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TITLE: BULGARIA HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES, 1994
AUTHOR: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DATE: FEBRUARY 1995
BULGARIA
Bulgaria is a parliamentary republic ruled by a democratically
elected government. President Zhelyu Zhelev, former chairman
of the Union of Democratic Forces (UDF), was elected in 1992 to
a 5-year term in the country's first direct presidential
elections. Prime Minister Lyuben Berov, who headed the
government after the fall of the UDF government in 1992, lacked
a stable parliamentary majority during 1993 and 1994 and was
forced to depend on the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), heir
to the Communist party, for much of his support. Nevertheless,
he resigned in September. When the sitting parliament failed
to form a new cabinet, President Zhelev dissolved the
Parliament, called for new parliamentary elections in December,
and appointed a caretaker Government for the interim. Results
of the December 18 elections gave the BSP an absolute majority
in Parliament.
Most security services are the responsibility of the Ministry
of the Interior, which controls the police, National Security
Service (NSS--civilian counterintelligence), internal security
troops, border guards, and special forces. The President
oversees the National Intelligence Service (foreign
intelligence). In June Parliament passed a bill regulating NSS
activities. There were some allegations of police abuse toward
Roma.
The transformation of a centrally planned economy into a
market-oriented system has been retarded by continued political
and social resistance. The service and consumer goods sectors
in private hands continued to grow, but progress in the
privatization of large and medium-sized state enterprises was
very slow. Integration with Western security and economic
structures continued, and an association agreement with the
European Union entered into force. The Government reached
agreement with its commercial creditors to restructure
$8 billion of defaulted commercial debt, concluded a standby
agreement with the International Monetary Fund, and negotiated
structural adjustment loans with the World Bank.
The Government generally respected freedom of speech, press,
association, assembly, and travel, but xenophobia, nationalism,
and antiethnic expression grew markedly among the population at
large. Government actions and the rising level of public
intolerance significantly interfered with the activities of
some non-Eastern Orthodox religious groups. Police beatings of
Roma during arrest continued, albeit on a reduced scale; there
were no reports that the Government tried and convicted any of
the perpetrators. Private citizens increasingly attacked Roma
and other minority groups. The Constitution's provisions
against ethnically based political parties continued to hamper
political expression. Parliament, over President Zhelev's
objections, passed a judicial reform bill which could have
resulted in removal from office of the sitting Chief Prosecutor
and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, a move eventually
blocked by a Constitutional Court decision.
RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
Section 1 Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including
Freedom from:
a. Political and Other Extrajudicial Killing
According to human rights observers and journalists, the body
of a Pazardzhik resident who died while in police custody
following an August roundup of suspected criminals in that town
showed traces of beating on the head and body and burn marks on
the genitals. The man died 2 days after his detention during
the roundup, which was carried out by police from Sofia and
several other regions of the country. Police and one human
rights group have initiated an investigation.
On September 25, a detainee died 1 day after being taken into
custody by the regional police department of Pleven. The death
is attributed to anemia, embolism, and hematoma on the death
certificate; however, a witness told a human rights
nongovernmental organization (NGO) that the body displayed
facial injuries. The family of the deceased plans to pursue
the case by requesting an investigation, and police have
indicated that they would be cooperative.
A police investigation of a 1993 incident in which police
allegedly beat three escaped prisoners upon recapture,
initiated in January by the Sofia prosecutor's office, was
referred to the National Investigative Service in September for
further investigation. Two of the prisoners in that incident
were reportedly beaten to death. The police have generally
refused the requests of human rights groups to make reports of
its investigations public. The climate of impunity that the
Government allows to prevail is the single largest obstacle to
ending such abuses.
b. Disappearance
There were no reported instances of disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment
The Constitution expressly prohibits torture, cruel, inhuman,
or degrading treatment, forcible assimilation, and subjection
to medical, scientific or other experimentation without consent.
There continued to be a number of credible reports, although
fewer than during 1993, that police beat Roma upon arrest or
during other confrontations. Human rights groups also
complained of police brutality directed at non-Roma citizens.
To date, the Government has failed to convict and punish any
police personnel for brutality against civilians.
Conditions in some prisons are substandard, although they do
not appear to threaten life or health. Prisoners' complaints
continued to receive media coverage, which in some cases
resulted in improved treatment. The Government cooperated with
requests by NGO's to monitor prison conditions.
d. Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, or Exile
The Constitution provides for access to legal counsel from the
time of detention. Judicial authorities must rule on the
legality of a detention within 24 hours. Defendants have the
right to visits by family members, to examine evidence, and to
know the charges against them. Charges may not be made public
without the permission of the Chief Prosecutor. Pretrial
detention is limited to 2 months under normal circumstances,
although the Chief Prosecutor may extend this to 6 months and
may also restart the process.
