Commission Report 2002 (Romania)

Civil and political rights

Romania`s progress with improving civil and political rights has been mixed. A number of important reforms have been initiated. Reform of the childcare system has continued and standards of child protection have improved. The Government has also prioritised the fight against trafficking in human beings and a number of important measures have been taken to address this problem. Progress has been made with the development of a probation system - although Romania`s prisons are overcrowded and conditions remain extremely poor. Romania`s asylum legislation was brought closer to the acquis. There has been no noticeable reduction in cases of excessive violence being used by police officers (in particular against the Roma community). Progress in developing safeguards to protect the freedom of expression has been very limited, and progress with the restitution of property has remained slow.

During the reporting period, Romania made significant progress with the reform of child protection, although large regional differences still exist in the implementation of the new measures. The number of children in residential care has been reduced from approximately 50 000 in 2001 to 43 000 in 2002. A further 40 000 children are protected in family-type care (placement with a substitute family or with a foster family).

Improvements have taken place with the financing of child protection activities. The budget allocated to childcare has been further increased. The main part of this financing is now transferred from the national budget to the county (judets) councils. Funding is also channelled through the National Authority for Child Protection and Adoption to support national interest programmes dealing with: the closure of old-style institutions; social integration of street children; social and vocational integration of young persons leaving care institutions; and training of staff in child protection issues. However, the fact that budget appropriations are calculated as a function of the number of institutionalised children tends to favour institutionalisation in comparison to prevention of abandonment.

Closure of large, old-style institutions is ongoing: 31 institutions were closed during the course of 2001, and the closure of further 34 is under way. The move away from large institutions has been paralleled by a substantial increase in the number of professional foster parents and the range of alternative child protection services. Living conditions in most placement centres (decentralised childcare institutions) are adequate, although care standards in the remaining large, old-style institutions do not respect the individual needs of children. A further positive development is the adoption of a national strategy on maternity hospitals, which could help reduce the levels of abandonment of children in these hospitals.

The modification of the assessment procedures for children with disabilities is a welcome development although further efforts are needed to develop an inclusive educational policy for disabled children. In the absence of such a policy, the closure of special schools, some of which do not provide adequate living conditions, has been hampered.

Mainstreaming of child protection concerns into other policy issues has progressed, and the National Authority for Child Protection and Adoption has improved its relations with other ministries over the reporting period. The law to combat social exclusion includes measures for young people leaving residential care institutions and should have a positive effect on their integration into society. Given that the main reason for child abandonment is poverty, social legislation passed during the reporting period, and in particular the laws establishing a minimum wage, should help reduce the number of children in institutions.

The National Authority for Child Protection and Adoption is a professional body with a good management capacity. It is adequately staffed, although training could be improved.

Despite this overall progress, a general concern is that there are significant regional differences in the implementation of the reform programme. This situation is compounded by the absence of adequate national standards for child protection services and the fact that the National Authority lacks the mandate to perform inspections at the local level.

The moratorium on inter-country adoptions, noted in last year`s report, is still in place. However, a Government Decree, adopted in December 2001, provided for adoption applications to be processed in cases where court procedures had been started prior to the introduction of the moratorium - as well as in certain exceptional cases. One result of the moratorium was a substantial increase in the number of national adoptions. The Romanian authorities have prepared new legislation on childcare and international adoptions and are also developing administrative structure and capacity in order to ensure that adoption decisions are made exclusively in the best interest of the child. This should be done prior to international adoption being resumed.

In October 2001, Romania became a party to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.

In November 2001, Romania ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict.

There continue to be consistent and credible reports of degrading treatment by the police - in particular when dealing with persons belonging to the Roma minority. The use of physical violence to extract confessions is not unusual. The Romanian police have a comprehensive and systematised management approach to dealing with complaints. However, successful prosecutions against police officers are rare and internal police investigations have frequently been inconclusive. Given this situation, the recent transfer of responsibility for the investigation and prosecution of this type of offence to the civilian authorities represents a positive development. New procedures are also needed to improve controls over the use of firearms by the police in the line of duty. The Romanian authorities have not yet authorised the publication of reports made by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and are strongly encouraged to do so.

