56
Concerns in Europe: January - June 2001
AI Index: EUR 01/003/2001
Amnesty International September 2001
people in August 1989. Again, the shooting took place
during a pursuit. (The driver of the police car was
sentenced to five years’ imprisonment).
According to newspaper reports, no lawyer
defended the case brought by the family of Rui
Oliveira. A relative was quoted as saying that two
lawyers had withdrawn from the case and others had
shown no interest or were too busy.
AI has, for a long time, been concerned about the
failure of the judicial system to deal effectively with
cases of torture, ill-treatment and excessive use of
force. It has expressed concern repeatedly at the length
of time judicial, administrative or disciplinary
proceedings may last, and at the fact that, when public
officials are brought to justice - and if they are
convicted - the sentences passed are in general so light
as to contribute to an atmosphere of relative impunity.
R O M A N I A
Revision of the Penal Code -
a small step in the right direction
On 21 June the Romanian government adopted an
emergency ordinance abolishing Article 200 of the
Penal Code, which, inter alia, penalized homosexual
consensual relations “if the act was committed in
public or provoked public scandal”. Paragraph 5 of
this article made it an offence, punishable by a
sentence of one to five years’ imprisonment, “to entice
or seduce a person to practise same-sex acts, as well
as to form propaganda associations, or to engage in
other forms of proselytizing with the same aim”.
Although Article 200 is no longer in force a lasting
change in the legislation can only be enacted by the
Romanian Parliament, which on its agenda has several
draft bills for amendments to the Penal Code. One of
these draft bills was already adopted by the Chamber
of Deputies in June 2000, and is pending in the Senate.
However, on 7 June 2001 the Romanian Government
adopted a new proposal to amend the Penal Code
which, in some respect is in contradiction with the
draft bill previously considered by the Chamber of
Deputies.
The prolonged and mostly unsuccessful revision
of the penal code concerns discriminatory provisions
regarding homosexuality, as well as provisions which
impose excessive restrictions on the rights to freedom
of expression, assembly and association. AI has
campaigned on the issue of the penal reform in
Romania since 1993. Most recently, AI stated its
concerns in a report Romania: Penal Code reform - a
step back (AI Index: EUR 39/008/2001) published on
29 May 2001.
Persecution of conscientious objectors
to military service
In September 2000 AI wrote to then President Emil
Constantinescu about the prosecution of 29 Jehovah’s
Witnesses whose religious convictions forbid them to
carry arms and perform military service (see
Romania: Conscientious objectors face imprisonment
(AI Index: EUR 39/06/00). Recent reports indicate a
great degree of inconsistency in the appeal rulings.
Two conscientious objectors who were initially
acquitted of the charge of evading military service by
the Ia
i Military Court were subsequently tried on
appeal by the Bucharest Military Tribunal. Iulan
Ciolacu whose case was heard on 11 January was
acquitted. However the same court which tried Liviu
Antonov on 18 January sentenced him to two years'
imprisonment. On 8 March, the Military Court of
Appeal, ruling as the final judicial instance, acquitted
12 of the other conscientious objectors. In the period
under review AI continued to appeal to the Romanian
authorities to review all outstanding convictions of
conscientious objectors.
New reports of police Ill-treatment and unlawful
use of firearms
AI received numerous reports of police ill-treatment
during the period under review. One case resulted in
death and another apparently led to the suicide of the
victim. In a few reported cases the severity of the force
used by the police officers involved, and the pain and
injuries which had been suffered by the victims, may
amount to torture. Some of the victims were minors.
A death in detention in suspicious circumstances may
have resulted from the failure of the police authorities
to provide the detainee with adequate medical
treatment. Similarly to the reports received in the past,
police officers suspected of ill-treatment frequently
harassed the victims and witnesses following their
complaints. As a result one of the reported victims
withdrew his complaint.
On the morning of 13 December 2000 in Vicovul
de Jos, Suceava county, the police arrested Mircea
Chifan and took him to the Radau
i police lockup for
assaulting his wife. Following his arrest he was tried
for a misdemeanour and sentenced to 30 days’
imprisonment. At some point during the court
proceedings Mircea Chifan tried to escape and was
subsequently restrained by police officers who
allegedly used excessive force. On 15 December 2000
he was taken to the Suceava county police lockup
where he was found dead in the morning of 26
December 2000. Dr Nicoleta T
nase, who carried out
the autopsy, established that the deceased had three
broken ribs and injuries on the head. These injuries
were less than a week old and would therefore have
been suffered by Mircea Chifan while he was held in
custody. When interviewed by representatives of a
local human rights organization, Asocia
ia pentru
apararea drepturilor omului în România - Comitetul
Helsinki
(APADOR-CH,
Romanian
Helsinki
Committee) Dr T
nase stated that Mircea Chifan
apparently had not received any medical assistance
while in detention, prior to his death, and that she did
not receive from the police authorities any of the
detainee’s medical documents. According to
Romanian law anyone held in detention should be
examined by a doctor within 24 hours following the
arrest, and a medical form should be completed.