Covering events from January-December 2001

Slovak Republic
Head of state: Rudolf Schuster
Head of government: Mikulas Dzurinda
Capital: Bratislava
Population: 5.4 million
Official language: Slovak
Death penalty: abolitionist for all crimes
2001 treaty ratifications/signatures: Optional Protocol to the UN Children's Convention on the involvement of children in armed conflict

There were reports of torture and ill-treatment of Roma by police officers and one Romani man died in custody in suspicious circumstances. The authorities failed to provide information to human rights monitors about investigations into these incidents. Information received from a non-governmental organization (NGO) raised questions about the standard of the investigation into the killing in 1999 of Lubomír Sarissky. A lawyer defending Romani victims was inadequately protected by the police from racist violence.

Roma

In May the UN Committee against Torture, having considered Slovakia's initial report concerning the implementation of the provisions of the UN Convention against Torture, expressed concern about reported instances of police ill-treatment of Roma as well as allegations that police failed to provide adequate protection to Roma against racially motivated attacks by skinheads. The Committee also expressed concern that the authorities had failed to carry out prompt, impartial and thorough investigations into such incidents, or to prosecute and punish those responsible. It recommended that prompt measures be adopted to address its concerns. AI repeatedly requested information from the Slovak authorities regarding investigations into human rights violations against Roma but none was forthcoming.

  • Karol Sendrei died on 6 July while detained in Revúca police station with his two adult sons. They had been arrested the previous day in Magnezitovce after they had complained that a police officer had assaulted one of the sons. The three Roma were reportedly tied to a radiator at the police station and beaten by officers. Karol Sendrei was beaten so severely that he lost consciousness and a doctor was called but he could not revive him. An autopsy established that he died as a result of shock caused by a ruptured liver, internal bleeding, and fractures to the jaw, ribs and sternum. One son, Peter Sendrei, was admitted for treatment to the local hospital with severe bruising all over his body. In October, seven police officers were arrested and charged with torture and inhuman and degrading treatment.
  • In October the findings were made public of an investigation by the NGO European Roma Rights Center (ERRC) into the death in August 1999 of 21-year-old Lubomír Sarissky, who had been shot in the abdomen during interrogation in police custody in Poprad. In March 2000 Ladislav Pittner, then Minister of the Interior, stated that an official investigation had established that the detainee had attacked the officer and then shot himself accidentally with the officer's gun. The ERRC concluded that the official investigation and the trial of the officer responsible had not been prompt, thorough and impartial. Although an autopsy had revealed injuries which were consistent with allegations that Lubomír Sarissky had been beaten at the time of arrest and during questioning, and two investigations failed to confirm the officer's version of the shooting incident, he was charged only with "causing injury to health through negligence in the course of duty". The negligence consisted in failing to properly secure his weapon. He was sentenced in October 2000 to a suspended sentence of one year's imprisonment after a trial which was conducted in a summary procedure. The lawyer for the victim's family was not informed that the trial was taking place.
Harassment of a human rights defender

In October, Columbus Igboanusi, an international human rights lawyer representing Romani victims of police ill-treatment and racist violence, was threatened in two separate incidents by a group of armed people in front of his apartment in Bratislava. A leaflet had been circulated by skinheads describing him as a defender of the Roma and a threat to Slovakia. When Columbus Igboanusi, a Nigerian national, sought police protection, he was questioned about his residency in Slovakia and the NGO he was representing. The following day a Bratislava newspaper published an article stating that Columbus Igboanusi had refused police protection.

AI country reports/visits

Report
  • Concerns in Europe, January-June 2001: Slovak Republic (AI Index: EUR 01/003/2001)

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