About 30 percent of Bulgaria's approximately 8,500 prison
inmates are in pretrial detention. In the event of a
conviction, time spent in pretrial detention is credited toward
the sentence. The Constitution provides for bail, and some
detainees have been released under this provision, although
bail is not widely used. Neither internal nor external exile
is used as a form or punishment.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial
The Constitution grants the judiciary independent and coequal
status with the legislative and executive branches. The court
system consists of regional courts, district courts, and the
Supreme and Constitutional Courts. A 25-member Supreme
Judicial Council appoints judges who, after serving for
3 years, are assured of tenure, except under limited, specified
circumstances.
The Constitutional Court is empowered to rescind legislation it
considers unconstitutional, settle disputes over the conduct of
general elections, and resolve conflicts over the division of
powers between the various branches of government. Of the
12 justices on the Constitutional Court, whose term of office
is 9 years, a third are elected by the National Assembly, a
third appointed by the President, and a third elected by
judicial authorities. Military courts handle cases involving
military personnel and some cases involving national security
matters. The Constitutional Court does not have specific
jurisdiction in matters of military justice.
The Constitution stipulates that all courts shall conduct
hearings in public unless the proceedings involve state
security or state secrets. In one case, the defense lawyer for
indicted mayor Yusuf Djudjo complained he had been given
inadequate access to witnesses (see below). Defendants have
the right to know the charges against them and are given ample
time to prepare a defense. The right of appeal is guaranteed
and widely used. Defendants in criminal proceedings have the
right to confront witnesses and to have an attorney, provided
by the State, if necessary, in serious cases.
In June Parliament passed a judicial reform bill which
established separate Supreme Courts of Cassation (civil and
criminal appeal) and Administration. Nearly all observers
welcomed the law's comprehensive reforms as improvements in the
judicial system, consistent with the Constitution. However,
several elements proved controversial, particularly one
establishing the requirement that high-level judicial figures,
including the Chief Prosecutor, the Director of the National
Investigative Service, and the Presidents of the Supreme Courts
have not only 15 years' experience within the legal system but
also 5 years' experience as a judge, prosecutor, investigator,
or law researcher with academic rank. In effect, this
requirement disqualified anyone who had not held such positions
under the Communist regime, including sitting Chief Justice of
the Supreme Court Ivan Grigorov and Chief Prosecutor Ivan
Tatarchev. Parliament by a majority vote overruled President
Zhelev's objection to this provision. The President then
petitioned the Constitutional Court for a ruling. The Court
held that Grigorov and Tatarchev could not be removed from
office, but that the experience requirement was otherwise valid
and would apply to future selections for these posts.
Most observers agreed that the judiciary, while generally
independent, struggled with continuing problems in 1994. In
addition to the confusion created by the reform bill, it is
plagued by relatively low salaries, many unfilled positions,
and a heavy backlog of cases which sparked complaints that
pretrial detention is excessively lengthy. Partly as a legacy
of communism, and partly because of the court system's
structural and personnel problems, most citizens have little
confidence in their judicial system.
A number of criminal cases against former leaders for alleged
abuses during the Communist period were carried forward in
1994. In January a Supreme Court panel upheld the 1992
conviction of former dictator Todor Zhivkov for abuse of power
involving personal expense accounts and state privileges.
Zhivkov's sentence was upheld by one review panel but remains
suspended pending further supervisory review by the Supreme
Court. A second case begun in 1993 involving a charge of
embezzlement for giving grant aid to Communist parties in other
countries (the "Moscow case") moved forward slowly. In another
case, 43 former high-level Communists were indicted in 1994 for
having given grant aid during the 1980's to then friendly
governments in the developing world such as Cuba, Angola, and
Libya. Some human rights observers criticized these and
previous indictments, asserting the activities in question were
political and economic in nature, not criminal acts. The Chief
Prosecutor responded that the transfer of funds had been
carried out without parliamentary approval and was thus
illegal. President Zhelev in August pardoned on grounds of ill
health former Prime Minister Georgi Atanasov, convicted in 1993
of embezzlement of state funds, and he was released from
prison. Former Minister of Economy and Planning Stoyan
Ovcharov, convicted on the same charge, remained in prison.
