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TITLE: ROMANIA HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES, 1993
DATE: JANUARY 31, 1994
AUTHOR: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
ROMANIA
Romania is a constitutional republic with a multiparty
parliamentary system. In the 1992 presidential election, Ion
Iliescu was reelected President with 61 percent of the popular
vote. In November 1992, President Iliescu's designee for Prime
Minister, economist Nicolae Vacaroiu, won a vote of confidence
with a government composed of technocrats and members of the
Party of Social Democracy of Romania (PDSR), formerly the
Democratic National Salvation Front.
Romania continued to struggle in 1993 with the political,
economic, and social pressures produced by its transition from
a totalitarian state with a centralized economy to a democratic
system of government with a free market economy. These
pressures contributed to ethnic tensions, social unrest
resulting from rising unemployment and inflation, and an
increase in crime.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs supervises the police, who are
charged with maintaining law and order. There were credible
reports of police abuse of detainees and prisoners in 1993 (see
Sections 1.a and 1.c). The 1992 law governing the Romanian
Intelligence Service (SRI) establishes oversight through a
parliamentary joint committee, created in June 1993. The law
allows the SRI to justify otherwise prohibited actions on
broadly defined national security grounds. There were no
substantiated reports of human rights abuses by the SRI in
1993, and allegations of surveillance or harassment of
political activists decreased in 1993.
The transition to a market economy continued to be painful and
slow. However, after 4 years of continuing economic decline,
there were signs that the rate of decline had slowed. The
process of privatizing small and medium-size state enterprises
continued on a modest scale. According to government
estimates, the private sector now contributes between 15 and 25
percent of the gross domestic product and more than 40 percent
of retail sales. Some 80 percent of arable land is now in the
hands of private farmers, although the plots average only 3.9
acres, and clear titles have been issued to less than a fifth
of successful claimants. Unemployment hovers near 10 percent,
with inflation in the range of 300 percent by year's end.
Romania continued efforts to move from its authoritarian past
to a democratic system. In a significant move to deal with
minority issues and problems, the Government established a
consultative Council for National Minorities to serve as a
forum for the discussion of minority issues and problems and to
make recommendations to the Government. Headed by the
Secretary General of the Government, the Council is composed of
representatives from all 16 officially recognized minorities
and 12 government ministries. It made several recommendations
on the resolution of specific issues, which remain before the
Government for final approval. However, on August 31, the
Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania (UDMR) withdrew its
representatives from the Council on the grounds that it had yet
to achieve concrete results.
Discrimination against Roma (Gypsies) continued, and there were
complaints of discrimination against ethnic Hungarians. One
instance of mob violence against Roma resulted in the deaths of
three Roma. The Government quickly condemned the violence and
took disciplinary actions against police for their passivity.
Government money allocated to assist the victims had not yet
been disbursed at year's end. Societal discrimination and
violence against women remain a problem. Press and radio
continued to operate free of political pressure, but there was
concern about the independence of state-owned television, the
primary broadcast medium.
RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
Section 1 Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including
Freedom from:
a. Political and Other Extrajudicial Killing
There were no reported political or other extrajudicial
killings in 1993. There were credible accounts of police
brutality contributing to the death of at least two detainees.
A police officer was arrested for abusive treatment following
the death of a beggar who had been beaten. The General
Prosecutor was investigating the death of an arrestee in
Dorohoi who died, ostensibly of heart failure, after a week in
police custody.
b. Disappearance
No instances of disappearance were reported in 1993.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment
The Constitution prohibits torture and inhuman or degrading
punishment or treatment. However, Helsinki Watch reported in
January 1993 that the beating of detainees during arrest or
when first taken to police stations was widespread. Romanian
human rights organizations corroborated these reports. The
office of the military prosecutor, responsible for legal
oversight of the police, has investigated a number of these
cases, usually without result. A human rights organization was
told by the prosecutor's office that nearly 20 police officers
are awaiting trial for violent treatment of detainees.
Several human rights organizations reported abuses in Romanian
prisons, including overcrowding and reliance on a cell boss
system, which one group termed "inherently abusive." The use
of leg irons seems to have continued in some prisons, despite a
1992 government order banning their use on pretrial detainees.
There were credible reports that in several instances police
beat detainees charged with committing homosexual acts, illegal
under Article 200 of the Romanian Penal Code, to force them to
confess to this crime. Allegedly fearful of retaliation, such
detainees have not filed charges against police. The Foreign
Ministry Office of Human Rights contends that allegations of
abusive investigations have proved baseless.
The number of instances in which policemen were fined or
imprisoned for misconduct was minimal in 1993, in part due to
the failure of military prosecutors to conduct thorough
investigations (see Section 1.d.).
d. Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, or Exile
Romanian law forbids the detention of anyone by police for more
than 24 hours without an arrest order from a prosecutor, who
may order detention for 30 days. Detainees have the right to
apply for bail and may ask for a hearing before a judge. The
case must be heard within 24 hours of such a request. (In the
absence of a request, however, a person may be held for up to
65 days without a court order, and it is clear that many
citizens are not adequately informed of their rights in this
regard.) The Government is liable for damages to persons held
in violation of these provisions.
