For information on the customs, culture, and history of Gypsies, please consult Response to Information Request ROM18327.F of 8 September 1994. For information on the treatment of Gypsies current to 20 September 1993, please consult Response to Information Request ROM15249.E of 20 September 1993. Information on judges in Gypsy society could not be found among the sources consulted by the DIRB. For information on Gypsy political parties, please consult Response to Information Request ROM17818.E of 4 July 1994.

In a telephone interview of 5 July 1995, the Vice-President of the Romanian Helsinki Committee in Bucharest provided the following information on the Gypsy social and political hierarchy. There is a Gypsy king and emperor who have a royal court in Sibiu. King Ion Cioaba, and his cousin, Emperor Iulian, are self-appointed representatives of the Gypsies and are ignored by most Gypsies.

The social divisions within Gypsy culture are remnants of the medieval guild system. Gypsies are in social groups according to their ancestors' professions, some of which are no longer practised. The highest social group is the Gabor, which consists of the Gypsy intellectuals. Members of this group are the most educated of the Gypsy population and have the highest status in Gypsy society. They live primarily in the Mures district of Transylvania. Gypsies who reside in towns or villages tend to look down upon those Gypsies who continue to wander.

The Vice-President did not provide information on judges in Gypsy society, but did provide the following information, which may be of interest. There is a council of "wise old men" in Gypsy society, who apply Gypsy rules and who are respected and obeyed by other Gypsies.

For information on the current situation of Gypsies, please consult the attachments.

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. Please find below the list of sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

Romanian Helsinki Committee, Bucharest. 5 July 1995. Telephone interview with Vice-President.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada, International Service, Hull. 13 April 1994. Document sent to the DIRB.

Human Rights Watch (HRW). 1995. Human Rights Watch World Report 1994. New York: Human Rights Watch, pp. 216-18.

Human Rights Watch/Helsinki [New York]. November 1994. Vol. 6, No. 17. "Romania: Lynch Law: Violence Against Roma in Romania," pp. 3-8, 22-32.

Open Media Research Institute (OMRI). 29 March 1995. Transition [Prague]. Vol. 1, No. 4. Zoltan Barany. "Grim Realities in Eastern Europe," pp. 3-4, 7-8.

Reuters. 26 May 1995. BC Cycle. "Romania Denies Discrimination Against Gypsies.

DIRB Country File on Romania.

Revue européenne des migrations internationales [Poitiers]. Bi-Monthly.

RFE/RL Research Reports [Munich]. Weekly.

Uncaptive Minds [New York]. Quarterly.

Other oral sources.