Little progress was made in a case begun in 1993 concerning the
forced assimilation and expulsion of ethnic Turks in 1984-85
and 1989. Human rights groups complain that local prosecutors
and magistrates sometimes fail vigorously to pursue crimes
committed against minorities. In a trial relating to the
notorious death camps set up by the Communists after they came
to power in 1944, 3 defendants were charged with the murder of
14 camp inmates. A key witness in the case was murdered in
September, and some speculated that her murder was intended to
frustrate the prosecution of the case. Police authorities
initiated an investigation. The trial, itself, has been
delayed further while replacements are found for two jurors.
A controversial 1992 "lustration" act ("Law for Additional
Requirements Toward Scientific Organizations and the Higher
Certifying Commission") known as the "Panev law" continued in
effect in 1994. Under this law, former secretaries and members
of Communist party committees are barred from positions as
academic council members, university department heads, deans,
rectors, and chief editors of science magazines. By one
conservative estimate, a total of 1,637 people have lost
positions in academic institutions alone due to application of
the Panev Law. The Act applies a presumption of collective
guilt that conflicts with international human rights standards.
In October 1993, a local prosecutor removed Satovcha mayor
Yusuf Djudjo from office on charges that he had falsified
official documents and abused his administrative powers by
intimidating Pomaks (Muslims of Slavic ancestry). The charge
of intimidation was later dropped for lack of evidence, but
Djudjo was convicted in 1994 on the charge of falsifying
documents and given a suspended sentence. An examination of
the documents in question suggests that the changes made were
minor and without significant ethnic implication, e.g.,
changing the name "Asan" to "Hasan," or "Ibraimova" to
"Ibrahimova." Despite protests by Djudjo's lawyer that he had
inadequate access to witnesses, the Supreme Court upheld
Djudjo's conviction. Human rights groups, including Amnesty
International, protested that the proceedings showed clear bias
against the defendant. They also complained that provisions in
the Penal Procedural Code give prosecutors the right to remove
appointed and elected officials, who have little satisfactory
recourse.
Bulgaria has no political prisoners, although it appears that
political motives lie behind some indictments of former
Communist leaders on a variety of charges.
f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence
The Constitution provides for inviolability of the home,
protects the freedom and confidentiality of correspondence, and
provides for the right to choose one's place of work and
residence. Parliament passed a bill in June regulating the
activities of the NSS, which is responsible for civilian
counterintelligence. The law allows the Interior Minister to
authorize electronic surveillance for up to 24 hours without
informing other government agencies, if he determines there is
imminent danger to national security. Some human rights groups
asserted that the Government has carried out unjustified
surveillance of religious groups and of the outlawed Macedonian
group UMO-Ilinden (see Section 2.b.). Labor leader Krustyo
Petkov charged that security services monitored union
activities during the period before a threatened general strike
in May.
Section 2 Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press
The Constitution prohibits censorship of the press and mass
media, and the Government generally respected this prohibition.
The variety of newspapers published by political parties and
other organizations represented the full spectrum of political
opinion, and foreign newspapers circulated without hindrance.
A notable degree of self-censorship exists in the press among
journalists who believe they must conform to what are often
heavily politicized editorial views. Large financial groups
hold controlling interests in many nominally independent
national dailies and in some cases intervened directly to
control editorial content.
Following an October 1993 newspaper article which accused a
high-level prosecutor of using his position to acquire an
apartment at a low price, the Chief Prosecutor issued a warrant
to begin an investigation of the case. The Union of Bulgarian
Journalists and human rights groups complained the warrant did
not specify charges and amounted to an effort to intimidate the
press. On March 31, the Sofia Regional Court terminated the
case for technical reasons, effectively closing the case. In
November, the press reported, the Chief Prosecutor's Office
began a preliminary proceeding against the editor in chief of
the Bulgarian Socialist Party's daily newspaper, charging him
with insulting the President in an earlier article. The
President said that he did not need the "protective measures"
taken by the Chief Prosecutor's Office, and the Deputy Chief
Prosecutor characterized the action as only an "examination"
rather than a preliminary proceeding. Nevertheless, some
observers thought the incident might have a negative effect on
freedom of the press in Bulgaria.
Most television broadcasting is in state hands and under
parliamentary supervision. Two channels broadcast in
Bulgarian, while a third broadcasts Russian programming, and a
fourth broadcasts a mixture of Cable News Network,
international, and French-language programming. Bulgaria's
first private television channel received a license in 1993 and
began limited broadcasting in July 1994. Foreign government
radio programs, such as those of the British Broadcasting
Corporation and the Voice of America, had unrestricted access
to commercial Bulgarian radio frequencies. Television and
radio news programs present opposition views but are generally
seen as being biased in favor of the Government. There are no
formal restrictions on programming. Some political groups
complained that coverage was one-sided, although they
acknowledged that their representatives were interviewed
regularly by media journalists. Both television and radio
provide a variety of news and public interest programming,
including talk format and public opinion shows.
