Police Abuse of Roma in Bulgaria
28 May 2004
On January 20, 2004, ERRC Sofia-based partner organisations Romani Baht and Bulgarian Helsinki Committee (BHC) conducted an independent investigation in the Romani neighbourhood Fakulteta of Sofia, which documented the following:
According to the testimony of Mr Assen Zarev, a Romani man from Fakulteta neighbourhood, on the afternoon of January 16, 2004, two officers in uniform from Sofia's III Police Station attacked him while he was playing with his five children on the street. Reportedly, the officers, accompanied by a dog, had run out of a nearby forest in pursuit of a group of Roma who had cut down a tree, and they asked Mr Zarev in which direction the Roma had run. When Mr Zarev responded that he did not know, the officers released their dog, which attacked Mr Zarev, biting him twice on the leg. They proceeded to beat him while threatening him with their drawn guns. Mr Zarev's frightened children then asked the officers not to kill their father and the officers then handcuffed Mr Zarev and dragged him to the nearby forest. The officers eventually released Mr Zarev because a group of Roma followed them into the forest and insisted upon his release. Mr Zarev has obtained a medical certificate, which documented haemorrhages on his body.
Subsequently, at 6:00 AM on January 20, 2004, sixteen police officers carried out a police operation in Fakulteta neighbourhood - Glaveva mahala - which had been authorised by the Deputy Chief of Sofia's III Police Station, Major Stoycho Tafradjiev. The operation was reportedly carried out to detain Roma who had allegedly attacked the police officers while the latter attempted to detain Mr Assen Zarev on January 16. According to information from the police, on January 16, Roma threw stones at the police officers and injured one of them in the eye.
According to victims and witnesses with whom Romani Baht and BHC investigators spoke, during the operation on January 20, police officers forced their way into a number of Romani houses, breaking windows, beds, washing machines, tape recorders, televisions and other possessions. Investigators observed damage reportedly caused by police officers in a number of houses in Fakulteta, including a broken sofa, torn curtains, a broken handle of a washing machine, a broken hi-fi, a broken double bed, and a broken TV remote control. Approximately 30 people reportedly witnessed the incidents. The precise addresses of houses in which police officers destroyed property are known to the ERRC and can be made available in the event of an official investigation into the case.
On January 30, 2004 the ERRC sent a letter of concern to the Bulgarian Minister of Interior requesting immediate measures to ensure that the alleged instances of police abuse and misuse of power against Roma are thoroughly and impartially investigated, and that all law enforcement officials responsible for human rights violations in relation to these cases are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
According to information provided by the Minister of Interior in his response to the ERRC letter from March 19, 2004, the Sofia Regional Prosecutor's Office has opened an investigation into the actions of the police in the Fakulteta neighbourhood. Further information on the situation of Roma in Bulgaria is available on the ERRC's Internet website at: http://www.errc.org/publications/indices/bulgaria.shtml. (BHC, ERRC, Romani Baht Foundation)
