‘Authorities do not treat gypsies as ordinary citizens’ | News

Regional groups, experts, lawyers and members of the community interviewed by Al Jazeera reported that members of the gypsies, Europe’s largest and most marginalized minority, have experienced increased police and police violence during the pandemic.

In several European countries, including Romania, Northern Macedonia and Slovakia, the world has reported that racism, violence and misuse of state power have increased among gypsy men, women and children as the coronavirus health crisis continues.

Al Jazeera spoke to a 20-year-old gypsy who was shot dead by police last October in Homocean, a town in northern Romania. He was later arrested for assaulting a police officer.

“What started as a discussion about the marriage affair turned into a quarrel between my client and the neighbor. The place was called by local and state police, as the crowd gathered to watch the fight,” his lawyer, Eugen Ghita, told Al Jazeera.

“My client walked away from the fight and tried to flee the scene. He was then shot by a state police officer and shot six times without giving any warning.”

The gypsy, who asked for anonymity, was hospitalized with serious back injuries.

After spending three days in the emergency unit, he was arrested for assaulting a police officer.

“He went straight from the hospital to jail and did it there for the next six months for something he didn’t do. Since March, he has been under house arrest at his parents’ home,” Ghita said.

“My client’s parents are in a precarious work situation, they have to find a day job. It’s a very difficult situation for everyone. “

Al Jazeera spoke to the man in a video call.

“I didn’t know if I would survive,” he said. “If I’m ever in a situation with the police, I don’t trust them to help me, because I suspect they’ll treat me only because I’m Romani.”

According to Nico Remus, inspector of the Police Inspectorate of the Vrancea region of Romania, the police in the case acted in accordance with the law.

“Our officer was in immediate danger due to the unjust attack of the assailant. In such a case, the authorities can use a weapon to defend themselves, ”Remus told Al Jazeera by e-mail, confirming that the officer is still working for the Romanian police.

According to Ghita, unjust accusations of violence and gypsies are common practice.

“The authorities do not treat gypsies as ordinary citizens. When there is a minor problem related to a person of gypsy origin, the police use disproportionate force while imposing maximum penalties. ”

Such an incident appealed to the European Court of Justice; In October 2017, police killed a 21-year-old man in Mures, a county in central Romania.

“The 21-year-old was walking through a forest with three nephews between the ages of 10 and fourteen. A local called police to report a gypsy stealing wood from the forest.

“Police showed up and shot him in the head while the three minors were watching. He died in hospital an hour later. The Romanian court released the police on the grounds that it was a murder case, ”Ghita said.

The lawsuit remains open in the ECJ.

At the time of publication, the Romanian Interior Ministry had not responded to Al Jazeera’s request for comment.

Romania has one of the largest Roma populations in Europe.

According to research conducted by the Office of Democratic Organizations and Human Rights (ODIHR), most incidents of alleged police violence against gypsies in Europe occur in Romania.

But in other parts of Eastern Europe there are also accounts of misconduct by police against gypsies by Amnesty International and gypsy rights groups such as the ERGO Network and the European Gypsy Rights Center (ERRC).

ERRC spokesman Jonathan Lee said allegations of police misconduct have never risen during the pandemic, such as Romania, Serbia, Turkey, Northern Macedonia, Bulgaria, Ukraine and Slovakia.

“In the first fortnight of April we had seven cases of police misconduct in several European countries [last year] unlike when we had one or two complaints a month before the pandemic, ”Lee said.

“Now, the excuse for violence is almost always linked to COVID measures, such as not wearing a mask, gathering in a larger group, or not having identification.”

The report, published by the ERRC in October 2020, contained an incident in Slovakia in which a gypsy was allegedly assaulted by a police officer.

The man was smoking a cigarette in front of his house in Bánovce nad Bebravou, in northwestern Slovakia, but police stopped him for not wearing a mask at the time.

He spoke to the victim’s nephew ERRC and he recalled the scene.

“They immediately pushed against the car and twisted their arm. He was strangled, and my uncle was drowning. What’s more, the officials didn’t even wear the masks themselves. “

The incident was picked up and reported by a gypsy media station based in Slovakia, Gipsy TV.

Amnesty Human Rights researcher Barbora Cernusakova has told Al Jazeera she is concerned that law enforcement authorities could abuse the powers of minorities in blockades during detentions and be punished.

“Gypsy communities in countries like Bulgaria, Romania, France, Serbia and Slovakia have had a large police force in 2020, including the deployment of the army. We also obtained information about the use of illegal force by law enforcement officials against residents of such communities in various communities, ”he said.

According to a December 2020 Amnesty report, a police officer beat five gypsy children between the ages of seven and 11 in Krompachy, eastern Slovakia, with his defeat.

The group said four girls and a boy went to pick up wood and play in an area they had previously allowed when an officer chased them and threatened them.

The kids talked to Gipsy TV.

“We went to pick up the wood when a policeman started chasing us and yelled at us that if we didn’t stop, they would shoot us. After that, he beat us, ”one said.

According to a Gipsy TV report, local doctors treated the children. But the parents did not receive any documents from the injured.

An investigation into police misconduct is still ongoing.

Petra Friese, a spokeswoman for the Slovak Interior Ministry, told Al Jazeera that the investigation was continuing.

According to Amnesty Chernusakova, governments need to conduct swift, impartial and accurate investigations into allegations of police brutality.

“Governing bodies should immediately develop measures to mitigate the disproportionate effects that blockade measures can have on excluded groups,” he said.