The authorities are required to inform an arrestee of the
charges. He or she also has the right to have an attorney
present at all stages of the legal process, and police must
notify the defendant of this right, in a language the defendant
understands, before obtaining any statement from the arrestee.
However, the prosecutor's office may delay action on a request
for a lawyer for up to 5 days from the date of arrest. The
local bar association provides attorneys to indigents and is
compensated by the Ministry of Justice. The Government
acknowledges that the police sometimes failed to inform
arrestees of their right to counsel in a timely manner.
Exile was not used as a means of punishment in 1993.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial
The 1992 law on the reorganization of the judiciary, which
officially took effect on July 1, 1993, provides for the
establishment of a four-tiered legal system, including the
reestablishment of appellate courts, which ceased to exist
under Communist rule in 1952. The final recourse is to the
Supreme Court or, for constitutional matters, to the
Constitutional Court, established in 1992.
The provisions concerning the reestablishment of appellate
courts were not implemented in 1993 because of insufficient
personnel and material resources, according to government
officials. The shortage of lawyers willing to work for the
Justice Ministry and to fill positions in the new courts
mandated by the law was exacerbated by the fact that private
practice is much more lucrative.
Cases involving military personnel, criminal acts against the
State (including treason and espionage cases), and acts
committed by police (considered to be military personnel) are
tried in a three-tiered military court system. This system
draws criticism from local and international human rights
groups, especially regarding investigations conducted by the
military prosecutor's office against police personnel accused
of abuses. They claim these investigations are unnecessarily
lengthy and often purposefully inconclusive.
Under the Constitution, the Ministry of Justice controls the
selection and promotion of judges. The Constitution and the
1992 law authorize life tenure for judges, who are appointed by
the President upon recommendation from a panel of judges and
prosecutors selected by Parliament. The panel, comprised of 10
judges and 5 prosecutors, together with the Justice Minister,
has broad disciplinary authority over judges.
The Constitutional Court, six of whose members are chosen by
Parliament and three by the President, has judicial
responsibility for constitutional issues, but its decisions on
the constitutionality of laws may be overridden by a two-thirds
vote of both chambers of Parliament.
Under the terms of the 1992 law, the courts are independent of
the executive branch. On July 14, however, 2 weeks after the
provisions on accountability went into effect, the Minister of
Justice relieved the president of the Bucharest municipal
court, Corneliu Turianu, of his duties, allegedly for
"politicizing the judiciary." Although the terms of the law
did not apply to Turianu, since he had not been appointed by
the President, the media and human rights groups criticized
this action as politically motivated. Some labor unions
alleged that the courts tend to side with the Government when
they rule on the legality of strikes and other labor actions.
The Prosecutor General is appointed by the President and is
responsible for the administration of the law, as well as for
criminal prosecutions. The Prosecutor General, who reports to
the Minister of Justice, appoints local prosecutors throughout
the country. A civilian was named to the post of Prosecutor
General in May following a recommendation from the Council of
Europe that members of the armed forces not hold this office.
Defendants benefit from a presumption of innocence. The
Criminal Code requires that, if a defendant cannot afford legal
representation or is otherwise unable to select counsel, an
attorney will be appointed for him. Either plaintiff or
defendant may appeal. In practice, these provisions of the law
were respected.
There were no known political prisoners in 1993.
f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence
The Constitution provides for legal protection against the
search of a residence without a warrant, but this protection is
subordinate to "national security or public order." The
National Security Law of July 29, 1992, defines national
security very broadly and lists as threats to national security
not only crimes such as terrorism, treason, espionage,
assassination, and armed insurrection but also totalitarian,
racist, and anti-Semitic actions or attempts to change the
existing national borders. Entry into residences without prior
authorization from a prosecutor is possible if a threat to
national security is "imminent."
The Constitution states that the privacy of legal means of
communication is inviolable. While the SRI is legally
prohibited from engaging in political acts, e.g., monitoring
the communications of a political party, the laws on national
security allow it to engage in such monitoring on national
security grounds. Similarly, although the SRI is required to
obtain a warrant from a prosecutor to carry out intelligence
activities involving "threats to national security," it may
engage in a wide variety of operations, including "technical
operations," in order to determine if a situation meets the
legal definition of a "threat to national security."
In 1993 there appeared to be little arbitrary interference with
individual citizens' rights to privacy; however, a few
nongovernmental organizations (NGO's) claimed to have had their
mail opened or their phones tapped. They attributed these
alleged actions to current or former employees of Romanian
intelligence services.
The Government took some measures to investigate reports of
continuing abuses. In the summer of 1993, for example, the
Prosecutor General's office began an investigation of the
Hunedoara branch of the SRI for illegal wiretapping. In early
1993, the mass circulation, sensationalist daily Evenimentul
Zilei, claimed it had detected the presence of bugging devices
in its offices, as well as in the offices of several prominent
organizations and political parties. Police examined the
premises and found no such devices.
