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Title: Bulgaria Human Rights Practices, 1995
Author: U.S. Department of State
Date: March 1996
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. The Bulgarian Socialist
Party (BSP), heir to the Communist Party, and two nominal coalition
partners won an absolute majority in preterm elections in December 1994
and formed a government in January. The judiciary is independent but
continued to struggle with structural and staffing problems. Most
citizens have little confidence in their legal system.
Most security services are the responsibility of the Ministry of the
Interior, which controls the police, the National Security Service
(civilian intelligence), internal security troops, border guards, and
special forces. A number of persons known to be involved in repressive
activities during the Communist regime returned to senior-level
positions in the security services in 1995. Some members of the police
force committed serious human rights abuses.
The post-Communist economy remains heavily dependent on state
enterprises. Most people are employed in the industrial and service
sectors; key industries include food processing, chemical and oil
processing, metallurgy, and energy. Principal exports are agricultural
products, cigarettes and tobacco, chemicals, and metal products. The
transformation of the economy into a market-oriented system has been
retarded by continued political and social resistance. Privatization of
the large Communist-era state enterprises has been very slow and is the
main reason for Bulgaria's economic stagnation. The Government is now
developing a mass privatization program which, if successfully
implemented, would partially address this problem. The service and
consumer goods sectors in private hands continued to be the most
vibrant. Although all indicators point to a reviving economy this year,
the last several years' decline has affected the employment of people
from ethnic minorities disproportionately. The annual per capita Gross
Domestic Product (GDP) of $1,300 provides a low standard of living.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its citizens, but
problems remained in some areas. Constitutional restrictions on
political parties formed on ethnic, racial, or religious lines
effectively limit participation. There were several reports that police
used unwarranted lethal force against suspects and minorities, and
security forces beat suspects and inmates. Human rights observers
charged that the security forces are not sufficiently accountable to
Parliament or to society and that the resultant climate of impunity is a
major obstacle to ending police abuses. Prison conditions are harsh,
and pretrial detention is often prolonged. Mistreatment
of ethnic minorities by the population at large is a serious problem,
and both the Government and private citizens continued to obstruct the
activities of some non-Eastern Orthodox religious groups.
Discrimination and violence against women and Roma are serious problems.
RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
Section 1 Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
from:
a. Political and Other Extrajudicial Killing
There were several reports of police officers using unwarranted lethal
force against criminal suspects, as well as against members of minority
groups whether or not suspected of any crime, resulting in three deaths.
On February 11, a Rom was found dead in Gradets, near Sliven. A witness
told a human rights nongovernmental organization (NGO) that a police
officer had beaten the victim in the village center the previous day,
and the deceased's family described numerous signs of severe beating.
An investigation is in progress.
During a March attempt to apprehend a man previously sentenced for
committing theft, a police officer in Nova Zagora allegedly beat an 18-
year-old Rom, then shot and killed the man's 22-year-old brother when
the older brother intervened. Neither of the victims was being sought
by the police. The alleged perpetrator, a police sergeant, has been
charged with murder resulting from excessive use of force in self-
defense. The investigation continues.
A 22-year-old male died in April while in police custody, apparently as
a result of beating. The deceased, an ethnic Bulgarian, had been
arrested for alleged complicity in a burglary. Six policemen were
arrested in this widely publicized case; one officer, a police
lieutenant, remains under investigation, and the national police
director resigned.
No progress was made in the case of a detainee who died while in police
custody following an August 1994 roundup of suspected criminals in
Pazardjik, although the Government's investigation remains open. There
was little progress in the September 1994 case of a detainee who died
one day after being taken into police custody in Pleven, and there were
no developments in the investigation of the 1993 incident in which
police allegedly beat three escaped prisoners (two of whom reportedly
died) upon recapture.
