ERRC attacks lead poisoning in Kosovo Roma camps
6 September 2005
In 2000, WHO told UNMIK that the Roma living on the IDP camps in North Mitroveca had to be evacuated because the sites were toxic and contaminated with lead from the Trepca mine. No action was taken. In 2004, WHO tested the blood lead levels of the camp residents and again told UNMIK that immediate evacuation was necessary as the situation was a serious health hazard. Still in September 2005, the Roma have not been evacuated.
On 2 September 2005, ERRC filed a complaint with the prosecutor in Pristina asking him to investigate under Article 291(5) of the Provisional Criminal Code of Kosovo to find the perpetrators who were causing serious personal injury to the Roma and to bring criminal charges. If these perpetrators are local officials or internationals who have immunity, immunity must be lifted so proper procedures can be taken.
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Seventy-two years ago today, 2,897 men, women, and children from Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp were forced onto trucks, taken to gas chamber V, and murdered with Zyklon B hydrogen cyanide. Their bodies, too many for the crematorium’s capacity, were burned in pits outside. Upon the Soviet liberation of Auschwitz in 1945, only 4 Roma remained alive.
