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How\nwould you introduce yourself to our readers today?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I have had various professional roles and intellectual hobbies.\nIt\u2019s hard for me to put a label on myself, but here\u2019s something like a biography<\/a>. At this\ntime, I am most committed to an initiative entitled BOLD \u2013 Bulgarian Community\nfor Liberal Democracy. This is a value community that aims to expand support\nfor human rights and democracy in Bulgaria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Earlier this month, during our #takeover project on Instagram,\nKosta Karakashyan focused on several human rights topics. I really want to\ndiscuss them, but I would like to start with a paradox. Today we often talk\nabout individualism, while at the same time, it seems that our rights are more\nprotected if we belong to a minority group. In other words, are the human\nrights of someone belonging to a group better protected than those of the\nindividual, in your opinion?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Human rights are by definition universal, i.e., each person has\nthem equally, solely by virtue of being human. However, human rights violations\nare not universal \u2013 some people are more deprived than others. Not only is it false\nthat the rights of members of minority groups are better protected, but the\nopposite is emphatically true. The landscape of disadvantaged groups is\ndifferent in each country, but almost everywhere there are ethnic, religious,\nsexual, or other minorities that are systematically disadvantaged. In Bulgaria,\na Roma, a gay person, or a disabled person, for example, is in a much more\nvulnerable position than the average Bulgarian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because of this \u2013 and this is a fact for which there are\nmountains of evidence \u2013 human rights organizations, if they know their job, i.e.,\nif they work according to the principles of the human rights movement, seek to\nfocus more efforts on the most vulnerable members of society. This is one\nreason \u2013 albeit the smaller one \u2013 for the myth that minority rights are more\nprotected. The bigger reason for the spread of this myth is the massive\npresence of prejudice in our society. For example, the ultranationalist myth\nthat the Roma are more protected than Bulgarians is a manifestation of a public\nmind clouded by prejudice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The current situation in the USA with the Black Lives Matter\nmovement and George Floyd #GeorgeFloyd is interesting, but the mood in the\nsocial networks in Bulgaria on the topic is more interesting. The documentary <\/em><\/strong>13th argues\nthat slavery has been effectively transformed into mass condemnation and\nimprisonment of people of colour, and that in 1994, under Bill Clinton, private\nprisons were created to that end. President Clinton apologized years later and\nadmitted his mistake, but remained intact. Can you comment on this from the point\nof view of human rights violations, real consequences, and impunity?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Regarding social media, I\u2019m not sure how they see the protests\nin America as on these media, one communicates only with ideological friends,\nwhich further entrenches one\u2019s own views. But more important is what has been showing\nin recent weeks on the so-called mainstream media. My impression of both the\nBulgarian and Russian leading media is that, unlike Western European media,\nthey failed to present objectively the protests in the USA triggered by the murder\nof George Floyd. Quite prevalent was a direct message or indirect suggestion\nthat sounded like an accompaniment to Trump\u2019s voice: \u201criots, pogroms,\nhooliganism; look at them, they are breaking shop windows; we need to stop\nthese left-wing radicals by showing unwavering strength, etc.\u201d, in the spirit\nof Trump\u2019s June 1 online meeting with state governors. At one point, I was listening\nto a comment by Putin and was struck by his complete inability to comprehend\nthe greatness of American society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n My perception of these events is different. My admiration for\nthe protesters comes first. I am thinking, \u201cwhen will we Bulgarians be able to\ntake to the streets \u2013 not just several hundred of us but several hundred\nthousand Bulgarians, to protest when police kill a Roma? America has an\nextremely deep, old, and complex problem with racism, which is taking on new\nforms; but even though it is seriously confronted by half of Americans, racism continues\nto poison society. In this respect, America is like most countries in the\nworld. It is similar to most countries in the world also in the levels and\nforms of police brutality against minorities. But America has something else\nthat we lack: the greatness of the free popular drive for equal rights, for\njustice. America is a complex country. In respect to its appalling criminal\njustice system and overcrowded prisons, she has not yet entered the 21st century.\nBut America is way ahead of us, Bulgarians and Eastern Europeans in general, in\nrespect to the freedom, dignity, and courage with which its people are\nprotesting against injustice. We will catch up with the Americans when we go\nout in mass protests against police brutality targeting the Roma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I make this comparison because in our society the Roma occupy a\nplace similar to that of the minorities of colour in the United States. The difference\nis that in our country, racist prejudice against the Roma is much more intense\nthan American prejudice against blacks. And the social distance measured by\nsociologists is greater. Think about it: in the United States, blacks have been\nhired for centuries to look after children in whites\u2019 homes, to work as maids\nand cooks, and the American routinely sees them many times throughout the day, from\nthe salesman in the store to the waiter in the restaurant. Ah yes, also among police\nofficers, judges, journalists, doctors, university professors, civil servants, a\npresident\u2026 Now let\u2019s think how many families in Bulgaria are prepared to hire a\nRoma woman to look after their child at home!