30 Europe and Central Asia Summary of Amnesty International’s Concerns in the Region, January – June 2007 increase in the number of BiH citizens who had been trafficked Human rights defenders In February member and co-founder of the RS Helsinki Committee for Human Rights Duško Kondor died from injuries after being attacked by persons with machine gun fire in his own apartment in Bijeljina (see AI Index: EUR 63/001/2007). His daughter was seriously wounded in the attack. Duško Kondor had repeatedly reported death threats to the RS police. However, no security measures had been undertaken by the RS police to protect him. Following the murder, local police arrested two persons on suspicion that they took part in the murder. Reportedly, police investigation indicated that the murder was not in direct connection with the activities of Duško Kondor as a human rights activist. BULGARIA Discrimination A National Plan for Protection against Discrimination (NPAD) was passed on 19 January. The NPAD includes all the grounds of discrimination featured in the Bulgarian Law for Protection against Discrimination, including sexual orientation and "gender expression". The priorities of the NPAD include: education and training, further development of the anti-discrimination legislation, coverage of issues in the media and the creation and maintenance of a national database on discrimination. However, in spite of such legislative initiatives, members of the far-right “Attack” party (Ataka) continued to make declarations against minorities in the country. In February, one of the leaders of the party reportedly placed an anti-Turkish poster in the parliament building. The poster, which stated "No to Turkish votes," made reference to the possibility for the Bulgarian citizens of Turkish ascent to vote the Bulgarian representatives in the European Parliament (EP) on 12 May´s election. Background On 1 January Bulgaria and Romania became member states of the European Union (EU). On 27 June the European Commission (EC) issued its report on the progress made by both states in meeting the accompanying measures decided by the EC when they joined the EU. The EC warned both states to take more action to fight corruption, but did not impose any sanctions for their failure to meet reform targets. The EC noted that Bulgaria and Romania had made progress with judicial reform but needed to do more to implement the changes. The EC urged Bulgaria to adopt constitutional amendments on the independence of its justice system; continue with reforms of the judiciary; and investigate high-level local government and border corruption. The Bulgarian authorities were also told to implement a strategy to fight organised crime. Amnesty International The Romani community On 12 March, the non-governmental Fridriech Ebert Bulgaria foundation issued a report stating that between 65 and 70 per cent of Bulgaria's Roma labour force were unemployed. According to the report, the main obstacles encountered by Bulgarians of Romani descent were in access to housing, employment, professional qualifications and education. On education, the report found that some 18 per cent of the Roma in Bulgaria were completely illiterate and another 65 per cent never completed their high school education. The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), in its report Breaking the cycle of exclusion. Roma children in South-East Europe issued in March, reported that around 50 per cent of Romani homes in Bulgaria were not connected to running water and that 20 per cent of Romani children never went to school. AI Index: EUR 01/010/2007