Our list

OUR LIST

by Krasimir KANEV When Yuliana Metodieva asked me to summarise the achievements of the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee in the 15 years of its existence, at first I thought it might be a bit too early for that. People normally start drawing balances when they get to their 50s. Why should we be more exacting of organisations?

I also thought that unlike growing potatoes - a favourite comparison of former AOUNSU (Academy of Public Studies and Social Management) professors - activities for human rights protection are in essence ideological, and their impact assessment is a complicated matter. I then started to tick off in my mind our priorities and activities, as well as what had happened in the human rights field in Bulgaria in recent years.

At the same time, the conviction gradually shaped in me that for a public organisation it is essential to be not only able to make a list of its achievements but to also announce it publicly. Of course, speaking of a non-governmental human rights organisation, we need to make it clear from the start that an organisation like this cannot solve a single human rights issue on its own. Bulgaria’s achievements and problems in this area result directly from the legislative and legal executive activities of the state. These activities, however, are under the influence of a number of legal, cultural, and political factors which, in turn, are provoked or suppressed by the civil society at local and international level. This is the same civil society in which the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee (BHC) found its sustainable place for the last 15 years. Where did we manage to generate impact for improving human rights protection in Bulgaria?

1 Cases of police violence, including those leading to loss of human life, have decreased in the past 10 years. Although police arbitrariness continues to be a serious problem for our country, the number of detainees complaining today is smaller. While in its annual reports on human rights from the mid 1990s the BHC would register 10-12 death cases in the hands of the police per year, today we are talking 1 or 2 cases. BHC has contributed to this reduction through its activities for representation and protection of victims in front of local and international bodies; through its active position on announcement of these cases to the media; through the exchange of information and evaluations with international hu-

man rights organisations; and through lobbying and direct participation in the drafting of some of the bylaws concerning detainment conditions and control on police activities.

2 BHC has actively lobbied for the abolishment of the death penalty which eventually happened, irreversibly, with the Bulgarian Parliament adopting two international treaties to this effect.

3 The legislative framework for protection against discrimination in Bulgaria has improved. The Law on Protection from Discrimination adopted in 2003 was among the most forward ones in Europe. For years BHC had insisted and lobbied for its adoption, and took direct part in its drafting. Unfortunately, a myriad of remarks and recommendations may still be addressed to the enforcement bodies today. Our human rights organisation is watching their activity closely and is among those who regularly approach them. It has contributed to the increased readiness of Bulgarian citizens to complain from discrimination, for basically avoiding having a law in theory only.

4 The procedure for compulsory placement of people for treatment in psychiatric hospitals has been reformed in accordance with international human rights standards. On this point BHC was the main driver for change, through the strategic lawsuit “Varbanov v. Bulgaria” (2000) in the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), and through its direct participation, in 2004, in the drafting of that part of the Law on Public Health concerning compulsive treatment.

5 The economic circumstances of social homes for persons with mental disabilities have improved. There is still much to be desired with regard to the quality of care, and even more with regard to the placement and incapacitation of their clients. But that lowest level of human treatment in the shape of the numbers of crumbling, enclosed, dirty, and totally repulsive human warehouses is gradually becoming a picture of the past. BHC was the first organisation to provide a systematic description of the circumstances in those places and refer them to local and international observers, as well as taking legal action for the protection of those placed in them.

6 Although slowly and painfully, Bulgaria saw the start of the reform of children’s institutions, including the closure of some of them and the removal of the OBEKTIV 1

children to other places. BHC was among the first to raise Bulgarian public awareness of the issues relating to the state, the placement procedure, the material conditions, and the treatment of the young people in these institutions. Thanks to BHC these issues reached the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child and other international bodies such as the EU Committee for the Prevention of Torture and the European Commission.

7 Recently a wide discussion has been taking place in Bulgaria on human rights violations of the Bulgarian Roma population and some of the other ethnic minorities. Raising these issues happened as a result of the activities of a number of local and international organisations, including BHC. We took part in the development of the Framework Programme for Equal Roma Integration into Bulgarian Society, as well as other government documents relating to Roma integration. BHC was the first, and, fortunately, no longer the only organisation in Bulgaria to speak of discrimination and violation of Macedonian human rights, and to support some of these Bulgarian citizens before local and international tribunals.

8 Bulgaria now has a procedure for review of individual claims for asylum and refugee status. BHC has assisted the state bodies in the creation and implementation of this procedure from the very beginning.

Through its refugee office, BHC has become the central organisation offering legal support of asylum seekers and refugees. Our organisation is also active in the legal protection of some other categories of migrants.

With the case of Al Nashif v. Bulgaria before the ECHR in 2002, BHC set a legal precedent in Bulgarian courts in cases concerning foreigners subject to expulsion.

9 One of BHC’s permanent commitments during the last few years was the reform of legal confinement facilities. Unfortunately, this area has seen almost no progress except for the closure of some of the primary detention facilities with inhumane conditions. This change, too, became possible as a result of the participation and pressure from BHC. Our organisation has been preparing systematic descriptions of legal confinement facilities in Bulgaria and directed Council of Europe and UN attention toward them. The largest proportion of primary detention facilities with inhumane conditions were closed up in the eve of reviewing Bulgaria’s report before the UN Committee against Torture for which BHC prepared an alternative report.

10 Cases of repression of religious minorities have receded. Although the state has continued to meddle 2 OBEKTIV

in the internal affairs of religious communities for political reasons, state-organised repression campaigns like those during the 1990s against the “sects” would be difficult to imagine today. Along with the Tolerance Foundation, BHC was the catalyst around which the resistance against such lunatic initiatives formed.

We described all violations, published reports, organised conferences, and offered legal assistance.

With the case of Hasan and Chaush v. Bulgaria before the ECHR in 2000 our organisation was probably the one to contribute the most towards the checking of repressive impulses of Bulgarian governments.

A substantial step toward incorporating the members of some religious minorities into Bulgarian society was the adoption, in 1998, of the Law on Alternative Service for which BHC had been lobbying for several years.

11 BHC was one of the central factors in encouraging the adoption of the Law on Legal Assistance and the amendment of legislation for provision of Legal Assistance for Poor People in Bulgaria. We were the first to shed light on the tragic situation with regard to legislation and legal practices; we referred and won the first case before the ECHR (Padalov v. Bulgaria, 2006); we organised several international conferences; we lobbied for the inclusion of this problem in the pre-accession stage, and we took part in discussions of the respective bill.

12 BHC formed part of the larger coalition of civil organisations and media to bring about the abolishment of slander imprisonment in Bulgaria which was the biggest ever success of civil society in the area of freedom of expression. Slightly more successful in terms of outcome but not in terms of presence in the Bulgarian public arena, was our activity in protecting Bulgarian media independence and civil character.

This is a list that includes only achievements for which BHC contributed independently or in coalition with other civil organisations and institutions. In actual fact, the activities of a human rights organisation, especially in a country like Bulgaria, can also be measured with the number of negative developments it has prevented, one such example being the prevention the demolition of the Roma ghetto in Batalova Vodenitsa last year. However, compiling a list of these, too, would mean plunging into the labyrinth of speculation.