RIGHT TO HOUSING!
Forced eviction of the Romani community in Belgrade that started on 3 April 2009 is going on despite protests and attempts of mediation by UNHCR, OSCE and WHO.
(please scroll down for further information)
We call you to join the anti-racist, anti-fascist meeting on Wednesday, 27.05.2009 at 19.00, to express solidarity with the Romani families living in Blok 67, New Belgrade, Serbia, to adress the violence against Roma in East- and West European countries and to stand up against anticiganist actions spreading all over Europe.
video about the evictions and the protests at
http://www.archive.org/details/BELLEVILLE (english version)
and
http://www.youtube.com/pravonanaseljetv
On Wednesday, 27.05.2009 at 19.00 will be held an artistic-activist
solidarity meeting at Block 67 (in the settlement on the field near to
the newly built street and Jurija Gagarina), in which will take part
the residents of the Roma settlement, representatives of
non-governmental organizations and interested citizens.
A platform of solidarity will be formed with speeches and
a video screening to support our neighbors that undergo dramatic
events these days. Because of the irresponsible decisions of
individual city officials and local businessmen their homes are being
destroyed and their existence is in danger.
We call all non-governmental organizations, the broad
cultural-artistic public and all people of good will to join this
solidarity action and to show their willingness to state that the
human rights of all people are equally important and that the defense
of these rights is our responsibility as citizens.
What we have in common is that we do care about each other - it is our human,
cultural and political choice - in contrast to the government of Belgrade and
Serbia that takes care exclusively about themselves, their interests
and the interests of the big capital.
We promote a positive image of Serbia showing the anti-racist, anti-fascist and intercultural face of Serbia.
In the talks will participate:
Sonja Prodanović, Zoran Vasić, Nena Kostić, Staša Zajović, Snežana Tabački, Svenka Savić, Adam Šljivo and Rena Raedle and Vladan Jeremić will show their video documentation about the recent events connected to the demolishing of the houses at Block 67 in New Belgrade.
Kontekst will show and hand out posters of the campaign “III Land of
Human Rights”.
The event is organized by: Žene u crnom, Demokratsko Udruženje Roma,
Udruženje Roma “Oaza”, Biro Beograd and KONTEKST.
______________________________
FOR YOUR FURTHER INFORMATION:
Letter issued on Apr 10 2009 by European Roma Rights Centre and Human Rights Watch and adressed to the Serbian authorities:
Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic
Mr Rasim Ljajić, Minister of Labour and Social Policy
Mr Svetozar Čiplić, Minister for Human and Minority Rights
Mr Dragan Đilas, Mayor of Belgrade
Re: Forced Evictions of Romani community in Belgrade
Honourable Sirs:
The European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC)[1] and Human Rights Watch (HRW) are writing to express concern about failure of Serbian authorities to respect the rights of 47 Romani families forcibly evicted from their informal homes in Novi Beograd on 3 April 2009, and to urge you to ensure that in the future similar actions are undertaken in a manner which protects the rights of occupants laid out in international law.
According to media reports and ERRC documentation, on the day in question, police forcibly evicted 128 Romani individuals, including women and children, living in Novi Beograd’s Block 67 and destroyed much of their personal property. Some are displaced persons from Kosovo. The day before the eviction was conducted, residents were officially notified that in 15 days they would be removed from the property; less than 24 hours after the notification was delivered, police arrived with bulldozers to carry out the eviction and destroy their makeshift homes.
Although the evicted persons were told that alternative accommodation in containers was available in the Boljevci settlement in the Municipality of Surčin, residents in Boljevci forcibly prevented the evicted individuals from accessing it. As a result, the evicted Roma, including children, were forced to sleep outside without any shelter on the night of the eviction. Some are now staying with neighbours but at least 12 families remain on the streets. We understand that the Mayor of Belgrade has indicated that the Roma who are not registered residents of Belgrade may not seek assistance from the Centre for Social Assistance and the majority of the affected individuals are therefore not able to access alternative accommodation.
The failure of the authorities to ensure adequate protections to the forcibly evicted community is all the more worrying in light of the fact that several other sizable Romani communities face similar actions in the near future.
