International Alternatives to Detaining Immigrants
The 94-page report “Dismantling Detention: International Alternatives to Detaining Immigrants,” examines alternatives to detention in six countries: Bulgaria, Cyprus, Spain, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States. Human Rights Watch found that alternatives to detention such as case management services, can effectively address government interests in immigration enforcement while protecting migrants’ rights and often offering a range of other benefits.
Bulgaria’s Pushbacks and Detention of Syrian and Other Asylum Seekers and Migrants
This 76-page report documents how in recent months Bulgarian border police, often using excessive force, have summarily returned people who appear to be asylum seekers to Turkey. The people have been forced back across the border without proper procedures and with no opportunity to lodge asylum claims.
The countries of Central and Eastern Europe, including several that are candidates for European Union (E.U.) membership, have long been a major source of weapons flows to human rights abusers, conflict regions, and clients suspected of diverting weapons to unauthorized destinations. There has been some recent progress to tighten controls, but serious problems remain.
In the next few weeks, the Bulgarian parliament is due to enact important changes to the country's arms trade law. The legislation would amend the Law on the Control of Foreign Trade Activity in Arms and Dual-Use Goods and Technologies, which was adopted in 1995.
For the last two years, the government of Bulgaria has pledged to control the country's notorious arms trade as part of its strategy to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union (E.U.). Sofia has taken important steps toward reform, but further improvements are urgently needed to ensure that the legacy of irresponsible weapons dealing is put to rest.
Bulgaria has earned a reputation as an anything-goes weapons bazaar where Kalashnikov assault rifles, mortars, antitank mines, ammunition,explosives and other items are available for a price — no matter who the buyers are or how they might use the deadly wares.
Racism and racially motivated violence against the Rima (Gypsy) minority in Bulgaria has escalated dramatically since 1994. The violence ranges from police torture to mob attacks — including violent attacks by guards employed by private security firms.
Initial attempts to purge former Communists from public life in Bulgaria were relatively weak when compared to similar laws passed in the former Czechoslovakia or the former German Democratic Republic. Efforts to initiate a decommunization program gained momentum, however, after the election victory of the Union of Democratic Forces in October 1991.
On June 29, 1992, police surrounded a Gypsy neighborhood in Pazarszhik, a town 120 km. east of Sofia, and attacked its inhabitants, conducted abusive house searches, damaged property and confiscated possessions. Many Gypsies suffered serious injuries as well as significant property damage as a result of the police conduct.
Despite the political changes that have occurred in Bulgaria since Todor Zhivkov's resignation in November 1989, Gypsies continue to be the targets of discrimination, as they have been throughout the country's history. The disparate treatment they receive is reflected in housing, education and the work place.