Romania remains a country of origin and of transit for the trafficking in human beings. The Romanian Border Police uncovered 269 cases of trafficked women in 2001 while the International Organisation for Migration estimates that as many as 20 000 women are trafficked from Romania each year. In response to this situation, a number of significant measures have been taken by the Romanian Government during the reporting period.

A law for combating trafficking in human beings was adopted in December 2001 and defines the concepts of ``trafficking` and ``exploitation` as well as setting out penal sanctions. This is a positive step, and addresses one of the weaknesses identified in the 2001 Regular Report. However, implementing rules have not yet been adopted and it is therefore unclear if this legislation is being applied in full. The Romanian authorities should also take particular care to ensure that legislation aimed at regulating emigration is not misused in order to punish victims of trafficking.

A National Action Plan on Trafficking in Women and Children has also been adopted which covers a wide range of objectives, from improving collaboration between the different agencies involved in combating trafficking, to information activities. Tangible results of the Plan have included the opening of a Centre for Victims of Trafficking, and the introduction of specific training on trafficking for the Police anti-Crime Squad. Administrative structures have been developed with the appointment of a National co-Ordinator to combat trafficking and the setting up of a network of liaison officers within the Ministry of Interior and in Prosecutors` Offices whose function is to co-ordinate Romanian activities with those carried out by EU Member States and other candidate countries.

Just over 9% of prison detainees are being held in pre-trial detention. No data are available on the duration of pre-trial detention in practice, but the legal limit for pre-trial detention is high - half of the maximum period of imprisonment for the crime with which an individual is charged. Judicial review is applied both during the pre-trial detention and during the judicial phase.

Romania`s prison population is high compared to the size of its population and prison conditions continue to be extremely poor. While certain positive developments have taken place over the reporting period these have only had a limited effect.

Despite a small reduction in the prison population, severe overcrowding is the most serious problem. While a considerable number of new cells have been built over the last year, and a concerted programme of cell modernisation and refurbishment has been launched, the prison population still exceeds capacity by over 40%. There has been a gradual improvement in the treatment of inmates: the number of visits and food packages allowed has been increased, greater efforts have been made to find jobs for inmates, and education and recreational facilities have been developed. The training of prison staff has also improved over the last year. However, living conditions remain harsh and the poor quality of food, limited medical care, and unhygienic conditions are issues which still need to be addressed. Human rights organisations have also reported the use of excessive disciplinary measures, such as depriving inmates of food parcels and the use of chains for restraint. There have also been continued reports of physical violence in prisons oe although there is no evidence of systematic abuse.

An important and positive development over the reporting period has been the evolution of the probation service. A total of 28 regional probation services have been established, and a budget allocation has been made for hiring 210 staff (although there have been certain difficulties in finding suitably qualified personnel). These regional services have laid the foundations of an effective probation system.

In crimes where the maximum sanction is less that 5 years imprisonment, and the accused is not a minor, there is no mandatory legal aid provided. This is a limitation to the right to legal representation is human rights issue that needs to be addressed. Where legal aid is provided, an additional problem is that the quality of representation is often low.

The positive trend noted last year in the area of asylum has continued during the reporting period. Romanian asylum procedures are working effectively, handling times are complied with, country information has been improved, the National Office for Refugees enjoys good relations with civil society, and the overall professionalism of dealing with asylum claims has improved.

Although Romania`s asylum legislation is largely in line with the acquis, certain shortcomings were noted in last year`s Regular Report. The Government`s recognition of family reunification as a right and clarification of the grounds for exclusion addressed two of these concerns. However, there are still gaps in the legal framework: those with humanitarian status receive fewer benefits than those with refugee status; time limits for processing cases at border points are too short; and asylum seekers can be kept in the airport transit zone for an excessive period of time. The principle of non-refoulement is guaranteed under Romanian law but a small number of refoulement cases have nonetheless been reported during the reporting period.

