Unconventional Thoughts on the Plight of Roma in Greece

On the Value of Sleeping Restlessly

AIM Athens, August 29, 2000

Since 1996, the DROM Network, I am a member of, in collaboration with other NGOs has charged that the tent-dwelling Roma of Greece (and the rest of Europe) are living a silent and protracted Kristallnacht. The following examples I cite are just a few of the cases for which NGOs have taken legal action.

In the summer of 1995 and for three subsequent years, the Municipality of Evosmos, Salonica, made efforts to expel the tent-dwelling Roma from the area. They installed locks on the taps in the local parks and the cemetery, in order to deprive 2,500 individuals of the vital commodity of water - a criminal act, according to articles 293 and 295 of the Greek Penal Code. Finally, after all its coercing and terrorizing, in August 1998 the Municipality of Evosmos succeeded in driving the desperate population out to the Gallikos River bed. The Municipal Authority responsible for this was triumphantly reelected two months later. After accusations, articles and lawsuits by the DROM Network, a preliminary investigation was ordered. A year later, indictments were issued.

In February 1998, The Municipality of Aspropyrgos, Attica, decided that it had the authority to try and convict. It judged that 8 Romani shanties in Nea Zoi were not legal constructions and, together with the police, set them on fire (yes, they did just that). The next day, the competent Deputy Mayor boasted in the newspaper "Eleftherotypia" that, "We told them to leave, but they didn't. So we torched their shanties..." Those who participated in this heinous act committed, at the very least, the felony of arson - and in its most abominable form. After a lawsuit by two NGOs and one political party, indictments were issued.

In September 1999, in Paralimni, Ioannina, a Romani tent settlement, home to 60 families, was bulldozed to the ground by the police. The Municipality of Paralimni claims ignorance of the events, but notes, "good riddance..." The police, on the other hand, decline to give any information. The outcome of an NGO brief to the Public Prosecutor of Ioannina on this matter is unknown.

In May 2000, in Nea Kios, Argolida, the unthinkable occurred. The Municipal Council decided by written (!!!) vote that the 60 Romani families who live there "are undesirables"; that "they are forbidden to pass through the town" (!!!); that "the other residents of Nea Kios are forbidden to have any dealings with them" (!!!); that "guard squads" will be introduced to execute the above decisions. And, indeed, that's how it happened. The "guard squads" went into action. Their members, moreover, have explained to the newspapers of how they work in parallel to the Police: "they do their job and we do ours..." In the days that follow a Romani shanty is set on fire, a Romani man is shot, and Athenian reporters are beaten up. In essence, more than 10 crimes of public interest are committed, on the basis of the Penal Code as well as of Law 927/97 "on the dissemination of racial hatred" (as assessed also by the Ombudsman in his detailed report). After 15 NGOs, political parties, groups and individuals take legal action, the Public Prosecutor of Nafplion orders a criminal prosecution.

In July 2000, the Municipality of Aspropyrgos, Attica, continues to believe that it has judicial authority, and decides to demolish 12 shanties in the Liosia garbage dump. This time, it doesn't torch them but uses bulldozers and the police force to do the job. In chorus, the mayor and the police chief claim that, "we didn't demolish shanties, we cleaned up rubble... We'll continue to clear the area till we finish. If anyone thinks we're acting illegally let them sue us... " Indeed, the NGOs are collaborating on gathering evidence to file yet another suite. IN the meantime, they have denounced this action to the Media and the competent governmental agencies.

Is anyone interested in learning how the Government reacted to these disgraceful deeds that in essence raze all notions of democratic order and constitutional state? It did absolutely nothing... Is anyone interested in learning the how did the lofty "National Policy Council for Greek Gypsies", staffed by governmental executives and in operation since February 2000, react? It did absolutely nothing... As this text is being written, "guard squads" are patrolling Nea Kios, and in Aspropyrgos they are making plans for the next illegal demolition of Romani shanties. In other words, the Constitution is being pulverized. Tent-dwelling Roma remain unprotected, prey to the racism of municipalities and local communities. And the responsible (?) governmental leaders pretend they don't see, don't hear, and don't understand. So the NGOs along with certain political parties and governmental agencies are left to act alone in the process of achieving judicial protection for tent-dwelling Roma. But what will happen, one asks, in the event that they are unable to gather sufficient evidence to file a lawsuit? Obviously, then, the tent-dwelling Roma will be evicted and their undisturbed persecutors will go unpunished.

