ING, EVENHANDED TREATMENT FROM THE GOVERNMENT INSOFAR AS ROMANIA UNIFORMLY PLACES STRICT LIMITS ON THE EXERCISE OF CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS, MAINTAINS RESTRICTIVE CONTROLS ON THE FREEDOM OF TRAVEL AND EMIGRATION ABROAD, ACTIVELY PROMOTES ATHEISM, AND MAINTAINS TIGHT CONTROL OVER THE FLOW OF ALL FORMS OF INFORMATION TO ITS CITIZENS NO MATTER WHAT THE LANGUAGE OF ITS COMMUNICATION, BE IT FROM A DOMESTIC SOURCE OR IMPORTED FROM FOREIGN COUNTRIES.

THANKS TO THE OPERATION OF BILATERAL MECHANISMS ESTABLISHED BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENTS OF WEST GERMANY AND ROMANIA, SOME 10,000 TO 12,000 ETHNIC GERMANS EMIGRATE TO THE F.R.G. EACH YEAR. HOWEVER, THE ROMANIAN GOVERNMENT ALSO CONDUCTS A PROPAGANDA CAMPAIGN TO DISCOURAGE ETHNIC GERMANS FROM LEAVING THE COUNTRY. THE CONTINUED DEVELOPMENT OF GOOD RELATIONS BETWEEN BONN AND BUCHA-24 REST HAS RESULTED IN THE OPENING OF AN F.R.G. CULTURAL INSTITUTE IN BUCHAREST ON NOVEMBER 26, 1979 MAKING THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC THE FOURTH WESTERN STATE (FOLLOWING FRANCE, ITALY AND THE UNITED STATES) TO DO SO. THIS IS THE FIRST SUCH INSTITUTE BONN HAS BEEN PERMITTED TO ESTABLISH IN A WARSAW PACT COUNTRY. A RECIPROCAL ROMANIAN INSTITUTE IS SCHEDULED TO OPEN SHORTLY IN MUNICH. THIS WELCOME DEVELOPMENT WILL FACILITATE CULTURAL EXCHANGES AND CONTACTS BETWEEN ETHNIC GERMANS IN ROMANIA AND 25 ABROAD.

THE PRESENT JEWISH COMMUNITY OF ROMANIA IS THE REMNANT OF THE APPROXIMATELY 400,000 HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS, MOST OF WHOM EMIGRATED TO ISRAEL IN THE IMMEDIATE POST-WAR YEARS. ESTIMATES OF THE SIZE OF THE JEWISH POPULATION HAVE RANGED FROM 35,000 TO 70,000 AND THE MATTER REMAINS CONTROVERSIAL. THE JEWISH COMMUNITY OF BUCHAREST HAS ITS OWN COMMUNITY CENTER, SCHOOLS, NEWS26 PAPER AND A KOSHER RESTAURANT.

THE DIFFICULTIES THAT ROMANIAN JEWS HAVE ENCOUNTERED IN THEIR EFFORTS TO EMIGRATE TO ISRAEL HAVE BEEN A FOCUS OF CONCERN FOR JEWS FROM OTHER COUNTRIES FOR MANY YEARS. SERIOUS PROBLEMS STILL EXIST IN THIS REGARD, ALTHOUGH NEW COOPERATIVE METHODS ARE BEING TRIED INVOLVING THE ROMANIAN FEDERATION OF JEWISH COMMUNITIES, U.S. JEWISH ORGANIZATIONS, AND THEIR RESPECTIVE GOVERNMENTS, TO ALLAY SOME OF THE REMAINING CONCERNS. ROMANIA IS THE ONLY EASTERN EUROPEAN COUNTRY TO MAINTAIN DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS WITH ISRAEL SINCE THE 1967 WAR AND HAS PLAYED A CONSTRUCTIVE ROLE IN THE ISRAELI-EGYPTIAN PEACE PROCESS. FOR ROMANIAN CITIZENS OF HUNGARIAN DESCENT, PRESERVATION OF ETHNIC IDENTITY NOT EMIGRATION IS THEIR GOAL. THE COMMISSION HAS HEARD PERSISTENT COMPLAINTS FROM WESTERN SOURCES INCLUDING ETHNIC HUNGARIANS AND AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

