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2005 Human Rights Report

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Preface

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2005
Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
March 8, 2006

All men and women desire and deserve to live in dignity and liberty. As President Bush said: "The advance of freedom is the great story of our time." Promoting human rights and democracy is a worldwide phenomenon and there is a growing global discussion of democracy and the universal values protected by democratic governance.

The increasing demand for democratic governance reflects recognition that the best guarantor of human rights is a thriving democracy with representative, accountable institutions of government, equal rights under the rule of law, a robust civil society, political pluralism, and independent media.

The United States and other free nations have a duty to defend human rights and help spread democracy’s blessings. We must help countries develop the democratic institutions that will ensure human rights are respected over the long term. We must help fragile democracies deliver a better life for their citizens. We must call countries to account when they retreat from their international human rights commitments. And we must always stand in solidarity with the courageous men and women across the globe who live in fear yet dream of freedom.

By defending and advancing human rights and democratic principles, we keep faith with our country’s most cherished values and lay the foundation for lasting peace. Fulfilling the promise of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and building vibrant democracies worldwide will take generations, but it is work of the utmost urgency that cannot be delayed.

With these thoughts in mind, I am pleased to transmit the Department of State’s Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2005 to the United States Congress.

Condoleezza Rice
Secretary of State

Introduction

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2005
Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
March 8, 2006

These reports describe the performance of 196 countries in putting into practice their international commitments on human rights. These basic rights, reflected in the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, have been embraced by people of every culture and color, every background and belief, and constitute what President Bush calls the "non-negotiable demands of human dignity."

The Department of State published the first annual country reports on human rights practices in 1977 in accordance with congressional mandate, and they have become an essential element of the United States’ effort to promote respect for human rights worldwide. For nearly three decades, the reports have served as a reference document and a foundation for cooperative action among governments, organizations, and individuals seeking to end abuses and strengthen the capacity of countries to protect the fundamental rights of all.

The worldwide championing of human rights is not an attempt to impose alien values on citizens of other countries or to interfere in their internal affairs. The Universal Declaration calls upon "every individual and every organ of society … to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance…"

President Bush has committed the United States to working with other democracies and men and women of goodwill across the globe to reach an historic long-term goal: "the end of tyranny in our world."

To be sure, violations of human rights and miscarriages of justice can and do occur in democratic countries. No governmental system is without flaws. Human rights conditions in democracies across the globe vary widely, and these country reports reflect that fact. In particular, democratic systems with shallow roots and scarce resources can fall far short of meeting their solemn commitments to citizens, including human rights commitments. Democratic transitions can be tumultuous and wrenching. Rampant corruption can retard democratic development, distort judicial processes, and destroy public trust. Nonetheless, taken overall, countries with democratic systems provide far greater protections against violations of human rights than do nondemocratic states.

The United States’ own journey toward liberty and justice for all has been long and difficult, and it is still far from complete. Yet over time our independent branches of government, our free media, our openness to the world, and, most importantly, the civic courage of impatient American patriots help us keep faith with our founding ideals and our international human rights obligations.

These country reports offer a factual basis by which to assess the progress made on human rights and the challenges that remain. The reports review each country’s performance in 2005, not one country’s performance against that of another. While each country report speaks for itself, cross-cutting observations can be made. Six broad observations, supported by country-specific examples, are highlighted below. The examples are illustrative, not exhaustive.

First, countries in which power is concentrated in the hands of unaccountable rulers tend to be the world’s most systematic human rights violators. These states range from closed, totalitarian systems that subject their citizens to a wholesale deprivation of their basic rights to authoritarian systems in which the exercise of basic rights is severely restricted.

In 2005 the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK or North Korea) remained one of the world’s most isolated countries. The systematically repressive regime continued to control almost all aspects of citizens' lives, denying freedoms of speech, religion, the press, assembly, association, and movement, as well as workers’ rights. In December 2005, the regime further receded into isolation by calling for significant drawdowns of the international nongovernmental organization (NGO) presence in the country.

In Burma where a junta rules by diktat, promises of democratic reform and respect for human rights continued to serve as a façade for brutality and repression. Forced labor, trafficking in persons, use of child soldiers, and religious discrimination remained serious concerns. The military’s continuing abuses included systematic use of rape, torture, execution, and forced relocation of citizens belonging to ethnic minorities. The regime maintained iron-fisted control through the surveillance, harassment, and imprisonment of political activists, including Nobel Laureate and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who remained under house arrest without charge.

In 2005 the Iranian government’s already poor record on human rights and democracy worsened. In the June presidential elections, slightly more than a thousand registered candidates – including all the female candidates – were arbitrarily thrown out of contention by the country’s guardian council. The newly elected hard-line president denied the Holocaust occurred and called for the elimination of Israel. The ruling clerics and the president oversaw deterioration in prison conditions for the hundreds of political prisoners, further restrictions on press freedom, and a continuing rollback of social and political freedoms. Serious abuses such as summary executions, severe violations of religious freedom, discrimination based on ethnicity and religion, disappearances, extremist vigilantism, and use of torture and other degrading treatment continued.

In Zimbabwe the government maintained a steady assault on human dignity and basic freedoms, tightening its hold on civil society and human rights NGOs and manipulating the March parliamentary elections. Opposition members were subjected to abuse, including torture and rape. New constitutional amendments allowed the government to restrict exit from the country, transferred title to the government of all land reassigned in the land acquisition program, and removed the right to challenge land acquisitions in court. The government’s Operation Restore Order, initiated to demolish allegedly illegal housing and businesses, displaced or destroyed the livelihoods of more than 700 thousand persons and further strained the country’s weak and depressed economy.

In Cuba the regime continued to control all aspects of life through the communist party and state-controlled mass organizations. The regime suppressed calls for democratic reform, such as the Varela Project, which proposed a national referendum. Authorities arrested, detained, fined, and threatened Varela activists and the government held at least 333 political prisoners and detainees.

China's human rights record remained poor, and the government continued to commit serious abuses. Those who publicly advocated against Chinese government policies or views or protested against government authority faced harassment, detention, and imprisonment by government and security authorities. Disturbances of public order and protests calling for redress of grievances increased significantly, and several incidents were violently suppressed. Key measures to increase the authority of the judiciary and reduce the arbitrary power of police and security forces stalled. Restrictions of the media and the Internet continued. Repression of minority groups continued unabated, particularly of Uighurs and Tibetans. New religious affairs regulations were adopted expanding legal protection for some activities of registered religious groups, but repression of unregistered religious groups continued, as did repression of the Falun Gong spiritual movement.

In Belarus President Lukashenko continued to arrogate all power to himself and his dictatorial regime. Pro-democracy activists, including opposition politicians, independent trade union leaders, students, and newspaper editors, were detained, fined, and imprisoned for criticizing Lukashenko and his regime. His government increasingly used tax inspections and new registration requirements to complicate or deny NGOs, independent media, political parties, and minority and religious organizations the ability to operate legally.

Second, human rights and democracy are closely linked, and both are essential to long-term stability and security. Free and democratic nations that respect the rights of their citizens help to lay the foundation for lasting peace. In contrast, states that severely and systematically violate the human rights of their own people are likely to pose threats to neighboring countries and the international community.

Burma is a case in point. Only by Burma’s return to the democratic path from which it was wrenched can the basic rights of the Burmese people be realized. The junta refuses to recognize the results of the historic free and fair legislative elections in 1990. The regime’s cruel and destructive misrule has inflicted tremendous suffering on the Burmese people and caused or exacerbated a host of ills for its neighbors, from refugee outflows to the spread of infectious diseases and the trafficking of drugs and human beings. On December 16, the UN Security Council held a landmark discussion on the situation in Burma.

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is another example. When the Korean peninsula was divided, the DPRK and the Republic of Korea (ROK or South Korea) were at roughly the same economic point, and both were subject to authoritarian rule. Political and economic freedom has made the difference between the two Koreas. Today, North Koreans are deprived of the most basic freedoms, while the regime’s authoritarian rule produced tens of thousands of refugees. The government earned hard currency through illicit activities, including narcotics trafficking, counterfeiting of currency and goods such as cigarettes, and smuggling. Pyongyang has not heeded the international community’s repeated calls to dismantle its nuclear programs.

The Iranian government continued to ignore the desire of the Iranian people for responsible, accountable government, continuing its dangerous policies of pursuing a nuclear weapons capability, providing support to terrorist organizations, and advocating – including in several public speeches by the new president – the destruction of a UN member state. Iran’s deprivation of basic rights to its own people, its interference in Iraq, its support for Hizballah, Hamas, and other terrorist organizations, and its refusal to engage constructively on these issues, have further isolated it from the world community.

Similarly, the government of Syria refused international calls to respect the fundamental freedoms of its people and end its interference in the affairs of its neighbors. Syria continued to provide support for Hizballah, Hamas, and other Palestinian rejectionist groups and did not cooperate fully with the UN International Independent Investigative Commission on the assassination in Beirut of former Lebanese Prime Minister al-Hariri. The Chief Investigator’s reports concluded that evidence pointed to involvement by Syrian authorities and made it clear that Syrian officials, while purporting to cooperate, deliberately misled the investigators.

By contrast, in the Balkans, a marked overall improvement in human rights, democracy, and the rule of law over the past several years has led to greater stability and security in the region. Increasingly democratic governments are in place, more war criminals are facing justice, significant numbers of displaced persons have returned home, elections are progressively more compliant with international standards, and neighbors are deepening their cooperation to resolve post-conflict and regional problems. Many countries of the former Yugoslavia have made progress in bringing persons accused of war crimes to trial in domestic courts, which is important to national reconciliation and regional stability. At the end of 2005, however, two of the most wanted war crimes suspects, Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic, remained at large.

Third, some of the most serious violations of human rights are committed by governments within the context of internal and/or cross-border armed conflicts. The Sudanese government’s 2003 attempt to quell a minor uprising of African rebels in Darfur by arming janjaweed militias and allowing them to ravage the region resulted in a vicious conflict. The Department of State in September of 2004 determined that genocide occurred in Darfur. It continued in 2005. By the end of 2005, at least 70 thousand civilians had perished, nearly 2 million had been displaced by the fighting, and more than 200 thousand refugees had fled into neighboring Chad. Torture was widespread and systematic in Darfur, as was violence against women, including rape used as a tool of war. There were reports of women being marched away into the desert; their fate remained unknown. The Comprehensive Peace Agreement signed by the Sudanese government and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement opened the way to adopt a constitution in July and form a government of national unity to serve until elections in 2009. The African Union deployed seven thousand troops to Darfur, where their presence helped curb some but not all of the violence. At the end of 2005, government-supported janjaweed attacks on civilians continued.

