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State Department: Bad treatment of prisoners and corruption continued to have problems last year
Major human rights problems existing in Romania include bad treatment and harassment against gypsies, while corruption among government officials continued to be widespread in 2015, according to the annual report of the US State Department on human rights in the world, released on Thursday. The document shows that systematic discrimination against gypsies affected their access to education, housing, medical care and employment opportunities.
On the other hand, the report mentions that civil authorities maintained an efficient control on security structured.
The US State Department shows that other human rates problems concerning human rights in Romania, bad detention conditions and constant attempts by politicians to compromise the independence of the judicial system, as well as personal and professional threats against journalists, threats which practically undermined the freedom of the press.
The report mentions that according to the National Administration of Prisons 502 persons dies in prisons over 2010-2014, of whom 425 for medical conditions, 73 committed suicide, 3 were killed and one died accidentally.
There were constant reports about violence and discrimination against women and anti-Semitic acts, while the media continued to publish anti-Semitic articles. Anti-Semitic, racist, xenophobic and nationalistic opinions continued to be disseminated on the Internet. Government agencies offered inadequate assistance to persons with disabilities. Discriminations against LGBTI persons (lesbians, gay, bisexuals, transsexuals and intersexuals) and people with HIV/AIDS, especially children continue to be problems, the report shows.
The fact that the judicial system took measures to punish officials who make abuses is also mentioned. The authorities have repeatedly postponed trials on police while many cases were acquitted.
The report also shows that the Romanian government generally respected the independence of the judicial system, but did not succeed to supply enough personnel, physical and technological space to allow the judicial system and prosecutors to act rapidly and efficiently, which led to very lengthy trials.