In November Amnesty International (AI) sent a letter to the Ministry of
Interior expressing concern about five incidents in which AI said that
police officers opened fire on suspects in violation of U.N. basic
principles on the use of force and firearms by law enforcement
officials. Interior Ministry data on serious police violations over the
18 months ending March 31 show 18 deaths due to police negligence, 59
cases of physical injury, more than 60 charges of serious offenses, and
58 convictions of police officers on these and lesser charges during the
period. The Minister of Interior publicly acknowledged that police
abuses occur and made a commitment to address the problem; a number of
cases are under investigation. However, the police have generally
refused the requests of human rights groups to make investigative
reports available to the 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 reports of politically motivated disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment
The Constitution expressly prohibits torture and cruel, inhuman or
degrading treatment.
Despite this prohibition, there were a number of credible reports
describing police beating of Roma during arrests. In January and
February, a riot control unit of the Ministry of Internal Affairs shot
and wounded at least 3 people and beat more than 10 during an operation
in response to illegal felling of trees near Velingrad. All of the
victims were Roma. No police officers were charged or investigated.
In a Sofia neighborhood in March, police reportedly beat almost 40
Romani teenagers and young men in an incident following several
confrontations between Roma and "skinheads." No police officers were
investigated, despite numerous victims' accounts and a credible NGO
report to law enforcement and other governmental authorities.
Conditions in some prisons are harsh, including severe overcrowding,
inadequate lavatory facilities, and insufficient heating and
ventilation. Credible sources reported cases of brutality committed by
prison guards against inmates; in some cases, prisoners who complained
were placed in solitary confinement. The process by which prisoners may
complain of substandard conditions or of mistreatment does not appear to
function. The Government cooperated fully with requests by independent
observers to monitor prison conditions.
d. Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, or Exile
The Constitution provides for access to legal counsel from the time of
detention. Police normally obtain a warrant prior to apprehending an
individual; otherwise, in emergency circumstances 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 this may be extended to
6 months by order of the Chief Prosecutor, who may also restart the
process. In practice, persons are often detained for well over 6
months.
About one-third of Bulgaria's approximately 9,000 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
Under the Constitution the judiciary is granted independent and coequal
status with the legislature and executive branch. However, most
observers agreed that the judiciary continued to struggle with problems
such as low salaries, understaffing, and a heavy backlog of cases.
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. Human rights groups complain that local
prosecutors and magistrates sometimes fail to pursue vigorously crimes
committed against minorities.
The court system consists of regional courts, district courts, and the
Supreme and Constitutional Courts. The Government has not yet carried
out several of the reforms provided for in the June 1994 judicial Reform
Bill, including the establishment of separate supreme courts of
cassation (civil and criminal appeal) and administration. Judges are
appointed by a 25-member Supreme Judicial Council and, after serving for
3 years, may not be replaced except under limited, specified
circumstances. The 12 justices on the Constitutional Court are chosen
for 9-year terms as follows: a third are elected by the National
Assembly, a third appointed by the President, and a third elected by
judicial authorities.
The Constitution stipulates that all courts shall conduct hearings in
public unless the proceedings involve state security or state secrets.
There were no reported complaints about limited access to courtroom
proceedings. 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.
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. 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.
A number of criminal cases against former leaders for alleged abuses
during the Communist period were carried forward. Former dictator Todor
Zhivkov is serving a 7-year sentence under house arrest for abuse of
power involving personal expense accounts and state privileges. Legal
review of his case continues; the most recent step was a Supreme Court
hearing on September 15. Although the investigation continues, there
was little progress in the case in which 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. Investigation also continues in a case begun in 1993
involving a charge of embezzlement for giving grant aid to Communist
parties in other countries (the "Moscow case"), with no tangible
progress. Some human rights observers criticized these and previous
indictments, asserting that the activities in question were political
and economic in nature, not criminal.
One of the primary figures in these cases, former Prime Minister and
once senior Communist official Andrei Lukanov, brought a complaint
against these proceedings to the European Commission of Human Rights.
Acting on his petition in January, the Commission ruled that Lukanov's
appeal of the procedure by which he was stripped of parliamentary
immunity was admissible before the Commission, but has not yet issued a
decision on the merits of the case. Lukanov's appeals under two other
articles of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights
and Fundamental Freedoms were not admitted.