Nepal’s poor human rights record worsened. The government continued to commit many serious abuses, both during and after the February-April state of emergency that suspended all fundamental rights except for habeas corpus. In many cases the government disregarded habeas corpus orders issued by the Supreme Court and often rearrested student and political party leaders. The Maoist insurgents also continued their campaign of torturing, killing, bombing, conscripting children, kidnapping, extorting, and forcing closures of schools and businesses.

The political crisis in Cote d’Ivoire, which continued to divide the country, led to further abuses in 2005, including rape, torture, and extrajudicial killings committed by government and rebel security forces. There were fewer reports of rebel recruitment of child soldiers, and many were released. Violence and threats of violence against the political opposition continued. Despite continued efforts by the international community and the African Union, the political process to establish a power-sharing government remained stalled. By the end of September, little work had been completed to prepare for the scheduled October 30 elections, and disarmament of the New Forces rebel group had not begun. On October 6, the African Union decided to extend President Laurent Gbagbo’s term in office by up to one year.

In Chechnya and elsewhere in Russia’s Northern Caucasus region, federal forces and pro-Moscow Chechen forces engaged in abuses including torture, summary executions, disappearances, and arbitrary detentions. Pro-Moscow Chechen paramilitaries at times appeared to act independently of the Russian command structure, and there was been no indication that the federal authorities made any effective effort to rein them in or hold them accountable for egregious abuses. Antigovernment forces also continued to commit terrorist bombings and serious human rights abuses in the North Caucasus. The year 2005 saw the continued spread of violence and abuses throughout the region, where there was an overall climate of lawlessness and corruption.

The Great Lakes region of central Africa, encompassing the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Rwanda, Burundi, and Uganda, has been plagued by civil war, large-scale interethnic violence, and severe conflict-related human rights abuses for well over a decade. However, there was less violence overall in 2005, and the human rights situation improved markedly, encouraging tens of thousands of displaced persons, particularly Burundians, to return home. Burundi concluded its four-year transitional process, and there were historical electoral advances in the DRC. Governments in the Great Lakes region made significant progress in demobilizing thousands of child soldiers in their military forces and those belonging to various rebel groups. At the same time, various armed groups based in eastern Congo continued to destabilize the region and compete with one another for strategic and natural resources, despite UN-supported Congolese military operations to disband armed groups in the DRC. Thousands of rebels from Rwanda, Uganda, and Burundi, including Rwandan rebels who led the 1994 Rwandan genocide, continued to oppose the government of their respective countries, attack civilians in the DRC, and commit numerous serious abuses, particularly against women and children. The governments of Rwanda and Uganda reportedly continued illegally to channel arms to armed groups operating and committing abuses in the eastern DRC.

In Colombia, human rights violations related to the 41-year internal armed conflict continued. However, the government’s concentrated military offensive against illegal armed groups and ongoing demobilization of paramilitary groups led to reductions in killings and kidnappings. Colombia also began a four-year process to implement a new adversarial accusatory-style criminal procedures code. However, impunity remained a major obstacle, particularly for officials accused of committing past human rights abuses, as well as for certain members of the military who collaborated with paramilitary groups.

Fourth, where civil society and independent media are under siege, fundamental freedoms of expression, association, and assembly are undermined. A robust civil society and independent media help create conditions under which human rights can flourish by raising awareness among publics about their rights, exposing abuses, pressing for reform, and holding governments accountable.

Governments should defend – not abuse – the peaceful exercise of fundamental freedoms by members of the media and civil society even if they do not agree with their views or actions. Restrictions that are imposed by law on the exercise of such freedoms can only be justified to the extent they are consistent with a country’s human rights obligations and are not merely a pretext for restricting such rights.

When states wield the law as a political weapon or an instrument of repression against civil society and the media, they rule by law rather than upholding the rule of law. The rule of law acts as a check on state power, i.e., it is a system designed to protect the human rights of the individual against the power of the state. In contrast, rule by law can be an abuse of power, i.e., the manipulation of the law and the judicial system to maintain the power of the rulers over the ruled.

In 2005, a disturbing number of countries across the globe passed or selectively applied laws against the media and NGOs. For example:

The Cambodian government utilized existing criminal defamation laws to intimidate, arrest, and prosecute critics and opposition members over the course of the year.

China increased restrictions on the media and the Internet, leading to two known arrests.

The Zimbabwean government arrested persons who criticized President Mugabe, harassed and arbitrarily detained journalists, closed an independent newspaper, forcibly dispersed demonstrators, and arrested and detained opposition leaders and their supporters.

In Venezuela new laws governing libel, defamation, and broadcast media content, coupled with legal harassment and physical intimidation, resulted in limitations on media freedoms and a climate of self-censorship. There continued to be reports that government representatives and supporters intimidated and threatened members of the political opposition, several human rights NGOs, and other civil society groups. Some NGOs also charged that the government used the judiciary to place limitations on the political opposition.

In Belarus the Lukashenko government stepped up its suppression of opposition groups and imposed new restrictions on civil society. There were politically motivated arrests, several independent newspapers were closed, the operations of others were hindered, and NGOs were harassed.

In Russia raids on NGO offices, registration problems, intimidation of NGO leaders and staff and visa problems for foreign NGO workers had a negative effect, as did the parliament’s adoption of a new restrictive law on NGOs. The Kremlin also acted to limit critical voices in the media. The government decreased the diversity of the broadcast media, particularly television, the main source of news for the majority of Russians. By the end of 2005, all independent nationwide television stations had been taken over either by the state or by state-friendly organizations.

Fifth, democratic elections by themselves do not ensure that human rights will be respected, but they can put a country on the path to reform and lay the groundwork for institutionalizing human rights protections. Democratic elections are, however, milestones on a long journey of democratization. They are essential to establishing accountable governments and governmental institutions that abide by the rule of law and are responsive to the needs of citizens.

In Iraq 2005 was a year of major progress for democracy, democratic rights and freedom. There was a steady growth of NGOs and other civil society associations that promote human rights. The January 30th legislative elections marked a tremendous step forward in solidifying governmental institutions to protect human rights and freedom in a country whose history is marred by some of the worst human rights abuses in the recent past. In an October 15 referendum and December 15 election, Iraqi voters adopted a permanent constitution and elected members of the country’s new legislature, the Council of Representatives, thus consolidating democratic institutions that can provide a framework for a democratic future. Although the historic elections and new institutions of democratic government provided a structure for real advances, civic life and the social fabric remained under intense strain from the widespread violence principally inflicted by insurgent and terrorist elements. Additionally, elements of sectarian militias and security forces frequently acted independently of government authority. Still, the government set and adhered to a legal and electoral course based on respect for political rights.

Although deprived of basic human rights for years, Afghans in 2005 continued to show their courage and commitment to a future of freedom and respect for human rights. September 18 marked the first parliamentary elections in nearly three decades. Women enthusiastically voted in the elections, which included 582 female candidates for office. Sixty-eight women were elected to the lower House in seats reserved for women under the 2004 Constitution. Seventeen of the 68 women would have been elected in their own right even without the set-aside seats. In the upper House, 17 of the 34 seats appointed by the president were reserved for women; the Provincial Councils elected an additional 5 women for a total of 22 women. The September 18 parliamentary elections occurred against the backdrop of a government still struggling to expand its authority over provincial centers, due to continued insecurity and violent resistance in some quarters.

In Ukraine there were notable improvements in human rights performance following the Orange Revolution, which led to the election of a new government reflecting the will of the people. In 2005 there was increased accountability by police officers, and the mass media made gains in independence. Interference with freedom of assembly largely ceased, and most limitations on freedom of association were lifted. A wide variety of domestic and international human rights groups also generally operated without government harassment.

Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim majority country, made significant progress in strengthening the architecture of its democratic system. Through a series of historic local elections, Indonesians were able directly to elect their leaders at the city, regency, and provincial levels for the first time. There were improvements in the human rights situation, although significant problems remained, and serious violations continued. A critical development was the landmark August 15 peace agreement with the Free Aceh Movement ending decades of armed conflict. The government also inaugurated the Papuan People's Assembly and took other steps toward fulfilling the 2001 Special Autonomy Law on Papua.

Lebanon made significant progress in ending the 29-year Syrian military occupation and regaining sovereignty under a democratically elected parliament. However, continuing Syrian influence remained a problem.

Liberia emerged into the international democratic arena with its dramatic step away from a violent past and toward a free and democratic future. On November 23, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was declared the winner of multiparty presidential elections, making her Africa’s first elected female head of state and marking a milestone in the country's transition from civil war to democracy. The transitional government generally respected the human rights of its citizens and passed legislation to strengthen human rights. However, police abuse, official corruption, and other problems persisted and were exacerbated by the legacy of the 14-year civil war, including severely damaged infrastructure and widespread poverty and unemployment.

Sixth, progress on democratic reform and human rights is neither linear nor guaranteed. Some states still have weak institutions of democratic government and continue to struggle; others have yet to fully commit to the democratic process. Steps forward can be marred with irregularities. There can be serious setbacks. Democratically elected governments do not always govern democratically once in power.

In 2005, many countries that have committed themselves to democratic reform showed mixed progress; some regressed.

The Kyrgyz Republic’s human rights record improved considerably following the change in leadership between March and July, although problems remained. President Akayev fled the country after opposition demonstrators took over the main government building in the capital to protest flawed elections. The July presidential election and November parliamentary election constituted improvements in some areas over previous elections. However, constitutional reform stalled and corruption remained a serious problem.

In Ecuador, congress removed democratically elected President Lucio Gutierrez in April following large scale protests and public withdrawal of support by the military and the national police leadership. Vice President Alfredo Palacio succeeded Gutierrez, and elections were scheduled for 2006.

Although the transitional government of the Democratic Republic of Congo postponed national general elections until 2006, the country held its first democratic national poll in 40 years. Voters overwhelmingly approved a new constitution in a largely free and fair national referendum, despite some irregularities.

In June, the Ugandan parliament approved a controversial amendment to eliminate presidential term limits, clearing the way for President Museveni to seek a third term. However, citizens voted in a national referendum to adopt a multiparty system of government, and the parliament amended the electoral laws to include opposition party participation in elections and in government.

