SEVERAL serious problems remain on Bulgaria’s human rights record – though the government generally respected them, according to an annual country report released by the U.S. State Department on Tuesday.
It cites instances of ‘serious human rights abuses’ by police. Police officers were responsible for the deaths of at least five people during the year, and a Bulgarian military officer was accused of responsibility for the death of a conscript recruit, it states.
On June 14, for example, Miroslav Marinov died in hospital from injuries allegedly sustained while in police custody in Vratsa. He had been released shortly before his death. An inquiry found no evidence that officers were responsible for Marinov’s death. On July 5, Trycho Lyubomirov, a 19-year-old Roma suspected of car theft, was shot and killed by police in Sofia, while apparently attempting to flee from officers. A police officer involved in the incident was charged by the military prosecutor with negligent use of a firearm, which carries a maximum penalty of five years’ imprisonment. The case was awaiting trial at the close of 2000.
The report observed that few organised crime figures had been prosecuted to date.
It notes that the government exerts an undue influence on the media “via official channels such as the National Council for Radio and Television.”
It talked about violence against women and found that women face discrimination both in terms of job recruitment and the likelihood of layoffs. As many as 10,000 Bulgarian women, many under the age of 18, were victims of international trafficking in 2000.
The report also spoke of discrimination and violence against the Roma minority, in the forms of arbitrary arrest, inadequate assistance of homeless children by the social service system because of lack of funds, education of inferior quality offered to Roma children, and difficulties in finding employment. It quoted a Bulgarian Helsinki Committee survey stating that Roma prisoners are abused more often than other inmates.
Bulgaria’s record improved in some areas, including increased efficiency of cases through the courts and government control over police – although the latter is not sufficient to ensure full accountability, according to the report.
It cites instances of ‘serious human rights abuses’ by police. Police officers were responsible for the deaths of at least five people during the year, and a Bulgarian military officer was accused of responsibility for the death of a conscript recruit, it states.
On June 14, for example, Miroslav Marinov died in hospital from injuries allegedly sustained while in police custody in Vratsa. He had been released shortly before his death. An inquiry found no evidence that officers were responsible for Marinov’s death. On July 5, Trycho Lyubomirov, a 19-year-old Roma suspected of car theft, was shot and killed by police in Sofia, while apparently attempting to flee from officers. A police officer involved in the incident was charged by the military prosecutor with negligent use of a firearm, which carries a maximum penalty of five years’ imprisonment. The case was awaiting trial at the close of 2000.
The report observed that few organised crime figures had been prosecuted to date.
It notes that the government exerts an undue influence on the media “via official channels such as the National Council for Radio and Television.”
It talked about violence against women and found that women face discrimination both in terms of job recruitment and the likelihood of layoffs. As many as 10,000 Bulgarian women, many under the age of 18, were victims of international trafficking in 2000.
The report also spoke of discrimination and violence against the Roma minority, in the forms of arbitrary arrest, inadequate assistance of homeless children by the social service system because of lack of funds, education of inferior quality offered to Roma children, and difficulties in finding employment. It quoted a Bulgarian Helsinki Committee survey stating that Roma prisoners are abused more often than other inmates.
Bulgaria’s record improved in some areas, including increased efficiency of cases through the courts and government control over police – although the latter is not sufficient to ensure full accountability, according to the report.