Further steps have been taken to improve assistance provided to refugees and asylum seekers. Detailed standards have been established regarding material assistance and feeding, and a programme has been developed to provide classes in the Romanian language to children of asylum seekers (an important development as this will allow children to attend school).

An Emergency Ordinance, adopted in March 2002, banned fascist, racist or xenophobic organisations as well as symbols relating to individuals guilty of crimes against humanity.

Freedom of expression is guaranteed in the Constitution and both the written press and electronic media are able to report freely. At the same time, restrictions on the freedom of expression do exist. Over the reporting period the progress made with guaranteeing freedom of expression was limited, while a number of developments raised questions about Romania`s compliance with international standards and practices.

The main development over the reporting period was the revision of the Penal Code. The crime of ``offence to authorities'' was repealed, the crime of ``insult'' will no longer be punishable with a prison sentence, and the maximum prison terms for ``calumny against private persons'' and ``calumny against officials'' were reduced. The amendments are limited and maintaining ``calumny against officials'' as a specific offence with a higher penalty than a similar offence against non-officials contradicts the case law of the European Court of Human Rights. No change has been made as regards the burden of proof (Art. 207), which is weighted against journalists, even though this provision is incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights and was raised as a specific concern in last year`s Regular Report.

Both Houses of Parliament passed a draft law on the right to reply that has been criticised by human rights organisations for giving disproportionate power to the plaintiff and thereby discouraging the media from presenting critical opinions or closely scrutinising controversial issues. The law was not promulgated by the President. In a separate development, procedural reasons were used to dismiss the Board of Control for Romanian State Radio (appointed by the previous Government) before it had completed its term of office. This allowed the current Government to appoint a new Board of Control. Taken together, these developments indicate the Government's increasing sensitivity to critical media reports and represent a worrying trend.

ProTV, the largest private television company, is heavily indebted to the Romania state and has applied to the tax authorities for a rescheduling of its outstanding tax liability. This makes the channel`s continued operation dependent on the good will of the Romanian authorities.

Freedom of religion is guaranteed by the Constitution and is observed in practice. The Government does not restrict the observance of religious belief, although human rights organisations have reported cases of Orthodox clergy, sometimes working with local officials, restricting the religious activities of other churches.

There are 15 recognised religions in Romania, and while the possibility of registering new religions exists in principle, it has not been applied in practice. non-recognised faiths are able to operate without restriction but do not benefit from the same legal advantages as recognised religions. The 1948 Decree on Religious Denominations is in need of reform, but there has been no progress in this regard over the reporting period.

As regards discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, Parliament confirmed the decriminalisation of homosexuality during the reporting period (the measure was originally introduced by Emergency Ordinance in June 2001) and ensured that sexual offences are now governed by the same legislation irrespective of sexual orientation.

The Romanian Constitution provides for the freedom of association and the freedom of assembly. Both of these rights are respected in practice.

In Romania, the process of restitution of properties confiscated under the communist regime has three main components: restitution of buildings, restitution of agricultural and forest lands, and restitution of churches and related premises.

Although the legal framework for the restitution of buildings was established in early 2001, progress has been hindered by weak administration and by the absence of implementing legislation. An authority for the enforcement of the restitution law was created during the reporting period but this body is not yet fully functional.

The restitution of agricultural land and forests has continued over the reporting period. Progress has been relatively slow and varied considerably from region to region. In an effort to address this situation, the commissions responsible for restitution were reorganised and working procedures revised. It is too early to assess the effectiveness of these measures but it is unlikely that the Government will be able to meet its own target of completing 90% of agricultural and forestry restitution by the end of 2002.

In July 2002, Parliament adopted legislation that clarified the process of restituting property confiscated from churches. The legislation extends the scope of the previous law in several important respects. However, only church property is covered and there is presently no legal framework for the restitution of actual churches. This is a particularly important issue for the Greek-Catholic Church which had a large number of properties confiscated by the Communist regime but still has no legal redress. The Government has committed itself to producing specific legislation on this issue but delays in preparing such a law means that there has been no substantial progress.

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