Please see attached the brochure of the “Play it right” project

For the brochure of the “Play it right” project click here !

Gypsy or Rroma minority in Europe want to change their name again and they want to call themselves as “INDIROMA” minority

Gypsy or Rroma minority in Europe want to change their name again and they want to call themselves as “INDIROMA” minority

The Rroma minority that lives in many European countries are called like Cigano, Gitan, Gitanos, Gypsies, Zingaro, Zigeuner, Tsigan, Cigan, Ţigan or Rroma with one or two “r”.

After the change of name from “Gypsy” to “Rroma” at the beginning of the 90’, now, more and more people propose other changes. For instance, the representative of the Rroma (Gypsy) population into the Parliamnet of Romania, Nicolae Paun proposed that the names “Gypsy” or “Rroma” should be abandoned and “Gypsy” population should adopt the name “Indiroma”.

That rationale is based on the fact that the Gypsy population is originated from India and this term “Indirom/Indiroma” would be more appropriate for a correct understanding of their culture and origin.

Details: http://www.tolerance.ro/

Romanian Senate rejects ‘Roma’ word change and the return to ‘Gypsy’ in official documents

Romanian Senate rejects ‘Roma’ word change and the return to ‘Gypsy’ in official documents

Although the Senate committees approved replacing the term ‘Roma’ with ‘Gipsy’, the senators rejected a draft bill proposed by the Democrat-Liberal Deputy Silviu Prigoana, under which the word “Roma” would be changed and return to the word “Gypsy” in official documents.

The majority of the senators who took the floor, both from among the ruling coalition and the opposition, stood against the document of Prigoana.

Law Commission Chairman Toni Grebla considered that the ethnic denomination in question cannot be decreed as such, given its members bear their historically inherited name anyway. Grebla said that the matter at stake is rooted in the 1990s law under which the word “gypsy” was changed into “Roma”.

Source: http://www.tolerance.ro/

Proud to be Roma: Roma-Hungarian MEP Lívia Járóka on the need for a European strategy

Due to the fact that as many as 12 million European Roma continue to face segregation and intergenerational poverty throughout the EU, the Union is searching for European-wide solutions. With a European Roma Strategy being a priority for the Hungarian EU Presidency, we talked to Lívia Járóka (EPP), the only Roma member of European Parliament. The 36-year old Hungarian MEP has prepared a report on the strategy that would allow Europe to use the untapped potential of the Roma people.

Details: http://www.europarl.europa.eu

UA-REPORTER

Encouraged by Moscow, Rusins Step Up Drive for Autonomy and Threaten Kyiv with Armed Revolt

Dmitry Sidor

Only weeks after Russia’s consul general in Lviv called him the “Moses” of his people, Dmitry Sidor, an Uzhgorod priest loyal to Moscow who heads the Rusin movement in Transcarpathia, declared this week that “after many years” of using only political tactics, the Rusins are now prepared to “defend their freedom with arms in their hands.”

How seriously this threat should be taken is an open question. On the one hand, the Rusins have made similar threats before, most notably at the end of 2008. And on the other, an actual revolt as opposed to the threat of one would complicate Russian-Ukrainian relations and threaten Moscow’s oil and gas exports to Europe, much of which flows via Transcarpathia.

But however that may be, Sidor’s remark, especially coming in the wake of the comment of the Russian diplomat, seems intended both to remind the Ukrainian authorities that the Rusins have not gone away and to send a message to Kyiv that Moscow is paying attention to that community and is prepared to exploit that group if Ukraine does not bend to Russia’s will.

Yesterday, Sidorov said that the Rusins “are accusing Kyiv of ethnocide and discrimination with obvious elements of genocide” because of Ukraine’s “barbaric” failure to recognize the Rusins and “its ban on Rusin schools and the study of the Rusin language” (vvnews.info/analytics/region/65736-rusiny-zakarpatya-gotovy-k-voyne-s-ukrainoy.html).

