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Republic of Bulgaria
Head of state: Petar Stoyanov
Head of government: Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (replaced Ivan Kostov in
July)
Capital: Sofia
Population: 7.9 million
Official language: Bulgarian
Death penalty: abolitionist for all crimes
2001 treaty signatures/ratifications: Optional Protocol to the UN Children's
Convention on the
involvement of children in armed conflict
Reports of ill-treatment
and torture by law enforcement officials were widespread. Very few of
the suspected perpetrators were brought to justice. Many of the victims,
some of whom were minors, were Roma. Law enforcement officials continued
to use firearms in circumstances prohibited by international standards,
resulting in deaths and injuries. Conditions in many institutions for
adults with mental disabilities amounted to cruel, inhuman and degrading
treatment. Restrictions on the right to freedom of expression continued
to be imposed. An organization of ethnic Macedonians was prevented from
holding a peaceful assembly.
Torture and ill-treatment
by police
Numerous incidents
of police ill-treatment and torture were reported. At least one person
died in suspicious circumstances following an incident in which he was
beaten by police officers.
In January, police
officers in Sofia searching for a murder suspect apprehended Mehmed
Mumun (also known as Milotin Mironov), who reportedly tried to evade
a police check. Police reportedly kicked him all over his body after
he had been immobilized on the ground. Mehmed Mumun lost consciousness
and died before he could receive emergency medical treatment. A spokesman
for the Ministry of the Interior later claimed that Mehmed Mumun had
resisted arrest and had to be handcuffed. Following an investigation
into his death, two officers were charged; their trial was continuing
at the end of the year.
The vast majority of those who complained about police torture and ill-treatment
alleged that following their arrest they were not allowed to contact
their lawyer or inform members of their family of their whereabouts,
and that they were denied medical treatment. In July, Veska
Voleva, a lawyer, intervened in the eviction of a family from an apartment
in Sofia. Two police officers handcuffed her, dragged her down the stairs
and took her to the 9th Regional Police Department. In a barred holding
cell she was reportedly slapped and kicked all over the body for about
15 minutes by five officers, and then handcuffed to an iron bar for
between two and three hours. She was held for 24 hours in a bare cell
where she slept on the cement floor. Her requests to contact her family
and to be medically examined were denied.
Only a few of the reported perpetrators were brought to justice. Even
then, the investigations appeared to be unnecessarily prolonged and
hampered by the suspected perpetrators who, it was reported, frequently
harassed witnesses. In January, two
former police officers from Nikopol were sentenced to five and six years'
imprisonment respectively for the beating of a detainee who died in
November 1994 from injuries suffered as a result of ill-treatment. The
incident had been observed by a witness who kept silent about it for
a year because he was threatened by the police officers.
Roma
There were reports
of police torture and ill-treatment of members of the Romani community
throughout the year. Many of the victims were minors. The Human Rights
Project, a local non-governmental organization, investigated over 90 complaints
of serious human rights violations suffered by Romani victims. In the
majority of reported cases complaints were filed with the military prosecutors.
However, investigations frequently appeared not to be conducted in a thorough
and impartial manner.
In May, a 16-year-old
youth was apprehended in Stara Zagora by a man, who introduced himself
as a police officer, in front of the house where the youth had picked
some plums from a tree. He was handcuffed and taken into the officer's
house where he was reportedly punched, kicked and beaten with a truncheon
all over his body. The officer then reportedly pointed a gun at the
boy's head and asked his wife: "What shall I do with his body after
I have killed him?" Shortly afterwards the youth's parents arrived
and the youth was released. That evening he was treated for contusions
to the chest, head and face. In February, Nikolay
Nikolovov was reportedly beaten with a truncheon by a police officer
in Pavlikeni Regional Police Department who questioned him about the
theft of a hi-fi system. On the same day he was examined by a forensic
medical expert who noted weals 12 to 15 centimetres long on his arms,
back and right thigh. In June the Military Prosecutor of Tarnovo decided
not to initiate a criminal investigation against the officer because
his conduct was considered to be of a "clearly insignificant degree
of social danger".