More than 30 independent radio stations are licensed in
Bulgaria. The Government twice required Radio Aura of the
American University in Blagoevgrad to stop broadcasting, and it
complained of harassment; the Government correctly asserted
that the station was broadcasting beyond its licensed area of
operations and had never gone through the procedure to obtain
an appropriate license. Other private stations complained that
their licenses unduly restricted the strength of their
transmissions in comparison to state-owned stations. Some
Turkish-language broadcasting takes place. The Government owns
all radio transmitter facilities.
Private book publishing remained active, with more than
50 publishers in business. With the notable exception of the
Panev law described in Section 1.e., there was continued
academic freedom.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association
The Constitution provides for the right to peaceful and unarmed
assembly. Permits from municipal authorities are required for
rallies and assemblies held outdoors, and most legally
registered organizations were routinely granted permission to
assemble. Many non-Orthodox religious groups reported
difficulties obtaining permits for outdoor assemblies as well
as for renting assembly halls. Vigorous political rallies and
demonstrations were a common occurrence and took place without
government interference.
Bulgaria, as a member state of the Conference on Security and
Cooperation in Europe, has undertaken to respect the rights of
individuals and groups freely to establish their own political
parties or other political organizations. Despite this
undertaking, there are constitutional and statutory
restrictions that limit the right of association and meaningful
participation in the political process. For example, Article
44 of the Constitution prohibits organizations which threaten
the country's territorial integrity or unity or that incite
racial, ethnic, or religious hatred. It barred a Macedonian
rights group, UMO-Ilinden, from legal registration since 1990
on the grounds that it espouses separatist views. Police in
1994 forcibly broke up its attempts to hold public meetings.
TMO-Ilinden, a related cultural group, had its legal
registration suspended in 1993 at the request of the Chief
Prosecutor. George Solunski, leader of this group, was
arrested in June 1993 on a charge of attempted murder for
allegedly firing a shot at a political opponent. The murder
charge was dropped, but Solunski was kept in pretrial detention
on a charge of hooliganism until January 1994. The case
remains open.
The Constitution forbids the formation of political parties
along religious, ethnic, or racial lines and prohibits
citizens' associations from engaging in political activity.
These restrictions were used in 1991 to challenge the
legitimacy of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF), which
has a mainly Muslim constituency. A 1991 Constitutional Court
ruling preserved the party's legal status. Some observers
believe the Court's ruling was definitive, while other believe
the MRF remains vulnerable to a new challenge to its legal
status. Its right to compete in the National Assembly
elections held on December 18 was not challenged.
A Roma party, denied registration in 1991 on the grounds it was
ethnically based, chose not to challenge this stricture in
1994. A party which professes to represent the interests of
Bulgaria's Pomak (Muslim of Slavic descent) population was
registered as a political party. To date, its legal status has
not been challenged.
c. Freedom of Religion
The ability of a number of religious groups to operate freely
came under attack in Bulgaria in 1994, both as a result of
government action and because of a rising tide of public
intolerance. Dozens of articles in a broad range of newspapers
depicted lurid and inaccurate pictures of the activities of
non-Orthodox religious groups, attributing teen suicides and
the breakup of families to the activities of these religious
groups.
The Government refused visas and residence permits for
missionaries, and some came under physical attack in the street
and in their homes. A skinhead group attacked the Bulgarian
Church of God in Ruse during a religious service, seriously
injuring eight people. Members of the Mormon Church complained
of continued acts of harassment, with limited, indifferent
police response.
Credible charges of police complicity were raised by a human
rights organization and the press in the April 15 shooting
death of Yordan Tsolov, an Orthodox priest in Surnitsa.
Reports differ as to why a police officer shot at the priest,
but a human rights organization cited eyewitness accounts that
material facts about the case were misreported. To date, no
criminal proceedings have been initiated.
Parliament passed amendments to the Families and Persons Act,
tightening registration requirements for groups whose
activities had a religious element. More than 75 groups which
had originally registered with the courts as civil
organizations were given 3 months to apply for reregistration
through the Religious Affairs Directorate. After review by the
Directorate and the Council of Ministers, more than two-thirds
of them were denied legal registration. Among those turned
down were a Bulgarian chapter of Gideon International, Jehovah's
Witnesses, and several Muslim groups. Human rights groups
protested this action as unconstitutional on the grounds that it
was an executive branch revocation of a judicial branch action
and that it denied religious freedom. Gideon International and
some other groups are reapplying, which they are free to do.
