ROMA UPDATE: MAYOR TRIES TO DEPORT FAMILIES, NDI

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BRATISLAVA 000373

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TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL KPAO SOCI LO
SUBJECT: ROMA UPDATE: MAYOR TRIES TO DEPORT FAMILIES, NDI
FEARS VOTE-BUYING IN UPCOMING ELECTIONS, EMBASSY INCREASES
OUTREACH


1. (SBU) SUMMARY: The Embassy continues to be heavily
involved in promoting human rights and integration among
Slovakia's minority communities, the Roma in particular. In
the past month, the Emboffs have:
-- Visited a northern village in which the mayor is seeking
to move 35-40 Roma to a small, three-unit house in another
nearby village so they will be the other town's "problem;"
-- Heard both optimism about Roma political participation, as
well as concerns from NDI about the possibility of political
parties "buying votes" in Roma communities in June's
parliamentary elections;
-- Published op-ed pieces and hosted events highlighting Roma
issues and putting activists in touch with opinion leaders.
END SUMMARY.

MAYOR WANTS TO DEPORT DELINQUENT (ROMA) RENTERS
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2. (SBU) In March, the media reported that the Mayor and
city council of Puchov was resettling four Roma families to
the smaller, nearby village of Nimnica, after the families
failed to make rent payments in their public housing.
Emboffs recently traveled to Puchov and Nimnica to meet with
local officials and investigate the situation. The Mayor of
Puchov told Poloff that the decision was "humanitarian," as
the families have children and therefore could not simply be
evicted. According to the Mayor, the families will remain
citizens of Puchov despite their new home in Nimnica (which
the city of Puchov purchased for them),and the children will
still be enrolled in Puchov schools. The Mayor of Puchov
hopes that the families will find it easier to make their
rent payments in this less expensive housing.


3. (SBU) Other members of the Puchov city council, however,
told us of their staunch opposition to the plan. They note
that the (reportedly shabby) housing currently occupied by
the families is near an area the city is planning to
rehabilitate into a pedestrian shopping and dining district
and that the Mayor is likely involved financially in this
development and hopes to revamp the public housing into an
engine for increased revenue. The Mayor told us that he
"doesn't ask" what ethnicity the delinquent renters are, but
that, as families with children, they deserve this
"opportunity" in Nimnica.


4. (SBU) In contrast to the large, prosperous town of
Puchov, Nimnica is a small village of 700. The Mayor of
Nimnica described to us his town's opposition to the move.
Deporting "undesirable" residents from one town to another
sets a dangerous precedent, he noted, as there would be
nothing to stop other towns -- particularly in Eastern
Slovakia, where the majority of Slovakia's Roma live -- from
putting their citizens on buses and sending them to other
localities. The Mayor of Nimnica showed us the house to
which Puchov plans on moving its Roma; the three-unit,
two-bathroom space is in disrepair, is unconnected to gas
lines, and relies on a small septic tank for its sewer. It
is by no means appropriate for such a large number of tenants.


5. (SBU) Additionally, Nimnica's Roma population -- already
well-integrated in the small community -- fears that the
addition of "troublemakers" from another town will cause a
rift in the village, as all the Roma citizens will be blamed
en masse for any stolen vegetables or missing chickens. The
Mayor of Nimnica has, to date, sought to fight the forced
relocation through administrative channels, denying building
permits at the property in an attempt to forestall "make
ready" of the property by Puchov. He sought the advice of
Slovakia's Plenipotentiary for the Roma Minority, whose
office told him to pursue legal action to halt the transfer;
however, attorneys could find no legal grounds upon which to
pursue court action.


6. (SBU) COMMENT: We are putting the Mayor of Nimnica and
the Puchov city council in touch with NGOs -- including USAID
contractor Partners for Democratic Change in Slovakia (PDCS)
-- and activists with experience in Roma issues, conflict
resolution, and "reconciliation." The Embassy will be
actively and aggressively pursuing this issue through our
actions at all levels. END COMMENT.

NDI OPTIMISTIC ABOUT ROMA PARTICIPATION, WARY OF TACTICS
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7. (SBU) National Democratic Institute for International
Affairs (NDI) head Zuzana Dzurikova told us April 27 that the
Roma political candidates and activists it has trained have

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increased the community's visibility among national political
parties. In addition to lobbying major political parties to
include Roma issues in their platforms, NDI's trainees have
held high-level meetings with the President, Chairman of
parliament, Prime Minister, and other MPs in advance of June
17 elections. In addition, Roma candidates have places on
several candidate lists -- including President Gasparovic's
Movement for Democracy (HZD),which included a well-known
Roma musician in the 5th position on its candidate list
(NOTE: Despite this high placement, polling indicates that
HZD is unlikely to win any seats in parliament. END NOTE).
In addition, Free Forum (SF) has placed a Roma candidate on
its list, but lower than the number of seats SF is likely to
win; however, as SF is likely to pass the parliamentary
threshold, this candidate will have to work to get enough
"preferential votes" (votes directly for an individual
candidate) to win one of the SF seats in the national council
in June.


8. (SBU) Citing a continued decrease in voter turnout, NDI
told us that they are concerned that vote buying will play an
increasing role in this year's parliamentary elections, as
unscrupulous parties attempt to pick up "easy votes" in Roma
communities by paying up to SKK 100 (around USD 3) per vote.
NDI has already heard some Roma "political activists"
shopping deals like this around current opposition parties.
COMMENT: We enlisted NDI to assist us in "putting the word
on the street" that we will not have contact in the future
with any candidate whom we suspect of buying or selling
votes. END COMMENT.

AMBASSADOR HOSTS LUNCH IN HONOR OF ROMA DAY...
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9. (U) In honor of International Roma Day (April 8),
Ambassador hosted a Roma Day lunch for Roma activists and
personalities (many of whom the Ambassador identified himself
through his travels upcountry),in addition to Roma allies
from the diplomatic corps and political parties. Over twenty
five people attended the lunch, including the GOS
Plenipotentiary for Roma Affairs, representatives from the
Deputy Prime Minister for Human Rights and National
Minorities, as well as a number of Mayors who have showed an
effort to better integrate their Roma communities, Romani
politicians, journalists, and activists. The lunch was an
excellent venue through which to raise the profile of Roma
issues, and allow networking among the stakeholders. The
event is exemplary of process through which Embassy is
continuing to focus momentum on the issue of Roma inclusion
in society, and evidence of the progress activists and
politicians are making.

...AND PUBLISHES OP-ED
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10. (U) Also on International Roma Day, the Embassy placed
an op-ed piece under the Ambassador's by-line in local daily
SME (estimated readership: 368,000). The piece called for
Slovakia to give Roma integration priority as part of its
efforts toward full democratic potential. Citing his first
hand experiences traveling through Slovakia and meeting with
Roma leaders, the Ambassador called for Slovakia to take a
strong stand against racism and to increase opportunity for
Roma in education and the work place.
VALLEE