<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the early 1990s, I set up Europe\u2019s first Roma rights\norganization in Sofia, The Human Rights Project. We documented hundreds of\ncases of police violence against Roma, including numerous killings. Some of our\ncases reached the European Court of Human Rights where we won. Back in the\nremote 1994, we organized an international conference entitled \u201cPolice\nBrutality.\u201d The day before the conference, the then police directorate issued a\npress release condemning the event, because, \u201chow dare they talk about police\nbrutality?\u201d Yet police violence against Roma in Europe is comprehensive and\nsystematic, rather than limited to isolated cases. There are tons of\ndocumentation on this, including from the European Roma Rights Center, of which\nI was the founder and first director from 1996 to 2007. The organization was\nbased in Budapest until recently but is now in Brussels. It was forced out of Hungary,\none of the many victims of the demise of civil society perpetrated by the\nautocratic regime of Orban.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kosta told us that according to EU data from 2014, 38% of women\nin Bulgaria have been victims of harassment by their partners. During the\npandemic, according to bTV, nine Bulgarian women lost their lives as a result\nof violence from their intimate partner. After talking to a psychoanalyst, I\nwas surprised to learn that many had been physically abused and <\/em><\/strong>driven away<\/em><\/strong> from their homes together with their\nchildren. Please use our platform to advise them what they can do in such\ncases. Is there free psychiatric support? Where? Who can they turn to for\ntemporary shelter if needed? And most of all, who can protect their human\nrights and their dignity by punishing the abuser?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In an emergency, if there is an imminent danger to their life or\nhealth, it is best for women to call 112 and to state firmly that they are a\nvictim of domestic violence, whereupon they will be immediately referred to protection\nauthorities. The police should respond immediately. This will provide temporary\nemergency protection, most likely in a crisis center. There are organizations\nthat provide free legal, psychological, medical, and\/or social support to women\nvictims of domestic violence, such as Animus<\/a>, the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee<\/a>, the Gender Alternatives Foundation<\/a>, the Demeter\nAssociation<\/a>. If you call there, they will at minimum connect you with the specialist you need.\nAnd don\u2019t wait for the situation to get worse; go secretly to consult and think\nabout your options.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, I must say with great concern that in Bulgaria the\nsystem of protection from domestic violence is not good and does not comply\nwith international standards and good practices. If we had ratified the\nIstanbul Convention, many of the gaps and weaknesses of the current system\nwould have been addressed. One of the most serious problems is the lack of\nclearly defined obligations on the part of law enforcement authorities once domestic\nviolence has been reported. Not to mention that in our law, there is not even a\nnotion of what in other countries is called \u201cstalking\u201d, an extremely dangerous conduct,\nusually involving a former partner with whom the victim has broken up tracking and\nharassing her. Stalking is often found in the backstory of murders and other\nphysical violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Today, women\u2019s movements around the world are trying to change the\nvicious practice of hiding the victim of domestic violence in a crisis center\nor similar facility, usually together with her children. It is called \u201ccrisis placement\u201d\nin bureaucratic jargon but is in fact hiding the victim from the abuser. This\nis a terrible injustice. As if it is not enough for a woman to be a victim of\nviolence, but in addition she would also lose her home, her job (in order to\nhide better), and indeed have her entire life ruined. Instead, it is the abuser\nwho should be removed from the family home. That\u2019s where we have to be heading,\nbut it\u2019s such a long way to that point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the subject of mental health, I would very much like to raise\nthe issue of the lack of hospitals for the mentally ill and communes for\naddicts. In many cases, they remain in the care of their elderly parents, who\nin turn also suffer from violence, but quietly because it is about their child.\nPlease share your opinion and advice.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Yes, communes for addicts are not widespread in our country,\nunfortunately, although they are often the best solution. I know Bulgarians who\nhave lived in such communes abroad, with good results. But it\u2019s not free of\ncharge and not everyone can afford it. There are also several non-governmental\norganizations in our country that can at least provide some guidance, for\nexample, Frakarita<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/egoist.bg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/nathan-dumlao-aqprOLb82ew-unsplash.jpg\")
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