The Egyptian government amended its constitution to provide for the country’s first multiparty presidential election in September. Ten political parties fielded candidates, and the campaign period was marked by vigorous public debate and greater political awareness and engagement. Voter turnout was low, however, and there were credible reports of widespread fraud during balloting. Presidential runner-up Ayman Nour, his parliamentary immunity stripped away in January, was sentenced in December on forgery charges to five years’ imprisonment after a six-month trial that failed to meet basic international standards. The November and December parliamentary elections witnessed significant gains by candidates affiliated with the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood. These elections were marred by excessive use of force by security forces, low turnout, and vote-rigging. The government refused to admit international observers for either the presidential or parliamentary elections. The National Council for Human Rights, established by the Egyptian parliament, issued its first annual report, frankly describing government abuses.

During the Ethiopian parliamentary elections in May, international observers noted numerous irregularities and voter intimidation. Scores of demonstrators protesting the elections were killed by security forces. Authorities detained, beat, and killed opposition members, NGO workers, ethnic minorities, and members of the press.

Azerbaijan’s November parliamentary elections, while an improvement in some areas, failed to meet a number of international standards. There were numerous credible reports of local officials interfering with the campaign process and misusing state resources, limited freedom of assembly, disproportionate use of force by police to disrupt rallies, and fraud and major irregularities in vote counting and tabulation. Thus far, additional actions taken during the postelection grievance process have not fully addressed the shortcomings of the electoral process.

Kazakhstan showed improvements in the pre-election period for the December presidential election, but overall it fell short of international standards for free and fair elections. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights noted serious limitations on political speech that prohibited certain kinds of criticism of the president, unequal access to the media for opposition and independent candidates, and violent disruptions of opposition campaign events. Legislation enacted during 2005, in particular the extremism law, national security amendments, and election law amendments, eroded legal protections for human rights and expanded the powers of the executive branch to regulate and control civil society and the media. But the Constitutional Court deemed unconstitutional a restrictive NGO law.

Uzbekistan’s human rights record, already poor, worsened considerably in 2005. A violent uprising in May in the city of Andijon led to disproportionate use of force by the authorities and a wave of repressive government actions that dominated the remainder of the year. The uprising started after a series of daily peaceful protests in support of businessmen on trial between February and May for Islamic extremism. On the night of May 12-13, unidentified individuals seized weapons from a police garrison, stormed the city prison where the defendants were being held, killed several guards, and released several hundred inmates, including the defendants. They then occupied the regional administration building and took hostages. On May 13, according to eyewitness accounts, government forces fired indiscriminately into a crowd that included unarmed civilians. resulting in hundreds of deaths. In the aftermath, the government harassed, beat, and jailed dozens of human rights activists, journalists, and others who spoke out about the events and sentenced numerous people to prison in trials that did not meet international standards. The government forced numerous domestic and international NGOs to close and severely restricted those that continued to operate.

In Russia, efforts continued to concentrate power in the Kremlin and direct democracy from the top down. To those ends, the Kremlin abolished direct elections of governors in favor of presidential nomination and legislative approval. In the current Russian context, where checks and balances are weak at best, this system limits government accountability to voters while further concentrating power in the executive branch. Amendments to the electoral and political party law amendments, billed as intended to strengthen nationwide political parties in the longer term, could in fact reduce the ability of opposition parties to compete in elections. This trend, taken together with continuing media restrictions, a compliant parliament, corruption and selectivity in enforcement of the law, political pressure on the judiciary, and harassment of some NGOs, resulted in an erosion of the accountability of government leaders to the people.

Pakistan’s human rights record continued to be poor, despite President Musharraf’s stated commitment to democratic transition and "enlightened moderation." Restrictions remained on freedom of movement, expression, association, and religion. Progress on democratization was limited. During elections for local governments in 2005, international and domestic observers found serious flaws, including interference by political parties, which affected the outcome of the vote in parts of the country. Police detained approximately 10 thousand Pakistan People’s Party activists in April prior to the arrival for a rally of Benazir Bhuto’s husband, Asif Ali Zardari. The security forces committed extrajudicial killings, violations of due process, arbitrary arrest, and torture. Corruption was pervasive throughout the government and police forces, and the government made little attempt to combat the problem. Security force officials who committed human rights abuses generally enjoyed de facto legal impunity.

Despite hard realities and high obstacles, there is an increasing worldwide demand for greater personal and political freedom and for the spread of democratic principles. For example, in the Broader Middle East and North Africa (BMENA) region, recent years have witnessed the beginnings of political pluralism, unprecedented elections, new protections for women and minorities, and indigenous calls for peaceful, democratic change.

At the November 2005 Forum for the Future held in Manama, Bahrain, 40 leaders representing civil society organizations from 16 BMENA countries participated alongside their foreign ministers. The civil society leaders outlined a set of priorities with a particular focus on rule of law, transparency, human rights, and women's empowerment. Among those serving on this civil society delegation were representatives from the Democracy Assistance Dialogue (DAD), who presented the outcomes of discussions and debates held over the course of the year between civil society leaders and their government counterparts on the critical topics of election reform and the development of legitimate political parties. The growing DAD network includes hundreds of civil society leaders from the BMENA region. To better support growing reform efforts in the region, a Foundation for the Future to provide support directly to civil society and a Fund for the Future to support investment in the region, were also launched at the Forum.

The level and depth of civil society participation at the Forum for the Future was historic and positive and set an important precedent for genuine dialogue and partnership between civil society and governments on issues of political reform.

The Forum for the Future is just one of the many mechanisms through which the United States, other Group of 8 countries, and regional governments support the indigenous desire for reform in the broader Middle East and North Africa.

The growing worldwide demand for human rights and democracy reflected in these reports is not the result of the impersonal workings of some dialectic or of the orchestrations of foreign governments. Rather, this call derives from the powerful human desire to live in dignity and liberty and from the personal bravery and tenacity of men and women in every age and in every society who serve and sacrifice for the cause of freedom.

Report

Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor

Romania, a country of approximately 22.3 million persons, is a constitutional democracy with a multiparty, bicameral parliamentary system. Traian Basescu was elected president in December 2004 in elections characterized by irregularities, but which were judged generally free and fair. The civilian authorities generally maintained effective control of the security forces.

The government made increasing attempts to address human rights issues during the year; however, human rights abuses continued to occur. The following human rights problems were reported:

• police abuse and harassment of detainees and Roma
• poor conditions in prisons and detention centers
• political influence over the judiciary
• restrictions on freedom of religion
• failure to restitute property to the Greek Catholic Church and other denominations
• incidents of intimidation and harassment of journalists
• widespread corruption
• violence and discrimination against women
• significant lapses in protecting children's rights
• trafficking in persons
• neglect of and inadequate assistance for persons with disabilities
• violence and discrimination against the Roma and homosexuals
• discrimination against persons living with HIV/AIDS
• lack of enforcement of labor laws

RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

Section 1 Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom From:

a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life

There were no politically motivated killings by the government or its agents, although there were allegations that three extrajudicial killings had occurred.

Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) reported suspicious circumstances surrounding the January 11 death in Buzau of 50-year-old Dumitru Ciobu, who had been taken into custody after neighbors complained that he was disturbing public order. Ciobu reported feeling ill and died in police custody en route to the hospital. According to the forensic report, he died of a hemorrhage resulting from pancreatic cancer, but NGOs questioned the rapid progression of the disease and called for an investigation into the matter to determine if the death resulted from possible police abuse. No investigation had been initiated by year's end.

On August 6, railway transportation police shot and killed a 34-year-old man, Gheorghe Cazanciuc, while he was allegedly stealing copper wires. The police reported that Cazanciuc attempted to flee the scene. Human rights NGOs asserted that the use of a firearm by police was excessive and illegal under the law, given the nature of the crime. Police did not open an investigation.

On August 8, four police officers in Constanta beat a drunk man, Viorel Gionea, who went into a coma and died 10 days later. The forensic report attributed Gionea's death to a head injury he sustained from a fall at his workplace the day before the beating. The police discipline commission fired all four police officers and placed two of them under criminal investigation for abusive behavior and inflicting serious physical injuries. The commander of Constanta police was also dismissed.

In October police and prosecutors in Calarasi county transferred to another precinct the police officer who shot and killed 31-year-old Nicusor Serban in Jegalia in May 2004 when he resisted arrest.

In April authorities released from prison on medical grounds one of two former security agents found responsible in 2003 for the 1985 beating death of former dissident Gheorghe Ursu. The other agent remained in prison. The two had been sentenced to 10 years in prison. A new forensic report, requested in an appeal by the two agents, was issued in November. The new report attributed Ursu's death to a lack of medical care, a finding which contradicted a 1993 coroner's report attributing the death to the beatings. Human rights NGOs questioned the accuracy of the November report, which--although legally acceptable in a court--was carried out nearly 20 years after the crime.

In July the Association for the Defence of Human Rights in Romania-the Helsinki Committee (APADOR-CH) reported the death of prisoner Victor Garcea in suspicious circumstances in the prison in Giurgiu. Garcea had acute head and body injuries when he was taken to Bagdasar hospital, and he died five days later. Authorities declared that his injuries were due to an accident, and the case was closed. However, human rights NGOs noted that the circumstances of his death indicated possible foul play, since Garcea had allegedly formally complained before his death that his family had been denied visitation rights.

NGOs reported a case in which 24-year-old Ionut-Cristinel Maftei, who was serving a 5-year prison term for theft in Iasi, entered a coma and died in June 2004 following a serious head injury received in his jail cell in unclear circumstances. Suspecting the involvement of the cell supervisor, in July 2004 Maftei's family filed a complaint against the supervisor with the military prosecutor's office in Iasi. The case was forwarded to the prosecutor's office of the territorial military tribunal, which decided in January that there was insufficient evidence to open a criminal investigation. Maftei's father appealed the decision three times to successively higher military courts, and each of the appeals was rejected.

b. Disappearance

There were no reports of politically motivated disappearances.

c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment

The law prohibits such practices; however, there were numerous credible reports of police torture and mistreatment of detainees and Roma, primarily through excessive force and beatings by police.

In August the media reported that two men from Buzau were beaten by a police officer who was escorting them to the local precinct after the two were engaged in an altercation at a restaurant. The officer was under investigation at year's end.

In October a student from Bucharest, Razvan Vasile Muraru, stated that he had been beaten by three police officers in Tulcea county after allegedly having been taken without grounds to the police station. Muraru filed a complaint with the prosecutor's office, and police initiated an internal investigation which remained open at year's end.