THAT

THE ROMANIAN GOVERNMENT DISCRIMINATES AGAINST ITS HUNGARIAN MINORITY IN THE AREAS OF EDUCATION AND LANGUAGE. ALLEGATIONS ARE MADE THAT THE GOVERNMENT PURSUES A POLICY OF SYSTEMATIC ELIMINATION OF HUNGARIAN SCHOOLS AND LIMITS ADMISSIONS OF HUNGARIANS TO INSTITUTES OF HIGHER LEARNING. REGARDING CULTURE, THE GOVERNMENT ALLEGEDLY CURTAILS AUTONOMOUS CULTURAL GROUPS, PERIODICALS AND BOOKS, NEGLECTS AND DENIES, PUBLIC ACCESS TO IMPORTANT PLACES OF MAGYAR HISTORICAL INTEREST. AS TO RELIGION, GRIEVANCES FOCUS ON THE LIMITATION OF CHURCH ACTIVITY AND THE CONFISCATION OF CHURCH ARCHIVES. THE GOVERNMENT ALLEGEDLY DISPERSES HUNGARIAN PROFESSIONALS THROUGHOUT ROMANIA AND OBSTRUCTS CONTACTS WITH RELATIVES LIVING ABROAD. THE MOST VOCAL SPOKESMAN IN ROMANIA FOR HUNGARIAN MINORITY RIGHTS AND AGAINST THE FORCED ASSIMILATION OF HUNGARIANS IS THE HUNGARIAN INTELLECTUAL AND FORMER HIGH OFFICIAL IN THE ROMANIAN COMMUNIST PARTY, KAROLY KIRALY, WHO IS FORCED TO LIVE UNDER CONSTANT SURVEILLANCE BY ROMANIAN AUTHORITIES.

"27

THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE CAN FIND NO CONCLUSIVE EVIDENCE OF A NATIONAL POLICY OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST HUNGARIANS. HOWEVER, IN ITS 1979 COUNTRY REPORT ON ROMANIA'S HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES, IT ACKNOWLEDGES THAT "THERE ARE SUBSTANTIAL DIFFICULTIES FOR LINGUISTIC AND ETHNIC MINORITIES IN THE CENTRALIZED ROMANIAN STATE, IN WHICH THE VAST MAJORITY OF THE POPULATION BELONGS TO THE ROMANIAN NATIONALITY. THE STATE REPORT POINTS OUT THAT THERE ARE CONSTITUTIONAL (ARTICLES 17 AND 22 RESPECTIVELY) PROHIBITIONS ON DISCRIMINATION AGAINST ETHNIC MINORITIES AND CONSTITUTIONAL GUARANTEES FOR THE USE OF MINORITY LANGUAGES IN BOOKS, PAPERS, MAGAZINES, THEATERS AND EDUCATION, AND, IF A MINORITY GROUP IS REPRESENTED IN SUBSTANTIAL NUMBERS, THE USE OF ITS LANGUAGE IN GOVERNMENTAL AND ECONOMIC INSTITUTIONS AND IN COURTS. FURTHERMORE, THE REPORT NOTES THAT IT IS POSSIBLE TO STUDY IN HUNGARIAN (AS WELL AS GERMAN) UP THROUGH THE UNIVERSITY LEVEL IN PARTS OF ROMANIA. THE REPORT MAKES IT CLEAR, HOWEVER, THAT IN SOME FIELDS, EDUCATIONAL AND CAREER OPPORTUNITIES ARE LIMITED FOR THOSE WHO DO NOT SPEAK ROMANIAN.

THE TREATMENT OF THE HUNGARIAN MINORITY IN ROMANIA HAS BEEN THE SUBJECT OF BILATERAL DISCUSSIONS BETWEEN THE ROMANIAN AND HUNGARIAN GOVERNMENTS. IT HAS BEEN THE TOPIC OF HEATED EXCHANGES BETWEEN PROMINENT CITIZENS OF BOTH COUNTRIES IN RECENT YEARS. GYULA ILLYES, HUNGARY'S GREATEST LIVING POET, HAS SPOKEN OUT ON NUMEROUS OCCASIONS ON THE ALLEGED MISTREATMENT OF THE HUNGARIAN POPULATION IN ROMANIA.