There was no progress in a case begun in 1993 relating to the forced
assimilation and expulsion of ethnic Turks in 1984-85 and 1989, nor in a
trial relating to the notorious death camps set up by the Communists
after they came to power in 1944. Police authorities concluded their
investigation of the 1994 murder of a key witness in the latter case in
February without definite result.
In one of its first acts, the new Socialist-dominated Parliament
repealed a controversial 1992 lustration act ("Law for Additional
Requirements Toward Scientific Organizations and the Higher Certifying
Commission"), known as the "Panev Law."
The law had barred former secretaries and members of Communist party
committees from positions as academic council members, university
department heads, deans, rectors, and chief editors of science
magazines, applying a presumption of guilt that conflicts with
international human rights standards.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home or
Correspondence
The Constitution provides for the inviolability of the home, for the
right to choose one's place of work and residence, and protects the
freedom and confidentiality of correspondence. Human rights observers
expressed concerns that illegal wiretaps may still persist but provided
no tangible evidence.
Section 2 Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press
The Constitution provides for freedom of speech and the press, and the
Government generally respects this right in practice, although there
were signs that it was seeking to increase editorial control over
government-owned electronic media. The variety of newspapers published
by political parties and other organizations represents the full
spectrum of political opinion, but a notable degree of self-censorship
exists in the press among journalists who must conform to what are often
heavily politicized editorial views of their respective newspapers.
National television and radio broadcasting both remain under
parliamentary supervision. A September Constitutional Court ruling
declared unconstitutional some portions of a "provisional" statute that
had placed the electronic media under parliamentary supervision since
1990. In October Parliament passed legislation restoring its right to
exercise control over the national electronic media; in December the
Constitutional Court again struck down this provision. In November 34
journalists from a national radio station issued a declaration accusing
radio management of censoring their work and threatening uncooperative
journalists with dismissal. A month later, seven of the journalists
were fired, provoking widespread public concern about freedom of speech
and the establishment of at least two NGO's to monitor the issue. This
ongoing dispute illustrates a growing concern about the lack of balance
in the state-controlled news media.
Some observers criticized changes in the senior leadership of the
national electronic media and editorial control by a newly established
board of directors of Bulgarian national radio, charging they were
politically motivated. In September the Constitutional Court overturned
a provision of the July Local Elections Act which prohibited journalists
working for state-owned media and local electronic media from expressing
opinions on parties, coalitions, and candidates in the October 29 local
elections.
There are two state-owned national television channels and a growing
number of privately owned regional stations. Two channels broadcast in
Bulgarian, while a third broadcasts Russian programming, and a fourth
carries a mixture of Cable News Network International and French
language programming. Bulgarian national television has been planning
Turkish- language programming for at least 2 years, but broadcasts have
not yet begun. Foreign government radio programs such as the British
Broadcasting Corporation and the Voice of America (VOA) had good access
to commercial Bulgarian radio frequencies, although in April the interim
council for radio frequencies and television channels turned down a
request by Radio Free Europe to add VOA programming on its frequency.
After initial government approval in the fall of 1994 of an application
to create a privately owned national broadcast television station,
further progress has floundered, with no action being taken by the
current Government. Television and radio news programs on the state-
owned media 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. Both television and radio provide a variety of
news and public interest programming, including talk and public opinion
shows.
More than 30 independent radio stations are licensed. Some private
stations complained that their licenses unduly restricted the strength
of their transmissions in comparison to state-owned stations. Radio
transmitter facilities are owned by the Government.
Private book publishing remained lively, with hundreds of publishers in
business. Respect for academic freedom continued.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association
The right to peaceful and unarmed assembly is provided for by the
Constitution, and the Government generally respected this right in
practice. The authorities require permits for rallies and assemblies
held outdoors, but most legally registered organizations were routinely
granted permission to assemble. However, one non-Orthodox religious
group reported difficulties obtaining a permit for an outdoor assembly,
and several other religious groups also had difficulty renting assembly
halls. In most cases, these religious groups had been denied
registration by the Council of Ministers (see Section 2.c.).