In December two police officers in Tibana in Iasi county allegedly beat four minors with clubs and forced them to admit to committing an alleged theft. Two of the minors had to be hospitalized for their injuries. The officers were dismissed and remained under criminal investigation at year's end.

According to human rights NGOs, on February 2, the general prosecutor's office decided not to prosecute an unspecified number of members of the Bucharest fourteenth police precinct and the rapid intervention police squad for allegedly physically assaulting Cristian Bujor, a 15-year-old bystander who was walking by a fight between the police and a group of taxi drivers in March 2004. Bujor's relatives alleged that police pressured the hospital to release him after less than 48 hours to prevent doctors from issuing a medical certificate. The prosecutor's office cited Bujor's failure to provide medical documentation of his injuries and his family's decision not to take the case to court as factors influencing its decision.

Romani NGOs continued to claim that police used excessive force against Roma and subjected them to brutal treatment and harassment. On April 12, a police officer in Moreni allegedly beat a Romani individual in a bar without cause, resulting in injuries that required six days of hospitalization. The case remained under investigation at year's end.

On two separate occasions in November, police searched Romani neighborhoods during an eviction operation and physically assaulted several Roma (see section 1.f.).

There were no developments in the January 2004 case in which Bucharest police shot and wounded Marius Silviu Mitran.

In August a court in Simleul Silvaniei dismissed a case against local police in which the head of a local police station and three civilians reportedly subjected a Roma couple, Stela and Sofron Varga, to verbal and physical violence in Banisor in January 2004. One of the three civilians accepted responsibility in court for the violence against the Romani couple and in December, the court gave him a five-month suspended sentence.

A police officer accused of physically assaulting a 12-year-old boy in Fetesti in June 2004 was acquitted of criminal charges but ordered by the court to pay the defendant $65 (ROL 2 million) and court expenses of $165 (ROL 5 million). The charges were reduced by the court, which determined that the officer had not been on duty at the time of the beating. The police officer has reportedly not paid the defendant or the court and remained employed as a police officer at year's end.

The lawsuit involving two members of the Service for Protection and Guard, who in August 2004 physically assaulted Serban Pretor, state secretary on the national audiovisual council (CNA), continued without resolution at year's end. The trial date was repeatedly postponed during the year.

In 2004 a county-level council of discipline of the police inspectorate found a plainclothes officer innocent in the 2003 beating of Mihai Dumitru during a raid in Tulcea. The ministry of the administration and interior (MOAI) initially acknowledged the officer's guilt and proposed that the council of discipline punish him according to the police officers' status law. The prosecutor's office referred the case to court for criminal prosecution in 2004, but the victim withdrew his complaint after reaching an out-of-court settlement with the police officer.

Lesbian and gay rights NGOs complained that police singled out members of this community for violence and harassment and noted that few victims pursued charges due to fear of harassment from the local community and police or the belief that authorities would not carry out unbiased investigations (see section 5).

Prison and Detention Center Conditions

Prison conditions remained harsh and did not meet international standards. Overcrowding remained a serious problem, although there was a slight improvement over 2004 in respecting prisoners' rights, such as visitation privileges. At the end of the year, 36,682 persons, including 858 minors, were in prison or juvenile detention facilities in a system with a capacity of 37,393. Overcrowding resulted from a high concentration of inmates in a few facilities; for example, the prison in Bacau operated at 300 percent of its capacity, and the facility at Margineni had 60 cells for 1,500 prisoners, with many cells housing 40 to 50 prisoners each.

Media and human rights organizations reported that the abuse of prisoners by authorities and other prisoners continued to be a problem. There were reports that at the prison in Jilava, prisoners with few or no visitors were often the victims of physical and sexual abuse by other prisoners, due to the inability of the victims to obtain outside support, including through filing complaints.

Sanitation and hygiene in prisons did not meet international standards. Medical facilities were not sufficient to care for all prisoners and detainees. Heating and hot water were not available in several facilities. At the prison at Jilava, prisoners complained of mold on cell walls, rust in the tap water, poor heating, and cold showers. Because the facility was built on swampland, sludge periodically flooded the cells, bringing rats and mice. Many prisoners had lice and scabies, and reported the insufficient provision of many medications.

NGOs stated that the lack of daily activities for prisoners was a major problem. NGOs also reported that prison meals did not provide the minimum necessary calories and that prisoner access to health care was inhibited by the lack of doctors dedicated to prisoners.

The government continued limited efforts, including partnerships with NGOs, to alleviate harsh conditions and to deter the spread of HIV and tuberculosis. With funding from the European Union (EU), the government upgraded five prison hospitals, equipping them to detect infections more rapidly. The government also provided segregated cells for self-declared homosexual prisoners at the maximum security penitentiary in Adjud to better ensure their safety, and offered higher education courses for prisoners to continue their studies.

Because of overcrowding in certain prisons, detainees awaiting trial were sometimes held in the same facilities and treated in the same manner as convicted prisoners.

The government permitted prison visits by human rights observers and media representatives. The national administration of penitentiaries reported that there were 5,688 individual or group visits by media and domestic and foreign NGOs to penitentiaries during the year.

d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention

The law prohibits arbitrary arrest and detention, and the government generally observed these prohibitions.

Role of the Police and Security Apparatus

The MOAI is responsible for the national police and the gendarmerie, as well as the border police, alien authority, national office for refugees, the general directorate of information and internal protection (DGIPI) (which oversees the collection of intelligence on organized crime and corruption), the special protection and intervention group, and the special aviation unit. The national police agency is the inspectorate general of Romanian police, which is divided into a number of specialized directorates and has 42 regional directorates for counties and the city of Bucharest. The internal intelligence service (SRI) also collects intelligence on major organized crime, major economic crimes, and corruption. Both SRI and DGIPI turn over the intelligence they gather on criminal activity to the prosecutor's office for criminal investigation.

While the police generally followed the law and internal procedures, corruption was a continuing problem which remained a main cause of citizens' lack of respect for the police and contributed to a corresponding lack of police authority. Extremely low salaries (which were sometimes not paid on time) contributed to the susceptibility of individual law enforcement officials to bribes. According to human rights NGOs, forensic reports are frequently unreliable, often erring in favor of police and other officials.

Police impunity was a problem. Complaints of police misconduct are handled by the internal disciplinary council of the unit where the reported officer works. During the year 107 cases were investigated for alleged violations of human rights. Officers were found innocent in 65 cases and to have had no involvement in 10 cases. The outcome of one case was withheld from the public. Thirteen officers were disciplined, and three were sanctioned administratively. Fifteen of the 107 cases remained under investigation at year's end, and the disciplinary council was also continuing to investigate 15 additional cases of corruption, a category separate from human rights violations.

Police reform continued during the year. The government, with support from law enforcement agencies from other countries, offered police training workshops on topics such as human rights and the proper treatment of criminal suspects.

On August 25, the government adopted a new police code of ethics that establishes rules for police conduct in special circumstances and when working with the public.

Arrest and Detention

The law provides that only judges may issue arrest and search warrants, and the government generally respected this provision in practice. The law requires authorities to inform detainees at the time of arrest of the charges against them and their legal rights. Police must notify detainees of their rights in a language they understand before obtaining a statement. Detainees must be brought before a court within 24 hours of arrest. The law provides for pretrial release at the discretion of the court. A bail system also exists; however, it was seldom used in practice. Detainees have a right to access to counsel, and generally had prompt access to counsel and their families. Indigent detainees were provided with legal counsel at public expense.

The law allows police to take any person who endangers the public, other persons, or the social order to a police station. There were allegations that police often used this provision to detain persons up to 24 hours. The confidentiality of discussions between detainees and their lawyers was generally respected in practice.

In May Rompetrol chief executive Dinu Patriciu alleged that prosecutors detained him for longer than the 24 hours allowed by law. The general prosecutor's office (GPO) refuted the allegation, claiming that Patriciu had appeared before prosecutors voluntarily for questioning, albeit in response to a request. The GPO asserted that the initial phase of questioning could not therefore be considered a period of detention.

There were no reports of political detainees.

A judge may order pretrial detention for periods of 10 or 30 days, depending upon the status of the case. The court may extend these time periods; however, pretrial detention may not exceed 180 days. Courts and prosecutors may be held liable for unjustifiable, illegal, or abusive measures.

Pretrial detainees represented approximately 7.5 percent of the prison population.

Amnesty

In July President Basescu pardoned on humanitarian grounds a 26-year-old woman sentenced in 1998 to two years in prison for a theft committed as a minor.

e. Denial of Fair Public Trial

The law provides for an independent judiciary; however, judges continued to be subject to political pressure.

In order to comply with requirements for EU accession in June, the parliament passed a new judicial reform law to increase the independence and professionalism of judges and prosecutors. Human rights and democracy NGOs widely supported the legislation. The law, which became effective in July, provides the minister of justice the authority to propose to the president the removal of senior management within the GPO and the national anticorruption prosecutor's office (PNA), with the superior council of magistrates (CSM) retaining only an advisory role. The law also establishes rules to prevent conflicts of interest among judges and prosecutors and to prevent members of the Communist-era security services from entering the judiciary.

There was a widespread perception of corruption within the judiciary, which the government took steps to fight. These efforts included the implementation of random case assignment for judges, and new provisions to limit the ability of supervising prosecutors to reassign criminal investigations or to influence the conclusions of the prosecutor assigned to the case.

There was no parliamentary action in response to a December 2004 complaint by the association of Romanian magistrates asserting that the two positions on the CSM reserved for independent civil society individuals had been filled by the previous government with political partisans. The complaint claimed that the two received the nomination due to their loyalty to the then governing Social Democratic Party (PSD) and in spite of their lack of background, experience, and requisite moral stature.

The law establishes a four-tier legal system, beginning with the lower court (judecatorie), followed by the intermediate court (tribunal), the appellate court, and the high court of cassation and justice. A separate constitutional court validates electoral results and makes decisions regarding the constitutionality of laws, treaties, ordinances, and internal rules of the parliament. A prosecutor's office is associated with each court. The court having original jurisdiction over a case is determined by the nature of the offense and by the position a defendant may hold in public service.

Trial Procedures

Trials are open to the public. The law does not provide for trial by jury. The law provides for a right to counsel and a presumption of innocence until a final judgment by a court. The law requires the government to provide an attorney to juveniles in criminal cases; in practice, local bar associations provided attorneys to the indigent and were compensated by the ministry of justice. Defendants have the right to be present at trial, to consult with an attorney in a timely manner, to confront or question witnesses against them, and to present witnesses and evidence on their behalf. Defendants and their attorneys have access to government-held evidence relevant to their cases. Both plaintiffs and defendants have a right of appeal.