As the current President of the Decade for Roma Inclusion, the Serbian government committed to addressing housing as a priority area of action. Your government publicly declared commitments to the “legalization and improvement of Roma settlements, relocation, [provision of] low cost housing and [action] combating discrimination.”[2] In addition, only one week prior to the forced eviction of the concerned Roma, your government enacted a comprehensive new anti-discrimination law, banning discrimination in the area of housing.
Absent provision of adequate alternative housing for all affected individuals, including some form of security of tenure and social assistance for the affected families, the eviction constitutes a gross violation of Serbia’s obligations under international human rights law.
As a State Party to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Serbia is legally obligated to respect, protect and fulfil the right to adequate housing, including the prohibition on forced evictions.[3] The UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has defined, in paragraphs 15 and 16 of its General Comment 7, appropriate protections from forced evictions as including the following:
- (a) an opportunity for genuine consultation with those affected;
- (b) adequate and reasonable notice for all affected persons prior to the scheduled date of eviction;
- (c) information on the proposed evictions, and, where applicable, on the alternative purpose for which the land or housing is to be used, to be made available in reasonable time to all those affected;
- (d) especially where groups of people are involved, government officials or their representatives to be present during an eviction;
- (e) all persons carrying out the eviction to be properly identified;
- (f) evictions not to take place in particularly bad weather or at night unless the affected persons consent otherwise;
- (g) provision of legal remedies; and
- (h) provision, where possible, of legal aid to persons who are in need of it to seek redress from the courts.
In addition, the Serbian government has a positive obligation to ensure that individuals are not rendered homeless as a result of eviction and, where those affected are unable to provide for themselves, to “take all appropriate measures, to the maximum of its available resources, to ensure that adequate alternative housing, resettlement or access to productive land, as the case may be, is available.”
Since some of the former residents of the Block 67 community are internally displaced persons, they enjoy additional protections enumerated in the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement. According to these guidelines, which restate and compile human rights and humanitarian law relevant to internally displaced persons, the state has a positive obligation to ensure access to basic shelter and housing (Principle 18, 2b) and no individual covered by the guidelines shall be deprived of property and possessions (Principle 21).[4]
The eviction conducted on 3 April clearly violates Serbian government’s obligations under international human rights law. On the occasion of International Roma Day, the ERRC and HRW call on your respective offices, in close consultation with Romani organisations, to take immediate and decisive action to ensure an adequate and sustained alternative accommodation to all Roma forcibly evicted by authorities in Novi Beograd on 3 April. In addition, the individuals concerned should be given compensation for lost property and other damage associated with the forced eviction and destruction of property. We also call on you to ensure that other Roma families are protected from forced eviction and that any future actions in relation to evictions are carried out in accordance with Serbia’s international obligations.
We respectfully request you to inform us of the measures undertaken in the matter as a matter of urgency.
Sincerely,
Robert Kushen
ERRC Managing Director
Benjamin Ward
Associate Director
Europe and Central Asia division
Human Rights Watch
TO:
Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic
Mr Rasim Ljajić, Minister of Labour and Social Policy
Mr Svetozar Čiplić, Minister for Human and Minority Rights
Mr Dragan Đilas, Mayor of Belgrade
CC:
Mr Thomas Hammarberg, Council of Europe Human Rights Commissioner
Ms Raquel Rolnik, UN Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing
Ms Polonca Koncar, President of the European Committee of Social Rights
Ambassador Hans Ola Urstad, Head of OSCE Mission to Serbia
Mr Lenart Kotsalainen, Chief of the UNHCR mission to Serbia
Ms Judita Reichenberg, Representative, UNICEF Belgrade
[1] The ERRC is an international public interest law organisation engaging in a range of activities aimed at combating anti-Romani racism and human rights abuse of Roma. The approach of the ERRC involves, in particular, strategic litigation, international advocacy, research and policy development, and training of Romani activists.
[2] Decade of Roma Inclusion 2005-2015″ Serbian Presidency July 1, 2008-June 30, 2009 http://www.romadecade.org/portal/downloads/Decade%20Documents/Serbia%20D…
[3] Article 17(1)(2) of the ICCPR and Article 11(1) of the ICESCR, supported by General Comments 4 (right to adequate housing) and 7 (protection against forced evictions) of the Committee on Economic Social and Cultural Rights.
