RAPPORTO DELLA COMMISSIONE EUROPEA CONTRO IL RAZZISMO E LE DISCRIMINAZIONI: CAPITOLO ROM E SINTI [fonte Co.Na.R.eS.]
SEGUONO I CAPITOLI SU ROM E SINTI DEL RAPPORTO SULLA SITUAZIONE IN ITALIA DELLA COMMISSIONE EUROPEA CONTRO IL RAZZISMO E L'INTOLLERANZA (ECRI) 2002
PER LA PRIMA VOLTA UN ORGANISMO INTERNAZIONALE DELLA MASSIMA IMPORTANZA DA' COMPLETAMENTE RAGIONE A TUTTI COLORO CHE PER ANNI SI SONO BATTUTI CONTRO I "CAMPI NOMADI" RITENENDOLI ISTITUZIONI TREMENDE E FONTE DI INFINITE INGIUSTIZIE E DISCRIMINAZIONI. FINALMENTE NEL RAPPORTO SI PARLA ANCHE, APERTAMENTE, DI SEGREGAZIONE.
PER LE ULTIME PERSECUZIONI A BRESCIA VEDERE ALLA FINE
. Situation of the Roma/Gypsy communities
59. According to official figures, there are presently about 120,000 Roma/Gypsies in Italy, approximately two thirds of whom are Italian nationals. Non-official sources tend to estimate the Roma/Gypsy population as slightly more numerous, but with similar proportions of citizens and non-citizens. Italian Gypsies are, broadly, constituted by Rom, predominantly present in the South of Italy, and Sinti, traditionally present in the North. Non-Italian Roma/Gypsies include persons born outside Italy -- originating mostly from the Balkan region -- and persons born in Italy to foreign parents.
60. About one third of the total Roma/Gypsy population of Italy -- including both Italian citizens (predominantly Sinti) and non-Italian citizens -- currently lives in authorised or unauthorised camps separated from mainstream Italian society. Over and beyond the question of the living conditions in these camps, which will be addressed below, ECRI is concerned that this situation of practical segregation of Roma/Gypsies in Italy appears to reflect a general approach of the Italian authorities which tend to consider Roma/Gypsies as nomads and wanting to live in camps. The representation of Roma/Gypsies as nomads also appears to be closely related to the general perception of the members of the Roma/Gypsy communities of Italy as `foreigners', even if, in fact, only a part of the Roma/Gypsy population still living in camps is non-Italian. This perception is exemplified by the attribution of competence for issues related to Roma/Gypsies to administrative offices `for nomads' or for `nomads and foreigners'. ECRI strongly believes that one of the first necessary steps to be undertaken by the Italian authorities should be to approach all issues related to the members of the Roma/Gypsy communities, whether Italian or not, without assuming that all Roma/Gypsies are nomads. ECRI believes that policies based on the attentive consideration by the authorities of the genuine aspirations of the communities concerned have better chances of success. ECRI therefore urges the Italian authorities, when considering issues of relevance for the Roma/Gypsy communities, to ensure close consultation with the members of the communities concerned at all levels, central, regional or local. Moreover, again from the point of view of the general approach, ECRI believes that State policy should also reflect more closely the fact that Roma/Gypsies and their culture constitute an integral part of the Italian population and Italian culture.
61. As mentioned above, the living conditions in camps inhabited by Roma/Gypsy families are extremely harsh, due to the lack of basic infrastructure and facilities, including access to energy, heating and lighting, sanitation as well as washing facilities and refuse disposal, site drainage and emergency services. Although the situation is particularly worrying for unauthorised camps, the living conditions in many authorised camps are not significantly better. ECRI expresses deep concern at this situation. It believes that, in the medium and long-term, the Italian authorities should implement measures to overcome the practical segregation of Roma/Gypsy communities in the field of housing in Italy, including through abandoning the systematic relegation of members of the Roma/Gypsy communities to camps for nomads. As mentioned above, moves to change the thrust of housing policy should be conceived and implemented in close consultation with the members of the communities concerned. As an emergency short-term measure, ECRI urges the Italian authorities to ensure that the camps where members of Roma/Gypsy communities live meet, at the very least, the basic standards on adequate housing.