The law provides for the investigation by civilian prosecutors of crimes by the national police. Military prosecutors continued to try cases that involve "state security". Crimes by the gendarmerie continued to fall under military jurisdiction. Local and international human rights groups criticized the handling of cases by military courts, claiming that military prosecutors' investigations were unnecessarily lengthy and often inconclusive.

Political Prisoners

There were no reports of political prisoners.

Property Restitution

In July the government passed legislation to improve the process of property restitution, which has moved slowly since the end of communism. The legislation clarified the procedures for restitution and established new application deadlines and fines for officials who hindered the process; and created a property fund of $4 billion (ROL 120 trillion) for the compensation of owners with properties that cannot be returned in kind. Although the large majority of restitution cases remained unresolved, the pace of restitution increased at year's end as a result of the legislation. Organizations of former owners seeking return of their property also reported that personnel changes in and expansion of the national authority for property restitution (ANRP) increased the pace of processing cases.

Former owners organizations, however, asserted that property restitution remained hindered by inertia at the local level. In many cases, local government officials delayed or refused to provide necessary documents to former owners filing claims. In many cases they also refused to turn over restituted properties in which county or municipal governments had an interest. Former owners stated that the central government, represented at the local level by prefects, did not uniformly apply fines or other sanctions against local governments that failed to provide requested documents or to turn over restituted properties. The ANRP fined 62 mayors between July and year's end for failing to abide by laws on restitution; however, former owners claimed that the actual number of mayors who disobeyed the law was much higher. Former owners also complained of a lack of transparency in the creation of the property fund.

The number of restitution claims submitted increased greatly as a result of the new law. ANRP announced that the government received an additional 600 thousand applications by the close of a November 30 deadline for claims. Of the 210 thousand claims filed before the legislation, ANRP reported that some 60 thousand were resolved by year's end.

There were several high profile properties restituted during the year. In December the government restituted to the Evangelical Church of German Language the buildings of the well?known Bruckenthal Museum in Sibiu county together with its art collections (see section 2.c.).

f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or Correspondence

The law prohibits such actions, and the government generally respected these prohibitions in practice.

The law permits the use of electronic interception both in criminal cases and for national security purposes. In exceptional circumstances (when there is a clear and present danger to national security), government institutions may begin interception without a warrant issued by the judiciary. Following this, however, a request for authorization must be submitted within 48 hours.

On two separate occasions in early November, police and security forces conducted raids in a Romani community on the outskirts of Cluj-Napoca. Under the pretext of a search for stolen goods and criminal suspects, police reportedly confiscated private property, physically assaulted several Roma, evicted residents by force, detained men at the police precinct for six hours, and eventually burned all of the Romani dwellings. In December NGO Romani CRISS filed a complaint against the police officers for abuse and property destruction at the prosecutor's office in Cluj. The case was under investigation at year's end.

In May, 40 Romani families were evicted in Tulcea although the local court of first instance had not yet ruled on an appeal of the eviction. Eviction of Roma also occurred in Bucharest, Zalau, and other towns. In January eviction proceedings in Bucharest's sector one were cancelled following the intervention of government officials. Approximately 250 Roma evicted in Zalau in February and March were moved to areas with poor or no water supply, heating, electric power, or sewage system. To implement a city plan to renovate Bucharest's historic Lipscani district, the authorities evicted Roma living in the area, providing minimal financial aid and compensation. Although the authorities in many cases offered alternative housing to those evicted, Romani NGOs found the offers inadequate for several reasons: proximity to industrial areas; poor living conditions; or the likelihood of de facto segregation from mainstream society.

According to Romani CRISS, the number of evictions increased during the year, although no official statistics were published.

In August the national council for combating discrimination (CNCD) fined the mayor's office in Miercurea Ciuc approximately $1,350 (ROL 40 million) for the May 2004 forced eviction of about 140 Roma and their relocation to a hazardous area near a wastewater treatment facility. The Roma lacked alternative housing and continued to reside in that area.

The government took no further steps to resolve other eviction cases that took place in 2004--such as those in Buzau, Galati, and Tulcea--or the 2003 eviction of several dozen Roma squatting on the outskirts of Bucharest's Militari district.

Section 2 Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:

a. Freedom of Speech and Press

The law provides for freedom of speech and of the press, and the government generally respected these rights in practice; however, certain legal prohibitions against "defamation of the country" and "offense to authority" potentially limited these rights, and journalists continued to be prosecuted and convicted for their articles and public statements. Media watchdog groups reported that the media environment improved significantly during the year. Journalists and private citizens could generally criticize the government authorities, including those at senior levels. Violence and threats against journalists dropped substantially, although investigations of incidents from previous years moved slowly.

There were isolated cases of authorities intimidating, censoring, or attacking journalists, though this occurred less frequently than in previous years.

Laws restricting freedom of speech continued to cause concern among the media and NGOs. The offense of insulting authorities is punishable with a fine. In December the government approved an amendment to the law that would eliminate libel as a criminal offense; at year's end the new law had not been enacted by parliament.

In June Marian Oprisan, president of the opposition party PSD's local council, sued journalist Sebastian Oancea of Ziarul de Vrancea for libel for an article he wrote about how Oprisan spent public funds. A lower court ordered the journalist to pay $330 (ROL 10 million), but a higher court rejected this ruling on appeal.

The government collaborated with media and NGO representatives to make the allocation of government-funded advertising more transparent, resulting in legal changes and the creation of a web site dedicated to public advertising. These negotiations followed an October 2004 ruling by the Bucharest appellate court that the government must provide information regarding advertising contracts to the NGO Center for Independent Journalism (CIJ).

The independent media were more active than in previous years, and expressed a wide variety of views without restriction.

Parliamentarians and their political allies owned numerous media outlets in the provinces, and the news and editorial tone of these outlets frequently reflected the views of the owners.

Unlike in previous years, there were no reports that job contracts at some private television stations prohibited journalists from speaking freely about political pressures in news reporting or commentary.

The media reported several cases of journalists who, while videotaping or covering various official events, were assaulted by those being filmed. Such incidents occurred in public places, and the media reported that gendarmes and police frequently did not intervene.

In February a cameraman with Alpha TV in Cluj was attacked by Bodocan Vasile, the mayor of Bontida, while trying to film an interview. The mayor destroyed film equipment worth $1,200 (ROL 36 million).

In July the mayor of Sighisoara city, Ioan Dorin Danesan, physically and verbally attacked the editor of a local publication during a local city council meeting. Danesan also confiscated the editor's camera and refused to return it. After the event, the editor filed a complaint with the local police but the police failed to follow up on the case.

The NGO Media Monitoring Agency reported that in June several journalists and writers working for Curierul de Botosani in Botosani county were threatened by local members of the extreme nationalist Greater Romania Party (PRM). Valentin Guraliuc, PRM representative in the local council, reportedly threatened a journalist's mother with harm to her son if he continued to write about Guraliuc. Another journalist received similar threats by telephone from a man claiming to be associated with Guraliuc.

During the year there were no developments in cases from previous years of violence against journalists.

In October broadcaster Romedia criticized the national audiovisual council (CNA) for banning a television advertisement that featured President Basescu urging people to help raise money for flood victims by buying a bracelet from a local store. CNA justified the ban on the grounds that the commercial gave free publicity to the store where the bracelet could be purchased. CNA's president stated, however, that the president should not receive free political publicity. Romedia asserted that CNA's decision was an abuse of power that constituted a form of censorship. The CNA did not change its decision, and the advertisement was taken off the air.

Although the media climate and perceived level of freedom of expression substantially improved during the year, courts continued to fine journalists in isolated instances for libel. Some authorities banned journalists' access to public information (see section 3).

In February an appeals court in Targu Mures withdrew the accreditation of a Romania Libera correspondent in response to stories he wrote criticizing the Targu Mures courts. Following protest from several media organizations citing violations of the right to access public information, the court reversed its decision.

In August the mayor of Ploiesti city, Emil Calota, withdrew the accreditation of a journalist at Informatia Prahovei after a city hall press conference during which the journalist voiced dissatisfaction with the major. The mayor claimed that the journalist had disturbed the activities of the office.

There were no government restrictions on the Internet or academic freedom.

b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association

Freedom of Assembly

The law provides for freedom of assembly, and the government generally respected this right in practice. The law provides that unarmed citizens can assemble peacefully, but states that meetings must not interfere with other economic or social activities and may not be held near locations such as hospitals, airports, or military installations. Organizers of public assemblies must request permits in writing, three days in advance, from the mayor's office of the locality where the assembly will take place.

In May the mayor's office in Bucharest initially turned down a request by ACCEPT, an NGO advocate of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights, to hold a "march of diversity," asserting that the city hall could not provide the security necessary for the public assembly. The march was eventually approved after several public figures, including the president and the justice minister, declared that doing otherwise would constitute a human rights violation.

Freedom of Association

The law provides for freedom of association, and the government generally respected this right in practice. The law prohibits fascist, Communist, racist, or xenophobic ideologies, organization, and symbols (such as statues of war criminals on public land). Political parties are required to have at least 25 thousand members to have legal status, a number that some NGOs criticized as being excessively high.

In December seven prominent NGOs, including the Foundation for Open Society and Transparency International, began a campaign against the draft bill on political migration, which would penalize mayors and local officials who change their political party affiliations after being elected. The NGOs asserted that the proposed legislation would violate the constitution and people's fundamental right to choose.

c. Freedom of Religion

The law provides for freedom of religion, and the government generally respected this right in practice; however, there were some restrictions, and several minority religious groups continued to claim credibly that government officials and Romanian Orthodox clergy impeded their proselytizing and interfered with other religious activities.

The government requires religious groups to register; however, there is no clear registration procedure, which made it almost impossible for groups to receive legal status.

The government gives official religious status to 18 religions. Only these recognized religions are eligible to receive state financial support. Recognized religions have the right to establish schools, receive state funds to build churches, pay clergy salaries, subsidize clergy housing, broadcast religious programs on radio and television, apply for broadcasting licenses for denominational frequencies, offer religion classes in public schools, and enjoy tax-exempt status. The government also registered religious groups either as religious and charitable foundations or nonprofit cultural associations.

