Negotin, August 22, 2009

No. 55/08/09

“If they are Romanian let them go to Romania...”

The Committee for Human Rights of Negotin strongly protests the hate speech of the so-called faithful and members of the Serbian Orthodox Church.

Members of the ethnically Romanian/Vlach community of Northeast Serbia are constantly being harassed and frightened by the clergy of the Serbian Orthodox Church and their “civil” escorts whenever relatives of a deceased invite at the funeral the priest of the Romanian Orthodox Church. Such was the latest unpleasant incident of Saturday, August 22, 2009, at a funeral in the ethnically Romanian/Vlach village of Aleksandrovac near Negotin when the same scenario was repeated for the umpteenth time: a priest of the Serbian Orthodox Church (from the nearby ethnically Serbian village of Rajac), surrounded by unknown people who were shouting “if they are Romanian, let them go to Romania...”.

This threat was reported to the police of Negotin, who are requested to investigate the entire case and in the future to prevent such threats.

The Committee for Human Rights of Negotin within the network of committees for human rights in Serbia CHRIS, for the past eight years has been offering legal aid to the Romanian Orthodox Church in Northeast Serbia in the domestic and international institutions and points out the unfavorable attitude of the state of Serbia towards this Church, priest and its faithful, as well as the very bad Law about religious communities which is causing all the problems which arise.

The top of the government of the Republic of Serbia, although aware of these problems continues to further claim that there are no violations of human rights and minority rights in this part of Serbia, denying also Resolution 1632 of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe of October 1, 2008, as well as the report of its special rapporteur Herrmann Juergen about the discrimination against the Romanian Orthodox Church in Serbia.

The Committee for Human Rights of Negotin will initiate a lawsuit in the domestic judicial institutions, every time there is a violation of individual and collective rights of any citizen of the Republic of Serbia or national community.

                                                                       Committee of Human Rights of Negotin,

                                                                                           Dusan Prvulovic, president