Human Rights Court Rules Against Romania For Ill-Treatment And Ethnic Discrimination

The European Court of Human Rights, or ECHR, ruled against Romania for ill-treatment and racial discrimination, forcing the government to pay EUR15,000 to a boy of Roma origin, beaten by police in 2001, when he was 14.

7 views

"On March 4, the European Court of Human Rights published the decision in the case Stoica vs. Romania, referring to racially motivated violence inflicted by police officers on Constantin Stoica, a 14 year-old adolescent of Roma origin,” Romani Criss, a non-government organization militating for the rights of Roma people, said in a statement Wednesday.

On April 3, 2001, the boy was ill-treated by the police following a clash between the authorities and Roma outside a bar in Giulia, in Romania’s northeastern county of Suceava.

Stoica was beaten until he passed out. The boy had asked officers not to hit him, as he had undergone head surgery, but he was violently struck nonetheless. The boy is now severely disabled.

Romanian authorities looking into the case decided not to start criminal proceedings against the police.

ECHR found in the case a violation of article 3 of the European Convention of Human Rights forbidding inhuman or degrading treatment and article 14 on the prohibition of discrimination.

Stoica was represented with the ECHR by Romani Criss and the European Center for the Rights of Roma.

If you liked this story, please follow MEDIAFAX.RO on FACEBOOK »

The content of mediafax.ro is for your information only. Republishing or using this content is forbidden without express consent of MEDIAFAX. For this consent, please ask for it by mail at vanzari@mediafax.ro.