Roma camp dismantled in Rome [Wanted in Rome] →
The city of Rome has dismantled a large settlement occupied by about 400 members of the Roma community in Tor de’ Cenci, between Via Cristoforo Colombo and Via Pontina in the southern outskirts of the capital. The demolition and eviction, which took place on 28 September, was condemned by human rights groups and charitable organisations such as Rome’s Comunità di S. Egidio.
The city’s mayor Gianni Alemanno said that the order to demolish the camp had been signed on 31 July for hygiene and sanitation reasons, in accordance with a decree from the regional administrative tribunal (TAR) of the Lazio region, and that the Rom people would be relocated to a specially-built camp at La Barbuta in Ciampino. Alemanno said that no abuses by authorities took place during the operation which was described by S. Egidio as “violent” and “shameful”, and by Amnesty International as “unlawful” and “ethnic segregation”.
Italy’s minister for economic cooperation and integration Andrea Riccardi – who is also the founder of S. Egidio and a former visitor to the Tor de’ Cenci camp – expressed his “astonishment at the manner and the suddenness of the eviction… that took place in front of numerous children and minors”.
An upcoming report by the Council of Europe human rights commissioner is to request Italy to cease its practice of segregation and forced evictions of the Roma people immediately, while a recent report by Amnesty International cited the continued “persecution and human rights abuses” faced by the Roma in Italy.
On 10 July Amnesty and S. Egidio held a concert called “Io non sgombero” (I’m not moving) to highlight the Tor de’ Cenci eviction which had always been contested by the residents.
Italy needs to speed up court proceedings and improve the treatment of Roma and migrants [Council of Europe] →
Strasbourg, 18/9/2012 - “Lengthy proceedings and the treatment of Roma and migrants in Italy raise serious human rights concerns” said today Nils Muižnieks, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, releasing a report based on the findings of his visit to Italy carried out on 3-6 July.
“It is high time that durable solutions be found to the excessive length of court proceedings, which is a long-standing human rights problem in Italy, generating the highest number of so-called repetitive cases lodged before the European Court of Human Rights.” The Commissioner stressed that no solution to this problem is likely to work “unless it benefits from the full collaboration of all stakeholders, including the Ministry of Justice, the High Council of the Judiciary, as well as judges, prosecutors and lawyers”.
Judicial inefficiency is estimated to reduce Italy’s yearly GDP by 1%. “In times of economic crisis, this figure should be an incentive to find solutions to reverse the situation. Active case management by judges has proved remarkably effective in the First Instance Court of Turin, where the backlog of cases was reduced by 26.6% in 5 years. It is a cost-effective measure which should be transposed to other parts of Italy.”
The Commissioner welcomes the adoption of Italy’s first national strategy for the inclusion of Roma and Sinti. “It must now yield concrete actions. The policies of segregated camps and forced evictions should be once and for all discontinued. There is also a continuing need to work against anti-Gypsyism, which remains rampant in political discourse and in the media. Regrettably, some measures taken recently, such as the severe downsizing of UNAR, the anti-discrimination office entrusted with a co-ordinating role under the strategy, may thwart the chances to achieve Roma inclusion and fight against discrimination.”
The Commissioner welcomes the authorities’ commitment to no longer pursue the policy of “push-back” of migrants to Libya, which constitutes a human rights violation. “The announced renegotiation of the bilateral agreement with Libya must include appropriate guarantees to prevent human rights violations resulting from possible interceptions and expulsions. Attention should also be paid to avoiding similar violations when applying other agreements, such as the readmission agreements with Egypt and Tunisia, and when returning migrants to Greece.”
The Commissioner lastly stresses that the near absence of an integration framework for refugees and other beneficiaries of international protection clashes with Italy’s human rights obligations. “The shocking situation of the estimated 800 recognised refugees and beneficiaries of international protection who occupy the so-called “Palace of Shame” in Rome exposes the fate of deprivation that refugees often face in Italy.”
The comments of the Italian authorities are available here.
ACTION: Roma risk imminent forced eviction in Rome (UA 182/12) (Amnesty International UK) →
Dear Activists,
The Italian authorities must immediately stop plans to evict Roma families from a camp on the outskirts of Rome, and should instead improve housing conditions there, Amnesty International said yesterday.
Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for Europe and Central Asia, Jezerca Tigani, said:
“The serious deterioration of living conditions in the camp, coupled with the repeated message that Tor de’ Cenci would be closed anyway, has rendered the consultation flawed. The only option offered by authorities was the transfer to yet another camp.
“The authorities should refrain from evicting residents who are not willing to relocate, and take steps in consultation with residents to restore adequate housing conditions and infrastructure in the camp.”
A spokesperson from the community told Amnesty International:
“It’s not possible to put us first in a camp, then after three years in another camp, then ten years later in yet another camp. They are playing with us as if we were a football.”
More than 350 people of Roma ethnicity, mostly Bosnian and Macedonian nationals, have been living in Tor de’ Cenci for up to 16 years.
Italy: Halt closure of authorized Roma camp (Amnesty International) →
Living conditions inside Rome’s Tor de Cenci camp have deteriorated in recent years. © Amnesty International
The Italian authorities must immediately stop plans to evict Roma families from a camp on the outskirts of Rome, and should instead improve housing conditions there, Amnesty International said today.
The Municipality of Rome plans to close the Tor de’Cenci camp and resettle inhabitants to a new camp by 10 July. It has failed to set out a clear rationale for closing Tor de’ Cenci, and to comply with relevant safeguards while making its decision and choosing a resettlement site.
“The serious deterioration of living conditions in the camp, coupled with the repeated message that Tor de’ Cenci would be closed anyway, has rendered the consultation flawed. The only option offered by authorities was the transfer to yet another camp,” said Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for Europe and Central Asia, Jezerca Tigani.
“The authorities should refrain from evicting residents who are not willing to relocate, and take steps in consultation with residents to restore adequate housing conditions and infrastructure in the camp.”
“It’s not possible to put us first in a camp, then after 3 years in another camp, then 10 years later in yet another camp. They are playing with us as if we were a football”, a spokesperson from the community told Amnesty International.
More than 350 people of Roma ethnicity, mostly Bosnian and Macedonian nationals, have been living in Tor de’ Cenci for up to 16 years.
Tor de’ Cenci was opened by local authorities in 1995, in an area where residents have access to basic services, including schools for children.
In the past two years, however, local authorities started referring to Tor de’ Cenci as a “tolerated” camp, threatening to close it. Meanwhile, living conditions have progressively worsened, as the camp has been effectively abandoned by authorities.
The authorities are planning to move the residents of Tor de’ Cenci into the new La Barbuta camp, which will be racially segregated.
The planned closure of Tor de’ Cenci and the construction of La Barbuta are part of Rome’s “Nomad Plan’, created under a state of emergency declared by the Italian government in 2008.
As part of their emergency powers, authorities were allowed to ignore key protection laws, including in the fields of environment and planning.
The “Nomad Emergency” enabled the Italian authorities to adopt discriminatory measures against Roma with impunity. It was eventually ruled unlawful in November 2011 by the Council of State, Italy’s highest administrative court.
Some of the families have agreed to move to La Barbuta, but many oppose the idea. Amnesty International opposes any forcible removal from Tor de’ Cenci of the families who have not expressly agreed to being relocated.
Most inhabitants say they would like to live in social housing, or to remain in Tor de’ Cenci if it is renovated. None of these options has been considered by authorities, allegedly because of lack of funding. But almost €10 million were reportedly spent to build La Barbuta.
La Barbuta is located in an isolated area adjacent to Ciampino airport, and is surrounded by fences and cameras. Local authorities plan to use the camp exclusively to house Roma families, creating a new racially segregated camp, although this is prohibited under international law and inconsistent with Italy’s recent commitments to the EU Commission.
“The authorities must improve housing conditions in Tor de’ Cenci. They should ensure that La Barbuta is brought in line with national and international standards and not used as a racially segregated camp,” said Tigani.
“They must also guarantee that any transfer of camp residents is carried out in genuine consultation with them. Housing options offered should not be limited to camps.”
“The Italian authorities must abandon the “Nomad Emergency”, provide remedy for the violations it caused and take measures to ensure adequate housing for all Roma.”