Vigorous political rallies and demonstrations were a common occurrence
and took place without government interference.
The Government has undertaken to respect the rights of individuals and
groups freely to establish their own political parties or other
political organizations. However, there are constitutional and
statutory restrictions that limit the right of association and
meaningful participation in the political process. For example, the
Constitution prohibits organizations that threaten the country's
territorial integrity or unity, or that incite racial, ethnic, or
religious hatred. Some observers considered the Government's refusal
since 1990 to register a Macedonian rights group, Umo-Ilinden, on the
grounds that it is separatist, to be a restriction of the constitutional
rights to express opinions and to associate. The group, which is
seeking registration as a Bulgarian-Macedonian friendship society, was
allowed to hold an outdoor public meeting in April, but police broke up
attempts to hold a second public meeting in July.
The Constitution forbids the formation of political parties along
religious, ethnic, or racial lines, and prohibits "citizens'
associations" from engaging in political activity. Although these
restrictions were used in 1991 to challenge the legitimacy of the mainly
ethnic Turkish Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF), that party is
currently represented in Parliament, and its right to compete in the
October 29 local elections was not questioned.
c. Freedom of Religion
The Constitution provides for freedom of religion; however, the
Government restricts this right in practice. The ability of a number of
religious groups to operate freely continued to come under attack, both
as a result of government action and because of public intolerance. The
Government requirement that groups whose activities have a religious
element register with the Council of Ministers remained an obstacle to
the activity of many religious groups. Dozens of articles in a broad
range of newspapers depicted lurid and inaccurate pictures of the
activities of non-Orthodox religious groups, attributing suicides of
teenagers and the breakup of families to their activities.
The Government refused visas and residence permits for foreign
missionaries, and some came under physical attack in the street and in
their homes. Members of the Mormon church reported continued acts of
harassment and assault, including some perpetrated by the police
themselves. The police response was indifferent despite the expressed
concern of the Government about such cases.
In February the Supreme Court ruled that a mother and supporter of the
nonregistered community of Christ's Warriors be denied parental custody
of her 4-year-old son because she had taken the boy to religious
meetings of the community. The court grounded its decision on
"educational qualities" claiming that "it is obvious that the child's
presence at such a public place is harmful to his mind and his health as
a whole."
At the Department of Theology of Sofia University, all students have
been required to present a certificate of baptism from the Orthodox
Church, and married couples to provide a marriage certificate from the
Orthodox Church, in order to enroll in the Department's classes.
Authorities initiated an investigation of the case of the April 1994
shooting death of Yordan Tsolov, an Orthodox priest in Surnitsa, about
which charges of police complicity were raised by a human rights
organization and the press in 1994.
Several religious groups appealed the denials of their registration by
the Council of Ministers under a 1994 amendment to the Families and
Persons Act. Most of the appeals were denied by the Council of
Ministers. Following the Supreme Court's April decision to affirm the
Council's denial of registration to the "Word of Life" group, the press
reported that the group was banned and that the police would seek out
and stop religious gatherings of the group, even if held in private
homes. Some observers made credible charges that the police sought to
break up meetings of non-Eastern Orthodox religious groups which were
denied registration.
The Constitution designates Eastern Orthodox Christianity as the
"traditional" religion. A number of major religious bodies, including
the Muslim and Jewish communities, receive government financial support.
There was no evidence that the Government discriminated against members
of any religious group in restituting to previous owners properties that
were nationalized during the Communist regime. For most religious
groups which 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.
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. However, during
compulsory military service most Muslims are placed into labor units
where they often perform commercial, military, or maintenance work
rather than serve in normal military units. The mainly ethnic-Turkish
Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) protested this practice (see
Section 5).
A significant proportion of Muslims considered the current Government's
approval of the statutes of the Muslim faith and its registration of a
new Chief Mufti and new head of the Supreme Theological Council, all
developed at a November 1994 Islamic conference, to be government
interference in the affairs of the community. A rival Chief Mufti,
elected at an alternative Islamic conference in March, appealed the
Government's actions unsuccessfully to the Supreme Court.
