Document #1188050
IRB – Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (Author)
A report from a United Nations Special
Rapporteur on human rights in Romania indicates that although
improvements were made in 1991 in regard to tolerance of ethnic
Romanian opponents of government, the same could not be said with
respect to Romania's ethnic minorities, particularly Hungarians and
Roma (Gypsies) (IRBDC June 1992, 18). According to Human Rights
Watch World Report 1992, "in general, members of groups
critical of the Romanian government continue to be the targets of
threats and intimidation" (1992, 512).
Sources currently available to the IRBDC
report on increasing tensions between ethnic Romanians and ethnic
Hungarians in Romania, discrimination in the administration of
justice and the electoral system, and harassment of ethnic
Hungarians by state authorities, including beatings by police
(APADO 15 July 1992, 1-12; IHRLG 17 July 1992, 5; RFE/RL 20 Mar.
1992, 20; Human Rights Watch Dec. 1991, 516). The International
Human Rights Law Group (IHRLG) recently reported that "although
Romanian law and the Romanian Constitution contain provisions
protecting human rights and the rights of minorities, the judiciary
and the government have not been responsive to the growing
manifestations of anti-Hungarian, anti-Semitic and anti-Gypsy
sentiment" (IHRLG 17 July 1992, 5). Please see the attached
documents for further details.
In addition, please consult Amnesty
International's Report 1992 and the Department of State
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1991 for
general information related to this topic. Of further interest may
be the IRBDC's Question and Answer Series paper, Romania:
Security Forces and the Romanian Intelligence Service (June
1992), currently available at Regional Documentation Centres.
Association for the Defense of Human Rights
(APADO). 15 July 1992. Judicial and Police Electoral Abuses in
Mures County, Romania 1990-1992.
Human Rights Watch. December 1991. Human
Rights Watch World Report 1992. New York: Human Rights
Watch.
Immigration and Refugee Board Documentation
Centre (IRBDC), Ottawa. June 1992. Romania: Security Forces and
the Romanian Intelligence Service.
International Human Rights Law Group
(IHRLG). 17 July 1992. "Restoring Most-Favored-Nation Status to
Romania."
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL).
20 March 1992. RFE/RL Research Report [Munich]. Vol. 1, No.
12. Edith Oltay. "Minority Rights Still an Issue in
Hungarian-Romanian Relations."
Association for the Defense of Human
Rights (APADO). 15 July 1992. Judicial and Police Electoral Abuses
in Mures County, Romania 1990-1992. Human Rights Watch. December
1991. Human Rights Watch World Report 1992. New York: Human
Rights Watch.
International Human Rights Law Group
(IHRLG). 17 July 1992. "Restoring Most-Favored-Nation Status to
Romania."
_____. 15 July 1992. "Lawyers Groups in
Romania and the United States Condemn Electoral Abuses in the
Transylvania Region of Romania."
_____. 15 July 1992. Open Letter to
Georghe Funar, Mayor of Cluj, Cluj-Napoca Municipality,
Romania.
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
(RFE/RL). 20 March 1992. RFE/RL Research Report [Munich].
Vol. 1, No. 12. Edith Oltay. "Minority Rights Still an Issue in
Hungarian-Romanian Relations."
_____. 13 December 1991. Report on
Eastern Europe [Munich]. Michael Shafir and Dan Ionescu. "The
Minorities in 1991: Mutual Distrust, Social Problems, and
Disillusion."