New Decision on Italian State of Emergency Must Not Mean a Return to Anti-Roma Activity, Says ERRC →
Budapest, Rome, 10 May 2012: Yesterday, Italy’s Council of State accepted the Italian Government’s request to suspend the effects of its decision from last year, which declared the State of Emergency was illegal and unfounded. The new decision means that various contracts started under the State of Emergency can go ahead, which may have a negative impact on the housing situation of Roma and Sinti living in formal and semi-formal camps. The State of Emergency is not now in force, and the Court of Cassation, the highest court in Italy, will still consider the substance of the original decision at a later date.
The State of Emergency was first declared in a decree in May 2008 in Lombardy, Campania and Lazio and was later extended to Piedmont and Veneto. The State of Emergency defined the presence of Roma in Italy as a threat to public security and appointed Prefects as Special Commissioners for the Roma Emergency in the regions of Lombardy, Lazio and Campania in 2008 and Veneto and Piedmont in 2009. The State of Emergency was extended annually until December 2011.
State authorities used their powers to monitor camps and to carry out a census of residents (including children), taking photos and requesting documents to identify and record residents. The State of Emergency saw Roma forcibly and relentlessly evicted, excluded from education, fingerprinted, segregated, harassed and expelled. These actions brought about violations of the rights to adequate housing and education. The census also raised grave concerns about data protection.
ERRC Executive Director Dezideriu Gergely said, “In February this year, the Italian government adopted a National Roma Integration Strategy. Italian authorities should concentrate their focus and energy on implementing integration strategies and addressing discrimination, rather than unnecessary security measures and continuing with ill-considered, segregated and short-term housing plans.”
The ERRC began its legal case challenging the State of Emergency before the Italian courts in 2009. On 16 November 2011, the Council of State ruled that the State of Emergency was illegal. The Council of State established that the presence of Roma does not create an emergency situation in Italy. With the ruling, the decree of 2008 and the acts based on it were declared invalid, effective immediately. The Council of State acknowledged that some practices of the local authorities were discriminatory.
In February 2012, the Italian Government appealed the Council of State decision before the Court of Cassation. The Government also requested that the decision of the Council of State be suspended until the appeal is resolved, which was the subject of yesterday’s decision.
The ERRC is saddened by this decision but recalls that the State of Emergency is no longer in force and the effects of yesterday’s decision are very limited. Italian authorities should recall the limitations of the suspension and withdraw from any State of Emergency actions which are not in line with international human rights standards and the positive commitments it has made under its National Roma Integration Strategy.
Italy must prevent reprisal attacks on the Roma community →
After a football supporter involved in an argument with a man from the Roma community was attacked in his home and killed execution style by gunfire, football fans in the Adriatic port city of Pescara have threatened the local Roma community with a pogrom if they do not leave the city this week.
In today’s europe, and in a civilized country like Italy it can not be allowed that football hooligans are allowed to threaten a whole ethnic community over the crime of one of its members however serious.
The Italian police must clamp down hard on those threatening to ethnically cleanse an Italian city of its whole Roma population.
The alleged perpetrator has been arrested and must now answer for his actions before an Italian court not before a lynch mob.
Italian football fans threaten pogrom against ethnic Roma →
Police in the Adriatic port city of Pescara are fighting to prevent a potential pogrom after rising tensions between football fans and the local Roma community – the ethnic minority, rather than the football club of the same name.
The conflict has seen a murder and petrol-bomb attacks in the past few days – with the threat of worse to come.
Roma, often regarded as the most discriminated-against ethnic group in Europe, have already been the target of vicious attacks in other Italian cities, most notably in Naples where the local Camorra mafia have torched gypsy camps.
Now violent elements among Pescara’s football fans have told Roma that they have five days to leave the city or face the consequences.
The simmering ill feeling between the violent fans and local gypsies exploded on Tuesday evening when one supporter, Domenico Rigante, 24, was shot and later died in hospital after a group of six Roma broke into a house and attacked him.