In January the local council of the village of Pesceana illegally forbade the registration of a Greek Catholic parish and the activity of the Greek Catholic Church in the locality. The police did not react to the Greek Catholics' complaints of verbal and physical abuse by Orthodox villagers and their priest. Eventually, the local police chief was fired. Following a complaint by a group of NGOs, the CNCD decided that the local council's decisions were discriminatory and reprimanded it at the end of August.

The law provides for peaceful religious assembly; however, several minority religious groups again complained that, on various occasions, local authorities and Orthodox priests prevented religious activities from taking place, even when their organizers had been issued permits. The Seventh?day Adventist Church reported difficulties obtaining approval to use public halls for religious activities following pressure by Orthodox priests. In some cases, Orthodox priests incited the local population against activities by the Seventh?day Adventist Church, the Greek Catholic Church, and members of Jehovah's Witnesses. The press continued to report instances of Romanian Orthodox clergy harassing members of other faiths, such as pressuring non-Orthodox school children to attend Orthodox religion classes or not allowing members of religious groups to proselytize near Orthodox churches.

Although most minority religious groups reported that they had received permits to build places of worship without difficulty, some continued to complain that permits were unduly delayed by local authorities.

Several religious groups made credible complaints that, in some instances, local police and administrative authorities tacitly supported sometimes violent societal campaigns against proselytizing. On January 8, several residents in the town of Dofteana physically assaulted a group of visiting Jehovah's Witnesses. When the victims filed a complaint with the local police, the police took no action and told them not to return to the town. On March 23, a similar incident occurred in Doftnea, and the local police explicitly told the Jehovah Witnesses members that they were not there to protect their rights. Between March and May in the town of Pesceana, members of the Greek Catholic Church and their priest were subjected to repeated harassment by local residents, a private security firm, and the local police. In some localities, the activities of religious groups, such as charitable programs in children's homes and shelters, were perceived as being directed at adherents of the Orthodox Church, and conflicts occurred. Members of the Greek Catholic Church, Jehovah's Witnesses, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and the Seventh?day Adventist Church continued to report such cases.

A Roman Catholic Csango community repeatedly complained that they were unable to hold religious services in the community in their mother tongue because of the opposition of the Roman Catholic Bishopric of Iasi. In August the Csango community filed a complaint with the CNCD, which decided on October 27 that the act of denying religious services in the maternal language is a restriction on religious freedom. In December the Bishopric challenged the CNCD decision in court. The case had not been resolved by year's end.

Orthodox priests reportedly denied permission to Greek Catholic and Seventh-day Adventist churches to bury members in either religious or secular cemeteries.

Representatives of denominations other than the Orthodox Church were required to ask the permission of the chief chaplain in the ministry of justice to have access to penitentiaries. Some NGOs reported that prisoners were pressured and intimidated to prevent them from changing their religions. In August, in response to a complaint by the NGO APADOR-CH, the CNCD concluded that both the legal provisions on military clergy and the agreement between the ministry of justice and the Orthodox Church regarding religious assistance in penitentiaries are discriminatory. The CNCD recommended that the ministry of justice eliminate the discriminatory provisions from the law as well as the protocol. These provisions had not been eliminated by year's end. In addition, both public and private organizations often permitted only Orthodox priests to provide religious guidance in the hospitals, children's homes, and shelters for the elderly operated by the groups.

In April the CNCD reprimanded school authorities and the mayor of Mizil for harassing and discriminating against a Jehovah's Witnesses teacher who was also told by the school director he would be dismissed. The mayor alleged that the teacher was proselytizing in school, and two school inspectors asked him to choose between his faith and his job. In April the CNCD also fined the Mizil city hall $200 (ROL 6 million) for publishing discriminatory articles against Jehovah's Witnesses in the city hall's monthly publication. The city hall and the two inspectors challenged the CNCD decisions, and on November 16, the Mizil court of first instance ruled in their favor based on a procedural flaw and eliminated the fine.

Only officially recognized religions have the right to teach religion in public schools. Attendance in such classes is optional; however, the Baptist Church reported cases of children who were pressured to attend Orthodox religion classes.

The restitution law passed in July permits religious minorities to receive back from the government previously confiscated properties which house school, hospitals, or cultural institutions.

Property restitution was particularly important for the Greek Catholic Church, all of whose properties, including churches, were confiscated during the Communist regime. Most of the Greek Catholic Churches were given to the Romanian Orthodox Church after their forced merger in 1948. The Romanian Orthodox Church resisted their return after the fall of communism. The most recent restitution legislation passed in July failed to address the issue of the Greek Catholic churches. During the year the government made slow progress in restoring these properties. Since 2003 the government restituted to the church only 78 out of 2,207 claims under the law to restore confiscated church property. Twenty-three of the 78 were restored during the year.

In June the parliament passed into law an August 2004 decree permitting the Greek Catholic Church to resort to court action whenever the bilateral dialogue regarding the restitution of churches with the Orthodox Church fails.

On November 20, the Orthodox Church returned a cathedral in Oradea to the Greek Catholic Church after direct pressure exerted by a top official in the government. In general, however, the Greek Catholic Church made very limited progress in recovering properties taken by the Romanian Orthodox Church. To date, the Orthodox Church had returned only a few of the approximately 2,600 Greek Catholic churches and monasteries. A Greek Catholic-Orthodox commission, which had long been ineffective in resolving the problem of the restitution of Greek Catholic churches, almost ceased operation during the year.

The historical Hungarian churches, including the Hungarian Roman Catholic and the Hungarian Protestant Reformed, Evangelical, and Unitarian churches, have received several significant properties. The Hungarian churches have received 508 properties since 2003, 170 of which were resolved during the year. Over 1,450 cases were still pending at year's end.

In Oradea, the Reformed Church, municipal office, and the Orthodox Church remained embroiled in a conflict over possession of land used for a playground adjoining the Reformed Church high school. The municipality granted the land to a neighboring Orthodox Church without consideration for the functioning of the school, a move that ethnic Hungarians claimed was deliberately discriminatory against the church. Ethnic Hungarians also claimed the local Orthodox parish intensified the conflict by locking up the playground during the summer and restricting all access.

The new legislation regarding the restitution of both religious and ethnic communal property provided for a broader scope of claimable properties and compensation for demolished buildings. This legislation was beneficial to the Jewish community, which has 1,744 claims outstanding, including many with demolished buildings. By separate government decrees through 2003, the Jewish community received 42 buildings, but is in full or partial possession of only 32 of those. Since 2003 the community received an additional 67 buildings under the law restituting church property, of which 19 were restituted during the year.

Societal Abuses and Discrimination

According to the most recent census in 2002, the Jewish population numbered 5,785 persons. Acts of anti-Semitism, including vandalism against Jewish sites, continued.

In February four Torah scrolls were stolen from a synagogue in Iasi. The police found them in an antique store and returned them to the Jewish community. In April unidentified persons vandalized the headquarters of the Jewish community in Focsani. In May nine graves were desecrated in a Jewish cemetery in Ploiesti. On May 17, Torah scrolls were vandalized in a synagogue in Radauti. In July unidentified persons stole the iron fences of 50 graves and the metallic doors of 2 burial vaults in Barlad. In August a swastika was found on the walls of an old synagogue in Cluj. In November the doors of two synagogues in Dorohoi were damaged by putative vandals. The Federation of Jewish Communities notified the authorities in all these cases, but the perpetrators were not identified. An NGO, the Center for Monitoring Anti-Semitism, stated that authorities tended to downplay such incidents, often attributing the acts of vandalism without proof to children, drunkards, or persons with mental disorders.

In October police began an investigation into the dissemination of fascist and xenophobic symbols by one adult and three juveniles. The juveniles had allegedly drawn Nazi symbols on the walls of a synagogue in Targu Mures at the end of September. The police halted the investigation after the suicide of the adult, who had been the primary suspect.

In November swastikas and anti-Semitic slogans were found on the walls of a vocational school and a neighboring bloc of apartments in Suceava. The police identified the perpetrators and their prosecution began the same month.

The extremist press continued to publish anti-Semitic articles. The Legionnaires (Iron Guard), an extreme nationalist, anti-Semitic, pro-Nazi group, continued to republish inflammatory books from the interwar period. In February an Iron Guard monthly Obiectiv Legionar (Legionnaire Focus), which began publication in 2003 and is distributed by the state-owned press distribution company, was disseminated by group members in the upper chamber of the parliament.

During the year anti-Semitic views and attitudes were expressed during the talk shows of private television stations such as DDTV and Pro-TV.

Extremists made repeated attempts to deny that the Holocaust occurred in the country or in Romanian-administered territory with direct participation by the country's World War II regime. Religious services for dead legionnaire leaders continued to be held in individual Orthodox churches. The annual march commemorating the founder of the legionnaire movement, Corneliu Zelea Codreanu, took place in Tancabesti in November.

In March Corvin Lupu, a university professor in Sibiu, published an article denying the Holocaust. In August the Federation of Jewish Communities, MCA Romania, and the Association of Romania's Jewish Victims of the Holocaust filed a complaint with the prosecutor's office in Sibiu against Lupu for denying the Holocaust in the country, citing his violation of a 2002 decree forbidding such actions. In October the prosecutor's office decided against prosecuting Lupu on the grounds that his action could not be interpreted as a crime as defined by the government decree. An appeal filed by the organizations was also rejected in November.

In November a university professor and Holocaust denier published an anti-Semitic article in a magazine belonging to the extreme nationalist Greater Romania Party, Romania Mare (Greater Romania). The article claimed that the country was the target of a Jewish invasion. In reaction the Federation of Jewish Communities issued a statement urging the relevant government institutions to take concrete measures to eradicate anti-Semitism and xenophobia, stating that current governmental actions were insufficient.

In September unidentified individuals removed the covering hiding a bust of Romanian World War II dictator Ion Antonescu located in an Orthodox church courtyard in Bucharest. Antonescu was responsible for widespread atrocities against Romanian Jews during World War II. The covering was eventually put back in place following complaints from the local Jewish community.

The government made some progress in its effort to expand education on the true history of the Holocaust in the country. In October the government launched the first standardized textbook on the Holocaust and the history of Jews in the country, which was used in an elective course offered throughout the country during the school year. The government failed to implement any plans, however, to make the course mandatory for all public high schools. The elective course was offered for the first time at two hundred high schools in the 2004?05 school year, but without any standardized textbooks.

On various occasions during the year, the president and other high-level officials made public statements against extremism, anti-Semitism, and xenophobia, and criticized the denial of the Holocaust. The president also pointed out during a speech the need for an accurate rendering of the Romanian Holocaust in school curricula.

