Link nou

Am adaugat un nou link in barul din dreapta la rubrica human rights - European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights. Prezenta unui nou outfit de drepturile omului cu deschidere spre exterior, care, prin exceptie, nu provine din lumea anglo-saxona este salutara in sine. Pe langa acest aspect, ei se ocupa cu seriozitate si aplicat de chestii interesante precum raspunderea corporatiilor transnationale pentru incalcarea drepturilor omului sau practica de 'extraordinary rendition' din pdv european. Happy reading.

Scandalos

8 septembrie 2008

COMUNICAT DE PRESA CRJ

Primaria Capitalei vrea rezolvarea problemelor de la Pasajul Basarab
prin dizolvarea ONG-urilor care s-au ocupat de caz!

Reprezentantii Centrului de Resurse Juridice (CRJ) impreuna cu cei ai
Fundatiei TERRA Mileniul III au organizat astazi la Sala Jad a
UZINEXPORT o conferinta de presa in cadrul careia au prezentat
cererea de dizolvare a celor doua organizatii neguvernametale
formulata de Primaria Capitalei. Cererea de dizolvare a fost depusa in
luna iulie la Judecatoria Sectorului 2.

In cererea de dizolvare se face trimitere explicita la faptul ca CRJ
si Terra Mileniul III au solicitat Tribunalului Bucuresti anularea
Hotararii Consiliului General al Municipiului Bucuresti de declarare a
utilitatii publice a Pasajului Basarab pe motive de nelegalitate.
Cererea a fost admisa de instanta de fond, iar hotararea a fost
anulata in data de 9 aprilie 2008.

Acuzatiile aduse de catre Primaria Capitalei celor doua fundatii se
refera la derularea de activitati ilicite, impotriva ordinii publice,
fiind citate in mod trunchiat pasaje din documentele statutare ale
celor doua ONG-uri.

Mai precis, Primaria Capitalei arata ca cele doua fundatii au scopuri
contrare legislatiei in vigoare. Primaria acuza Centrul de Resurse
Juridice si Fundatia TERRA Mileniul III ca acorda asistenta juridica
si reprezentare in instanta in mod nelegal.

De asemenea, Primaria mentioneaza intentia de formulare a unei
plangeri de urmarire penala privind infractiunea de exercitare a unei
profesii fara drept si cea de subminare a economiei nationale.

Precizari privind procesul Pasajului Basarab:

In data de 9 aprilie 2008 Tribunalul Bucuresti a admis actiunea
introdusa de Centrul de Resurse Juridice si Fundatia TERRA Mileniul
III prin care a fost anulata hotararea de declarare a utilitatii
publice a Pasajului Suprateran Basarab. Instanata de judecata a
hotarat ca declararea Pasajului Suprateran Basarab (drept utilitate
publica) s-a facut nelegal, cu incalcarea Legii nr. 33/1994 privind
exproprierea pentru utilitate publica.

Chestiunile juridice care au facut temeiul actiunii invocate de cele
doua fundatii reclamante au avut in vedere urmatoarele:

- faptul ca monumentele istorice pot fi expropriate numai prin
lege si nu prin hotararea consiliului local;

- inexistenta unei documentatii de urbanism legal aprobata la
momentul efectuarii cercetarii prealabile si a aprobarii hotararii nr.
160/2006 privind declararea constructiei Pasajului Suprateran Basarab
ca fiind de utilitate publica;

- constituirea nelegala a comisiei pentru efectuarea
cercetarii prealabile in vederea luarii deciziei de declarare a
constructiei ca fiind de utilitate publica;

- convocarea nelegala a consilierilor municipali la data
adoptarii hotararii.

Precizam ca atat Centrul de Resurse Juridice, cat si Fundatia Terra
Mileniul III actioneaza in temeiul documentelor statutare prin care au
fost infiinţ ate, iar acuzatiile aduse in vederea dizolvarii nu au
temei legal. Atat CRJ cat si Terra Mileniul III deruleaza procese-test
in instanta cu sprijinul cabinetelor de avocatura colaboratoare si
aceste activitati nu produc venituri pentru nici una dintre entitati.
In acelasi timp, nici CRJ si nici Terra Mileniul III nu acorda
servicii de asistenta juridica nici contra cost si nici gratuit.

Solutia finala a la Popricani

Conform editiei de azi a Ziarului de Iasi, la Centrul de integrare prin terapie ocupationala din Popricani (undeva la tzara) urmeaza a fi amenajat un padoc cu o capacitate de 50 de caini vagabonzi. Conform functionarilor Consiliului judetean astfel se impusca doi iepuri dintr-o lovitura - sccapam de cainii vagabonzi si in acelasi timp le asiguram terapie ocupationala rezidentilor de la Popricani.