The suspected Roma killer, Massimo Ciarelli, 29, had, according to local press reports, threatened to kill the victim a week earlier following an argument involving Mr Rigante and his twin brother Antonio. It has also emerged that Mr Ciarelli was arrested in 2005 following a shooting incident involving other Roma. Even before Mr Rigante died in hospital, extremist Pescara supporters, who are said to have links with the neo-fascist Forza Nuova political party, retaliated with petrol bomb attacks on Mr Ciarelli’s house.
On Thursday evening, a group of Pescara supporters, who call themselves the Rangers, held up a banner outside the town hall which read: “You have five days to drive them from the city”.
Pescara supporters plan a provocative demonstration on Sunday in the Fontanelle district, the heart of the city’s Roma enclave. This will be followed by a meeting in front of the town hall to press home their demands for the group to be cleared from Pescara.
One message that has sprung up on walls around the city reads: “If they don’t leave, we’ll expel them. This won’t be racism but a general clean up, whether they’re Roma or not.” Similar threats have appeared on Facebook.
Pescara’s mayor, Luigi Albore Mascia, has already held an emergency meeting with police chiefs in the hope of preventing further violence; extra police have already been put on duty.
Mr Mascia said: “There is concern in the city but we’re hoping that things don’t get out of control. Pescara is not the ‘wild west’ that many make it out to be. I for one am not signing up to intolerance and racism, and I’m launching an appeal for reasonableness.”
A police spokesman said the murder of Mr Rigante was the culmination of violence and confrontations between football fans and Roma “that had nothing to do with football”.
Alessandro Baldati, a spokesman for the local Right of Pescara political group, told La Stampa newspaper that the city needed policies to ensure that Roma “respect the rules, show public spirit and a life marked by work and non-violence and the proper education of children”.
Even one leading consumer group, Codici, the Centre for the Rights of the Citizen, issued a thinly veiled attack on the criminal elements in the Roma community: “Criminality has upped the battle against those of us it considers enemies, and it shows it has no compunction about killing on a whim.”
But Nazareno Guarnieri, the president of the National Roma Foundation, said it was wrong to use the killing as an excuse to slur all Roma. “The person responsible must be caught and put in prison like any other criminal,” he said.
“The Roma community is not delinquent. If anything, the responsibility lies with local authorities and the institutions in the sense that there are insufficient opportunities for them to avoid marginalisation and social exclusion.”
WHEN JUSTICE PROTECTS RACISTS - Call to Action
I am part of a Roma Artists website called Khetanes (means together) and I just received this email. Although you can’t post on the site, support messages to the email at the bottom of the post would be incredibly appreciated.
You say there is no discrimination against my people? Read this and then tell me again:
Amale,
Tomorrow Roberto Malini and Dario Picciau, two artists and human rights activists, will be in the Italian court of Pesaro. Both are facing possible prison sentences.
Their crime?.. They opposed the human rights violations of Roma in Italy. So, not only Roma are persecuted, but also artists who defend their rights.
Both Roberto and Dario belong to the EveryOne Group, that is on our Khetanes site. All EveryOne Group members are artists. It should be stated here that they designed our logo: the butterfly, with the red Roma wheel and the words “inspiring justice”. This logo is on our site and in all our publications, as a symbol of freedom and fundamental rights for all.
Today we are over 700 artists and scholars, from 48 countries in the entire world. Taking into account the orchestras, bands and theatre companies, we are 2500 at least.
Among the first ones to protest against the persecution of Roberto and Dario, is Juan de Dios Ramírez Heredia, President of the Unión Romaní in Spain and Honorary Member of Khetanes. Other activists, artists and scholars followed his example.
I believe we all must protest. Gandhi stated that human rights are the bread in this world. Without bread our civilization will starve. Please, react to roberto.malini@everyonegroup.com and/or Artists_Initiative@ziggo.nl
Roberto and Dario were released without charge. The judge felt that there was so substance to the charges being made against them! This is such good news. Our support for their plight definitely had an impact on the judge in the case—despite the prosecution only wanting jail time!
I was so happy to receive this good news this morning! Opre!
WHEN JUSTICE PROTECTS RACISTS - Call to Action
I am part of a Roma Artists website called Khetanes (means together) and I just received this email. Although you can’t post on the site, support messages to the email at the bottom of the post would be incredibly appreciated.