The legacy of abuses carried out by the Communist-era internal
intelligence service, the Securitate, heightens sensitivity to
potential misconduct by the security services . The 1992 law
governing the SRI addresses some past abuses. It provides for
the establishment of a parliamentary joint committee to oversee
the SRI, which came into being through legislative action on
June 17. The committee has the power to approve the
appointment and tenure of the SRI director, as well as to
dismiss him; however, it does not have full budgetary control
over the SRI. In October the committee approved the formal
appointment of current SRI director Virgil Magureanu.
Parliament in joint session debated the annual SRI report. The
SRI law prohibits the SRI from hiring most former Securitate
officers. Parliament turned over the old Securitate files to
the SRI to be kept within its own archives for 40 years, after
which they will become public. The SRI director controls
access to them.
Section 2 Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press
Article 30 of the Constitution provides for freedom of
expression and prohibits censorship. Romanians generally are
free to express any opinions they wish. However, the same
article qualifies freedom of expression by prohibiting
"defamation of the country." While this provision could be
construed to restrict criticism of the Government, in practice
this did not occur in 1993.
In 1993 the press was free of state censorship or interference
and published a wide variety of opinions, although some
publishers accused the Government of manipulating the price and
supply of newsprint to the detriment of opposition newspapers.
Libel law is vague and potentially subject to abuse,
particularly if the full Parliament should approve a Senate
measure that would provide criminal penalties, including jail
terms of from 3 months to 3 years, for published or broadcast
"insult and calumny."
The League for the Defense of Human Rights (LADO), a Romanian
human rights organization, reported that Lucia Hossu-Longin,
director of a powerful television documentary series called
"The Memorial of Pain," received death threats from unknown
sources. Her work focuses on the abuses of communism,
especially on political prisoners and forced collectivization.
Critics have called for legal action against Hossu-Longin for
"inciting national hatred." However, no such action was taken.
Doina Cornea, an internationally known Romanian human rights
monitor, received a summons to report to the Prosecutor
General's office in Bucharest on February 8 to answer
allegations that she had attempted to undermine the State when
she called on the people to take action against the Government
during the September 1991 miners' incursion into Bucharest.
The President and Government publicly deplored the issuance of
the summons. The Prosecutor General's office represented the
incident as a mistake, withdrew the summons, and sent a junior
prosecutor to interview her at her home in Cluj. This visit
ended the affair, and no charges were brought against her.
However, Cornea and others described the original issuance of
the summons as a warning to all dissidents and as an attempt to
intimidate Cornea in particular.
Mihaela Germina Nicolae was accused of shouting obscene slogans
at President Iliescu when he visited the city of Cluj in June
1992. Charged under Law 61 of 1991, which makes it an offense
to use vulgar or insulting language when referring to public
personalities, and also charged with holding an illegal
counterdemonstration, she was acquitted on both counts.
Romanian State Television (RTV) remained the only domestic
television broadcaster with nationwide facilities. Although
the Government does not directly control RTV, its director,
appointed by the President, has been accused of using the
facility to support the Government and its program. The
director resigned under pressure on January 10, 1994. The
National Union of Theater Professionals protested the
director's decision to prohibit a television production on the
grounds that it cast unfavorable light on Romania's image
abroad. RTV's first channel reaches the entire country, while
its second extends to about 30 percent of the population.
Unlike the press or radio, Channel 1 was subject to both subtle
and overt political pressures, which at times resulted in
unbalanced news programs and occasional instances of censorship
and harassment of reporters. Channel 2 transmits in full each
evening the nightly news broadcasts of Moldovan television and
two Western European networks (in their original languages).
Channel 2 also carries approximately 60 hours of programming
weekly by the independent Romanian SOTI station.
Private broadcasting was in a state of flux, following passage
of an audiovisual law in 1992. The law created an 11-person
National Audiovisual Council (NAC), which began issuing
licenses to private television and radio broadcasters in
November of that year. The official criteria for allocating
licenses include programming quality and diversity and
political and cultural pluralism, as well as technical and
financial standards. The Council was accused of ignoring its
own criteria in several early decisions (for example, favoring
a station that now broadcasts 20 hours of CNN daily over those
with a more local focus). By September 1993, the NAC had
issued more than 40 television licenses, and 14 stations were
already broadcasting. However, the Ministry of
Telecommunications limited private television stations to low
power and a restricted broadcast range. Most of these use
state-owned transmitters during the off-hours when the public
network is not broadcasting. The NAC has also granted licenses
to about 200 cable companies. An estimated 200,000 private
satellite dishes capable of picking up foreign broadcasts had
been installed by 1993.
State-owned radio operates three nationwide programs which are
considered to be the country's most reputable information
media. By September 1993, the NAC had issued 82 licenses to
independent radio stations, of which 29 were already
broadcasting. The new stations featured mostly popular music,
but several also carried foreign news bulletins in Romanian.
