Athens, 12.01.2010 – The increased and alarming human rights violations against Romani women and ways of ensuring full enjoyment of their rights topped the agenda of a two-day conference of Roma women, which ended today in Athens.

In a final declaration of the conference, the participants unanimously called on European governments to uphold their obligations and ensure that Romani women enjoy their fundamental rights, to put an end to a climate of impunity around atrocious abuses of their rights, to take unequivocal measures to punish perpetrators and compensate Romani women victims.

Romani women also urged the governments of European countries, where forced sterilisation is an ongoing practice, to take active measures to compensate the victims, sanction perpetrators and initiate state medical reform in the area of patients’ rights.

The conference’s conclusions stressed the need to prevent de facto segregation in housing and education, while promoting the principles of equality and integration.

Violence, poverty, inequality and widespread discrimination have made Roma communities the “punchbags” of Europe and victims of an “undeclared Apartheid” system.

These were among the conclusions reached by a panel of experts which assembled for the Council of Europe’s ‘Viewpoint’ human rights talk show, to be broadcast in early January 2010.

 13/11/2009 - Wiener Zeitung / Österreich  

 "Racism Against Romany Becoming 'Worse and Worse'"

Vienna - At an international conference in the Vienna Hofburg, harsh criticism was voiced about the treatment of Romany within the EU states. Representatives of the OSCE, the Council of Europe and the EU Agency for Basic Right (FRA) made many demands of the governments of member states to stop the discrimination, segregation and racism against the Romany.

"We have a real problem with racism - and it is getting worse and worse," warned Thomas Hammarberg, the Council of Europe's human rights commissioner. It was tolerated that the Romany became "the doormats of our society" and that racist remarks by politicians are simply accepted as such. "The heads of government must finally take this problem seriously. Romany are being discriminated, although they are also EU citizens."

Worsening anti-gypsy discrimination will come under the microscope next month in a television debate organised by the Council of Europe.

VIENNA (AP) - Roma face widespread discrimination when they migrate throughout Europe in search of a better life and governments are failing to address the problem, human rights experts said Monday, 9 Nov 2009.

Often referred to as Gypsies, Roma are an ethnic group that has traditionally lived mostly in southern and eastern Europe. Besides a lack of access to housing, social services and education, they often do not have the identity papers needed to get decent jobs and are seen as criminals.

"We have allowed the Roma population to be scapegoats in our own societies -- an underclass," said Thomas Hammarberg, commissioner for human rights at the Council of Europe. "The leaders of governments must begin to take this problem seriously because this is hypocrisy when it comes to human rights."

Hammarberg and other experts spoke to reporters on the sidelines of a conference in the Austrian capital about Roma migration and freedom of movement.

Balkan Sunflowers and Romawood Production are showcasing films made by and about Roma in Pristina, from 19 to 21 October 2009

One goal of the Decade of Roma Inclusion 2005-2015, Dosta! campaign and many important initiatives by the Council of Europe, the Soros foundations, and others is to counter one-dimensional stereotypes of “Gypsies” in the media, presenting a richer and more complete picture of the Roma, in their families, work, art, and the diverse countries where the rolling of their wheel has taken them. The Rolling Film Festival is a contribution to this goal.

Human rights campaigners have called on doctors to stop the “forced sterilisation”of Roma women during an address to a medical conference in South Africa.

The Council of Europe’s team of experts used the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) conference, in Cape Town from 4-9 October, to demand from doctors higher ethical standards and a greater respect for human rights.

“The right to bodily integrity is a fundamental human right,” said Christina Zampas, a Council of Europe consultant and senior legal adviser for Europe to the Center for Reproductive Rights.

“There are doctors who are doing this who may have underlying racist attitudes. We want doctors to understand that this is illegal and discriminatory.”

By Gwendolyn Albert, Director, Women’s Initiatives, Peacework Development Fund and Dr Peter Hornnes, President, European Board and College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology 

In 2003, the General Assembly of the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) adopted a resolution on “Women’s Sexual and Reproductive Rights - A Social Responsibility for Obstetricians-Gynaecologists”.[1] The resolution called on FIGO Member Societies to “focus their efforts on priority areas in human rights failings identified in their own countries, where advocacy efforts by gynaecologists and obstetricians, in collaboration with other civil society groups, can have an impact on women’s health.”