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Bulgaria

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Bulgaria

President Georgi Parvanov (BSP) Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev (BSP) Council of Ministers National Assembly Georgi Pirinski (BSP) Political parties Elections Provinces Human rights Foreign relations European Union Meglena Kuneva (NDSV)

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In the early 2000s, human rights in Bulgaria generally had been rated highly. However, some exceptions exist. Although the media have a record of unbiased reporting,^[1] Bulgaria’s lack of specific legislation protecting the media from state interference is a theoretical weakness. Conditions in Bulgaria’s twelve aging and overcrowded prisons generally are poor. A probate reform in mid-2005 was expected to relieve prison overcrowding.^[1]

The police have been accused of abusing prisoners and using illegal investigative methods, and institutional incentives discourage full reporting and investigation of many crimes. The constitution guarantees freedom of religion, but local governments have attempted to enforce special registration requirements on some groups not designated as historically entitled to full protection. Besides the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, the faiths so designated are the Jewish, Muslim, and Roman Catholic. Court backlogs and weak court administration make constitutional protection of defendants’ rights problematic in some instances.^[1]

Bulgaria joined the European Union in 2007, a fact which is likely to promote – and already has promoted – additional human rights reforms.

Contents 1 Macedonian minority 2 Roma 3 See also 4 Notes 5 External links

There exists a small number of individuals identifying as ethnic Macedonian in the Blagoevgrad province of Bulgaria. The 2001 census shows 5,071 while other sources cite between 3,000 and 25,000. The Greek Helsinki Monitor reports that the "Bulgarian state and public opinion alike deny their right to self-identification", and that "any actions pertaining to public demonstration of the Macedonian identity in Bulgaria are subjected to a more or less direct suppression and denial" [1]. That considered, Macedonian is given as an option for nationality on the census.

Macedonians have been refused the right to register political parties (see United Macedonian Organisation Ilinden and UMO Ilinden - PIRIN) on the grounds that the party was an "ethnic separatist organisation funded by a foreign government", something that is against the Bulgarian constitution. The constitutional court has not however banned the Evroroma (Евророма) and MRF(ДПС) parties, who are widely considered as ethnic parties. The European Court of Human Rights held "unanimously, that there had been a violation of Article 11 (freedom of assembly and association) of the European Convention on Human Rights." [2] [3]

Numerous cases have been cited regarding the ill-treatment of the Roma population by the Bulgarian police. There is widespread discrimination against the Roma in Bulgarian society, and as of 2006, the Bulgarian government has not implemented any laws legislating against the discrimination of Roma. [4] Bulgarian state security forces have been known to arbitrarily arrest and abuse street children of Roma ethnic origin.[5]

On the other hand, the mainly ethnic Roma, Free Bulgaria party has been allowed to run for elections and has achieved some success. [6]

• Gay rights in Bulgaria

1. ^ ^{a b c} Text used in this cited section originally came from: Bulgaria (June 2005) profile from the Library of Congress Country Studies project.

• Censorship in Bulgaria - IFEX

This article contains material from the Library of Congress Country Studies, which are United States government publications in the public domain.