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ERRC Condemns Collective Punishment of Roma in Europe

19 March 2019
2 minute read

Today, the European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) published a fact-sheet
condemning acts of collective punishment against Romani communities in ten
countries in Europe. The publication, which was released to coincide with “Roma
Week
” at the European Parliament, exposes representative examples of this
crime from recent years, perpetrated both by state authorities and far-right
groups.

The fact-sheet, Mob
Justice: Collective Punishment Against Roma in Europe
, challenges the
collectivist perception of Roma which racists with power often use to justify
illegal punishment of entire Romani communities, for the supposed crimes of
Romani individuals.

The ERRC condemns the violation of individual rights in
collective punishment as one of the most extreme manifestations of antigypsyism
in Europe which should be highlighted during the “Roma Week” in the EP. The
collectivising and punishing of “the gypsies” as a group would be unacceptable
for non-Roma, but antigypsyism makes people feel it is acceptable when it comes
to Romani communities.

“It doesn’t take a lawyer to know this isn’t right” said Adam Weiss, Managing
Director of the ERRC. “Any society that allows public authorities to punish an
ethnic group collectively, because a few people are suspected of something, or
because the community is poor, is a breach of the basic principles of any
country governed by the rule of law.”

The ERRC is taking an increasing number of cases in countries around Europe
against racist authorities who either collectively punish Roma, or are negligent
in acting to prevent mob punishment by members of the public. Whether it is neo-Nazi
pogroms in Ukraine
, or the collective
billing of a Romani neighbourhood in Serbia
; we are taking these racists to
court, both national and at the European Court of Human Rights.

These cases
demonstrate to those in power that it is not acceptable to act with impunity
against whole groups of Roma. These cases cost them, in time, money, and
reputation. They reaffirm that we as Roma are individuals with individual rights
which we will fight for in the face of discrimination.

DOCUMENT

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