In telephone interviews on 7 and 8 November 1996, the vice-president of the Romanian Helsinki Committee in Bucharest provided the following information. The Commission on the Events of December 1989 was established in early 1990. The Commission's objective was to issue a report clarifying who was responsible for human rights violations or atrocities committed during the events of December 1989. The commission, still operative, has yet to issue a report. Consequently, who did what to whom during the events of December 1989 remain largely unknown.

The vice-president added that most of the December 1989 fighting occurred in public, and she has not heard reports indicating that witnesses to the fighting have been subsequently mistreated by members of the police or army. She did not discount the possibility that people who witnessed fighting or atrocities in non-public places were subsequently threatened or too terrified to testify before the commission. The Romanian Helsinki Committee has heard reports that people who have testified or who intended to testify before the Commission were harassed, intimidated or threatened by strangers who were not in military or police attire. These reports ceased after 1995.

A consultant in New York who is a human rights lawyer specializing in eastern Europe, and who was the director from 1992 to 1995 of the Eastern European Project for the International Human Rights Law Group (IHRLG) in Bucharest, provided the following information in a telephone interview on 8 November 1996. The IHRLG is a Washington-based human rights organization that promotes human rights in numerous countries. The consultant has not heard any reports indicating that people who witnessed fighting or atrocities during the events of December 1989 in Romania, or who testified or intended to testify before the commission inquiring into the events of 1989, have been mistreated by the police or the army. However, he would not exclude the possibility that they have been subjected to harassment or threats, particularly if they witnessed atrocities in non-public places.

For information on the treatment of people who testified or intended to testify before the Romanian Supreme Court, which was inquiring into a December 1989 airport massacre, please consult the 3 June 1994 Reuters attachment.

For related information on the above-mentioned topics, please consult Response to Information Request ROM25441.E of 8 November 1996.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

Consultant specializing in human rights in Eastern Europe, New York. 8 November 1996. Telephone interview.

Romanian Helsinki Committee, Bucharest. 8 November 1996. Telephone interview with vice-president.

_____. 7 November 1996. Telephone interview with vice-president.

Reuters. 3 June 1994. BC Cycle. Peter Humphrey. "Romanian Court Tries Gruesome 1989 Massacre Case." (NEXIS)