U.S. Department of State report on human rights practices

Bulgaria

Back to HR News main page

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2001
Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
March 4, 2002

Bulgaria is a parliamentary republic ruled by a democratically elected government. A coalition government headed by former King Simeon Saxe-Coburg took office in July following the victory of his National Movement Simeon II (NMS) party in June parliamentary elections which observers agreed were generally free and fair despite some media irregularities. The governing coalition consists of the NMS and the mainly ethnic Turkish Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF). A predominantly ethnic Roma political formation, the "EuroRoma" party, was an electoral partner of the MRF and thus is technically a member of the governing coalition, although it has no representatives in the Cabinet or the Parliament. Incumbent President Petar Stoyanov of the Union of Democratic Forces (UDF), who had been elected to a 5-year term in 1996, was defeated in the November presidential elections by Georgi Purvanov of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), whose term begins in January 2002. The Constitution provides for an independent judiciary; however, the judiciary suffers from corruption and continued to struggle with structural and staffing problems.

Internal security services are the responsibility of the Ministry of the Interior and include the National Police, the National Service for Combating Organized Crime, the National Security Service (civilian domestic intelligence), the National Gendarmerie Service (paramilitary police), and the Border Police. Although government control over the police is improving, it still is not sufficient to ensure full accountability. The Special Investigative Service (SIS), which provides investigative support to prosecutors on serious criminal cases, is a judicial branch agency and therefore is not under direct executive branch control. The Bulgarian media reported that the "public order" services, such as the National Intelligence Service (NIS) and National Bodyguard Service (NBS) were not subject to adequate judicial, executive, or legislative oversight of their activities or budgets. Some members of the police committed serious human rights abuses.

The country, with a population of approximately 8.3 million, is in transition from an economy dominated by loss-making state enterprises, concentrated in heavy industry, to one dominated by the private sector. Approximately 80 percent of state assets destined for privatization--including enterprises in the chemicals, petroleum processing, and metallurgy sectors--already have been sold in a process that was not completely transparent. Principal exports are agricultural products, tobacco products, chemicals and metals, although light industry--including textiles and apparel--is growing in importance. The private sector accounts for approximately 61.3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). In 2000 the inflation rate in was approximately 10 percent and GDP growth was 5.8 percent. The annual per capita GDP of $1,600 provides a relatively low standard of living.

The Government generally respected the human rights of its citizens; however, while there were improvements in some areas, its human rights record was poor in other areas. Members of the security forces were responsible for some killings. Security forces commonly beat suspects and inmates and beat and mistreated minorities. Arbitrary arrest and detention were problems. Security forces harassed, physically abused, and arbitrarily arrested and detained Romani street children. Problems of accountability persisted and inhibited government attempts to address police abuses. Conditions in many prisons and detention facilities were harsh. There remained some instances of prolonged pretrial detention, although the Government has continued to improve its performance in preventing defendants' periods of pretrial detention from exceeding the statutory limit of 1 year. The judiciary is underpaid, understaffed, and has a heavy case backlog; corruption of the judiciary is a serious problem. The Government infringed on citizens' privacy rights. The Government exerted undue influence on the media. There were limits on freedom of association. The Government restricted freedom of religion for some non-Orthodox religious groups. Constitutional restrictions on political parties formed along ethnic, racial, or religious lines effectively limit participation in government for some groups. Violence and discrimination against women remained serious problems. Conditions for children in state institutions were poor, and because of a lack of funds, the social service system did not assist homeless and other vulnerable children adequately, notably Romani children. There was some discrimination against persons with disabilities. Societal discrimination and harassment of "nontraditional" religious minorities persisted, but were less frequent than in the past year. Discrimination and societal violence against Roma were serious problems. Child labor was a problem. Trafficking in women and girls was a serious problem. top

Link to full text of the report