Justice and Home Affairs Ministers: stop the witch-hunt of Roma in Italy Date: 30-07-2008
Author: Amnesty
Justice and Home Affairs Ministers: stop the witch-hunt of Roma in Italy
 

(Brussels, 24 July) The Justice and Home Affairs Council meeting today in Brussels should condemn the acts of discrimination against Roma communities in Italy that have culminated in the fingerprinting of Roma, including children. (See letter and briefing paper)

“After criticism from the Commission and the European Parliament, it is now time for EU member states to speak out against what has become a full fledged campaign against Roma” said Nicolas Beger, Director of Amnesty International’s EU Office.

Indeed, fingerprinting Roma on the grounds of public security is just the latest in a series discriminatory policies taken by Italian authorities.

Since 2007, for example, there has been an increase in the number of forced evictions such as that of the Tor di Quinto settlement, in Rome where large numbers of people, including children and elderly, were left in the middle of the night after their settlement was destroyed.

In May 2008, the Ponticelli settlement in Naples was attacked by a mob of around 100 persons who burned down a camp inhabited by 800 people. The “vigilantes” violence was such that a molotov cocktail was thrown into a trailer with children, who narrowly escaped the fire that ensued.

“Let’s be clear: what we are seeing is a witch-hunt disguised as security concerns. By now there is indeed a serious security issue in Italy: the safety of Roma” said Nicolas Beger.

The latest “security measure” - a Roma-only census involving fingerprinting as well as noting religion and ethnic background - is according to Amnesty International a discriminatory, disproportionate and unjustified measure in direct contravention of the European Convention on Human Rights. 

“The recent proposal to extend this census to the entire Italian population by 2010 does not change anything if, as Italian authorities have declared, the Roma census will go on in the meantime” added Beger.

Considering international and European human rights law obligations that the EU and its member states are bound by, Amnesty International calls on the Council of Justice and Home Affairs to urge Italy to:

  • Ensure that immediate steps are adopted to stop discriminatory practices such as ethnic fingerprinting and unlawful forced evictions;
  • Ensure that adequate disciplinary or criminal measures are adopted to address derogatory or racist language by officials and politicians;
  • Re-evaluate the state of emergency and the legislation and measures derived from it in order to ensure their compatibility with international and European law,
  • Thoroughly investigate the attacks on Roma camps so that perpetrators be brought to justice.
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