If Ukraine and the new authorities will be able to recognize the rights of Rusins,” he continued, “then we Rusins are ready to remain a Ukrainian enclave, a Ukrainian Kaliningrad.” But if Ukraine won’t recognize “our lawfrul status of autonomy,” then “we will peacefully divorce. Like the Czech Republic from Slovakia.”

That can take place peacefully, the priest said. But “international law” allows for a solution brought about by force. “A people after many years of seeking its rights,” he said, “has the right with arms in its hands to defend its freedom,” just as the international community recognized in the case of the Croatians.

Sidor says that “we do not intend to fight and seek a diplomatic path because we believe in the reality of the achievement of our rights.” “At a minimum,” 70 percent of the residents of Transcarpathia are Rusins, making them “’a titular nation’” numbering today “approximately 800,000.”

Two years ago, when he and the Rusins made similar declarations and asked that Moscow recognize their independence, the Ukrainian authorities opened a case against Sidorov for threatening the territorial independence of the country. But since that time, two things have changed.

There is now a pro-Moscow government in Kyiv, and last fall Russia’s consul general in Lviv met with Sidorov and compared him to Moses because, he said, the Rusin priest is leading his people out of the wilderness (ru.tsn.ua/ukrayina/genkonsul-rf-nazval-lidera-podkarpatskih-rusinov-novym-moiseem.html).

Almost exactly two years ago, the Rusins asked Moscow to recognize them as an independent country because Kyiv was ignoring their demands for autonomy within Ukraine. That followed the Second European Congress of Rusins in Mukhachevo, which declared that the Rusins would seek independence on December 1st if they didn’t get autonomy.

December 1 came and went, but on December 19, an international scientific practical conference on “Genocide and Cultural Ethnocide of the Rusins of Carpathian Rus (the end of the 19th Century to the Beginning of the 21st Century)” assembled in Rostov-na-Donu and adopted a resolution on their cause.

Among the resolution’s key points was an insistence that alongside the Armenians, the Rusins – or Ruthenians, as they are also known -- were the victims of the first genocide of the 20th century, one carried out by the Austro-Hungarians. Today, the resolution continued, Kyiv is extending this through “a policy of cultural ethnocide.”

In addition, that document declared that the Ruthenians are recognized as a unique people in all countries of the region except Ukraine and that they enjoy the support of international organizations like the UN whose committee on the liquidation of racial discrimination in August 2006 criticized Kyiv for not supporting them.

And it pointed out that the status of the Transcarpathian Rusins has not yet been defined – Kyiv has not yet recognized the 1946 treaty which incorporated them into the Soviet Union – and that the Ukrainian government continues to ignore the December 1991 referendum in which the Rusins voted for autonomy as well as for Ukrainian independence.

But perhaps most important, Rusin leaders then and now noted that “the lion’s share” of Russian gas on its way to European markets flows through Subcarpathian Rus, “twice more than through the Baltic states [in 2008] and twice more than through other neighboring countries” as well.

UA-REPORTER

European Parliament: Human Rights Subcommittee discusses Russian Khodorkovsky case

