutions. |
| National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities |
| Discrimination against Roma continued to be a major concern. Romani groups complained that police brutality, including beatings and harassment, was routine. |
| On August 12, the mayor's office in Craiova evicted over 80 Roma who were living in illegally built dwellings on land belonging to a military installation. |
| On September 2, the mayor of sector 2 of Bucharest evicted 21 Roma (nine adults and 12 children) from a building they had illegally occupied. |
| In December 2007 police evicted Roma from an illegally built tent camp close to the belt road of Bucharest. NGOs reported that Roma were denied access to, or refused service in, many public places. Roma faced persistent poverty with poor access to government services, few employment opportunities, high rates of school attrition, inadequate health care, and pervasive discrimination. |
| There was no further progress in the investigation of the August 2007 violent conflict between ethnic Hungarians and Roma in Apata village, Brasov County, where a group of ethnic Hungarians attacked a Romani neighborhood after having encountered Roma stealing crops from a farm. |
| A 2004 European Commission report estimated that the Romani population numbered between 1.8 and 2.5 million persons, although the most recent official census in 2002 reported the significantly lower number of 535,000, or 3 percent of the national population. In August the government released a survey estimating that the Romani population represents 5.7 percent of the total population of the country. According to NGOs, prior government figures were low because many Roma either did not reveal their ethnicity or lacked any form of identification. |
| According to the February 2007 Roma Inclusion Barometer, 23 percent of Roma were illiterate and 95 percent did not complete high school. NGOs and the media reported that discrimination by teachers and other students against Romani students served as an additional disincentive for Romani children to complete their studies. There were reports of Romani children being placed in the back of classrooms, of teachers ignoring Romani students, and of unimpeded bullying of Romani students by other schoolchildren. In some communities, authorities placed Romani students in separate classrooms from other students or in separate schools. |
| In reaction to a complaint filed by Romani CRISS in 2007, the CNCD confirmed that discrimination did occur in Josika Miklos School in Atid, Harghita County, where Romani students were separated from other students in the 2nd grade. The CNCD recommended that the school authorities desegregate the classes. |
| In July 2007 the Ministry of Education issued an order forbidding the school segregation of Romani students and mandating the desegregation of the first and fifth grades as students enter those grades. A Romani CRISS project monitored the implementation of the order in 134 schools from nine counties (Alba, Botosani, Brasov, Dolj, Galati, Hunedoara, Iasi, Neamt, and Salaj) and Bucharest in the school year 2007-2008, assessing the extent of all forms of segregation of Romani students in the monitored schools. In 77 schools (63 percent), the first and fifth grades were not desegregated, although the order stipulates desegregation. The survey also identified 43 segregated schools and 45 other schools with segregated classes. |
| According to a 2007 OSI report, ethnic Roma were five times as likely as members of the majority population to live below the poverty line. OSI also estimated that approximately 60 percent of Roma lived segregated from the majority population in communities with substandard housing and without basic governmental services such as schools, adequate health care, running water, electricity, and waste disposal. |
| Romani communities were largely excluded from the administrative and legal system. According to OSI research conducted in 2007, 4.9 percent of Roma lacked a birth certificate. Among non Roma citizens, less than 1 percent lacked a birth certificate. Similarly, surveys in 2007 and 2008 indicated that between 1.9 and 6 percent of Roma lacked identity cards, compared to 1.5 percent of non Roma. The lack of identity documents excluded Roma from participating in elections, receiving social benefits, accessing health insurance, securing property documents, and participating in the labor market. Roma were also disproportionately unemployed or underemployed. |
| Stereotypes and use of discriminatory language against Roma were widespread; journalists and even high ranking officials frequently made discriminatory statements. In May 2007 President Basescu used an extremely derogatory term to describe a Romani television reporter. The CNCD decided the statement was discriminatory and admonished the president, who challenged the CNCD decision in court. In May the Supreme Court of Cassation and Justice ruled that although the statement was discriminatory, the president could not be sanctioned because the phrase was used in private circumstances. |
| The government and Romani NGOs continued to implement a national program in several counties, such as Bihor and Braila, to identify Roma without birth certificates or identification documents and help them obtain such documents. In February Romani CRISS and police began implementing the program in Bucharest. |
| In June 2007 the government established a commission of Romani and non-Romani experts in Romani history and tasked it with studying the historical period of Romani slavery. The commission wrote a draft report which was not made public, and it did not continue activity during the year because of lack of funding. |
| The government considered ethnic Hungarians to be the largest ethnic minority, comprising 1.4 million persons according to the 2002 census. In the Moldavia region, where the Roman Catholic Csango minority resided, the community continued to operate government funded Hungarian language school groups; 955 students in 14 localities received Hungarian language classes during the 2008-2009 academic year. However, intimidation attempts continued. Two Roman Catholic priests from the village of Cleja (Bacau County) threatened to bar schoolchildren who take Hungarian language classes from attending the confirmation mass. In May the Association of Magyar Csangos from Moldavia filed a complaint with the CNCD against the priests, accusing them of discrimination. The complaint was pending at year's end. |