Foreign publications are freely imported and distributed,
although their high cost limits their circulation. Academic
liberty, in terms of freedom of expression both within and
outside the classroom, is respected.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association
The Constitution provides for freedom of assembly. In
addition, the law on public assembly provides for the right of
Romanians to assemble peacefully while unarmed and states that
meetings must not interfere with other economic or social
activities. Meetings also may not be held near locations such
as hospitals, airports, or military installations.
Organizers of demonstrations must inform local authorities and
police before the event. The authorities may forbid a public
gathering by notifying the organizers in writing within 48
hours of receipt of the request to hold it. The law prohibits
the organization of or participation in a counterdemonstration
held at the same time as a scheduled public gathering. Sorin
Eduard Titei was sentenced to 333 days in jail by a local court
for violating this prohibition, but due to legal irregularities
Titei filed an extraordinary appeal, and all charges were
subsequently dropped.
Public gatherings to espouse Communist, racist, or Fascist
ideologies or to commit actions contrary to public order or
national security are forbidden. Unauthorized demonstrations
or other violations of this law are punishable by imprisonment
and fines. Constitutional provisions and laws on free assembly
were generally respected in 1993.
Romanians participated in numerous rallies in support of a
broad spectrum of organizations, including trade unions,
opposition parties, and minority groups, in 1993. Romanians
may form associations, including political parties, and may
obtain legal status for them by proving membership of at least
251 persons.
c. Freedom of Religion
The Constitution provides for religious freedom, and the
Government does not impede the observance of religious belief.
There are 15 religions, officially recognized under a 1948
decree, whose clergy may receive state financial support.
Another 120 faiths and denominations have received licenses
from the State Secretariat for Religious Affairs under a 1930's
law on clubs and associations, entitling them to juridical
status as well as to exemptions from income and customs taxes.
The Romanian Orthodox Church, of which approximately 86 percent
of the population are at least nominal members, is
predominant. Approval of new applications for official
registration is very slow due to bureaucratic problems. An
application by the Mormon church was approved in 1993. At
year's end, Parliament was still considering draft legislation
on religion which was first introduced in 1990.
The dispute between the Byzantine-rite Catholic (or Uniate)
Church, dissolved by the Government in 1948 and restored in
1990, and the Romanian Orthodox Church over restitution of the
physical assets of the former remained unresolved in 1993. The
Uniates claimed the State favored the Orthodox Church on the
property issues in dispute.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign
Travel, Emigration, and Repatriation
The Government places no restrictions on travel within Romania,
except in the case of certain small areas used for military
purposes, nor do Romanian citizens who wish to change their
places of work or residence face any official barriers.
Romanian law stipulates that Romanian citizens have the right
to travel freely abroad, to emigrate, and to return to
Romania. In practice, Romanian citizens travel freely both
within and outside the country, and the right to emigrate and
to return is respected.
In 1993 approximately 30,000 Romanian citizens whose requests
for refugee status had been rejected were returned from Germany
under the terms of a 1992 bilateral agreement. According to
German government statistics, 40 percent of those returned are
ethnic Roma. They received little or no resettlement
assistance. Reintegration is complicated by various types of
discrimination against Roma (see Section 5).
In 1991 Romania signed the 1951 Convention Relating to the
Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol but still does not
have legislation or an effective program to implement the
Convention. In 1993 the Government was extremely backlogged in
its procedures for ensuring asylum applicants even temporary
legal status until their cases could be processed.
Approximately 10 percent of the 1,172 registered asylum
applicants were housed in camps under inadequate conditions,
while others were left to fend for themselves, as they all
awaited decisions from the Romanian Commission for Migration.
The wait has been over a year in many cases. It appears that
Romanian officials are just beginning to establish a standard
procedure for refugee processing.
Section 3 Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens
to Change Their Government
Citizens have the right to change their government. Despite
some allegations of fraud and various procedural irregularities,
most international observer groups considered that the 1992
parliamentary and presidential elections met international
standards of freedom and fairness. Opposition groups currently
have 47 percent of the seats in Parliament.
The Constitution and electoral legislation grant each
recognized ethnic minority political party one representative
in Parliament's Chamber of Deputies, provided that the party
obtain at least 5 percent of the average number of valid votes
needed to elect a deputy outright (only some 1,100 votes in the
September elections). Parties representing 13 minority groups
elected deputies under this provision in 1992. The Hungarians,
represented by the UDMR, obtained 27 seats in the Chamber
through the normal electoral process. Roma (Gypsies) are
underrepresented in Parliament, partly due to their low turnout
and to divisions within the Roma community which work against
the consolidation of votes for one candidate.
There are no legal restrictions on the participation of women
in government or politics. However, there are only a few women
in Parliament and none in the current Cabinet, a situation that
reflects prevailing social attitudes.
