Amidst Death of Self-Proclaimed Roma King, Roma People Remain Repressed

By Ben Kopp
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

BRUSSELS, European Union – Self-appointed Roma king Florin Cioaba’s funeral held thousands of people in the Romanian city of Sibiu less than a week after his death by heart attack on 18 August 2013. Throughout Europe, the Roma people continued to seek basic human rights, including shelter and safety.

Murders of Roma people to receive new investigations in Hungary. (Photo courtesy of Deutsche Welle)

In 1997, Cioaba became the self-proclaimed Roma king following the death of his father, who previously held the title. Popular among the Roma community, Cioaba supported modernization and education.

At Cioaba’s death, an estimated 10 million Roma people lived across Europe, with about two million struggling with prejudice, poverty, and illiteracy in Romania. In addition to being one of Europe’s oldest minorities, the Council of Europe has declared that the Roma are also Europe’s most discriminated against minority.

“We have seen a deeply worrying trend over the past year with entrenched discrimination against Roma reaching new heights. This is a fundamental issue that the Czech authorities can’t ignore,” said John Dalhuisen, Europe and Central Asia Program Director for Amnesty International.

On 27 August 2013, French authorities forced the eviction of 150 Roma people in a manner that Amnesty International claims is against international laws requiring “appropriate procedural protections”, “adequate alternative accommodation”, and compensation for relocated residents.

Since the open of 2013, the Czech Republic has experienced a surge of neo-Nazi activity, including anti-Roma marches and demonstrations. “The marches [are] on the increase, and people are afraid,” said David Tiser, the director of a Prague NGO. “These are not just marches by extremists. Regular citizens are joining in as well. And this is what is dangerous. This is why the foreign media are interested.”

On 24 August 2013, at least 1500 people marched through several Czech communities. In some locations, police arrested demonstrators and confiscated wooden stakes, baseball bats, and machetes. To instill fear in the Roma community, many marchers shouted, “Gypsies to the gas chambers.”

In Hungary, human rights activists and lawyers convinced officials recently to re-open a 2008-2009 series of murders against the Roma community. Throughout both years, right-wing extremists carried out nine arson attacks that resulted in six deaths and fifty-five injuries. At least one suspect remains free. Particularly, authorities will place focus on initial “failures and potential wrongdoing” by investigators. While police investigators overlooked serious suspect possibilities and may have been involved in evidence destruction, Hungarian prosecutors are also looking to military personnel who may have helped facilitate the attacks.

Every ethnicity deserves the dignity and respect granted under international human rights law, and once provided to the Roma, Cioaba’s hopes for greater modernization and education will become reality.

For further information, please see:

Deutsche Welle – Czech Neo-Nazi Marches Target Roma – August 30, 2013

Amnesty International – French Authorities Forcibly Evict 150 People, Including 60 Children – August 27, 2013

Deutsche Welle – New Investigations, Compensation for Roma Murders in Hungary – August 27, 2013

BBC News – Czech Anti-Roma Protests End in Arrests – August 24, 2013

AFP – Romania’s ‘King of Gypsies’ Buried – August 23, 2013

Reuters – Thousands Gather in Romania for Roma King’s Funeral– August 23, 2013

Chinese Grinning Official on Trial For Corruption

By Kevin M. Mathewson
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China — Yang Dacai, a Chinese official who sparked a national outcry after images showed him grinning while on the scene of a fatal bus crash, has pled guilty to corruption charges.

Mr Dacai said he used his legal income to buy the many watches he owned.

In Xi’an Intermediate People’s Court, Yang admitted to taking 250,000 yuan (40,518 U.S. dollars) in bribes.

Dacai is the latest Chinese government official to be ousted from his position by online whistleblowers.

His trial comes during growing public anger over the allegations of corruption in the Chinese government. A majority of the protests occur online with drives against corruption, and internet users increasingly pursuing those perceived as having done wrong through online exposure.

Dacai has been Nicknamed “Brother Watch” by internet users after images of him wearing various luxury watches circulated online. Dacai has been seen wearing 11 luxury watches; five of which combined are worth more than 300,000 Yuan (48,000 U.S. dollars).

