Amnesty condemns ill-treatment of Roma (1)
01 January 1991
Amnesty condemns ill-treatment of Roma
artdoc Feb=1996
Amnesty International have written to Zhan Videnov, the Bulgarian
Prime Minister, to protest at alleged beatings and other ill-
treatment of Roma which have apparently been motivated by the
victims' ethnic background. þWe are particularly concerned about
the case of one victim of ill-treatment, Iliya Dimitrov
Gherghinov, who died in detention in suspicious circumstancesþ,
the organization said.
On 9 February 1995, two witnesses found him lying on the street
near their house in Gradets, in the Sliven region, with his hands
in handcuffs. A police officer, who appeared to be under the
influence of alcohol, was standing over him with a long piece of
wood in his hand. The officer dragged Iliya along the street
holding him by his handcuffs, after which he beat him repeatedly
all over the body. The beating reportedly continued in Gradets
police station.
The following day Iliya Gherghinov was found lying dead on the
street, with his hands still in handcuffs. The death certificate
indicated hypothermia as the cause of death. However, his
relatives claim that Iliya's leg was broken, that there was a
large wound on the side of his face, that his genitals had been
crushed and that his body was covered with bruises and his hands
with cigarette burns.
Although according to Iliya's wife an investigation into her
husband's death was immediately initiated, she was told by
officials that no case would be filed in the next five years.
Amnesty International is calling on the Bulgarian government to
ensure that the investigation into the death of Iliya Gherghinov
is prompt, thorough and impartial, to make the findings public
and to bring to justice anyone responsible for human rights
violations.
Dimitar Stankov, a 12-year-old pupil, was arrested on 5 May
1995 after the vice-principal of his primary school called the
police, reporting him for theft. The police took Dimitar to the
police station without notifying his parents, where he was
reportedly slapped, kicked and beaten with a rubber truncheon
during the interrogation. Dimitar did not tell his parents about
the incident thinking that the police would not summon him again.
However, three days later he was called to the police station
once more. Hours later Dimitar's parents were called in and the
investigation ended once they immediately requested an inquiry.
In March 1995 Amnesty International wrote to Prime Minister
Zhan Videnov about the shooting of a Roma and ill-treatment of
dozens of Roma in Nova Zagora on 20 March 1995. þWe have still
not received any reply concerning an investigation into these or
other cases of apparently ethnically motivated ill-treatment by
police officers in Bulgaria which have been brought to the
attention of the Bulgarian authorities in the past three years,þ
the Amnesty said.
Amnesty International, AI INDEX:EUR 15/05/95, 28.9.95.