Section 4 Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations
of Human Rights
Domestic human rights monitoring groups that were formed after
December 1989 include the League for the Defense of Human
Rights (LADO), the Pro-Democracy Association, local chapters of
Helsinki Watch and the Helsinki Committee, the Independent
Romanian Society for Human Rights, the Romanian Institute for
Human Rights, and the Association of Former Political
Prisoners. Other groups, including political parties and trade
unions, also have human rights sections that monitor human
rights observance.
These groups and international human rights organizations were
able to function freely without government interference.
International groups were free to meet with Romanian human
rights organizations and were able to meet with detained and
arrested persons and to visit prisons.
The Constitution mandates an Office of the People's Advocate,
an ombudsman with responsibility to "defend the rights and
liberties" of Romanians. The People's Advocate has no legal
authority to redress grievances but, in reports to Parliament,
may provide recommendations regarding legislation or other
measures for the protection of the rights and liberties of
citizens. Legislation implementing this position was not
completed by the end of 1993.
Section 5 Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Religion,
Disability, Language, or Social Status
The Constitution forbids any discrimination on account of race,
nationality, ethnic origin, language, religion, sex, opinion
and political allegiance, wealth, or social background. It
also states that citizens are equal before the law and public
authorities. The Government has frequently stated that its
policy is to guarantee and protect the rights of all citizens,
regardless of ethnic, cultural, or religious background. In
practice, however, Roma and other minorities are subject to
various forms of extralegal discrimination. There are
approximately 22 ethnic minority groups in Romania,
representing 10 to 12 percent of the population.
Women
Legally, women are accorded the same rights and privileges as
men in all areas, including education, access to employment,
and wages. However, in a difficult economic climate and in a
society where traditionally the economic role of women has been
considered less important than that of men, women are often the
first to be dismissed from employment. There are few women in
positions of importance in government or industry. Women's
issues receive little attention or resources from the
Government.
A few cases of on-the-job sexual harassment were reported in
the press. In most of these cases, male superiors extorted
sexual favors from women as a condition of continued employment
or with the promise of career advancement. One renowned
allegation led to the resignation of the Minister of Culture
after a Senate committee concluded from its investigation that
his "confused behavior" during the night in question harmed the
interests of the Ministry, although the committee did not make
a determination on the charge of sexual harassment. There is
currently no specific law to cover sexual harassment, nor is
there any organization that defends women's rights in this
area.
There is little official initiative on issues affecting women,
including family planning, crimes against women, and domestic
violence. Violent crimes against women were reported with
increasing frequency during the year. According to Ministry of
Interior statistics, 1,065 rapes were committed in Romania in
1992, and 670 in the first 6 months of 1993. For the most
part, women do not report rape. The rape victim receives
little sympathy from the community. Bringing a case of rape to
trial is very difficult. The woman's claim that she was raped
is not sufficient evidence, even if she is able to identify the
perpetrator. Witnesses are required.
There are no statistics available on the incidence of domestic
violence, although the director of LADO reported that over 60
percent of their cases were brought by women who wanted to
document beatings for their divorce hearing.
Children
The Government has increased its attention to the problem of
children, including by establishing a new program for street
children and by improving conditions for children in
institutions. The manpower and resources for these projects
continue to flow mainly from international agencies and
nongovernmental organizations. Domestic resources for these
children remain few. Orphanage conditions, grossly neglected
under the Ceausescu regime, have improved. A Council of Europe
commission, assigned to evaluate the conditions in Romania's
orphanages, found that conditions in the majority were in line
with average Romanian living standards and that 15 percent were
substandard. The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) held
several seminars during the year to sensitize Romanians to the
issue of children's rights, using the United Nations charter on
children's rights as a standard.
A new law on the abandonment of children, adopted on July 8,
requires orphanage directors to notify child welfare
authorities or the local court if an institutionalized child's
parents demonstrate an "obvious lack of interest" (not
precisely defined) in the child for a period of more than 6
months. The court then makes a determination as to whether or
not the child has been abandoned. If the court finds that the
child has indeed been abandoned, the child's name is given to
the Romanian adoption committee as a candidate for adoption.
Family members have the right to appeal the court's decision
until the child is adopted.
There was no apparent pattern of societal abuse against
children in 1993. Nevertheless, there were numbers of
impoverished and apparently homeless street children in the
larger cities. No statistics concerning this problem are
currently available. A new department of the Ministry of Youth
and Sports was set up to assist NGO's already working on this
problem, but resources are limited. Romanian youth
organizations remained concerned about the impact of
deteriorating economic conditions, which contributed to the
rise in juvenile delinquency and vandalism.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities:
The Government created a consultative Council for National
Minorities in April. Its purpose is to provide a forum for
dialog between the Government and all official minorities and
to make recommendations to the Government regarding minority
issues. Headed by the Secretary General to the Government, the
Council is comprised of 60 delegates: 48 representing the 16
officially recognized minorities and 12 representing various
ministries. These 12 ministries together are entitled to only
1 vote, while each minority also has 1 vote. Decisions require
a two-thirds majority and may be vetoed by the government
representatives or by the representatives of any minority
directly affected. If veto power is not exercised, Council
decisions are referred to the Government for approval or
disapproval.