ROMANIAN PRESIDENT CEAUSESCU AND HUNGARIAN FIRST SECRETARY KADAR MET TWICE AT THE COMMON FRONTIER IN JUNE 1977 AND AGREED

www

TO APPROACH THE ISSUE OF MINORITY RIGHTS IN THE SPIRIT OF DEVELOPING FRIENDLY RELATIONS BETWEEN TWO SOCIALIST STATES. AS PART OF THE CEAUSESCU-KADAR AGREEMENTS IN THE SUMMER OF 1977, A CONSULATE-GENERAL OF HUNGARY WAS OPENED ON APRIL 11, 1980, IN CLUJ

NAPOCA (ROMANIA), 28 RECIPROCALLY, A ROMANIAN CONSULATE-GENERAL

IS TO BEGIN OPERATION AT AN UNKNOWN DATE IN DEBRECEN (HUNGARY). THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THESE CONSULATES IS AN IMPORTANT SYMBOLIC BILATERAL GESTURE, OPENING THE DOOR TO POSSIBLE FUTURE IMPROVEMENT IN CONTACTS BETWEEN THE HUNGARIANS IN ROMANIA AND HUNGARY.

TESTIFYING BEFORE THE COMMISSION ON MARCH 25, 1980, PROFESSOR VLAD GEORGESCU, A ROMANIAN HISTORIAN AND EXPERT ON NATIONALISM IN EASTERN EUROPE, GAVE A VALUABLE OVERVIEW ON THE CONTROVERSIAL SUBJECT OF MINORITY RIGHTS IN HIS HOMELAND. HE SAID:

"...SOME ORGANIZATIONS OF EMIGRES, WHOSE
HUMAN-RIGHTS RECORDS WERE NOT MUCH BETTER THAN
TODAY'S RECORD, EXPLOIT HUMAN RIGHTS TO REVIVE
NATIONALISTIC DREAMS.

"THE WEST'S EFFORTS SHOULD NOT BE LIMITED
TO ACHIEVING LIMITED GOALS SUCH AS INCREASING
THE NUMBER OF, SAY, ETHNIC GERMANS ALLOWED TO
EMIGRATE TO THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC EACH YEAR, OR
SEEING TO IT THAT 10 MORE HUNGARIAN-LANGUAGE
JOURNALS ARE MADE AVAILABLE TO THE HUNGARIAN
CITIZENS OF ROMANIA. ABOVE AND BEYOND THESE
HALF-MEASURES, THE WEST SHOULD ENDEAVOR TO
USE THE CONSIDERABLE LEVERAGE IT HAS IN ORDER
TO DISCOURAGE ROMANIA'S RULING ELITE FROM
COMMITTING EXCESSES OF DICTATORIAL RULE.

PENALTIES FOR HUMAN-RIGHTS ACTIVISM

"29

AT THE END OF JUNE 1980, AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL PUBLISHED A BRIEFING PAPER DESCRIBING THE HUMAN-RIGHTS ABUSES COMMITTED BY ROMANIAN AUTHORITIES SINCE EARLY 1977, BEGINNING WITH THE OFFICIAL RESPONSE TO PAUL GOMA'S LETTER OF SOLIDARITY TO CHARTER '77 SIGNATORIES AND HIS OPEN LETTER TO THE BELGRADE REVIEW CONFERENCE. AMNESTY HAS DESCRIBED A PATTERN OF REPRESSION THAT THE ROMANIAN AUTHORITIES HAVE CONSISTENTLY USED AGAINST CITIZENS WHO ATTEMPT TO EXERCISE THEIR RIGHTS NONVIOLENTLY IN MANNERS NOT APPROVED OF BY THE STATE: EXTRAJUDICIAL HARASSMENT (OFTEN OF FAMILY MEMBERS AS WELL) SOCIAL OPPROBRIUM, EXTENSIVE SURVEILLANCE, INTIMIDATION AND VILIFICATION, DEMOTION AND EXPULSION FROM PLACE OF WORK OR STUDY, FORCED RETIREMENT, LOSS OF PENSION,