Human Rights Subcommittee discusses Russian Khodorkovsky case The key points Kremlin critic Michail Khodorkovsky convicted of more charges prior to Christmas Sentences condemned by MEPs Former Yukos oil company CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky is seen in the defendants' cage just after a verdict during a court session in Moscow on December 30, 2010. ©BELGA A "missed opportunity" and a "severe setback" were just two of the opinions voiced when MEPs on the Human Rights Sub Committee discussed the case of Russian former oligarch turned Kremlin critic Michail Khodorkovsky. He and his business partner were recently found guilty of theft and tax fraud thus extending their sentences which many see as politically motivated. Maria Logan of the Khodorkovsky legal team was also present on 10 January to discuss the case. Speaking to those assembled Maria Logan noted: "The Khodorkovsky case clearly shows that you cannot count on the Courts to protect you against the government of Russia." She noted that after the trial, many leading politicians from the EU and the USA criticised the political motives behind the case and showed support to the Khodorkovsky family. Michail Khodorkovsky born 1963 Formerly richest man in Russia (26th worldwide in 2003) Bought 78% of shares of Russian oil company Yukos in 2002 Used his fame to criticise then President Putin publicly Arrested in 2003 for tax fraud Sentenced to 8 years in prison Parliament's President Jerzy Buzek said in a statement following the verdict: "I am very disappointed. The trials of Mikhail Khodorkovsky were the litmus test of how the rule of law and human rights are treated in today's Russia. In effect it has become the emblematic symbol of all the systemic problems within the judiciary." British Liberal Graham Watson told the meeting that "this latest conviction is a severe setback. It became clear that the real reason was the financing of opposition parties". German Green Member Werner Schulz noted that "there is no strategic partnership with Russia. The time for quiet diplomacy is over. Russia had an opportunity and missed it". On New Year´s Eve Moscow saw clashes between the authorities and protesters angry over the Khodorkovsky verdict and restrictions on the freedom of assembly. The police detained some 130 people, with three prominent opposition leaders arrested and jailed for "disobedience towards the police". Source: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/public/story_page/015-111414-010-01-03-902-20110110STO11394-2011-10-01-2011/default_en.htm

Prima bibliotecă de carte bisericească şi laică în Timoc

În Timoc a fost deschisă prima bibliotecă de carte bisericească şi laică care va funcţiona în cadrul Protopopiatului Bisericii Ortodoxe Române al Daciei Ripensis cu sediul în oraşul Nigotin.

Preotul-martir Boian Alexandrovici a declarat joi, că a luat această iniţiativă în scopul iniţierii credincioşilor tineri şi bătrâni în cititul în limba română şi în educarea tinerei generaţii în cultul creştin al românilor ortodocşi din ţinuturile istorice Timoc, Morava şi sudul Dunării.

,,De aproape 180 de ani populaţia românească din Serbia de nord-est nu a mai avut posibilitatea să mai înveţe a citi în limba maternă a strămoşilor. Întrucât în zonă nu există şcoli în limba română credem că trebuie să osârdim şi să naştem în sufletele oamenilor dragostea faţă de trecutul şi istoria străbunilor”, a precizat Alexandrovici.

Detalii: http://www.timocpress.info/?p=3690

www.cdcs.org.rs: Religious discrimination in Vojvodna continues

The Provincial Secretariat for Regulations, Administration and National Communities has again invited only the so-called traditional churches and religious communities to apply for grants allocated to churches and religious communities.

Such behavior of the Provincial Secretariat for Regulations, Administration and National Communities regarding financing of churches and religious communities is yet another case of religious discrimination, direct discredit of recommendations of the Provincial Ombudsman, violation of provisions from articles 11, 21 and 44 of the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia, provisions of paragraphs 2 and 3 of the Law on Churches and Religious Communities and provisions of articles 4, 5, 6 and 8 of the Law on the Prohibition of Discrimination.

Details: http://cdcs.org.rs/index.php

www.chris-negotin.org: TEN YEARS OF NETWORK COMMITTIEE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS IN SERBIA CHRIS

Since the democratic changes 2000th the Serbia is making efforts to strengthen its democratic potential and create a social system based on the rule of law and respect for human rights and freedoms. The fact is that Serbia in the past 10 years has made progress in the realization of human rights which is evident in the normative part of the law-making and practical part of their application.

However, Serbia has not yet reached a level of respect for human rights and freedoms befitting a country that is a member of the Council of Europe. Despite the European Convention on Human Rights and other documents binding the state of Serbia, the authorities, courts and prosecutors offices to some extent their acts or omissions are leading to a breach of the provisions of these international documents. The judiciary, which has a key role in achieving the rule of law and achieving justice is faced with reforms that are being implemented for many years without satisfactory results and, as such, remains unstable link of a state.

Details on: www.chris-negotin.org