In the area of Romanian-Hungarian ethnic relations, the Council
on August 18 adopted a recommendation to require the use of
bilingual or multilingual signs in localities where a minority
represented more than 10 percent of the population. (The
Government was given the option of altering the percentage in
question to 20 or 30.) The Council also adopted a proposal to
allow schoolchildren in grades one through four to receive
instruction in history and geography, in addition to all other
subjects, in their mother tongue, and agreed to provide 300
places for ethnic Hungarian-teaching students at Babes-Bolyai
University in Cluj. The Minister of Education had implemented
the third proposal, but as of October the Government had not
yet acted on the first two, due in part to vociferous public
objections (including the threatened introduction of a no
confidence motion in Parliament) by the nationalist parties.
On August 31, the delegates of the Hungarian Democratic Union
of Romania (UDMR) withdrew from the Council, claiming that it
had failed to make any substantive progress and characterizing
it as a "sterile club."
Roma (Gypsies), estimates of whose numbers in Romania range
from 427,000 (according to the 1992 census) to 3 million
(according to some Roma representatives), continued to suffer
many forms of discrimination which the Government is often
unable to prevent or unwilling to redress. The Ministry of
Education has instituted a pilot program to train Roma teachers
to provide mother-tongue instruction to Roma children in an
effort to keep such children in school.
Since the revolution of December 1989, a number of incidents
have sparked "vigilante-style" attacks against Roma
communities. One such incident in 1993 occurred in the village
of Hadareni, Mures county, on September 20. An argument broke
out in the street between a Roma and an ethnic Romanian,
culminating in the fatal stabbing of the Romanian. The Roma
and his brother fled for refuge to a Roma home. An angry crowd
of villagers forced the two men out of the house and beat them
fatally. Other Roma houses were set afire, and one other Roma
died in the flames. Police officers and the fire department
intervened late and ineffectively.
In reaction to this incident, the Government for the first time
issued a strong statement condemning all such "antisocial" acts
and warning that vigilantism was intolerable. The Government
pledged to punish the guilty, irrespective of ethnicity. It
acknowledged that Roma faced special problems, promised to
develop adequate social integration programs, and pledged to
use government funds to rebuild the destroyed homes and care
for the displaced children in the meantime. Investigations
were begun immediately by the police and prosecutor's office.
The commander of the county police was dismissed, and three
noncommissioned officers were transferred and punished.
A government decision in November allocated 25 million lei
(Romanian currency) were allocated toward rebuilding homes, and
an emergency medical center was established in a nearby
village. However, according to Gypsy and human rights
organizations, no other relief measures have yet been taken,
nor has rebuilding begun. Roma organizations have protested in
a press conference and several demonstrations against the
Government's lack of responsiveness.
Several pre-1993 incidents of vigilante violence against the
Roma remained unresolved. Investigations by the Ministry of
Defense and the military prosecutor's office of a July 1992
attack on Roma in a Bucharest city market, allegedly committed
by a group of masked military policemen, have yet to be
completed. The ethnic Federation of Roma reported that the
military prosecutor's office is using the excuse that the Roma
victims were unable to identify their assailants as a motive
for not concluding the investigation. The rebuilding of
approximately 20 Roma homes burned by Romanian villagers in a
1991 vigilante attack in Valeni Lapusului remains incomplete.
Houses in the Roma community in Mihail Kogalniceanu near
Constanta have now been rebuilt following 1990 mob violence.
Roma continued to face discrimination in workplaces and
schools. For example, a 1991 International Labor Organization
(ILO) commission found that Roma suffered both direct and
indirect discrimination in the workplace and were relegated to
low-paying, low-status jobs. It also reported that Roma were
excluded from educational and work opportunities that might
lead to higher paying or skilled jobs, and such discrimination
perpetuated their low status in society. In 1993 the
Government initiated some job training programs for Roma and
began experimental classes in the Roma language for Roma
children. A June 1993 ILO report concluded that the situation
had improved somewhat and praised the Government's general
responsiveness to the problem. Some Roma leaders charged that
the government television station was unwilling to broadcast
any Roma-oriented educational programs.
Hungarians, the largest ethnic minority, number 1.6 million,
according to the 1992 census, or more than 2.2 million,
according to Hungarian estimates. They are concentrated in
Transylvania. Instruction in the Hungarian language is
available in primary and secondary schools when there are at
least 7 elementary students or 15 secondary students to form a
Hungarian-language class. Some university courses are taught
in Hungarian in Cluj and Tirgu Mures. Ethnic Hungarians, who
were unhappy with the constitutional text declaring Romania a
"unitary state," fear a gradual process of cultural
assimilation and seek additional Hungarian-language
postsecondary instruction and use of Hungarian (rather than
Romanian with interpretation, as is currently provided by law)
in the courts.