Use of firearms
by police
There were numerous
reports of police shootings which breached internationally recognized
standards. The authorities failed to address adequately this pernicious
human rights problem. At least three people were killed in such incidents.
In February, Emanuil Yordanov, then Minister of the Interior, reportedly
stated that he would re-examine all provisions concerning the use of firearms
by both police officers and civilians, but it was only for the latter
that proposals were formulated. He also ordered that all police officers
undergo psychological examinations within a three-month period and that
there should be stricter internal inspections within the Ministry of the
Interior. However, it appeared that these measures had little effect.
Conditions in homes
for adults with mental disabilities
People with mental disabilities placed in state institutions for permanent
care were subjected to conditions which amounted to cruel, inhuman and
degrading treatment. Social homes, the official title for such institutions,
were typically located in remote areas. Residents were housed in unsuitable,
dilapidated quarters with extremely poor standards of hygiene and with
no signs that residents were permitted any personal belongings. They were
sometimes subjected to cruel forms of restraint and seclusion. These institutions
were often inadequately staffed by untrained personnel. The medical care
available was usually inadequate and resources for rehabilitation non-existent.
In some homes the lack of adequate medical care, heating and food appeared
to contribute to deaths. Autopsies were seldom carried out to establish
the cause of death and no criminal investigations appear to have been
initiated to establish the responsibility for grossly negligent care of
people with a mental disability.
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In the Sanadinovo home for mentally disabled women, those who "misbehaved"
were held in a cage made of two brick walls with iron bars and wire
on the remaining two sides. In October, an AI delegate witnessed six
women being held in this 3m x 1.5m space. They looked withdrawn and
vacant and appeared non-aggressive. The cage was full of urine and
faeces and the women were covered in filth. One woman was naked from
the waist down and many sores were visible on her skin. It was not
possible to establish how long anyone would be subjected to this form
of seclusion as no records of this appeared to be maintained.
Freedom of expression
Several people peacefully exercising their right to freedom of expression
were detained on charges of "hooliganism".
In January, four
men and a minor were detained in Sofia after they had held a banner
at a public ceremony with the slogan "Out NATO supporters!"
on which the NATO emblem had been altered to resemble a swastika. After
the ceremony President Petar Stoyanov reportedly stated: "This
is blasphemy! It is high time that we took decisive measures against
such ruffians..." The protesters were taken to a police station
where they were held until the following day. An investigation was opened
on the orders of the Prosecutor before the Supreme Court of Cassation
who considered that the protesters had committed an offence of "hooliganism".
However, the charge was dismissed by the Sofia County Court in April. In September,
the Pleven County Court quashed on appeal the conviction of Aleksandar
Kandjov. He had been sentenced to four months' imprisonment, suspended
for three years, for aggravated hooliganism because he had organized
the signing of a petition in which the Minister of Justice was described
as "top idiot of the judiciary". Aleksandar Kandjov had been
held in custody for four days following his arrest in July 2000.
OMO 'Ilinden'
In March, the Blagoevgrad Public Prosecutor initiated a criminal investigation
for incitement to racial or national hatred in connection with leaflets
distributed by the United Macedonian Organization "Ilinden"
(OMO "Ilinden"), calling on the residents of the region to declare
themselves in the census as Macedonians. However, no one had been charged
by the end of the year.
In July, police prevented OMO "Ilinden" activists from holding
a peaceful assembly to commemorate a national anniversary. Three activists
filming the police action were detained for three hours before being released
without charge. In October the European Court of Human Rights ruled that
the authorities had violated the right to freedom of assembly and association
when they prohibited OMO "Ilinden" activists from holding similar
commemorative meetings in the period between 1994 and 1997.
AI country reports/visits
Report - Bulgaria: Disabled women condemned to "slow death"
(AI Index: EUR 15/002/01) top
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