Chinese citizens on the internet have argued that Dacai should not have been able to afford the watches on his salary as a civil servant.

However, Dacai has claimed that he “used legal income” to buy a number of watches, saying that the most expensive one he owned was worth 35,000 Yuan (5,500 U.S. dollars).

After an initial investigation, Dacai was removed as the head and chief of the provincial work safety administration and was dismissed from his post as a member of the Shaanxi Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Community Party of China (CPC).

Yu Guoming, deputy dead of journalism at Renmin University of China, said the positive response and timely punishment showed the authorities commitment to anti-graft campaigning and boosted the Chinese enthusiasm to root out corruption clues.

Last December, Yuan Zhanting, the mayor of Lanzhou, the capital of China’s relatively poor northwestern province of Gansu, was ridiculed after pictures surfaced of him wearing luxury watches. One of them, an Omega, worth 150,000 Yuan (24,000 U.S. dollars).

In recent weeks, there have been signs that this internet campaign has worried authorities, resulting in a number of journalists being arrested for “rumor-mongering”, one being a high-profile blogger.

For further information, please see:

BBC News – Trial for China’s ‘smiling official’ Yang Dacai – 30 August 2013

Yahoo! News – China’s ‘smiling face’ official on trial for graft – 30 August 2013

Channel News Asia – China’s ‘smiling face’ official on trial for graft – 30 August 2013

Global Post – China’s ‘smiling face’ official on trial for graft – 31 August 2013

As Violence in Central African Republic Escalates Refugees Flee to Airport

By Erica Smith
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

BANGUI, Central African Republic – More than 5,000 people, mostly women and children, have sought refuge in the main airport of Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic (CAR), after increased violence in the neighborhoods of  Boy-Rabe and Boeing. The refugees have blocked runways and flights have been diverted to neighboring Cameroon.

Refugees standing by a French armored personnel carrier at the airport in Bangui. (Photo Courtesy of Voice of America)


               The CAR has become increasingly unstable since Seleka rebels ousted President Francois Bozize in March. The new president and former rebel leader Michel Djotodia has so far been unable to stop rebel fighters from killing and looting citizens.

                The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees has issued a statement calling for Djotodia and the government to restore order in the country. “We urge the authorities to use all means to stop attacks against civilians, restore security and protect the population,” said Liz Ahua, the deputy director of UNHCR’s Bureau for Africa.

                The UNHCR has reported that over the past ten days people have been subjected to arbitrary arrests, detention, torture, extortion, armed robberies, physical violence, restriction of movement, and looting. These actions have killed 10 so far in addition to numerous people killed outside the capital city by marauding rebel fighters.

                Many of the refugees inhabiting the airport are there not only for safety provided by peacekeepers but to protest the situation in their country. Residents of Boy-Rabe and Boeing say they have stayed at the airport to protest the lawlessness that has run rampant since March. “Our presence here at the airport has one goal – to get the world’s attention. Because we are fed up with these Seleka,” said Antoine Gazama told Aljazeera.

The African Union is deploying a 3,600 person peacekeeping mission in the CAR, incorporating a force of 1,100 soldiers already present in the country. French President Francois Hollande has called on the UN Security Council and the African Union to work to stabilize the CAR, warning that the country is at risk of completely collapsing. The CAR was at one point a French colony.

There are already more than 206,000 internally displaced persons in the CAR before the recent unrest and some 63,000 people have fled to neighboring countries. The fighting has eroded the humanitarian situation in the CAR, even the most basic services have been interrupted, affecting the entire population of 4.6 million people, half of whom are children.

For further information, please see:

Thomson Reuters — Former rebels sow terror in Central Africa Republic – residents — 30 August 2013

Voice of America — UN Agencies See Security Deterioration in CAR — 30 August 2013

Aljazeera — CAR protesters occupy Bangui airport — 29 August 2013

All Africa — Central African Republic: Thousands Take Refuge At Airport — 29 August 2013

All Africa — Central African Republic: Violence Displacing Bangui Residents — 29 August 2013

All Africa — Central African Republic: Amid Renewed Fighting UN Refugee Urges CAR to Protect Civilians — 29 August 2013