In the Transylvanian city of Cluj, Gheorghe Funar, elected
mayor in February 1992 as candidate of the nationalist Party of
Romanian National Unity (PUNR), continued his anti-Hungarian
provocations. He took unsuccessful steps to evict a number of
publications from their offices, including a Hungarian-language
newspaper. The central Government, acting through the local
prefect (district head), declared several of Funar's actions
null and void, but the municipality continued to use local
statutes and regulations to harass local Hungarians.
In July 1992, under pressure from Romanian nationalists, the
Stolojan government had removed the ethnic Hungarian prefects
of Covasna and Hargita counties, the two counties where ethnic
Hungarians constitute a clear majority. Following
antigovernment protests, Stolojan agreed to a compromise
arrangement, appointing coequal prefects, one ethnic Hungarian
and one ethnic Romanian, in each of the counties. This
solution proved to be unsatisfactory to representatives of both
ethnic groups. On March 24, 1993, the Vacaroiu Government,
again due to pressure from Romanian nationalists, ended the
multiethnic arrangement by appointing ethnic Romanian prefects
in each county. The UDMR protested this change vehemently and
refused the Government's offer to name ethnic Hungarians as
deputy prefects.
The UDMR condemned the Supreme Court's June 7 rejection of an
appeal in the case of Pal Cseresznyes, an ethnic Hungarian
serving a 10-year sentence for attempted murder as a result of
his involvement in the Tirgu Mures incidents of March 1990.
Cseresznyes participated in the savage beating of an ethnic
Romanian, which an international journalist captured on film.
The UDMR's complaint centered on the length of his sentence and
on the fact that he was the only one of those filmed who was
brought to trial. The court maintained that, regardless of the
fates of the others involved, Cseresznyes had received a fair
trial and was guilty as charged. Thus it found no legal reason
to grant an appeal.
Religious Minorities
Physical attacks directed against Jewish persons or
institutions are not known to have occurred in 1993, nor are
graves or synagogues known to have been desecrated. However,
the extreme nationalist press continued its anti-Semitic
harangues. Both the President and the Prime Minister have
publicly condemned anti-Semitism, other types of racism, and
xenophobia. The President attended a ceremony to commemorate
Holocaust day at the Bucharest synagogue in April, the first
time a Romanian Head of State has ever attended a Jewish
religious service.
People with Disabilities
Postrevolutionary Romania inherited a legacy of neglect of the
severely handicapped population, both children and adults. To
redress the situation, the Government set up special programs
for the handicapped, including vocational training and special
schools for handicapped children. In addition, handicapped
children are now given precedence in foreign adoption
placements. The law does not mandate accessibility for the
disabled.
Section 6 Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association
Labor legislation, adopted in 1991, guarantees the right of
workers, except government employees and military and police
personnel, to associate freely, organize and join labor unions,
and engage in collective bargaining. The right to strike is
specifically guaranteed, and several major strikes or
demonstrations occurred in 1993. The primary exceptions are
employees in certain critical industries involving the public
interest, such as defense, health care, transportation, and
telecommunications, in which there are limitations on the right
to strike.
Most unions took a critical view of labor legislation. They
complained, in particular, about the legal requirement calling
for submission of grievances to government-sponsored
conciliation prior to initiating a strike as interference in
their freedom of action. Moreover, trade unions voiced
increasing frustration with the judiciary's propensity to
declare illegal virtually every major strike on which the
courts have been asked to rule. An ILO Committee of Experts
(COE) report in 1992 also registered concern that the current
laws fall short of ILO standards in several areas, including
the free election of union representatives, binding
arbitration, and financial liability of strike organizers.
Government officials, especially in the Ministry of Labor and
Social Protection (MOLSP), recognize these and other
deficiencies in labor legislation, but the Government has not
yet moved to amend the laws.
In May the country's largest trade union confederations
threatened to launch a nationwide general strike to protest
rapidly rising inflation and falling standards of living for
their members. The unions sought steep wage hikes to
compensate workers for continual economic dislocations
accompanying Romania's transition to a free market economy.
The strike was averted at the 11th hour when union and
government negotiators agreed to a package of concessions.
However, one confederation and several smaller labor
organizations engaged in sporadic strike activity until they
negotiated a separate agreement with the Government several
days later.
In August railway locomotive engine drivers launched a
week-long, economically damaging strike. Union leaders
initially defied a Supreme Court ruling to suspend the strike
for 80 days. At the conclusion of the strike, the National
Railway Company (CFR) began to fire union leaders around the
country and filed suit against other top leaders in an effort
to recover economic damages. Romania's major trade union
confederations, along with some political opposition parties
and human rights groups, interpreted the CFR's harsh actions as
union-busting tactics. Tension was reduced after the
Government fired the CFR president and 10 members of the
company's board of directors. The CFR then decided to
reinstate the fired union leaders, although it has not yet done
so, and to suspend the suit against others. Prime Minister
Vacaroiu pledged in December that no members would be fired
before the courts had ruled on their appeals. In an action,
pending since 1992 and involving the CFR's dismissals of four
union leaders accused of leading strikes against the company, a
neutral commission established by the Government ruled in the
unionists' favor.