Each time we prepare a lawsuit, various people come along and say, "you're absolutely right, but won't this compromise our country internationally?" They're wrong. In fact, they would never even ask such a question if their own children were the ones involved... NGO lawsuits are precisely what preserve the honor of Greece in the face of sordid racist violence and governmental indifference. They are our society's sole resistance. Our country is internationally compromised and put to shame by the racial persecution decided by local authorities and local communities. Perhaps it is even more compromised and shamed when the elected government is incapable, either because of impotence or of fear of the political cost, to implement constitutional order and the law, when it is incapable of enacting legislation to protect the fundamental social rights of Roma...

At the same time that we are filing lawsuits, paid government executives vaguely speak about "a need for maturity on the part of local communities - and as long as it doesn't exist, what can we do?" What can they do? They can honor their oath to uphold the Constitution and the Laws of the State. They can protect defenseless populations in every way. They can order sworn administrative investigations in cases where police violate the law. They can order the on-the-spot arrest of those who conspire against public order. They can initiate legal proceedings against transgressing public authorities. They can resign if their superiors object on the grounds of "political cost." They can think about what they would do if their own children were the ones involved...

Because if their own children were without water, then, of course, they would take action without considering the political cost... If their own children were growing up amid arson, torchings, leveling of their huts and "guard squads," then, naturally, they would act to dismantle this abhorrent para-state... If 65% of their own children were carriers of Hepatitis B, then they would order the actual Prefectural Health Directorates to perform the immediate, universal, free inoculations of tent-dwelling Roma as a high-risk group (now officially instituted after an NGO proposal), rather than leave this task in the altruistic hands of volunteers of Doctors of the World, as it presently is. And they would vote for the proposed Law for the Self-Managed Settlements for Tent-Dwelling Roma (proposed by NGOs, the Coalition Party, and the Salonica Prefecture, which would oblige every Prefecture in the country to take responsibility for the protection of these populations. But all of the above concerns the children of Roma, not those of government executives. So none of this will happen.

The members (with one sole exception) of the lofty "National Policy Council for Greek Gypsies" will be meeting to talk, to reinforce minor party squabbles, to gather votes. And every time that someone else does their job for them, they will be planning the inauguration ceremonies... This is what will occur with the (first in Europe) Aghia Sofia self-managed Romani settlement in Salonica - which was conceived, planned and implemented by NGOs, the Prefecture, and the Roma themselves. For three years, we worked on all fronts to assuage objections and realize this settlement under the best conditions. The government (despite efforts by the Office for the Quality of Life within the Office of the Prime Minister) delayed for a year to disburse the already designated funds. This resulted in 11 (eleven) postponements of the settlement's opening date of operation. Hopefully, by fall 2000, the settlement will be finally operating -even after a glamorous inauguration fantasized by government executives.

"But," one might say, "the people will be the judges of a government that is silent, inert, indifferent, tolerant and evasive regarding Human Rights issues. And they are the ones who elect it and reelect it. So, why are you ranting and raving?" I disagree with that viewpoint. The people elect, but each individual is obliged to judge. And s/he has the right to disagree, even if s/he's alone. Because Human Rights are not defined, fortunately, on the bases of the majority principle. And if the government (and presumably popular opinion) is indifferent to protecting tent-dwelling Roma, not everyone will share the blame, nor will everyone be a silent accomplice. Some will appear, perhaps a few or perhaps many, who will persist in raising their voices. As loud as they can. And who will speak the truth, as they know it, honorably and purely. And who will even sleep restlessly. As restless as they can.

Thanasis Triaridis