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."