In August the government established a national institute for the study of the Holocaust in Romania, which opened on October 10. On October 9 and 10, the country commemorated its second Holocaust remembrance day with events in several cities that were attended by key dignitaries including the president, prime minister, and foreign minister.

In October the president vetoed and sent back to parliament a 2002 emergency provision that strictly bans fascist, racist, and xenophobic organizations, and punishes the denial of the Holocaust. Because the provision passed parliament as an emergency decree in 2002, the president must sign the decree for it to become a permanent part of the code. The president said he objected to language in the bill that did not include Roma among the acknowledged victims of the Holocaust, since approximately 14 thousand Roma were killed in the country during that period. He asked parliament to amend the bill to include language explicitly including the Roma.

For a more detailed discussion, see the 2005 International Religious Freedom Report.

d. Freedom of Movement within the Country, Foreign

Travel, Emigration, and Repatriation

The law provides for these rights, and the government generally respected them in practice.

The law prohibits forced exile, and the government did not employ it.

In July the government temporarily implemented a policy of passport confiscation for citizens discovered upon reentering the country to have exceeded their permitted length of stay in an EU Schengen country. Human rights NGOs and the media protested that the rule effectively curbed a citizen's right to travel freely outside the country. The government rescinded the decision four days later. However, in the interim it had revoked the passports of 65 thousand citizens; the passports had not been reissued by year's end.

Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)

Beginning in late April, thousands of homes were destroyed, and approximately 12,500 persons were displaced by 6 periods of heavy rain that caused severe localized flooding in 34 of 42 counties, covering approximately 80 percent of the country. Most displaced families found temporary shelter with relatives and friends. For others, local authorities offered housing in public buildings such as schools or community centers. The government allocated resources for reconstruction in most affected areas. At year's end, an estimated 1,300 displaced persons continued to live in container-houses.

Protection of Refugees

The law provides for the granting of asylum or refugee status in accordance with the 1951 UN Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 protocol, and the government has established a system for providing protection to refugees. In practice, the government provided protection against refoulement, the return of persons to a country where they feared persecution; however, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) considered the time limits provided by the law for submitting appeal applications and court procedures too short.

The government did not provide temporary protection to individuals who did not qualify as refugees under the 1951 convention and the 1967 protocol.

Conditional humanitarian protection was granted in court to six persons during the year. Two of the three Sudanese Christian refugees who had entered the country in 2001 but were denied refugee status several times were granted refugee status in January and June. The third Sudanese refugee was presumed to have left the country.

In July the government agreed to allow on a temporary basis 439 Uzbek refugees from Kyrgyzstan to enter the country without a visa for humanitarian reasons. The government signed an agreement with the UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to permit the refugees to stay at a suitable facility in Timisoara for up to six months (with the possibility of an extension, if necessary).

The government cooperated with the UNHCR and other humanitarian organizations in assisting refugees and asylum seekers. The UNHCR stated that government-sponsored programs for integrating refugees continued to improve following the 2004 refugee integration law. A new agency within the national refugee office, which is subordinated to the ministry of interior, was established to help refugees integrate and seek employment in their communities. The MOAI and the ministry of labor, social solidarity, and family also funded programs to assist asylees and refugees.

Section 3 Respect for Political Rights: the Right of Citizens to Change Their Government

The law provides citizens with the right to change their government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of universal suffrage.

Elections and Political Participation

The country held national elections for parliament in November 2004, and for the presidency in December 2004. The parliamentary and first round of presidential elections were characterized by widespread irregularities, precipitated primarily by the previous government's decision to abandon the use of previously issued electoral identification cards and to allow citizens outside their home districts to vote at any polling location in the country. There were widespread reports of individuals voting in multiple locations, which political parties occasionally facilitated. Observers also reported the abuse of the so?called mobile ballot boxes that were transported to elderly or infirm voters; the prolonged presence of elected officials in polling places in contravention of the law; and the illegal placement of campaign posters near polling centers. Civil society organizations and opposition parties also claimed that the central electoral bureau allowed fraud to take place at a national level during the electronic tabulation of votes, although subsequent inquiries into these allegations were inconclusive.

In the second round of presidential elections in December 2004, the government limited the locations where voters outside of their home districts could vote, thereby reducing the possibility for multiple voting. However, both the lack of sufficient alternate locations and the closure of existing locations while many would-be voters were still waiting in line resulted in the disenfranchisement of hundreds and perhaps thousands of citizens, particularly in major cities. Members of the center-right Liberal-Democratic (PNL-PD) Alliance accused the then governing PSD of intentionally restricting the vote in this manner. In some precincts local officials or partisan election monitors instructed citizens on how to vote, and campaign posters were placed too close to polls.

Political parties must register with the Bucharest tribunal. The law requires a political party to submit to the Bucharest tribunal its statutes and program, and a roster of at least 25 thousand signatures. These 25 thousand "founding members" must be from at least 18 counties, including Bucharest, with a minimum of 700 people from each of these counties. The party statutes and program may not include ideas that incite war; discrimination; hatred of a national, racist, or religious nature; or territorial separatism. Organizations of ethnic minorities can also field candidates in elections if they meet requirements similar to those for political parties. Organizations must submit to the central electoral bureau a list of members numbering at least 15 percent of the total number of persons belonging to that ethnic group, according to the most recent census. If 15 percent represents more than 25 thousand persons, then at least 25 thousand names from at least 15 counties, but not fewer than 300 persons from each county, must be submitted. Human rights NGOs criticized these requirements as discriminatory and overly demanding, and argued that the stringent requirements eliminated any competition against the mainstream organizations representing Hungarians and Roma, namely the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR) and the Romani Party (Partida Romilor). The tribunal barred an ethnic Hungarian group from participating in the 2004 elections when irregularities were found in many of the 25 thousand signatures it submitted in order to field candidates.

While the law does not restrict women's participation in government or politics, societal attitudes presented a significant barrier. In parliament 37 of 332 deputies and 13 of 137 senators were women. There were 3 female ministers in the 24-member cabinet. Three of the prefects (governors) of the 42 counties were women.

The law grants each recognized ethnic minority one representative in the chamber of deputies if the minority's political organization cannot obtain the 5 percent of the votes needed to elect a deputy outright. Organizations representing 18 minority groups received deputies under this provision. There were 50 members of minorities in the 469?seat parliament. There were four members of minorities in the 24?member cabinet; all were ethnic Hungarians. There were no minorities on the high court.

Ethnic minority groups reported encountering difficulties in meeting the criteria to be allowed to field candidates, although there were no specific laws or policies prohibiting such groups from registering. In March 2004 parliament passed a law on local elections that potentially discriminated against some minority organizations by defining "national minorities" as only the ethnic groups represented in the council of national minorities and by requiring that these organizations meet requirements to participate in local government that are more stringent than those of minority groups already represented in parliament. The law adopted in September 2004 for national elections included a similar provision.

The Romani population was underrepresented since only one ethnic Romani organization, the Romani Party, was represented in parliament, and its number of members was small. Internal politics within the ethnic Romani community was fragmented because of the large number of Romani organizations whose individual efforts prevented the consolidation of votes for any single candidate, organization, or party. There were several hundred Romani organizations. Low Romani voter turnout due to lack of awareness, means, or identity cards further exacerbated the situation.

Ethnic Hungarians, represented by the UDMR party, attained parliamentary representation through the normal electoral process, having obtained over 5 percent of the total votes. Other ethnic Hungarian associations have alleged that their attempts to register as opposing ethnic Hungarian parties were unfairly blocked by the more influential existing party.

Government Corruption and Transparency

Reports of corruption and the government response to corruption remained a focus of public discussion, political debate, and media scrutiny. The government took steps to address the problem of corruption. In March the government adopted and began implementing a new strategy to combat corruption, which included steps to increase transparency in public procurement, ensure oversight of government spending, and enforce new laws and procedures to combat money laundering and tax evasion. However, NGOs and the media continued to point out that no major case of high-level corruption had been prosecuted to date.

The institution responsible for investigating and prosecuting high-level corruption cases was the PNA, whose name was changed by legislation passed in August to the national anticorruption prosecutor's department (DNA). The same legislation also placed the DNA under the nominal authority of the prosecutor general's office, although it remained operationally independent. This change was made to ensure the office would have clear constitutional authority to prosecute cases against members of parliament. The legislation also amended the DNA's jurisdictional limits to cases involving bribes of more than 10 thousand euros or damages over 200 thousand euros, or to certain designated officials whose rank is too high to be prosecuted by the GPO. Ministry of justice officials noted that this amendment would improve the DNA's performance by focusing its efforts on the most serious cases of corruption, while leaving minor cases under the purview of the general prosecutor's office.

In July PNA general prosecutor Ioan Amarie resigned under pressure from the minister of justice, and 10 other senior anticorruption prosecutors either resigned or were removed. The minister of justice accused the departing officials of inefficiency in carrying out their mandates and appointed Daniel Morar as Amarie's replacement in August. The minister also appointed other new senior level prosecutors to the office.

Although the PNA/DNA produced no indictments against former or current officials at the most senior levels of government, the office did successfully prosecute cases against mayors, judges, police, customs officers, and other officials at the local level and in the middle ranks of the bureaucracy. During the year the PNA/DNA initiated 1,104 investigations, which resulted in 110 indictments against 742 individuals. The office obtained 169 convictions, including 75 that cannot be further appealed.

The PNA/DNA was authorized to prosecute corruption without regard to the political affiliation of the accused. Opposition politicians, however, alleged that investigations of high officials tended to focus on members of former administrations, contributing to questions about the office's impartiality.

On November 25, the department for the fight against fraud (DLAF) officially opened an investigation into the fraudulent use of EU funds. During the first month of the investigation, DLAF sent 17 cases to the DNA that involved the misuse of EU funds by members of the government.

Part of the government's new strategy to combat corruption included strengthening asset disclosure requirements for public officials. New legislation created templates for public officials to use to disclose their assets. However, only 4 percent of public officials submitted asset declarations. At year's end, the ministry of justice was continuing to work on legislation to create a monitoring authority to ensure officials submit accurate asset declarations.

The law provides for access to government information related to official decision-making; however, human rights NGOs and the media reported that the law was poorly and unevenly applied. Procedures for releasing information were arduous and varied greatly by public institution. On numerous occasions NGOs and journalists took cases to court to obtain information.

