Yugoslavia: evicted Roma families are still living in a park and denied adequate housing

ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS CONCERN
Case YUG 250701.2 ESCRC
Follow-up to Case YUG 250701. ESCRC


The International Secretariat of OMCT requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in Yugoslavia.


New Information

The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by a reliable source that the Cukarika Municipality Council refuses to find alternative land to build housing for the eight Roma families who were evicted from shacks on a plot in the Kosutnjak district of Belgrade on June 14th 2001.

According to the information received, the Dutch Government has donated 15’000 DEM to the Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) to build housing for these Roma families. Despite several appeals by the HLC to the Cukarika Municipality Council, its Department of Building Land Allotment is refusing to issue a construction permit for thesehouses. It is reported that the Chairperson of the municipality’s Executive Council, Slobodanka Despotovic, refused to cooperate, stating that the municipality had no alternative accommodation to offer and was not under an obligation to do so. Meanwhile, the situation of the eight Roma families is getting worse due to the cold weather and their precarious living conditions.


Reminder of the Situation

On June 14th 2001, eight Roma families of over 30 people, amongst whom there are 10 children under the age of 10, including a five-month old baby, were evicted from a building site located in the Kostutnjak district of Belgrade. The Roma have been living in this place since 1988.

The eviction, which took place at 11 p.m., was allegedly carried out by the municipal authorities with the assistance of police and private security guards. The Roma families had only five minutes to gather their belongings and move otherwise the police threatened to “crash into the lot and break all the furniture and other things”. The mother of the five-month old baby was threatened that if she refused to collaborate during the eviction, her child would be put into care. The police also allegedly warned the Roma that they would be jailed if they tried to return to the site.

The eviction of the eight Roma families follows the initiative taken by the municipality to restore the ownership rights of the former owners (before 1945) and was issued when the building site was denationalised and returned to its previous owner.

As the municipal authorities allegedly failed to provide alternative temporary accommodation, the eight Roma families found refuge in the Kosutnjak public park where they have been living since then, in constant fear of being forced to move again.




These Roma families are therefore living since June 2001 in a park, in temporary wooden shelters with no access to toilets and drinking water. They have no food, except that from garbage bins, and they frequently have had stones thrown at them from moving cars, while garbage was dumped in their settlements. It is reported that due to the intolerable conditions in which they live Isnija Stojovic miscarried and that all the children have been taken ill.

Several other cases of eviction have been reported. In 2000, 4 evictions of Roma families were reported, the worst being of the Roma settlement in Antena in Belgrade, where all the inhabitants, including children, were beaten by the police. Since January this year, 5 forced evictions of Roma families have been reported.


Action Requested

Please write to the Yugoslavian authorities urging them to:

i. take all necessary measures to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of the Roma Families;

ii. take all necessary measures to guarantee the right to adequate housing of the eight Roma families, which include the authorities’ obligation to ensure that adequate alternative housing is available;

iii. guarantee respect for the economic, social and cultural rights throughout the country and in particular the right to adequate housing;

iv. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards such as the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.


Addresses:

His Excellency Vojislav Kostunica, President of The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Predsednik SRJ, Bulevar Mihaila Pupina 2, 11070 Belgrade, Yugoslavia
Fax: (+ 011 381) 11 636 775 /(+ 011 381) 11 636 682) / (+ 011 381) 11 636 167 E-mail: VojislavKostunica@gov.yu

His Excellency, Prime Minister, Predsednik Savezne Vlade, Bulevar Mihaila Pupina 2, 11070 Belgrade, Yugoslavia. Fax: (+ 011-381) 11 636 775 or (011-381) 11 659 682 E-mail:

His Excellency, Minister of Justice, Ministar pravde, Republicko Ministarstvo za pravosudje i optu upravu, Namanjina 26, 11000 Belgrade, Yugoslavia. Fax: (011-381) 11 361 6590 E-mail:

Minister of Foreign Affairs
Fax : + 38 111 681 572

Please also write to the embassies of Yugoslavia in your respective country.


Geneva, January 10th 2002

Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.