The schism which opened in the Orthodox church in 1992 persisted.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation
The Constitution provides for freedom of movement within the country and
the right to leave it, and these rights are not limited in practice,
with the exception of limited border zones 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.
As provided under law, the Chief Prosecutor restricted foreign travel by
Lukanov (see Section 1.e.) and also by Ivan Slavkov, son-in-law of Todor
Zhivkov, due to outstanding investigations of them. Observers
criticized the lack of time limits on such inactive investigations and
questioned whether the travel restrictions were not being used
punitively.
The Government has provisions for granting asylum or refugee status in
accordance with the standards of the 1951 U.N. Convention and its 1967
Protocol relating to the status of refugees. Domestic and international
human rights organizations expressed concerns over the Government's
handling of asylum claims and reported that there may be cases in which
bona fide refugees are forced to return to countries where they fear
persecution. The Bureau for Territorial Asylum and Refugees asserts
that it gives a fair hearing to all persons seeking asylum or refugee
status but admits that there may be cases which do not come to its
attention before the applicant is returned to the country from which he
or she entered Bulgaria. The Bureau is still seeking to establish
registration and reception centers blocked in 1994 by skinheads and
local citizens groups and has identified some new sites for the centers.
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 National
Assembly, although the constitutional prohibition of parties formed on
ethnic, racial, or religious lines has the effect of circumscribing
access to the political process (see Section 2.b.). Suffrage is
universal at the age of 18. The most recent parliamentary elections
took place in December 1994. President Zhelev was elected in 1992 in
the first direct presidential elections.
Local elections were held in the fall. With the exception of the
mayoral election in Kurdjali, all major political parties accepted the
results and agreed that the elections were conducted in a free and
orderly manner. In the ethnically mixed city of Kurdjali, in a
politically charged atmosphere, the Socialist Party challenged in court
the narrow runoff victory of the MRF candidate, questioning the
registration of several hundred voters. After lengthy delays the court
took up the case, but it has not yet ruled, and the elected mayor has
not been allowed to take office.
There are no restrictions in law on the participation of women in
government. A number of women hold elective and appointive office at
high levels, including a cabinet-level post and several key positions in
the Parliament. However, women hold only about 14 percent of the seats
in the current Parliament.
Section 4 Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigations of Alleged Violations of Human Rights
Local and international human rights groups operate freely,
investigating and publishing their findings on human rights cases. At
the initiative of several groups concerned with children's rights, the
Government conducted a dialog with them on its compliance with the
Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Government was particularly
cooperative in allowing an NGO committee to survey prison conditions.
However, the Government is otherwise 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 Roma and women.
Women
Domestic abuse is reportedly a serious problem, but there are no
figures, official or otherwise, on its occurrence. 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 lesser sentence or early parole.
Marital rape is a crime but rarely prosecuted. 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 approach the authorities. No government agencies
provide shelter or counseling for such persons, although there is a
private initiative 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 in Bulgaria, heir to the
group which 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.
The Constitution forbids privileges or restrictions of rights on the
basis of sex. However, women face discrimination both in terms of
recruitment and the likelihood of layoffs. Official figures show the
rate of unemployment for women to be higher than that for men. Women
are much more likely than men to be employed in low-wage jobs requiring
little education, although statistics show women are equally likely to
attend university. Women, in the main, continue to have primary
responsibility for child-rearing and housekeeping even if they are
employed outside the home. The liberal provisions for paid maternity
leave may actually work against employers' willingness to hire and
retain women employees, especially in the private sector.
Children
The Government appears to be committed to protecting children's welfare.
It maintains, for example, a sizable network of orphanages throughout
the country. However, government efforts in education and health have
been constrained by serious budgetary limitations and by outmoded social
care structures. Groups that exist to defend the rights of children
charge that an increasing number of children are at serious risk as
social insurance payments fall further behind inflation and are often
disbursed as much as 6 months late.
