114
Europe and Central Asia
Summary of Amnesty International’s Concerns in the Region, January – June 2007
of the “erased”, for deliberately delaying a
solution of the problem, for being an
attempt
to
circumvent
existing
Constitutional Court decisions and for
excluding other forms of reparation for the
human rights violations suffered as a result
of the “erasure”.
In February the European Commission
against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI)
made public its third report on Slovenia,
which had been adopted in June 2006. ECRI
inter alia deplored “the fact that, as a
result of the non-implementation by the
Slovenian authorities of the decision of the
Constitutional Court, it is still not possible
for approximately 6,000 people to regain
the rights of which they were unlawfully
stripped over fifteen years ago”. ECRI
urged the Slovenian authorities to restore
the rights of the “erased” and called for the
“resumption and finalization of the process
of issuing supplementary decisions granting
retroactive permanent residence rights, and
the adoption of a legal framework enabling
those ‘erased’ persons who have not yet
secured permanent residence or Slovenian
citizenship to have their rights reinstated in
a manner that is as fair and generous as
possible”.
In May the European Court of Human
Rights issued a partial decision on the
admissibility of an application filed in 2006
by 11 “erased” people, claiming that the
“erasure” resulted in violations of a number
of rights enshrined in the European
Convention for the Protection of Human
Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and its
Protocols. Having decided to examine the
admissibility and merits of the case
together, the European Court of Human
Rights considered that, on the basis of the
case file, it could not determine the
admissibility of the complaint concerning
the overall situation affecting the applicants
and the failure to afford retrospective
recognition of permanent residence (Article
8), the lack of an effective legal remedy in
that respect (Article 13), the allegedly
discriminatory treatment (Article 14) and
the denial of pension benefits (Article 1 of
Protocol No. 1). The European Court of
Human Rights decided to give notice of
Amnesty International
these parts of the application to Slovenia to
submit its written observations. Other parts
of
the
application
were
declared
inadmissible.
Discrimination against Roma (update
to AI Index: EUR 001/001/2007)
The Slovenian authorities failed to fully
integrate Romani children in the Slovenian
educational system and tolerated in some
cases the creation of special groups for
Romani children, where often a reduced or
simplified curriculum is taught. On 3 May AI
wrote to the Slovenian Minister of Education
and Sport, requesting information and
clarifications on a recently conducted
evaluation of the so-called “Bršljin model”,
which is being implemented at the Bršljin
School in Novo Mesto. This model provides
for the creation of separate groups of
children experiencing difficulties in certain
subjects. Teachers in Bršljin admit that
such groups are composed mostly, and in
some cases only, of Romani pupils. This
model had been criticized in Slovenia by
education experts for being de facto a
continuation
of
the
old
segregation
approach. The Slovenian authorities had
claimed, including in communication with AI,
that evaluation of the “Bršljin model”, has
shown that such model does not result in
the segregation of Romani children and that
it simply involves the temporary placement
of pupils in groups for those children who
do not perform sufficiently well in certain
subjects. However, at the end of the period
under review, AI had not received further
details on the evaluation and its outcome.
In its third report on Slovenia (see above),
ECRI called on the Slovenian authorities to
ensure that all measures provided for in the
Strategy for the Education of Roma in the
Republic of Slovenia are implemented in
practice and that time frames, resources,
responsibilities, outcomes and monitoring
mechanisms are clearly set out in order to
facilitate implementation; to ensure that no
Roma child without learning disabilities is
sent to a special needs school; to promptly
address any instances of separate Roma
classes in schools; to strengthen their
AI Index: EUR 01/010/2007
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