There were also reports that local authorities occasionally made it difficult for journalists to access public information. In at least one instance, a polling institution was reportedly coerced by government officials to limit the public release of information that reflected negatively on certain political groups or goals.

Section 4 Governmental Attitude Regarding International and Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human Rights

A number of domestic and international human rights groups generally operated without government restriction, investigating and publishing their findings on human rights cases. Government officials were generally cooperative and responsive to their views; however, there were a few reports of government officials harassing and intimidating members of the NGO community.

At times police intimidated and harassed NGO workers. For example, in June and July a Romani representative of the NGO Roma Center for Social Intervention and Studies (Romani CRISS) allegedly was repeatedly harassed by police and city hall officials as he monitored an ongoing eviction case against Roma in Zalau (see section 1.f.). The representative received repeated threatening phone calls, was visited by police at his home, and was informed falsely of criminal charges against him. Romani CRISS asserted that the harassment was clearly intended to intimidate the representative and prevent him from further monitoring the case.

Following its publication of a report on the expenditures of members of parliament, the institute for public policies (IPP) stated in August that it received threatening letters from the secretary general of the chamber of deputies, as well as from members of parliament, who threatened to take legal action against the IPP.

An ombudsman's office existed to protect citizens' constitutional rights but it has limited power and independence from the government. Numerous media reports characterized the office as ineffective. During the year the office received 5,465 complaints, some of which it refused because they required judicial action, an authority the ombudsman's office does not possess.

Both chambers of parliament have a human rights committee that focuses on legislation regarding human rights, religious issues, and minorities. However, since these committees were comprised of party representatives, the recommendations of the committees often simply reflected the parties' views on these issues.

Section 5 Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons

The law forbids discrimination based on race, gender, disability, ethnicity, language, or social status, among other categories; however, in practice, the government did not enforce these provisions effectively in some circumstances, and women, Roma, and other minorities were often subject to discrimination and violence.

Women

Violence against women, including spousal abuse, continued to be a serious problem, and the government did not effectively address it.

The law prohibits domestic violence and allows police intervention in such cases, but no specific law addresses spousal abuse. NGOs reported that domestic violence was common. According to a 2002 UN survey, 45 percent of women have been verbally abused, 30 percent physically abused, and 7 percent sexually abused. The law does not provide sentencing guidelines for domestic violence convictions. According to police statistics, domestic violence during the year resulted in over 30 deaths. Although there was no evidence that the police or the judicial system was reluctant to act on domestic abuse cases, very few cases were prosecuted in the courts. Many cases were resolved before or during trial when victims dropped their charges or reconciled with the aggressors. In cases with strong evidence of physical abuse, the court can ban the abusive spouse from returning home. The law also permits police to fine the abusive spouse for disturbing public order. During the year there were over 380 convictions for domestic violence.

During the year the National Domestic Violence Coalition, composed of more than 30 NGOs, organized a number of campaigns to raise awareness of domestic violence. The government funded 26 public institutions that provided counseling and support to domestic abuse victims. In addition, 52 NGOs from all regions worked on domestic violence. There were several shelters dedicated strictly to domestic abuse victims, but many of them were forced to close due to insufficient funding. The government distributed funds to NGOs operating shelters for domestic violence victims in Cluj, Timisoara, and Baia Mare.

Rape, but not spousal rape, is illegal. The prosecution of rape cases was difficult because it required both a medical certificate and a witness, and a rapist could avoid punishment by marrying the victim. The successful prosecution of spousal rape cases was essentially impossible. The law provides for 3 to 10 years' imprisonment for rape; the sentence can increase to 5 to 18 years if there are aggravated circumstances. There were 327 rape convictions during the year. NGOs provided counseling and shelters for rape victims.

Prostitution is illegal, but was common. Police implicitly tolerated most reported or investigated cases by limiting their intervention to fining prostitutes for loitering or disturbing the peace. NGOs and the media reported that sex tourism existed in Bucharest and other major cities.

There were reports of trafficking in women (see section 5, Trafficking).

The law prohibits any act of gender discrimination, including sexual harassment. Although there were no reported cases of sexual harassment during the year, human rights NGOs attributed this to low public awareness of the problem. The government enforced existing prohibitions, but there were no effective programs in place to educate the public about sexual harassment.

The law grants women and men equal rights, including under family law, property law, and in the judicial system; however, in practice, the government did not enforce these provisions, nor did authorities focus attention or resources on women's issues. Women had a higher rate of unemployment than men and occupied few influential positions in the private sector. An EU report published in August indicated that a man's average salary was 18 percent higher than that of a woman.

The national agency for family protection, within the ministry of labor, social solidarity, and family, is responsible for advancing women's concerns and family policies, including organizing programs for women, proposing new laws, monitoring legislation for sexual bias, targeting resources to train women for skilled professions, and addressing the problems of single mothers. During the year the agency completed its strategy and action plan and developed a training curriculum for social workers. In collaboration with a private pharmacy chain, the agency conducted an awareness campaign on domestic violence in November.

Children

The government was committed to children's rights and welfare, but competing priorities, bureaucratic inefficiency, and poorly allocated resources prevented this commitment from being fulfilled in practice.

Public education was free and compulsory through the tenth grade or age 14. After the tenth grade, schools charged fees for books, which discouraged attendance for lower-income children, particularly Roma. The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) reported that approximately 90 percent of primary school-age children attended school.

The highest level of education achieved by most children was secondary school, although Romani students had lower rates of attendance at all levels of education.

Romani children were segregated from other students in some schools, including those in Cehei (Salaj county), Targu Frumos (Iasi county), Geoagiu (Hunedoara county), Ardusat (Maramures county, and Targu Jiu (Gorj county). In April 2004 following complaints by several NGOs that monitored such situations, the ministry of education nominally prohibited segregation in schools in a notification that was not legally binding; Romani NGOs unsuccessfully tried to press for an order to this effect. Only some of these cases were solved, such as the one in Cehei, in which the CNCD fined the school authorities who subsequently renounced the segregation decision. In September in Macin (Tulcea county), the prefect intervened after a local advocate for the Roma submitted a complaint and threatened to fine all teachers who tried to segregate Romani children at the beginning of the school year.

A general health insurance plan covers all children until age 18 or graduation from college. All schools have medical units which supply first aid and carry out vaccination campaigns and dental care. Boys and girls had equal access to medical care in schools. All medical costs for children are waived, and most drugs are provided at little or no cost. Of the 11,035 persons living with HIV/AIDS, approximately 75 percent are children between the ages of 15 to 19 years of age who were infected in the late 1980s and early 1990s through unsafe blood transfusions and other medical procedures.

Child abuse and neglect were serious problems, and public awareness of the issue remained poor. Laws to protect children from abuse and neglect existed, but the government did not effectively enforce them. In July 2004 the National Authority for Child Protection and Adoption issued standards for services for abused and neglected children. Still, there was no functioning mechanism for identifying and treating abused and neglected children and their families. While there are criminal penalties, there was no consistent policy or procedure for reporting child abuse and neglect and no system for rehabilitating families who abuse their children. In 2004 police reported that 1,331 cases of abused and neglected children were registered, including 832 cases of rape, 284 cases of sexual intercourse with a minor, 114 cases of sexual perversion, and 101 cases of sexual corruption. At year's end there were 39 hot lines to receive and assess reports of child abuse and neglect and 22 specialized counseling services for child victims and their families. In the first four months of the year, the hot lines received 1,766 calls reporting child abuse and neglect. The legal prohibition on foreign adoption and a constant rate of child abandonment in hospitals strained government resources. During the year UNICEF reported that the number of children abandoned annually in hospitals was approximately five thousand.

The abandonment of children in maternity hospitals remained a problem. The national authority for the protection of children's rights in coordination with the ministry of health made some progress in discouraging child abandonment through prenatal counseling and training of hospital personnel. However, children's rights NGOs and local child welfare officials reported that these efforts were insufficient to resolve the continued high number of abandonment cases, resulting in many children being kept in hospitals despite not needing medical treatment because family reintegration or foster placement was not available.

On January 1, the country implemented new child protection legislation that included extensive measures intended to address corruption in the child welfare system and to encourage the reunification of abandoned and orphaned children with their biological families. However, NGOs and child protection authorities reported that judges, police, and social workers severely lacked the training and resources necessary to implement the legislation. As a result, thousands of children remained institutionalized or in foster care rather than reunited with biological families or legally approved for adoption when family reunification was not possible. There were credible reports of attempts to force family reunification for abandoned or orphaned children in cases in which biological family members explicitly stated they did not want the children or in which there was a high risk of child abuse in the new situation.

The public child welfare system tracked approximately 106 thousand children. More than half of these children lived with extended families or in foster care, and approximately 32 thousand lived in public and private institutions. Living conditions have improved in most childcare institutions in recent years, including in institutions for children with severe disabilities, which were the last group to be included in the reform process. Nonetheless, NGOs and local child welfare officials reported that, despite the improvements in conditions in institutions, the new child welfare law relegated many children to prolonged institutionalization or foster care rather than placement in permanent families. There was no systematic provision of labor market information, skills training, or job placement services for children in residential care, and there was a high probability that they would gravitate to the streets, vulnerable to sexual exploitation and crime.

The legal age of marriage is 18 years of age, but girls as young as 15 may marry in certain circumstances. Illegal child marriage was common within certain social groups, particularly the Roma. There were no government programs to address child marriages.

Trafficking in girls for the purpose of sexual exploitation was a problem (see section 5, Trafficking). There also were isolated cases of children involved in prostitution for survival without third party involvement.

A law that became effective in January requires the national agency for employment to provide up to 75 percent of the median national salary to employers for hiring persons between 16 and 25 years who are at risk of social exclusion, a category which includes youth reintegrating into society after time spent in state-care facilities or prison; young single or married parents; and other categories of youth at risk. The new law provides that youth leaving the state institutional system may receive state assistance for an additional two years, during which they receive skills training for independent living. However, fewer than one thousand youth directly benefited from this program during the year.

The abandonment of disabled children decreased steadily in recent years, as specialized rehabilitation services for children with disabilities became slightly more available. There were approximately 70 thousand children with disabilities, of which 15 thousand were in state care.

Child labor was a problem (see sections 5, Trafficking, and 6.d.).

While the government did not have official statistics on the scope of homeless children living on the streets, police, social workers, and NGOs estimated that between three thousand and five thousand children lived on the streets, depending on the season. According to a UNICEF report, issued in November in conjunction with the ministry of health and the former national authority for child pr