Abstract

Watching Rights

The article reports that the deaths of four Gypsies in a booby-trap explosion in Oberwart, Austria, in February has called attention to the rising tide of violence against the Roma in Central and Eastern Europe. Some of this violence has taken the form of police brutality that resembles what minorities all over the world experience. Violence is not the only means of persecution suffered by the Roma. Throughout the region they also suffer from discrimination in employment, education, housing and access to public services and accommodations. In some countries, it is not rare to see signs in shops and restaurants proclaiming "No Gypsies Allowed." Elsewhere, laws that do not appear to be racist on their face have been designed to discriminate against the Roma or have been applied in a biased manner.