You say there is no discrimination against my people? Read this and then tell me again:
Amale,
Tomorrow Roberto Malini and Dario Picciau, two artists and human rights activists, will be in the Italian court of Pesaro. Both are facing possible prison sentences.
Their crime?.. They opposed the human rights violations of Roma in Italy. So, not only Roma are persecuted, but also artists who defend their rights.
Both Roberto and Dario belong to the EveryOne Group, that is on our Khetanes site. All EveryOne Group members are artists. It should be stated here that they designed our logo: the butterfly, with the red Roma wheel and the words “inspiring justice”. This logo is on our site and in all our publications, as a symbol of freedom and fundamental rights for all.
Today we are over 700 artists and scholars, from 48 countries in the entire world. Taking into account the orchestras, bands and theatre companies, we are 2500 at least.
Among the first ones to protest against the persecution of Roberto and Dario, is Juan de Dios Ramírez Heredia, President of the Unión Romaní in Spain and Honorary Member of Khetanes. Other activists, artists and scholars followed his example.
I believe we all must protest. Gandhi stated that human rights are the bread in this world. Without bread our civilization will starve. Please, react to roberto.malini@everyonegroup.com and/or Artists_Initiative@ziggo.nl
A young girl at an illegal Roma camp 10km outside of Pisa, Italy. The camp is made up mostly of Roma from Bosnia and Kosovo. Photograph: Robin Hammond
‘Why do the Italians hate us?’ | Life and style | The Observer
Source: 
The Italian Fashion Icon Collection for Roma
Photo by Alessandra Benedetti
Not sure about the genuineness of this.
Quote from the blurb:
… other typical everyday objects placed on the runway used as a large, circular central area of fine sand were scattered everywhere, in the background a row of small huts. Some models have arrived on horseback, and all the models danced barefoot through the show. The fashion theater called the Serbian singer Saban Bajramovic was full of action. Or maybe when the Roma, iconic circus queen, Moira Orfeo has arrived.
Badly translated, but seems like a bit of a stereotyping and parading the poor Rroma around kind of thing…
I remember reading about this earlier in the year, perhaps in English, I just am not sure. I remember the photos in this article, but perhaps it was about a fashion show in Hungary – I think. But what I gathered, it was put on with cooporation by Roma artists/designers/models. And for all we know, not knowing Italian Hungarian, that may have been an off-handed comments, or a performance they did? Because I sort of really doubt they came on horse-back – that just sounds silly.
I wasn’t entirely sure on it, so I only linked it and not posted the article itself. The photos still do feature Roma models and fashion, but the article itself may be a hit and miss on its information.
If someone knows Italian Hungarian, can you help us out? Online-Translators can only do so much, and it always comes out awkward.
What on earth. Italian? Just ignore me – I’ll take another look at this once the restaurant smells are out of my head.
Aliska
Italian Authorities Urged to Investigate Destruction of Roma Camp →
Turin, Budapest, 15 December 2011: The European Roma Rights Centre, the Federazione Romanì and the Idea Rom Onlus sent a letter of concern today calling on Italian authorities to investigate violent incidents that destroyed a Roma camp in Turin last weekend.
Hundreds of people marched to the informal Roma camp at Via Continassa, and started setting fire to shacks, caravans and cars. The attack was apparently sparked by a rape allegation against two Romani men. The individual who made the accusation later reportedly retracted her accusation. The whole camp was destroyed, including the homes and property of the 46 Romani individuals living there. Eyewitnesses also reported that a flyer was posted before the attack, calling on residents to ‘clean up’ the area of Roma. Local media and eyewitnesses confirmed that a public official, the president of the fifth district, was present at a demonstration that preceded the violence.
The incident is part of an ongoing pattern of attacks against Roma in Italy, exacerbated by a culture of impunity for hate speech by public officials. Violent actions against Roma may be fuelled and legitimised by the increasingly hostile and biased language adopted by local politicians and the mass media. The ongoing precarious housing situation for Roma is also a matter of concern, as camps are vulnerable to attack.
The ERRC, the Federazione Romanì and the Idea Rom Onlus are calling on Italian police and prosecutors to investigate all crimes committed, promptly and impartially, and to ensure that racial motivation is considered.
The full text of the letter is available in English and Italian.