| A June 2007 study by the Institute of Public Policies and Romani CRISS pointed to the danger of online discrimination and hate speech, directed mainly against Roma and homosexuals, on the discussion forums of four national dailies. This situation continued on discussion forums of online dailies during the year. |
| In August 2007 the government established an institute to research the history, culture, and religion of, and policies regarding, national minorities. |
| Other Societal Abuses and Discrimination |
| NGOs reported that police abuse and societal discrimination against homosexuals was common and that open hostility prevented the reporting of some harassment and discrimination. Members of the gay and lesbian community continued to voice concerns about discrimination in public education and the health care system. |
| On May 24, approximately 200 persons participated in the annual "march of diversity" gay pride parade in Bucharest. Local authorities mobilized hundreds of police to protect the participants, and for the first time the parade ended without violent incidents. However, the "New Right," a neofascist group militating against homosexuality and claiming Christian orientation, sponsored an antigay rally on the same day at a different time and location and chanted virulent antigay slogans. The Conservative Party also spoke against the gay parade and sponsored a rally on May 25 in support of the traditional values. |
| There was no progress in investigating the violent incidents that took place at gay parades in previous years. |
| A number of young men in police detention whom other inmates perceived as being homosexual complained of harassment and violence by other inmates while authorities failed to protect them effectively. |
| In July 2007, for the first time, a Bucharest court ruled in favor of a person who accused a company of discrimination in access to services on grounds of sexual orientation. A complaint with the CNCD regarding the case remained pending at year's end. |
| Authorities rarely enforced laws prohibiting discrimination against persons with HIV. Discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS impeded access to routine medical and dental care. Breaches of confidentiality involving individuals' HIV status were common and rarely punished. |
| A 2006 Human Rights Watch (HRW) report noted widespread discrimination faced by children with HIV/AIDS and authorities' failure to protect them from discrimination, abuse, and neglect. According to the report, fewer than 60 percent of children and youths with HIV/AIDS attended school. Doctors often refused to treat children and youths with HIV/AIDS. Medical personnel, school officials, and government employees did not maintain confidentiality of information about the children, which caused the children and families to be denied services such as schooling. In some situations children and their parents were threatened by parents of other children to keep them out of school. There were also reports that children without any mental disability were placed in centers for children with mental disabilities because they were HIV positive. |
| Over half of HIV infected adolescents were sexually active; they frequently experienced reduced access to facilities for reproductive health care and the prevention of HIV and sexually transmitted infections. The 2006 HRW report found that although the country provides universal access to antiretroviral therapy, stigma and discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS frequently impeded their access to education, medical care, government services, and employment. The government lacked a strategy to manage the transition of HIV positive children living in institutions or foster care after they turned 18. Fewer than 60 percent of HIV positive children and adolescents attended some form of schooling. |
| During the year the government cooperated with international organizations to implement a national AIDS strategy by conducting conferences and disseminating brochures to raise public awareness of the disease. |
| Section 6 Worker Rights |
| a. The Right of Association |
| All workers, except certain public employees, have the constitutional right to associate freely and to form and join independent labor unions without prior authorization, and they freely exercised this right. However, employees of the Ministry of Defense, most employees of the Ministry of Interior and Administrative Reform, most employees of the Ministry of Justice, prison personnel, and intelligence personnel were not allowed to unionize. The majority of workers belonged to one of the five main national trade union confederations. Approximately 40 to 50 percent of the workforce was unionized; however, that number continued to decline. |
| The right to form unions was generally respected in practice, and many employers created enterprise friendly unions. Union officials stated that union registration requirements stipulated by law were complicated but generally reasonable. However, unions objected to the requirement that they submit lists of prospective union members with their registration application. Since employers also had access to this list, union officials feared that this could lead to reprisals against individual employees, hindering the formation of new unions. |
| The law allows unions to conduct their activities without interference, and the government protected this right in practice. Unlike in previous years, there were no reports of government interference in labor negotiations, trade union activities, collective bargaining, or strikes. |
| While the law permits strikes by all workers except judges, prosecutors, some justice ministry staff, and employees of the intelligence service and the ministries of defense and internal affairs, lengthy and cumbersome requirements made it difficult to hold strikes legally. Unions may strike only if all arbitration efforts have failed and if employers have been given 48 hours' notice. Unions complained that they must submit their grievances to government sponsored arbitration before initiating a strike and that the courts had a propensity to declare strikes illegal. Companies may claim damages from strike organizers if a court deems a strike illegal. |
| b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively |
