Amnesty condemns ill-treatment of Roma
01 September 1995
Amnesty International have written to Zhan Videnov, the Bulgarian Prime Minister, to protest at alleged beatings and other ill-treatment of Roma which have apparently been motivated by the victims' ethnic background. "We are particularly concerned about the case of one victim of ill-treatment, Iliya Dimitrov Gherghinov, who died in detention in suspicious circumstances", the organization said.
On 9 February 1995, two witnesses found him lying on the street near their house in Gradets, in the Sliven region, with his hands in handcuffs. A police officer, who appeared to be under the influence of alcohol, was standing over him with a long piece of wood in his hand. The officer dragged Iliya along the street holding him by his handcuffs, after which he beat him repeatedly all over the body. The beating reportedly continued in Gradets police station.
The following day Iliya Gherghinov was found lying dead on the street, with his hands still in handcuffs. The death certificate indicated hypothermia as the cause of death. However, his relatives claim that Iliya's leg was broken, that there was a large wound on the side of his face, that his genitals had been crushed and that his body was covered with bruises and his hands with cigarette burns.
Although according to Iliya's wife an investigation into her husband's death was immediately initiated, she was told by officials that no case would be filed in the next five years. Amnesty International is calling on the Bulgarian government to ensure that the investigation into the death of Iliya Gherghinov is prompt, thorough and impartial, to make the findings public and to bring to justice anyone responsible for human rights violations.
Dimitar Stankov Stankov, a 12-year-old pupil, was arrested on 5 May 1995 after the vice-principal of his primary school called the police, reporting him for theft. The police took Dimitar to the police station without notifying his parents, where he was reportedly slapped, kicked and beaten with a rubber truncheon during the interrogation. Dimitar did not tell his parents about the incident thinking that the police would not summon him again. However, three days later he was called to the police station once more. Hours later Dimitar's parents were called in and the investigation ended once they immediately requested an inquiry.
In March 1995 Amnesty International wrote to Prime Minister Zhan Videnov about the shooting of a Roma and ill-treatment of dozens of Roma in Nova Zagora on 20 March 1995. "We have still not received any reply concerning an investigation into these or other cases of apparently ethnically motivated ill-treatment by police officers in Bulgaria which have been brought to the attention of the Bulgarian authorities in the past three years," the Amnesty said.
Amnesty International, AI INDEX:EUR 15/05/95, 28.9.95.<