Permiteti-mi sa fiu scandalizat. Ce fel de terapie ocupationala este ingrijirea cainilor vagabonzi? Ce fel de skilluri vor invata bietii rezidenti de la Popricani avand grija de caini pe care apoi sa le foloseasca in comunitate (acesta fiind scopul ultim al acestor terapii - reintegrarea in comunitate)? Si chiar, i-a intrebat cineva pe rezidenti daca vor sa se ocupe de cainii vagabonzi?

Culmea este ca functionarii de la Primarie, si cei de la Centrul din Popricani (si ziaristul) nu observa nerozia sugestiei, chiar poate se cred geniali si generosi. Ironia acestei propuneri e ca si persoanele cu handicap si cainii vagabonzi au chiar multe in comun (in Romania). Si daca tinem seama de trecutul nu prea indepartat, o data ce izolam cainii si nebunii la Popricani, ii lasam sa moara acolo, si apoi reproducem acest proiect la scara intregii tari. Si gata.

Some of my work

Below a letter containing the latest news on a campaign I've been coordinating for a while now.
***

Re: Urgent action to improve the living conditions of Romani communities in Tulcea

Dear Mayor Hogea,

The European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) and the Association for the Defence of Human Rights in Romania – the Helsinki Committee (APADOR-CH) are today requesting your urgent intervention in order to improve the housing conditions of previously forcibly evicted Romani families in Tulcea, Romania. Such action is imperative particularly in light of the judgment dated 27 November 2007 and communicated to the ERRC and APADOR-CH at the end of February 2008, in which the Tulcea Court of First Instance ordered your office to undertake all necessary and urgent repair and maintenance work required to bring the buildings situated at 8-14 Portului Street (in the area locally known as “Pichet”) to a standard fit for human habitation.

We have drawn your attention to the plight of the 23 Romani families who had been forcibly evicted from their flats at 5 Alunisului Street in letters sent to your office on 27 October 2006 and 16 February 2007. Of these 23 families 17 were relocated to Pichet, and are covered by the above-mentioned judgment. The remaining six families were allocated cabins situated on a former garbage dump on Urzicii Street after having spent two months sleeping rough on the streets subsequent to the October 2006 eviction. Despite our appeals, the living conditions of the Roma concerned have became considerably worse, as attested by the court’s judgment.

In the above mentioned judgment, based on extensive fact-finding, including an on-site investigation, the Tulcea First Instance Court concluded that “presently, [the buildings on Portului Street] are clearly inadequate for human habitation.” The only positive development of last year was when the three buildings were belatedly hooked up to the electricity grid in April 2007. This notwithstanding, the buildings started showing considerable structural deficiencies due to the lack of maintenance/refurbishment over an extended period of time. The water from the rain and snow infiltrated large portions of the walls located immediately underneath the roof causing the flats to become damp. None of the buildings have a functioning sewage system, and in one building ground floor occupants are affected by periodic spills of raw sewage from common toilets located on the upper floor. The tenants are thus prevented from using the toilets. In addition, water provision has become increasingly erratic, being interrupted for days at a stretch. The lack of functional toilets in the three buildings, the interruption of garbage collection and chaotic water works in the settlement have created a health hazard, especially for the children. Finally, public transport linking the settlement to downtown Tulcea has been stopped, forcing children in the settlement to drop out of school, amongst other consequences.

ERRC and APADOR-CH however also believe that the aforementioned judgment is of relevance to the remaining Romani families left homeless after the October 2006 eviction who indeed live under even worse conditions than the community on Portului Street. More specifically, our two organisations are extremely concerned by the living conditions of the six families living in cabins located on a former garbage dump on the Urzicii Street. Although the measure of moving the Roma in these cabins was initially supposed to be a temporary one, the Municipality shows no signs of looking for an alternative, long term solution. The cabins on the garbage dump are lacking the most elementary facilities such as heating, water, sanitation. Moreover, these cabins deteriorated markedly: the bottom part in some of them fell in and the holes were covered with planks of wood; others tipped on a side, sinking in the thin soil layer covering the garbage dump. The whole area is very harmful for the health of its inhabitants and appears to be infested with rats.