The vast majority of children are free from societal abuse, although
skinhead groups have beaten some Romani children; the homeless or
abandoned were particularly vulnerable. Some Romani minors were forced
into prostitution by family or community members; there was little
police effort to address these problems.
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 wheel chairs. However, as in other areas, budgetary
constraints mean that such payments have fallen behind. Disabled
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 disabled persons. At the end of the year,
Parliament passed legislation requiring the relevant Ministry and local
governments to provide a suitable living and architectural environment
for the disabled within 3 years. Also, policies of the Communist regime
which separated mentally and physically disabled persons, including very
young children, from the rest of society have persisted.
Religious Minorities
Bulgarian Muslims or "Pomaks" constitute a sizable minority, comprising
2 to 3 percent of the population. Bulgarian Muslims are a distinct
group of Slavic descent whose ancestors converted from orthodox
Christianity to Islam. Most are Muslim, although a number have become
atheists or converted to Christianity.
Reports continued 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.
There were a series of acts of vandalism directed at Jewish
institutions.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities
Ethnic Turks comprise about 10 percent of the population. Although
estimates of the Romani population vary widely, several experts put it
at about 6 percent. These are the country's two largest minorities.
There are no restrictions on the speaking of Turkish in public or the
use of non-Slavic names. A defense bill before Parliament renewed
controversy over the issue of language. The bill declared Bulgarian to
be the official language in the armed forces and the language in which
military duties were to be carried out. Members of Parliament of the
mainly ethnic-Turkish Movement for Rights and Freedoms tried
unsuccessfully to amend the bill to affirm the constitutional right to
use the "mother tongue," for example, in personal conversations and
correspondence. The motion was rejected, but use of the mother tongue
is not prohibited in the military, and Turkish is freely spoken in off-
duty situations.
Voluntary Turkish-language classes, funded by the Government, continued
in areas with significant Turkish-speaking populations, although some
observers complained that the Government was restricting the
availability of training for teachers and discouraging the optional
language classes in areas with large concentrations of Bulgarian
Muslims. 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.
In the 1992 census approximately 3.4 percent of the population
identified itself as Romani. The real figure is probably about twice
that high, since many persons of Romani descent tend to identify
themselves to the authorities as ethnic Turks or Bulgarians. Romani
groups continued to be divided among themselves, although several groups
had some success presenting Romani issues to the Government. As
individuals and as an ethnic group, Roma faced high levels of
discrimination.
Attacks by private citizens on Romani communities continued to occur in
1995. The most serious were a series of attacks in two Romani
neighborhoods of Stara Zagora in March and April. A group of young men
wielding bats and sticks reportedly damaged the property of 11 Romani
families in March, and a group of young people wearing masks allegedly
beat 2 Romani women on school grounds in April. Police have identified
the alleged perpetrators of the March incident, and an investigation is
underway. An arson investigation resulting from the February 1994
incident in Dolno Belotintsi was suspended later that year because of
the reluctance of the sole witness to testify. A human rights NGO was
able to gather new evidence implicating individuals in the crime and has
asked the Chief Prosecutor to resume the investigation; no action has
yet been taken. Authorities often fail to aggressively investigate
cases of assault or other crimes against Romani individuals, although
there was some improvement in their responsiveness to inquiries of human
rights organizations.
Roma encounter difficulties applying for social benefits, and rural Roma
are discouraged from claiming land to which they are entitled under the
law disbanding agricultural collectives. Many Roma and other observers
made credible allegations that the quality of education offered to
Romani children is inferior to that afforded most other Bulgarian
students.
The Government took some steps to address the problems faced by Roma.
The Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology convened a forum in
July to discuss the education of Romani children, during which
representatives of the President's office, concerned ministries, and
human rights organizations discussed pedagogical issues. The Council of
Ministers disbanded the interagency Ethnic Affairs Council established
in 1994, replacing it with a National Board on Social and Demographic
matters with broader responsibilities. Some observers expressed concern
over onerous requirements for admission of NGO's to the board. For
example, NGO's must have established branches in more than one-third of
Bulgarian municipalities.