(source: ERRC)
Florence killings cast spotlight on racism in Italy →
Peter Mayer
Rome - The killing of two Senegalese migrants in Florence, a city which prides itself on being open and tolerant to foreigners, has raised fresh questions on how racist Italy is.
Police say street vendors Samb Modou, 40, and Diop Mor, 54, were gunned down by Gianluca Casseri in a noon-time shooting spree which took place in two markets located in and near the storied Tuscan city’s centre.
Three others were also injured, including Moustapha Dieng, 34, who now risks remaining paralyzed.
After being cornered by police, Casseri, a 50-year-old author of fantasy books with far right leanings, turned the gun on himself.
It appears Casseri, who had in the past participated in demonstrations by far-right groups, may have been motivated by racial hatred.
It is a sentiment that many commentators say has become more widespread in Italy as anti-immigration parties, including the Northern League, have been represented in conservative governments led by Silvio Berlusconi and which governed Italy for eight of the last 10 years.
The Northern League blames the presence of illegal migrants in Italy, including eastern Europeans, Roma gypsies and Africans, for a rise in crime rates.
The party was the architect of legislation making illegal entry into Italy a punishable offence and also took credit for a controversial ‘push-back’ pact with Libya - then led by Moamer Gaddafi - to deport to the North African country migrants intercepted in international waters.
‘There’s been a crescendo which has legitimized racism (in Italy), through policies that have insisted on safety and security measures and expulsions that transformed migrants into a threat,’ Aly Baba Faye, a sociologist of Senegalese origin, said.
Italy’s current economic woes - the country is in the midst of a debt crisis and next year faces a possible recession - are making migrants ‘easy scapegoats,’ Faye added.
According to Florence Mayor Matteo Renzi, the shootings were an ‘xenophobic and racist folly.’
But Renzi - whose city in 1985 renamed its main indoor sports and concert arena the Nelson Mandela Forum, after the hero of South Africa’s anti-apartheid struggle - also described Casseri’s gesture as ‘isolated.’
Cautioning against any ‘rash conclusions,’ Renzi told daily La Repubblica that ‘there are those who foment hatred against anyone described as ‘different’.’
Such arguments have been rejected by La Destra (The Right) a tiny party which is not represented in parliament but was allied to Berlusconi and had one of its members serving as a junior minister in the former premier’s cabinet.
‘The killings in Florence were an act that has no political origin,’ said Adriano Tilgher, La Destra’s leader in Tuscany.
He blamed leftists of politicizing Casseri’s ‘moment of madness’ and said they should instead reflect on the ‘need to curb the indiscriminate invasion of foreigners against which we are helpless witnesses.’
‘Our cities, our historical centres are preyed upon by extracomunitari (non-European Union citizens) who do what they want. This generates among the population insecurity, exasperation and anger,’ Tilgher said.
Florence’s top Muslim imam, Izzedine Elzir, said Casseri’s crime should not be viewed as that of a crazed individual.
‘It is a vile attack, the fruit of 10 years of politics made out of hatred, fascism and racism,’ Elzir said, comparing the shootings to a recent arson attack against a camp occupied by Roma people in Turin.
In that incident, a mob of self-styled vigilantes from a low-income neighbourhood targeted the camp in apparent retaliation for a claim, later retracted, made by a 16-year-old that she had been raped by Roma men.
The girl admitted she had fabricated the rape story to hide from her family the fact that she had lost her virginity by sleeping with her boyfriend.
Turin Mayor Piero Fassino, of the left-of-centre Democratic Party, described that incident ‘as unacceptable,’ saying his city was ‘a welcoming capital.’
But Faye argued that the whole incident had been triggered by ‘a thought process which has been implanted over years.’
‘The 16-year-old who has always heard talk against gypsies is likely to blame them when she needs to invent a rape. This in turn prompts others to torch the gypsy camp,’ Faye said.
(source: Monsters and Critics)
Torino, inquiry in the Gypsy camp burned down.
-Our article: http://strugglesinitaly.wordpress.com/2011/12/11/en-pogrom-in-torino/
-Original Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBi4YG14uIE&feature=player_embedded
Click CC for English subtitles.
(source: StrugglesInItaly)
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