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Europe rights court rules Croatia schools discriminated against Roma

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled Tuesday that the practice of segregating Roma minority primary school students in Croatia from other pupils is discriminatory. The court declared the practice to be in contravention of Article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which prohibits discrimination, and of Article 2 of Protocol No. 1, which guarantees the right to an education. The court also found that the plaintiffs, 15 Roma citizens of Croatia, were deprived of their right to a fair trial within a reasonable amount of time, pursuant to Article 6 of the convention. The plaintiffs attended schools in northern Croatia between 1996 and 2000 and reported that they were segregated from other students and taught an inferior curriculum, suffering emotional and psychological harm as a result. Croatia's government countered that the Roma students were put in special classes because they lacked adequate command of the Croatian language. Tuesday's decision differs sharply from the ECHR's unanimous July 2008 decision in this case, which found no violation. Prior to this decision, the ECHR found segregated classes for Roma to be discriminatory in two other cases: DH and Others v. the Czech Republic and Sampanis v. Greece. However, discrimination against Roma in schools remains widespread throughout Europe, according to the European Roma Rights Center (ERRC). Roma have also faced inequitable treatment in other spheres. The US State Department's 2009 human rights report noted an increase in the killings of Roma people in Italy, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic. In February of last year, Italian authorities dismantled illegal immigrant camps heavily populated by members of the Roma minority following the alleged rape of a 14-year old girl by East European immigrants, which led to public outcry and vigilante reprisals. In 2008, then-secretary general of the Council of Europe Terry Davis called on officials to end discrimination against Europe's Roma minority, after a confrontation between Czech police and far-right protesters attempting to attack a Roma suburb near the town of Litvinov.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on March 16, 2010 (boomark / email).