Human rights groups credibly charged that the NSS had conducted
surveillance and infiltration of religious groups, including
those legally registered. A teacher in Karlovo was fired on
the grounds that she had proselytized students, although she
claimed she had mentioned her adherence to Jehovah's Witnesses
only after normal school hours.
The Constitution designates Eastern Orthodox Christianity as
the "traditional" religion of Bulgaria. A number of major
religious bodies, including the Muslim and Jewish communities,
receive government financial support. For those religious
groups that were able to maintain their registration, there
were no restrictions on attendance at religious services or on
private religious instruction. A school for imams, a Muslim
Cultural Center, university theological faculties, and
religious primary schools operated freely. Many new mosques
were constructed, primarily in the southern regions. Bibles
and other religious materials in the Bulgarian language were
freely imported and printed, and Muslim, Catholic, and Jewish
publications were published on a regular basis.
The schism which opened in the Orthodox Church in 1992
persisted in 1994.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign
Travel, Emigration, and Repatriation
Freedom of movement within the country and the right to leave
it are constitutionally enshrined and not limited in practice,
with the exception that some areas along the border are off
limits both to foreigners and Bulgarians not resident therein.
Every citizen has the right to return to Bulgaria, may not be
forcibly expatriated, and may not be deprived of citizenship
acquired by birth. A number of former political emigrants were
granted passports and returned to visit or live in Bulgaria.
Bulgaria pursued agreements with Poland and Germany for the
repatriation of thousands of Bulgarians illegally resident in
those countries.
Bulgarian law provides for the granting of asylum to persons
persecuted for their opinions or activities based on standards
in the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and
its 1967 Protocol. Estimates of the number of illegal aliens
resident in Bulgaria range from 15,000 to 30,000. Bulgaria
often serves as a temporary refuge for third-country nationals
seeking to travel to the West. Approximately 600 refugees have
applied for asylum. A Bureau of Territorial Asylum and
Refugees, established in 1993, is preparing to process
applications for refugee status. Protests by skinhead and
local citizens' groups, however, have frustrated the Bureau's
plans to establish a refugee processing center in the Sofia
area as of November 1, and attempts to locate centers at
alternate sites in the country have likewise failed.
Approximately 100 to 150 persons fleeing the conflict in the
former Yugoslavia are resident in Bulgaria and have received
assistance from the Government and the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees; an estimated 1,000 to 2,000 more
have not registered officially and are staying with friends and
relatives.
Section 3 Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens
to Change Their Government
Citizens have the right to change their government and head of
state through the election of the President and of the members
of the unicameral National Assembly, although restrictions on
political parties based on religious, ethnic, or racial
identities have the effect of circumscribing access to the
political process (see Section 2.b.). President Zhelyu Zhelev
was elected in 1992 in the first direct presidential
elections.
The most recent parliamentary elections took place in December
1994 when more than 40 political parties and coalitions
participated and approximately 75 percent of the electorate
voted. The Bulgarian Socialist Party won an absolute majority
of the 240-seat Parliament, which is to be convened no later
than 1 month after its election, according to the
Constitution. International observers commented that the vote
was conducted in accordance with free and democratic election
procedures and in a peaceful, well-organized fashion. However,
CSCE and other observers voiced concern about the unequal
access to the mass media for all political parties,
particularly to television.
The Constitution provides for elections by secret ballot. The
240 parliamentary deputies are elected by a proportional system
from party lists. Their term is for 4 years, although the
Constitution provides for preterm elections if Parliament is
unable to agree on a government. Suffrage is universal at the
age of 18. A distinct separation of powers exists between the
Government (Prime Minister and Council of Ministers) and the
President, who is Chief of State. The President has limited
powers and is elected for a term of 5 years.
There are no restrictions in law on the participation of women
in government. A number of women held elected and appointed
office at high levels; the Prime Minister of the preelection
caretaker Government and a Deputy Prime Minister, who also
served as Finance Minister, were women. However, women held
only 15 percent of the seats in the most recent Parliament and
no Cabinet-level positions in the Berov government.
Section 4 Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations
of Human Rights
Local and international human rights groups operate freely.
Among these is the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee, founded in
1992 and formally affiliated with the international Helsinki
organization in 1993. A separate group, called Helsinki Watch,
is not affiliated with the International Helsinki Federation.