-

ETC.; JURIDICAL MEASURES

REPEATED SHORT-TERM DETENTION WHEN

THE DETAINEE MAY BE INTERROGATED AND BEATEN BY POLICE, SHORTTERM FORCED CONFINEMENT TO A PSYCHIATRIC INSTITUTION, FORCED RESETTLEMENT, FORCED LABOR (CONSIDERED IN ROMANIA TO BE A MORE LENIENT FORM OF PUNISHMENT THAN IMPRISONMENT), IMPRISONMENT AND EXILE OR EMIGRATION UNDER PRESSURE.

OFTEN A COMBINATION OF THE ABOVE METHODS IS APPLIED, BASED ON FACTORS AS THE SOURCE OF THE DISSENT, THE MOTIVATION OF THE DISSENTER, THE POTENTIAL SUPPORT BOTH WITHIN OR WITHOUT ROMANIA, AND THE POSSIBLE IMPACT ON INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC OPINION AND

HENCE ON ROMANIA'S FOREIGN POLICY INTERESTS. IN GENERAL,

ACTIVISTS CONSIDERED TO BE RELATIVELY MINOR ARE EITHER EXPELLED OR PERMITTED TO LEAVE THE COUNTRY. BUT, THOSE CONSIDERED MAJOR FIGURES ARE OFTEN GIVEN LONG TERMS OF IMPRISONMENT. GOMA, THE FIRST PROMINENT ROMANIAN DISSIDENT IN RECENT YEARS, APPEARS TO BE THE EXCEPTION TO THIS RULE.

AMNESTY EXPRESSED CONCERN ABOUT "THE EXISTENCE OF LAWS WHICH SPECIFICALLY PRESCRIBE IMPRISONMENT AND PENALTIES FOR THE NON-VIOLENT EXERCISE OF CERTAIN HUMAN RIGHTS" AND POINTED OUT THE ROMANIAN CITIZENS WHO ATTEMPT TO ACT ON THEIR RIGHTS ARE FREQUENTLY PROSECUTED ON TRUMPED-UP CRIMINAL CHARGES OF PARASITISM, DISTURBANCE OF PUBLIC ORDER, HOMOSEXUAL RELATIONS AND EMBEZZLEMENT. THE ORGANIZATION ALSO EXPRESSED CONCERN ABOUT THE "INADEQUACY OF LEGAL SAFEGUARDS FOR THOSE ARRESTED AND THE ABUSE OF LEGAL PROVISIONS CONCERNING HOUSE SEARCHES, PRE-TRIAL DETENTION, AND TRIAL PROCEDURE" AND SAYS IT HAS RECEIVED EVIDENCE OF "CRUEL, INHUMANE AND DEGRADING CONDITIONS OF IMPRISONMENT."

AN AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL DELEGATION WAS INVITED TO VISIT ROMANIA IN FEBRUARY 1979 BY THE ROMANIAN ASSOCIATION FOR INTERNATIONAL LAW AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS TO DISCUSS HUMAN RIGHTS CONCERNS. DELEGATION MEMBERS MET WITH THE PRESIDENT OF THE ASSOCIATION, THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF JUSTICE, THE DEPUTY PROCURATOR GENERAL, AND OTHER HIGH-RANKING OFFICIALS IN THE MINISTRIES OF JUSTICE, HEALTH AND THE INTERIOR AND TALKED WITH RELIGIOUS LEADERS, TRADE UNION REPRESENTATIVES AND MINORITY GROUP SPOKESMEN. THE MEMORANDUM THE ORGANIZATION SENT TO THE ROMANIAN GOVERNMENT UPON THE DELEGATION'S RETURN, IN WHICH THE SUBSTANCE OF THE RECENT TALKS WAS SUMMARIZED, ADDITIONAL CASES OF PRISONERS OF CONSCIENCE WERE CITED, AND A REQUEST TO INVESTIGATE FURTHER THE ISSUE OF PSYCHIATRIC ABUSE WITHIN ROMANIA MADE, HAS ELICTED NO OFFICIAL RESPONSE ACCORDING TO AMNESTY.

