Recent media accounts & human
rights reports: 2007 & 2008

"Reports of racially motivated incidents against foreigners and person of color, perpetrated by groups with a history of targeting persons of Roma, African or Asian descent, have occurred in the Slovak Republic.  In addition to incidents of assault, persons of Roma, African, or Asian heritage may be subject to various types of harassment, such as verbal abuse." ₃

"Roma Minority: there have been reports that Roma rights issues are similar in profile to those elsewhere in Central and Eastern Europe: that is, that Roma face racial discrimination and other exclusionary forces. According local Roma activists, while the human rights situation in Belarus is generally very poor, Roma are in an especially vulnerable situation. In particular, Roma reportedly fall victim to police violence; they have limited access to education; many Roma lack the personal documents they need to access fundamental rights, including identity cards, residence permits, etc.; large numbers of Roma live in un-integrated settlements in substandard conditions, often without basic infrastructure and/or utilities; and the government has failed to date to undertake relevant measures to improve the situation."

"There have been reports that Roma living in the areas affected by the Chernobyl nuclear reactor accident in 1986 may have been disproportionately excluded from preventive and/or ameliorative medical measures, such as regular doses of iodine, required for the prevention of thyroid cancer. Roma in Belarus frequently do not challenge discriminatory treatment and human rights violations at the relevant institutions because they consider authorities undemocratic and/or unreceptive too such complaints, as well as for reasons related to their historic exclusion. In addition to the issues raised above, a significant number of Roma have not yet exchanged their old identification documents for new documents, and may have missed the deadline in 2004 for the exchange of such documents. Such persons are at risk to be deprived from the right to vote and other goods and services."

"Hate speech against Roma takes place in the media, portraying Roma as thieves and criminals, thereby provoking high levels of intolerance and perceptions of Roma as an outcast group. Discriminatory treatment of Roma by local authorities deepens the inequality of Roma in their access to fundamental rights." ₅

	Bulgaria about the torture and death of a Romani man in police custody.
	Croatia about the failure of authorities to investigate a severe beating of a Romani man.
	Czech Republic about many allegations of police violence and failure to investigate crimes against Roma.
	Greece about the killing of a Romani man, and the shooting in the head of another Romani man.
	Macedonia about the death of a 17-year-old Romani boy who apparently died of drowning while running from police. Also, two Romani men were beaten outside a police station and then dragged into the station for more beating.
	Romania about a report by the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) that reported inadequate enforcement of existing anti-discrimination laws, and racist articles in the media. There was also a report of an apparent police riot. President Traian Basescu reportedly called a journalist a "dirty gypsy", but apologized later for causing the journalist "an undeserved moral damage."
	Slovakia about refusal of service by a restaurant, the forced sterilization of three Romani women between 1999 and 2002. The UN Committee of the Rights of the Child expressed its concern about discrimination and segregation experienced by Roma, and others, in  education, health care and housing. They also were concerned about the continuing incidents of excessive use of force by police.

Their report also documented human rights abuses in housing, employment, health services, education, as well as civil, political, economic and social rights. ₆