Another group, the Human Rights Project, actively investigated
police-Roma clashes and made efforts to work with the Ministry
of the Interior and local officials. The Government did not
interfere with the work of NGO's and human rights groups,
although it was often reluctant to provide information or
active cooperation.
Section 5 Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Religion,
Disability, Language, or Social Status
The Constitution provides for individual rights, equality, and
protection against discrimination, but in practice
discrimination still exists, particularly against women and
Roma.
Women
The Constitution forbids privileges or restrictions of rights
on the basis of sex. However, women face discrimination both
in terms of recruitment for employment and the likelihood of
layoffs. Official figures show the rate of unemployment for
women to be higher than that for men, and this gap appears to
be widening. While women are equally likely to attend
university, some single mothers report difficulty in finding
housing, either for financial reasons or because their needs
are perceived to be less compelling. Women, in the main,
continue to have primary responsibility for child-rearing and
housekeeping even if they are employed outside the home.
The courts prosecute rape, although it remains an underreported
crime because some stigma still attaches to the victim. The
maximum sentence for rape is 8 years; convicted offenders often
receive a shorter sentence or early parole. Marital rape is a
crime but rarely prosecuted. Human rights and women's groups
say that domestic abuse is a serious problem, but there are no
figures, official or otherwise, on its occurrence. Courts and
prosecutors tend to view domestic abuse as a family rather than
criminal problem, and in most cases victims of domestic
violence take refuge with family or friends rather than
approaching the authorities. No government agencies provide
shelter or counseling for such individuals, and there are no
active programs to address the problem.
Many of the approximately 30 women's organizations in Bulgaria
are closely associated with political parties or have primarily
professional agendas. Of those which exist mainly to defend
women's interests, the two largest are the Women's Democratic
Union of Bulgaria, heir to the group that existed under the
Zhivkov dictatorship, and the Bulgarian Women's Association,
which disappeared under communism but has now reemerged and has
chapters in a number of cities.
Children
The Government appears to be committed to protecting children's
welfare. It maintains, for example, a sizable network of
orphanages throughout the country. Groups that exist to defend
the rights of children charge that an increasing number of
children are at serious risk because the Government's social
insurance payments fall farther behind inflation and are often
disbursed as much as 6 months late.
The vast majority of some 2 million children are free from
societal abuse, although skinhead groups beat some Roma
children, particularly the homeless or abandoned. Some Roma
minors were forced into prostitution by family or community
members; there was little police effort to address these
problem of discrimination.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities
Ethnic Turks and Roma make up the two largest minorities, each
constituting from 6 to 9 percent of the population. Pomaks
constitute the other sizable minority, comprising 2 to
3 percent of the population. Sometimes referred to as
Bulgarian Muslims, Pomaks are a distinct group of Slavic
descent whose ancestors converted from Orthodox Christianity to
Islam. Most are Muslim, although a handful have become
atheists or reconverted to Christianity.
There are no restrictions on the practice of Muslim religious
traditions, the speaking of Turkish in public, or the use of
non-Slavic names. A defense bill before Parliament sparked
controversy when deputies proposed language that would make use
of the Bulgarian language mandatory in the military. MRF
leaders charged this might lead to harassment of Turkish-
speaking military recruits. An eventual compromise in the text
of the draft bill made Bulgarian the official language of the
military; the Minister of Defense stated publicly that recruits
who wished to speak Turkish among themselves were free to do so.
Voluntary Turkish-language classes, funded by the Government,
continued and expanded in areas with significant Turkish-
speaking populations. Some ethnic Turkish leaders, mainly in
the MRF, demanded that Turkish-language schooling be made
compulsory in ethnic Turkish areas, but the Government resisted
this. Government regulations issued in September specify that
pupils may begin study of a non-Bulgarian mother tongue in the
first grade rather than in the third grade, as had been the
case previously.
BSP and nationalist figures, as well as members of the Internal
Macedonian Revolutionary Organization, continued to accuse some
members of the ethnic Turkish community of "forcible
Turkification," i.e., pressuring Pomaks to declare themselves
ethnic Turks and take Turkish names. Independent observers
found community and peer pressure but no evidence of forcible
Turkification. Reports continued in 1994 that some Muslim
religious figures refused to perform burial services for
Muslims with Slavic names, a practice which some observers saw
as an encroachment on religious freedom.
In the 1992 census, approximately 3.4 percent of the population
identified itself as Roma. The real figure is probably at
least twice that high, since many persons of Roma descent
prefer to identify themselves to the authorities as ethnic
Turks or Bulgarians. Roma groups continued to be divided among
themselves, although several groups had some success presenting
Roma issues to the Government. As individuals and as an ethnic
group, Roma faced sharply rising levels of discrimination.