The 1991 legislation stipulates that labor unions are
independent bodies, free from government or political party
control. The Government routinely consults with unions on
labor issues, though it frequently disregards union
recommendations. No worker may be forced to join or withdraw
from a union, and union officials who resign from elected
positions and return to the regular work force are accorded
protection against employer retaliation.
The majority of Romania's approximately 10.8-million working
people are members of about 18 nationwide trade union
confederations and smaller independent trade unions. In June
two of the nation's largest labor confederations--the National
Confederation of Free Trade Unions (CNSLR) and Fratia--formally
merged into the CNSLR-Fratia. The new formation boasts a
membership of 3.5 million members, representing over half of
the unionized work force. Like most membership figures in
Romania, however, this is probably exaggerated.
None of the trade union organizations engaged in direct
political activity in 1993, but in November and December
several of the larger confederations organized demonstrations
calling for the resignation of the Vacaroiu Government.
Labor unions have the right to affiliate internationally, and
representatives of foreign and international organizations
freely visit and advise Romanian trade unionists. Alfa Cartel
and Fratia are affiliated with the World Confederation of Labor
(WCL) and the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions
(ICFTU), respectively. CNSLR was accepted as an ICFTU member
in December as a result of its merger with Fratia.
In June the ILO conference noted the steps Romania had begun to
take to implement the recommendations of an earlier Commission
of Inquiry, particularly the establishment of a Council for
National Minorities, and urged further measures in law and
practice to eliminate discrimination based on political
opinion, religion, race, sex, national extraction, and social
origin. The workers' member representing Romania alleged at
the ILO Conference that in some enterprises managed by
technocrats of the old regime collective agreements were
implemented in a discriminatory way by the directors, who
favored house unions over independent ones and who dismissed
members of independent trade unions and women before all
others.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively
The 1991 legislation permits workers to bargain collectively.
The lack of any procedure to define which unions are recognized
by management as negotiating partners did not cause major
problems in 1993, unions and management generally finding
pragmatic accommodations. There were sporadic allegations that
union leaders are often the first to be laid off. Workers who
are illegally dismissed have recourse to the courts, which have
ordered the reinstatement of such employees, including in the
CFR case.
Continued state control over most industrial resources and the
absence of independent management representatives complicated
collective bargaining efforts. In addition to basic wage
scales established through collective bargaining, most workers
as well as pensioners receive thrice-yearly increases indexed
to prospective price increases. In 1993 workers received
additional compensation to cushion the economic blows caused by
the lifting of official subsidies for basic consumer items in
May and the introduction of a national value-added tax in
July.
There are no export processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor
The Constitution prohibits forced or compulsory labor. The
MOLSP effectively enforces this prohibition, and no instances
of such practices were recorded in 1993.
d. Minimum Age for Employment of Children
The minimum age for employment is 16, although children as
young as 14 or 15 may work with the consent of their parents or
guardians but only "according to their physical development,
aptitude, and knowledge." Working children under 16 have the
right to continue their education, and employers are obliged to
assist in this regard. The MOLSP has the authority to impose
fines and close sections of factories to enforce compliance
with the law. No violations of this policy were documented in
1993, and child labor does not appear to be a problem.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work
Most wage rates are established through collective bargaining
at the enterprise level but are based on minimum wages for
given economic sectors and categories of workers set by the
Government after negotiations with industry representatives and
the labor confederations. Minimum wage rates are generally
observed and enforced. In 1993 the minimum monthly wage
(nominally about $45 in December) did not keep pace with
inflation, and it was criticized for not providing a decent
standard of living for a worker and family, although basic
necessities like housing and medical care still are partly
subsidized by the Government.
The Labor Code provides for a standard workweek of 40 hours or
5 days, with overtime to be paid for weekend or holiday work or
work in excess of 40 hours. The Labor Code does not
specifically include a requirement for a 24-hour rest period,
although this is implied in the provision for a standard
workweek of 5 days. Paid holidays range from 15 to 24 days
annually, depending mainly on the employee's length of
service. Employers are required by law to pay additional
benefits and allowances to workers engaged in particularly
dangerous or difficult occupations.
Some labor organizations pressed for healthier, safer working
conditions on behalf of their members. The MOLSP established
safety standards for most industries and is responsible for
enforcing them. However, it lacks sufficient trained personnel
for inspection and enforcement, and employers generally ignore
its recommendations. Though they have the right to refuse
dangerous work assignments, in practice workers seldom invoke
it, appearing to value increased pay over a safe and healthful
work environment. Neither the Government nor industry, still
mostly state owned, has the resources necessary to improve
significantly health and safety conditions in the workplace.
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