Dear Mayor Hogea, the ERRC and APADOR have repeatedly called on your office to provide an adequate housing solution for the Romani families forcibly evicted from Alunisului Street in 2006. The judgment delivered by the Tulcea First Instance Court provides legal recognition of the deplorable living conditions of the Roma families living at Portului Street and renders it imperative that your office takes all the necessary measures in order to address this situation. To this effect, the ERRC and APADOR call on your office to implement, in the shortest time possible, the Tulcea First Instance Court’s order to undertake all necessary and urgent repair and maintenance work required to bring the buildings situated at 8-14 Portului Street to an adequate standard. We further request that you seize this opportunity to provide an adequate housing solution for the Romani families living on the garbage dump situated on Urzicii Street.

We believe that the above clearly point to the measures your municipality needs to adopt in order to meet the relevant international law provisions as well as conform with the Tulcea’s First Instance Court’s judgment of 27 November 2007. To this end, we would like to affirm that we are willing to work together with you in addressing what is a deplorable situation not benefiting your municipality.

We respectfully request to be informed of any and all actions undertaken by your office in this regard, and would welcome the opportunity to contribute to the implementation of the Tulcea First Instance Court’s decision.

Sincerely,
Diana-Olivia Hatneanu
Executive Director
Romanian Helsinki Committee

Vera Egenberger
Executive Director
European Roma Rights Centre

Monica Lovinescu

Cu riscul de a transforma acest blog intr-un obituar, trebuie sa marchez moartea Monicai Lovinescu. Singurul mod in care am luat contact cu ea a fost prin intermediul Jurnalului, precum si sporadic din presa, sau atunci cand de exemplu nu i-a fost acordata posibilitatea de a sustine o cuvantare in Universitatea Iasi. Nu am avut ocazia din pacate sa ascult emisiunile sale pe Europa Libera.

Nu vreau sa spun mai mult decat ca Monica Lovinescu este un reper moral incontestabil intr-o lume extrem de fluida din acest punct de vedere. Insusi faptul ca nu s-a intors in Romania dupa 1989 observand si comentand de la distanta marasmul post decembrist e poate o dovada ca inca nu am iesit din comunism. Poate ca acest moment il astepta ea. In rest, Monica Lovinescu a avut o istorie pasionanta - cititi de exemplu Cotidianul zilele astea, pana cand subiectul nu se pierde in uitare.


(fotografie preluata de pe cotidianul.ro)

How to get locked up in a psychiatric hospital in three easy steps

The recent judgment from the European Court of Human Rights in the case of Shtkaturov v Russia is groundbeaking for a number of reasons. For the time being, I thought it would be interesting to flag out the reasons why Mr. Shtukaturov lost his legal capacity (for good), was placed under guardianship (for good), and was institutionalised in a psychiatric hospital (indefinitely). Here is the relevant quotation from the medical report that was the basis for the decision to deprive him of all his rights

On 12 November 2004 an expert team from [Sankt Petersburg] Hospital no. 6 examined the applicant and his medical records. The report prepared by the expert team may be summarised as follows. After graduating from the school the applicant worked for a short time as an interpreter. However, some time later he became aggressive, unsympathetic and secluded, and prone to empty philosophizing. He abandoned his job, started attending religious meetings and visiting Buddhist shrines, lost most of his friends, neglected his personal hygiene and became very negative towards his relatives. He suffered from anorexia and was hospitalised in this respect.

The lessons from poor Mr.Shtukaturov's case are obvious - always act happy, wash your teeth every morning, go to church, get a boring job, and you're safe.

Way to Go (Casus belli part II)

And there is actually something you can do about it.

Take for example Solidaritatea pentru Constiinta (Solidarity for Conscience), a wonderful non-governmental organisation which is taking on the Church + the Government with limited manpower and very limited funding. They are basically doing it out of and based on exclusively their conviction. Their actions include initiating legal proceedings, organising public protests, engaging the bad guys in public debate etc. Their most important achievements so far are the successful litigation campaign aiming to eliminate religious icons from schools and stalling the megalomaniac People's Cathedral project for more years. They are a great example of public engagement (others would say 'exagerated activism:)that turns a previously discrete issue on its head into a major issue of public contention.

Second, you can follow the example of my friend Theo Alexandridis, a lawyer who is confronting an even more entrenched adversary in Greece. Recently he won a case against Greece at the European Court of Human Rights concerning the obligation in that country to take a religious oath upon admission into the Bar Association. The Court held that Greece was in breach of Article 9 of the Convention concerning freedom of religion on account of the fact that by taking the oath, Theo was obliged to reveal his religious conviction. As a result, Greece will most likely have to cancel the religious oath altogether.

The tenor of this message is that as long as you give a damn about the world you live in it is worth/possible to put up a fight.