A troubling new development in 1994 was a series of attacks by
private citizens on Roma communities. The most serious attack
took place in February in the village of Dolno Belotintsi.
After a Roma conscript who had deserted his military unit
apparently committed a murder, inhabitants of the town launched
a series of attacks upon some 20 Roma families who lived
there. Roma houses were broken into and destroyed, and a group
of men wielding guns and farm tools forced about 30 Roma,
including children and aged persons, to carry out a forced
march to a neighboring town and back. Despite repeated
complaints by the victims during the 2 days of attacks, local
police and prosecutors took no action. Amnesty International
and Bulgarian human rights groups have charged that the
Government violated the human rights of these Roma by failing
to provide them adequate protection. The home of one family
was burned to the ground, and the family was housed in
inadequate temporary quarters at the end of the year. The
other families eventually returned to their homes.
Roma encounter difficulties applying for social benefits, and
rural Roma are discouraged from claiming land to which they are
entitled under the law dividing up agricultural collectives.
Most Roma children are directed at age 12 into special schools
for "vocational training" which severely limit their subsequent
employment prospects.
Overall, there were fewer reports of police mistreatment of
Roma than in 1993, but many more instances in which private
citizen groups attacked Roma. In some cases police were
accused of standing by and deliberately failing to intervene.
A police investigation into 1993 allegations of police
brutality in Stara Zagora concluded there was no inappropriate
police behavior, although the American chapter of Helsinki
Watch, Amnesty International, the Human Rights Project, and the
Bulgarian Helsinki Committee all concluded that police had
behaved with brutality.
Recognizing the discrimination that Roma and other minorities
face, the Council of Ministers set up an interagency Ethnic
Affairs Council chaired by a deputy prime minister. The
Ministry of Education continued its program to introduce
Roma-language schoolbooks into schools with Roma students,
albeit slowly. Roma police were hired in some localities, and
some teachers received Roma-language training, although this
program lagged far behind its Turkish-language counterpart and
ran into significant local opposition.
Workplace discrimination against minorities continued to be a
problem, especially for Roma. Employers justify such
discrimination on the grounds that most Roma have relatively
low training and education. Supervisory jobs are generally
given to ethnic Bulgarian employees, with ethnic Turks, Pomaks,
and Roma among the first to be laid off.
During compulsory military service, most Muslims and Roma are
shunted into labor units where they often perform commercial as
well military construction and maintenance rather than serving
in normal military units. The MRF protested this practice, as
did human rights groups and labor observers who cited it as a
violation of International Labor Organization (ILO) accords.
There are only a few ethnic Turkish and reportedly no Roma
officers in the military.
Thousands of Bulgarians, mainly in the southwest, identify
themselves as Macedonians, most for historical and geographic
reasons. Active members of the two organizations which purport
to defend the interests of ethnic Macedonians, UMO-Ilinden and
TMO-Ilinden, are believed to number in the hundreds (see
Section 2.b.).
People with Disabilities
Disabled persons receive a range of financial assistance,
including free public transportation, reduced prices on
modified automobiles, and free equipment such as wheelchairs.
As in other areas, however, budgetary constraints mean that
such payments have fallen behind. Handicapped individuals have
access to university training and to housing and employment,
although no special programs are in place to allow them to live
up to their full employment potential. To date, little effort
has been made to change building or street layouts to help
blind or otherwise physically handicapped persons. The policy
under the previous regime of deliberately separating both
mentally and physically handicapped persons, including very
young children, and often placing them in homes and workplaces
remote from the larger cities, remains unchanged.
Section 6 Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association
The 1991 Constitution guarantees the right of all workers to
form or join trade unions of their own choice, and this right
appears to have been freely exercised in 1994. Estimates of
the unionized share of the work force range from 30 to
50 percent. This share is shrinking as large firms lay off
workers and most new positions appear in small, nonunionized
businesses.
Bulgaria has two large trade union confederations, the
Confederation of Independent Trade Unions of Bulgaria (CITUB)
and Podkrepa. CITUB, the successor to the trade union
controlled by the former Communist regime, operates as an
independent entity. Podkrepa, an independent confederation
created in 1989, was one of the earliest opposition forces but
is no longer a member of the UDF.