The Ministry of Education continued its program to introduce Romani-
language schoolbooks into schools with Romani populations and issued
follow-on textbooks for the program. The program has had mixed success,
partly due to a lack of qualified teachers.
Workplace discrimination against minorities continued to be a problem,
especially for Roma. Employers justify such discrimination on the basis
that most Roma have relatively low training and education. Supervisory
jobs are generally given to ethnic Bulgarian employees, with ethnic
Turks, Bulgarian Muslims, and Roma among the first to be laid off.
During compulsory military service most Roma (and Muslims--see Section
2.c.) are shunted into labor units where they often perform commercial,
military construction, or maintenance work rather than serve 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 Romani officers in the military.
Thousands of Bulgarians, mainly in the southwest, identify themselves as
Macedonians, most for historical and geographic reasons. 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.).
Section 6 Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association
The 1991 Constitution provides for the right of all workers to form or
join trade unions of their own choice, and this right was apparently
freely exercised. Estimates of the unionized share of the workforce
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 Union of Democratic Forces, the main
opposition party. In February a third trade union confederation, the
Community of Free Union Organizations in Bulgaria (CFUOB), was admitted
to the National Tripartite Coordination Council (NTCC), which includes
employers and the government (see Section 6.b.). CITUB and Podkrepa
filed a joint complaint to the International Labor Organization (ILO)
against the Government's selection of CFUOB as the labor delegate to the
1995 ILO conference. The ILO found that the Government had unilaterally
imposed rotation of the labor delegate among three trade union
organizations without consulting the other two.
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 are prohibited from striking.
There was no evidence that the Government interfered with the right to
strike, and several work stoppages took place. 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 between men and women in
workplace opportunity. At year's end, the ILO was still reviewing the
information provided to it by the Government, including information
provided this year on efforts to improve the situation of minorities.
The ILO has not yet issued opinions or recommendations on these matters.
There are no restrictions on affiliation or contact with international
labor organizations, and 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. The legal prohibition against striking
for key public sector employees weakens their bargaining position;
however, these groups were able to influence negotiations by staging
protests and engaging in other pressure activities without going on
strike. Both CITUB and Podkrepa complained that while the legal
structure for collective bargaining was adequate, many employers failed
to bargain in good faith or to adhere to concluded agreements. Labor
observers viewed the Government's enforcement of labor contracts as
inadequate.
Only the three labor members of the National Tripartite Cooperation
Council are authorized to bargain collectively. This restriction led to
complaints by smaller unions, which may in individual workplaces have
more members than the NTCC members. Smaller unions also protested their
exclusion from the NTCC.
There were no instances in which an employer was found guilty of
antiunion discrimination and required to reinstate workers fired for
union activities. International labor organizations criticized the
"national representation" requirement for participation in the National
Tripartite Coordination Council as a violation of the right to organize.
The same obligation of collective bargaining and adherence to labor
standards prevails in the export processing zones, and unions may
organize workers in these areas.
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 (Section
5).
d. Minimum Age for Employment of Children
The Labor Code sets the minimum age for employment at 16; the minimum
for dangerous work is set at 18. Employers and the Ministry of Labor
and Social Welfare (MLSW) 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. In addition, children work on family-owned tobacco
plantations.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work
The national monthly minimum wage was approximately $38 (2,555 leva) at
year's end. The minimum wage is not enough to provide a wage earner and
family with 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 is 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 MLSW is responsible for
enforcing 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 the firms incur losses. Enforcement of work
conditions is weaker in the emerging private sector.
A national labor safety program exists, with standards established by
the Labor Code. The Constitution states that employees are entitled to
healthy and nonhazardous working conditions. The MLSW is responsible
for enforcing these provisions. Under the Labor Code, employees have
the right to remove themselves from work situations which present a
serious or immediate danger to life or health without jeopardizing their
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 which labor inspectors do not yet supervise effectively.
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