Institutional racism of law-enforcement authorities against Roma and Travellers
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Text
adopted by the Standing Committee, acting on behalf of
the Assembly, on 28 November 2023 (see Doc. 15856, report of the Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination,
rapporteur: Mr Jean-Pierre Grin).
1. Over the past several decades,
the case law of the European Court of Human Rights and the monitoring work
of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI)
and the Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the Protection
of National Minorities (ETS No. 157) have brought to light serious breaches
of human rights committed by law-enforcement officers against Roma
and Travellers throughout the member States of the Council of Europe.
2. Despite these repeated findings and the recommendations addressed
to States to end the practices at issue and prevent similar cases
from arising, police brutality is still too often committed against
Roma and Travellers in Europe. It ranges from inhuman or degrading
treatment to torture, from excessive use of force to violence resulting
in some cases in the victim’s death.
3. Violent attacks and raids against Roma villages and settlements,
and places where Travellers have halted, also continue to take place
– sometimes committed by members of the law-enforcement authorities themselves,
sometimes by the population itself without the law-enforcement authorities
intervening to protect the victims. Such violent acts, as well as
ethnic profiling, harassment, marginalisation and provocation, are
part of daily life for too many Roma and Travellers on our continent,
and form part of their shared experience of law-enforcement authorities.
4. Systematic checks of caravans and the criminalisation of begging
or the illegal occupation of land moreover punish persons who are
already victims of discrimination and create conditions in which
Roma and Travellers are brought into contact to an excessive degree
with law-enforcement authorities; at the same time, these measures
increase their distrust of the authorities.
5. The Parliamentary Assembly deplores the fact that Roma and
Travellers are thus very often subject to excessive surveillance,
controls and even use of force by members of law-enforcement authorities,
which violate their rights, while the responses provided are often
inadequate when these populations are victims of criminal offences,
whether committed by public officials or by private individuals.
Indeed, all too often, when acts likely to constitute such offences
are committed against Roma or Travellers, no effective investigation
is carried out to help elucidate the facts, which is also a violation
of their rights.
6. These human rights violations destroy the confidence of Roma
and Travellers in law-enforcement authorities, which should protect
them by assuring their safety and security as they do for all citizens. Discrimination
in access to justice further worsens this situation and deprives
the victims of abuse of adequate remedy.
7. This situation can be described as institutional racism, or
systemic racism, of law-enforcement authorities against Roma and
Travellers. The Assembly underlines that these terms do not imply
that every individual working within the institution in question
is racist but refer to the discriminatory effects of the functioning
of the institution as a whole, effects which are first and foremost
the result of the policies and practices that it applies.
8. The Assembly deplores this situation and underlines that States
have a duty to prevent and combat these serious human rights violations.
It notes that to do so, it is essential to have a thorough understanding
of the structural shortcomings at issue, in order to find effective
responses.
9. In this context, the Assembly refers to its
Resolution 2364 (2021) “Ethnic
profiling in Europe: a matter of great concern” and its
Resolution 2413 (2021) “Discrimination
against Roma and Travellers in the field of housing”, which already
examined some of these concerns and recommended that States take
a series of measures in order to address them.
10. The Assembly also draws member States’ attention to the recommendations
set out by ECRI in this field, notably in the framework of its General
Policy Recommendation No. 11 on combating racism and racial discrimination
in policing and its General Policy Recommendation No. 13 revised
on combating antigypsyism and discrimination against Roma. It further
underlines that the priorities approved by the Committee of Ministers
of the Council of Europe in its Strategic Action Plan for Roma and
Traveller Inclusion (2020-2025) include combating antigypsyism and
discrimination and supporting real and effective equality.
11. In the light of these considerations, the Assembly calls on
Council of Europe member States,
11.1 as
concerns the legislative framework, to:
11.1.1 ensure that
criminal law provisions applicable to hate-motivated offences cover
acts motivated by antigypsyism and anti-nomadism;
11.1.2 ensure that national anti-discrimination legislation applies
to the actions of members of law-enforcement authorities and that
acts of discrimination committed against Roma and Travellers are
duly punished by law;
11.1.3 refrain from criminalising behaviour such as begging or
the illegal occupation of land wherever other measures, notably
administrative law measures, measures concerning the establishment
of adequate halting sites or social policy measures would be better
adapted to resolving the problems that lead to the behaviour in
question;
11.2 as concerns the fight against impunity and the obligation
to conduct an effective investigation, to:
11.2.1 offer
rapid and effective remedies to victims of police violence, giving
priority to simple, flexible and accessible procedures;
11.2.2 create independent investigative mechanisms, free from
any political pressure, equipped with sufficient resources and powers
to effectively investigate complaints against members of law-enforcement
authorities and to punish offenders;
11.2.3 improve internal procedures for reporting misconduct within
law enforcement, in particular by adopting measures to protect whistle-blowers;
11.2.4 protect victims against police intimidation, reprisals
and harassment – all of which are encouraged by a sense of impunity
– and provide for penalties for offenders that are commensurate
with the seriousness of their actions and that are dissuasive;
11.2.5 support the activities of non-governmental organisations
working to promote the access of Roma and Travellers to justice;
11.3 as regards preventing new, similar human rights violations,
to:
11.3.1 introduce recruitment procedures aimed at promoting
a composition of the law-enforcement authorities that reflects the
diversity of the population;
11.3.2 train all members of law-enforcement authorities to apply
methods that fully respect human rights in all circumstances; such
training should also be provided at regular intervals;
11.4 as concerns strengthening mutual trust between Roma and
Travellers, on the one hand, and law-enforcement authorities, on
the other, to:
11.4.1 give priority to policies and practices
that avoid having recourse to law-enforcement authorities;
11.4.2 provide a sufficient number of halting sites and other
stopping places adapted to the needs of Travellers, and prioritise
recourse to trained mediators rather than law-enforcement officers
when it comes to the reception of Travellers;
11.4.3 establish frameworks for dialogue and co-operation between
law-enforcement authorities and Roma and Travellers;
11.4.4 provide full support to Roma and Travellers who are victims
or witnesses of misconduct committed by members of law-enforcement
authorities.
12. The Assembly encourages member States to strengthen the fight
against antigypsyism and anti-nomadism by recognising these phenomena
as forms of racism that must be covered by criminal and civil law provisions
prohibiting racism and racial discrimination, and working together
with Roma and Travellers to overcome stereotypes and prejudice within
the wider community, as well as mutual mistrust.
13. The Assembly encourages member States to actively promote
education about and awareness of Roma and Traveller history and
culture as an integral part of the fight against antigypsyism and
anti-nomadism.
14. The Assembly further invites national parliaments to support
the No Hate Parliamentary Alliance, its mandate and its functioning.