The 1992 Labor Code recognizes the right to strike when other
means of conflict resolution have been exhausted, but political
strikes are forbidden. Workers in essential services such as
the military, police, energy production and supply, and health
sectors are prohibited from striking. Students and miners went
on strike in 1994 but won no major concessions from the
Government. Legal actions initiated against some unions in
1992 on the grounds their activities had violated the
constitutional prohibition against political activities by
citizens' associations (defined to include trade unions) were
still pending in 1994. Until the limitations of this
constitutional prohibition are more clearly defined, either by
legislation or judicial precedent, there remains the potential
for inappropriate attacks on legitimate union activities,
although no such attacks took place in 1994.
The Labor Code's prohibitions against antiunion discrimination
include a 6-month period of protection against dismissal as a
form of retribution. While these provisions appear to be
within international norms, there is no mechanism other than
the courts for resolving complaints, and the burden of proof in
such a case rests entirely on the employee.
The ILO in 1993 requested further information on lustration
proceedings, measures directed at compensating ethnic Turks for
abuses under the previous regime, efforts taken to improve the
economic situation of minorities, and measures to promote
equality of workplace opportunity between men and women. At
the end of 1994, the ILO was still reviewing the information
provided to it by the Government and had not yet issued
opinions or recommendations.
There are no restrictions governing affiliation or contact with
international labor organizations, and Bulgarian unions
actively exercise this right.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively
The Labor Code institutes collective bargaining, which was
practiced nationally and on a local level. Both CITUB and
Podkrepa complained, however, that while the legal structure
for collective bargaining was adequate, many employers failed
to bargain in good faith or to adhere to concluded agreements.
Because most large firms are still state owned, the unions
demanded that the Government enforce collective bargaining
procedures. The Government responded that since state-owned
firms were independently managed, the appropriate recourse was
through the courts, not the executive branch.
Only Podkrepa and CITUB are authorized to bargain
collectively. This restriction led to complaints by smaller
unions, which may in individual workplaces have more members
than either of the two large confederations. One of these
smaller unions, the National Trade Union, lodged a formal
complaint with the ILO. Smaller unions also protested their
exclusion from the National Social Council.
There were no instances in which an employer was found guilty
of antiunion discrimination and required to reinstate workers
fired for union activities. The International Confederation of
Free Trade Unions continued to charge that the revised Labor
Code does not provide effective protection against acts of
antiunion discrimination. It also asserted that the "national
representation" requirement for participation in the National
Social Council violated the right to organize, and criticized a
provision making negotiation of individual contracts possible
regardless of existing collective agreements.
The same obligation of collective bargaining and adherence to
labor standards prevails in the export processing zones, which
at year's end appear to exist largely on paper.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor
The Constitution prohibits forced or compulsory labor. Many
observers agreed that the practice of shunting minority and
conscientious-objector military draftees into work units which
often carry out commercial construction and maintenance
projects is a form of forced labor (see Section 5).
d. Minimum Age for Employment of Children
The Labor Code sets the minimum age for employment at 16 years;
the minimum for dangerous work is set at 18. Employers and the
Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare are responsible for
enforcing these provisions. Child labor laws are enforced well
in the formal sector. Underage employment in the informal and
agricultural sectors is increasing as collective farms are
broken up and the private sector continues to grow. However,
the practice does not yet seem to be either widespread or
systematic.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work
The national monthly minimum wage was adjusted three times in
1994 and stood at year's end at approximately $33 (2,143 leva).
Pensions, unemployment, and child benefits were raised by about
25 percent during the year. Inflation in 1994 was estimated at
100 percent and dramatically increased the cost of living. The
minimum wage is not enough to provide a wage earner and family
a decent standard of living. The Constitution stipulates the
right to social security and welfare aid assistance for the
temporarily unemployed, although in practice such assistance
was often either late or not disbursed.
The Labor Code provides for a standard workweek of 40 hours
with at least one 24-hour rest period per week. The Ministry
of Labor and Social Welfare enforces both the minimum wage and
the standard workweek. Enforcement has been generally
effective in the state sector, although there are reports that
state-run enterprises fall into arrears on salary payments to
their employees if they incur losses. Enforcement of work
conditions is weaker in the emerging private sector.
Bulgaria has a national labor safety program with standards
established by the Labor Code. The Constitution states that
employees are entitled to healthy and nonhazardous working
conditions. The Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare is
responsible for enforcing these provisions. Under the Labor
Code, an employee has the right to remove himself from a work
situation which presents a serious or immediate danger to life
or health without jeopardizing continued employment. In
practice, refusal to work in situations with relatively high
accident rates or associated chronic health problems would
result in loss of employment for many workers. Conditions in
many cases are worsening owing to budget stringencies and a
growing private sector over which labor inspectors have not yet
achieved effective supervision.
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