SLOVENIA: The Council of Europe human rights watchdog lambasted Slovenia yesterday for allowing a mob to drive dozens of Roma from their homes.
The Strojan family, which comprises some 30 adults and about 10 children, were forced to flee the village of Ambrus where they have lived for decades, after being blamed for the beating of a non-Roma man and for a spate of local crimes.
A group of more than 200 descended on their houses last month and threatened to evict them forcibly, before police intervened to escort them to an abandoned army barracks where they are now staying.
"It is unacceptable that a group of people have to leave their homes because the majority population of the area so requires," said Thomas Hammarberg, the human rights commissioner of the Council of Europe.
"I've seen signs of hate speech which I did not expect to find in a well-developed country like this," he said at the end of a three-day visit to Slovenia, which is the most prosperous of the eight former communist states that joined the European Union in 2004.
Mr Hammarberg also urged church and community leaders to take a stand on the issue and defend the rights of the approximately 8,000 Roma who live among Slovenia's two million people.
"They have a particular obligation to stand up for human rights and tell people that minorities also have rights and that mob activities against minorities cannot be tolerated. I think that is quite urgent." He also challenged Slovenia's government over its criticism of the country's own human rights ombudsman for reporting the incident to the Council of Europe and saying it marked "the end of the rule of law in Slovenia".
"Governments have to accept that ombudsmen are independent and that it is their role to criticise authorities when relevant," Mr Hammarberg said.
Centre-right prime minister Janez Jansa irked human rights groups by insisting the Strojan family members could not return to their homes because they were built without proper permission and police were unable to guarantee their security.
Members of the Strojan family have said they want to return to Ambrus, but locals have organised protests and erected barricades to prevent them doing so.
Slovenia has witnessed few high-profile cases of violent anti-Roma feeling, despite its prevalence across central Europe and the Balkans, a region that is home to some 6-8 million Gypsies.