THE ROMANIAN GOVERNMENT'S ACCEPTANCE ON PRINCIPLE OF THE DISCUSSION OF HUMAN RIGHTS AS AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE CSCE PROCESS AS WELL AS ITS WILLINGNESS TO PERMIT INQUIRY BY AMNESTY

INTERNATIONAL ARE, FOR AN EASTERN EUROPEAN STATE, UNIQUE STEPS FORWARD. HOWEVER, IT IS CLEAR THAT THE ROMANIAN GOVERNMENT'S REPRESSIVE PRACTICES HAVE NOT CHANGED SIGNIFICANTLY SINCE THE SIGNING OF THE HELSINKI ACCORDS IN 1975 AND THAT ROMANIA MUST MAKE VAST IMPROVEMENTS IN ITS IMPLEMENTATION RECORD BEFORE IT WILL STAND IN SUBSTANTIAL COMPLIANCE WITH THE HUMAN-RIGHTS PROVISIONS OF PRINCIPLE VII.

CZECHOSLOVAKIA

CZECHOSLOVAKIA HAS A POOR HUMAN RIGHTS RECORD IN EASTERN EUROPE. FOUR YEARS AFTER THE SIGNING OF THE HELSINKI ACCORDS, THE PRAGUE REGIME "CELEBRATED" ITS COMMITMENT TO THIS AGREEMENT BY STAGING A MAJOR TRIAL OF CITIZENS WHO CALLED UPON THEIR GOVERNMENT TO ABIDE BY ITS OWN CONSTITUTION AND THE HELSINKI FINAL ACT.

THE CZECHOSLOVAK GOVERNMENT HAS SYSTEMATICALLY IGNORED ITS OBLIGATIONS UNDER PRINCIPLE VII OF THE FINAL ACT. THE OCTOBER 1979 TRIAL OF THE SIX CHARTER '77 SIGNATORIES IS ONLY ONE EXAMPLE OF THE GOVERNMENT'S CONTINUED VIOLATIONS OF INTERNATIONAL OBLIGATIONS AND ACCEPTED STANDARDS OF JUSTICE. OTHER HUMANRIGHTS ACTIVISTS HAVE BEEN CHARGED WITH SUBVERSION AND SENTENCED TO VARIOUS PRISON TERMS; THE ONLY "CRIME" THEY COMMITTED WAS TO DUPLICATE AND DISTRIBUTE VARIOUS DOCUMENTS OF CHARTER '77 AND UNOFFICIAL LITERATURE. RELIGIOUS ACTIVITIES HAVE BEEN REPRESSED BY THE PRAGUE REGIME: OVER THE LAST THREE YEARS, SOME 400 CATHOLIC PRIESTS AND LAYMEN HAVE BEEN ARRESTED, INTERROGATED OR SUBJECTED TO HOUSE SEARCHES. THE RIGHT TO EDUCATION AND THE RIGHT TO WORK SEEMS TO BE DETERMINED BY POLITICAL CONFORMITY AS DEFINED BY THE CZECHOSLOVAK AUTHORITIES.

CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS

CHARTER '77 AND VONS

THE CHARTER '77 MOVEMENT IS COMPOSED OF 1,000 INTELLECTUALS, STUDENTS AND WORKERS WHO HAVE BEEN TRYING SINCE 1977 TO PERSUADE THE CZECHOSLOVAK GOVERNMENT TO HONOR ITS COMMITMENTS UNDER THE HELSINKI FINAL ACT. CHARTER '77 CLEARLY STATES THAT IT IS NOT AIMED AT CHANGING THE EXISTING SOCIAL SYSTEM, BUT EMPHASIZES THE NEED "FOR THE OBSERVANCE OF LAWS GUARANTEED TO ITS CITIZENS BY THE CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC AND SUPPLEMENTED BY INTERNATIONAL PACTS ON HUMAN AND POLITICAL RIGHTS."