BULGARIA: THE EUROPEAN COURT FINDS BULGARIA HAS VIOLATED RELIGIOUS RIGHTS

The European Court of Human Rights declares case in which Bulgaria
was charged with violation of the religious rights admissible

Sofia, March 12 2001 - One week ago the European Court of Human Rights declared the case of Daruish Al-Nashif and Others v. Bulgaria admissible.

On September 15, 2000 Mr Al-Nashif brought a suit before the European Court against Bulgaria on the occasion of his expelling from Bulgaria two months previously on account of having engaged in "illegal religious activity", that represents "a threat for the national security".

In the decision, taken on January 25, 2001 the Court unanimously held that the complaint of Mr Al-Nashif under Art. 5, para. 4 of the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR) was admissible. The applicant has complained against his detention incommunicado and against the inability to appeal his detention in court.

The Court also declared by majority that the complaints of the applicants that the deportation of Mr Al-Nashif has violated their right to respect for their family life (Art. 8 of the Convention) and that they have not had an effective remedy in this respect (Article 13).

It is very important to highlight the Court's decision to declare admissible the complaint of Mr Daruish Al-Nashif on the basis that "the measures again him were in breach of his right to freedom of religion (Article 9) and that he did not nave an effective remedy in this respect (Article 13)".

On July 4, 1999 Mr Daruish Al-Nashif was expelled from Bulgaria on the ground that he was "a threat for the national security of the Republic of Bulgaria". He has charged with "an illegal religious activity". The basis of the expelling was Section 42 of the Aliens Act. Beside this he was informed that pursuant to Section 47 , para. 1 of the Aliens Act the order for expelling was not subject to appeal. Unfortunately, by its Decision that was published on March 2, 2001 the Constitutional Court of Republic of Bulgaria confirmed that the Section 47, para. 1 of the Aliens Act remains in force. In 2000 there were a lot of cases of expelling of foreigners on the ground that they were claimed to represent "a threat for the national security" and all of them could not appeal in court.

Mr Al-Nashif was born in 1967 in Kuwait. He is stateless person of Palestinian origin. He came to Bulgaria together with his wife Ms Hetam Haleh in 1992. They obtained a permanent residence permit in 1995. The couple has two small children, born in 1993 and 1994. The children are Bulgarian nationals by birth. In August of 1997 Mr Al-Nashif took part in Islamic seminar that was carried out in village of Narecenski Bani. The seminar was attacked by the police and later was proclaimed as "illegal". No proofs were given in support of the accusation of this "illegality". Later Mr Al-Nashif tried to establish an Islamic religious and educational center in Smolian - a town with considerably big Muslim minority. During the period 1998-1999 he managed Sunday school for education of Islam by the children. On the basis of this "evidence" for his "subversive activity" on July 4, 1999 Mr Al-Nashif was expelled from the country.

The expulsion of foreign nationals from the country, claimed to represent a "threat to national security" due to their religious practices, continued in 2000. On 8 January, a group of six Islamic preachers - Ahmadis - was caught in the region of Shumen and expelled from the country. According to police information, they had been preaching without a permit by the Directorate of Religious Affairs.

Later, in May and June, another three Muslims were ordered out of the country. One of them was Ahmad Musa, a Palestinian, who has been living in the country for 15 years and is married to a Bulgarian. He was later detained and expulsed on 6 August. His wife and three children remained in Bulgaria. In this case too, the reason for expulsion was a "threat to national security". As it was mentioned above, the orders based on such considerations in Bulgaria are not subject to judicial control. For this reason, nobody understood exactly on what facts the authorities were basing themselves. Press reports, clearly implied by the Interior Ministry, revealed that the accusation was one of "illegal religious activity". The only "proof" that was cited was Mr Musa's participation in the above mentioned "illegal" Muslim seminar in Narechenski Bani in August 1997. Mr Musa's case is now being considered by the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

The case of Mr Al-Nashif is the second one in which the European Court on Human Rights found that Bulgaria violated Art. 9 of ECHR. The first one was the case of Hasan and Chaush v. Bulgaria. The case concerns the refusal of the government in February 1995 to register a leadership of the Muslim believers with Mr Fikri Hasan as chief mufti. The Court held that Bulgaria had violated Article 9 of the European Convention through the failure of the Bulgarian State to remain neutral in the exercise of its powers in respect of the registration of the Muslim religion. The Court also held that there had been a violation of Article 13 of the Convention (right to an effective remedy in the violation of human rights) in that the Bulgarian Supreme Court had refused to examine the substance of Mr. Hasan's appeal against the decision of the State and only assessed whether and to what extent the decision for registration had been taken by the competent authority within the scope of its powers.

For more details see: Human Rights in Bulgaria in 1995. Report of the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee, January 1996, available at the web site of BHC: www.bghelsinki.org See also: Human Rights in Bulgaria in 1999. Report of the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee, March 2000, available at the web site of BHC: www.bghelsinki.org You can see also the Press Release of Tolerance Foundation from August 09, 2000 titled Bulgaria: Muslim expelled from the country for "illegal religious activity", available at the web site of the Greek Helsinki Monitor: www.greekhelsinki.gr

On behalf of Tolerance Foundation:
Emil Cohen, President
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*TOLERANCE FOUNDATION is human rights group, monitoring the freedom of
conscience and the religious freedom practices in Bulgaria,
providing legal assistance to victims of discrimination based on religion,
as well as propagating the idea for tolerance towards religious and other convictions.

The group was founded in 1994. President of the Tolerance Foundation is Mr Emil Cohen.

Address: 1000 Sofia, 163A "Rakovsky" Str, phone/fax: (+359 2) 981 23 57;
Phone: (+359 2) 988 31 36
E-mail: toleranc@geobiz.com