| The law provides workers the right to bargain collectively, but government control of many industrial enterprises and the absence of independent management representatives at these entities hindered collective bargaining. Approximately 80 percent of the workforce was covered by collective labor contracts at the branch and unit levels. A national collective labor contract for 2007 2010 was concluded in January 2007 by the main employers' associations, trade unions, and the government. However, contracts resulting from collective bargaining were not consistently enforced. While national collective labor contracts are negotiated every four years, the minimum wage is negotiated every year. The wages of public employees were guided by a minimum wage stipulated by law and a pay scale specific to each ministry that was based on that ministry's annual budget. |
| The law has specific provisions against antiunion discrimination, which were generally respected. |
| There are no exemptions from regular labor laws in the country's six free trade zones and 31 disadvantaged zones. |
| c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor |
| The law prohibits forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however, there were reports that such practices occurred. Persons, primarily women and children, were trafficked for sexual exploitation, labor, and forced begging. |
| d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment |
| Child labor remained a problem. Although there are laws to protect children from exploitation in the workplace, the government did not consistently enforce them in practice. |
| The minimum employment age is 16 years, but children may work with the consent of parents or guardians at age 15. Minors are prohibited from working in hazardous conditions. Minors over the age of 15 who are enrolled in school are also prohibited from performing activities included on a list approved in June 2007 following an EU directive. Working children under the age of 16 have the right to continue their education, and the law obliges employers to assist in this regard. Children aged 15 to 18 may work no more than six hours per day and no more than 30 hours per week, provided that their school attendance is not affected. In practice, however, many children were reported to occasionally forego attending school while working. Minors cannot work overtime or during the night, and they have the right to an additional three days of annual leave. |
| Despite official recognition of the problem, child labor, including begging, selling trinkets on the street, and washing windshields, remained widespread in Romani communities, especially in urban areas. Children engaged in such activities were as young as five years old. |
| The ANPCD, under the Ministry of Labor, Family, and Equal Opportunities, has the lead role in monitoring and coordinating all programs for the prevention and elimination of the worst forms of child labor. There were 490 confirmed cases of child labor reported in 2007, 249 of these were in urban areas and 241 in rural areas. At the end of the first half of the year, there were 247 confirmed cases of child labor, 137 in urban areas and 110 in rural areas. |
| The ANPCD can impose fines and close factories for child labor exploitation. Enforcement tended to be lax except in extreme cases; despite what appeared to be child labor. For example there were no reports of anyone being charged or convicted during the year under any of the child labor laws. Employers who violated child labor laws were generally fined but in practice judges did not consider violations of the child labor law to be crimes. The Ministry of Labor's labor inspectorate reportedly carried out inspections of 100,200 employers in 2006. Out of 16,571 persons found to be without legal employment documents, 206 were youths aged 15 to 18. |
| The law requires schools to immediately notify social services of children missing classes to work. Social services are authorized to work with schools to reintegrate such children into the educational system. The government conducted information campaigns to raise awareness among children, potential employers, and the general public. The government also made considerable progress in establishing mechanisms to gather information and monitor child labor trends. |
| e. Acceptable Conditions of Work |
| Beginning in October, the gross minimum wage was 540 lei ($190) for a full-time schedule of 170 hours per month, or approximately 3.17 lei ($1.10) per hour. The minimum wage for skilled workers is 20 percent higher. The minimum monthly wage did not provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family. |
| Criteria for calculating the minimum wage are based on the average salary rather than in relation to the minimum basket of consumption. In July representatives of union federations, employers' associations, and the government signed a tripartite agreement which led to the October increase in the monthly wage. |
| Minimum wage rates were generally observed and enforced by the Ministry of Labor, Family, and Equal Opportunities. In practice, many employers paid supplemental salaries under the table to reduce both the employee and employer's tax burdens. However, this practice negatively affected employees' future pensions and their ability to obtain commercial credit. |
| The law provides for a standard workweek of 40 hours or five days. Overtime is to be paid for weekend or holiday work, or work in excess of 40 hours, which may not exceed 48 hours per week averaged over one month. The law requires a 24 hour rest period in the workweek, although most workers received two days off per week. The Ministry of Labor, Family, and Equal Opportunities effectively enforced these standards. Union leaders complained that overtime violations were the main problem facing their members, as employees were often required to work more than the legal maximum number of hours and overtime compensation required by law was not always paid. This was especially prevalent in the textile, banking and finance, and construction sectors. Union officials alleged that a majority of on the job accidents occurred during such compulsory, uncompensated overtime. |
| The law provides penalties for work performed without a labor contract in both the formal and informal sectors of the economy. Employers who use illegal labor may be jailed or fined up to 100,000 lei ($41,666). |
| The Ministry of Labor, Family, and Equal Opportunities has authority to establish and enforce safety standards for most industries but lacked trained personnel to enforce them. Employers often ignored the ministry's recommendations, which were usually only applied after an accident occurred. Workers had the right to refuse dangerous work but seldom invoked it in practice. |
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