62. Many foreign Roma/Gypsies possess no legal status in Italy and most of those who are legally present in Italy only possess residence permits valid for short periods of time. Roma/Gypsies are reported to have benefited comparatively less than other groups from the various opportunities for regularisation, partly because of their lack of awareness of these opportunities, and partly because many of them did not possess the necessary valid documentation from their countries of origin. The difficulties encountered by members of the Roma/Gypsy communities in obtaining residence permits affect in turn their possibilities of securing Italian citizenship, for which proof of residence is required15. ECRI encourages the Italian authorities to devote urgent attention to the question of Roma/Gypsies' access to residence permits and citizenship.
63. The practical separation of the Roma/Gypsy communities from mainstream social and political life of Italy is reflected in virtually all fields of life, including education, health and employment. In the field of education, ECRI notes some initiatives supported by the Italian authorities which aim both at ensuring better access of Roma/Gypsy children to schools, for example through the establishment of cultural mediators, and at adapting the content of education to a multicultural reality. However, ECRI notes that these efforts have produced limited results, particularly due to the absence of a comprehensive policy at national level aimed at improving the situation of the Roma/Gypsy communities in all fields of life in an integrated fashion. ECRI emphasises that it is very difficult to ensure regular and successful schooling of Roma/Gypsy children when their families are struggling with severe poverty, joblessness and poor health as well as prejudice and discrimination by society at large. As a result, while Roma/Gypsy children's attendance in compulsory schooling is increasing, only a part of these children appears to attend school regularly. ECRI notes the initiatives taken by the Italian authorities in this field. However, it strongly encourages the authorities to strengthen their efforts to ensure that all Roma/Gypsy children benefit fully from compulsory schooling and to take measures to facilitate the participation of Roma/Gypsy students at further levels of education.
64. Lack of education and training impact negatively on employment possibilities for members of the Roma/Gypsy communities. These possibilities are further reduced by widespread prejudice and discrimination on the part of potential employers as well as by additional disadvantaging circumstances such as the fact that Roma/Gypsies often live in camps. ECRI considers employment to be another priority area for government action aimed at improving the situation of this disadvantaged group. While noting that training opportunities exist in Italy at the level of the regions for both Italian citizens and foreigners, ECRI notes that members of the Roma/Gypsy communities generally encounter difficulties in accessing such opportunities. ECRI strongly urges the Italian authorities to introduce initiatives aimed at facilitating access of Roma/Gypsies to the labour market. These could include initiatives to ensure that Roma/Gypsies actually access the training and other opportunities generally available, including funding opportunities existing at national and international level. The Italian authorities could also consider the establishment of special funds earmarked for financing employment projects for Roma/Gypsies.
65. The health situation of the members of the Roma/Gypsy communities also testifies to their generally disadvantaged situation. Such disadvantage is linked to several factors such as poverty and unhealthy living conditions, but also reflects the inability of the health system to cater for the specific needs of these communities and, in some cases, prejudice on the part of those providing the service. Infant mortality rates are significantly higher within these communities as are certain pathologies amongst adults. ECRI strongly urges the Italian authorities to take initiatives to facilitate Roma/Gypsy access to health care in practice.
66. The behaviour of some law enforcement officials vis-ą-vis members of the Roma/Gypsy communities living in Italy is also a cause for serious concern to ECRI. There have been numerous reports of evictions of Roma/Gypsy families from unauthorised camps, usually carried out late at night or early in the morning, during which law enforcement officials have acted in a violent and abusive way. Alleged misconduct includes abusive use of firearms, ill-treatment, humiliating treatment, arbitrary destruction of property and confiscation or destruction of papers. Furthermore, Roma/Gypsies are widely reported to be subject to disproportionately frequent checks. In cases where Roma/Gypsies have been victims of racial attacks, there are reports that the response by law enforcement officials has sometimes been inadequate. ECRI expresses deep concern at these reports. In line with the observations made in other parts of this report16, ECRI strongly urges the Italian authorities thoroughly to investigate all alleged cases of misbehaviour on the part of the police and to bring to justice those officers found responsible. In this respect, ECRI underlines the importance of the existence of reliable and adequately publicised avenues for the reporting of police misbehaviour vis-ą-vis members of the Roma/Gypsy communities. More generally, ECRI urges the Italian authorities to ensure a more effective implementation of the existing criminal law provisions against racist acts. ECRI also expresses concern at reports of group expulsions of Roma/Gypsies from Italy and strongly urges the Italian authorities to investigate such reports.
67. ECRI furthermore notes with concern reports of unequal treatment of Roma/Gypsies by the Italian judicial authorities, including reports of comparatively more frequent use of pre-trial detention measures and heavier sentences inflicted upon members of the Roma/Gypsy communities. There have also been reports that placement of Roma/Gypsy children in state custody is not uncommon and that such placement is applied more readily to Roma/Gypsy children than to non-Roma/Gypsy children in comparable circumstances. As already suggested above17, ECRI strongly encourages the Italian authorities to undertake in-depth research on these issues and to take any necessary corrective action, notably through awareness raising and training measures for judges.
68. More generally, ECRI believes that a comprehensive policy is urgently needed to address the situation of the Roma/Gypsy population of Italy, which would cover, in an integrated manner, all fields of life, including those highlighted above. Such policy should be co-ordinated at the central level and should enable the combination of national initiatives with local specificities. As mentioned above, ECRI believes that the involvement of the Roma/Gypsy communities at all levels of the elaboration, implementation and evaluation of this policy is essential to ensure its success. In accordance with its general policy recommendation N° 3 on «Combating racism and intolerance against Roma/Gypsies», ECRI therefore encourages the Italian authorities to develop institutional arrangements to promote an active role and participation of Roma/Gypsy communities in the decision-making processes, through national, regional and local mechanisms, with priority placed on the idea of partnership on equal footing. The attention of the Italian authorities is drawn more generally to all the suggestions contained in ECRI's general policy recommendation N°3, which proposes a range of legislative and policy measures governments can take.
69. In the shorter term, measures which ECRI feels could be undertaken by the Italian authorities encompass the inclusion of the Roma/Gypsy community in the legislation protecting and promoting minority languages and cultures, as suggested above18. In addition, ECRI believes that a wide awareness-raising campaign on the real situation of the Roma/Gypsy communities in Italy and the problems they face could be beneficial in order to counter the high levels of prejudice of the general public vis-ą-vis the members of this group.
70. ECRI regrets to note that such widespread societal prejudice against Roma/Gypsies is exploited and corroborated by inflammatory statements made by politicians against Roma/Gypsies. ECRI addresses this issue in more depth in the section below.
A BRESCIA,
i “campi modello” costruiti, come ha esplicitatamente dichiarato l’assessora ai servizi sociali signora Giovanna Giordani, per controllare meglio Rom, Sinti e Profughi, non servono nemmeno per dare asilo a chi č fuggito alla guerra ed alla miseria ma si trasformano in trappole.
6 ROM SERBI ( tre donne, due uomini e un infante di 10 mesi) CHE DA VENTI GIORNI PENSAVANO DI AVER FINALMENTE TROVATO RIFUGIO NEL CAMPO MODELLO DI VIA ORZINUOVI, DOPO 9 ANNI NEL CORSO DEI QUALI ERANO STATI CONTINUAMENTE CACCIATI AD OPERA DELLE FORZE DELL’ORDINE DA TUTTI I POSTI IN CUI SI FERMAVANO,
IL GIORNO 17.4.02 SONO STATI PRELEVATI DA VIGILI, POLIZIA E CARABINIERI, E SUBITO DEPORTATI IN JUGOSLAVIA.
In questo modo, con ridicole motivazioni, č stata applicata in anticipo la legge Bossi-Fini; ma si č andati anche oltre - quattro famiglie sono state lacerate: un uomo e tre donne han dovuto separarsi da sei bambini (gią privi dell’altro genitore) perchč il ritorno a Smederevo in Jugoslavia, dove le abitazioni erano state distrutte dai bombardamenti del ’99, avrebbe potuto essere pericoloso per la salute e la sopravvivenza dei bambini stessi.
LE TESTIMONIANZE VIDEO LE TROVATE AL SEGUENTE INDIRIZZO:
http://www.lulop.com/site/appbyid.php3?id=185&SourceWell_Session=d658859afa1ac6b8f5dd43453c57c0af
OGNI PAROLA DELLE TESTIMONIANZE FILMATE VA ASCOLTATA CON GRANDISSIMA ATTENZIONE: IN TRE MINUTI E’ STATA RESA CON ASSOLUTA EFFICACIA NON SOLO LA “CRONACA” DI QUESTO ENNESIMO ATTO DI PERSECUZIONE, MA ANCHE QUELLO CHE PURTROPPO č ANCOR OGGI “IL DESTINO DEGLI ZINGARI”
GRAZIE A MARIO PIETRI CHE HA REALIZZATO IL FILMATO E A LULOP CHE HA CONSENTITO DI METTERLO IN RETE.