Progress Checklist

January 15, 2003

Progress Checklist on Human Rights Issues
Affecting the Hungarian Minority in Romania
Raised with Prime Minister Adrian Nastase
in Bucharest on April 19, 2002

On April 19, 2002 representatives of the Hungarian Human Rights Foundation met with Romanian Prime Minister Adrian Nastase in Bucharest [see press release]. At the meeting, HHRF raised six long-standing, unresolved minority rights violations against the Hungarian community, calling on the Romanian government to take urgent action. The following report summarizes official steps taken or not since the meeting on these issues:

Issue No. 1: Bolyai High School Opposition to restoring the 445 year-old Farkas Bolyai High School in Targu Mures/Marosvásárhely as a Hungarian-language institution, despite the government’s written commitment (included in a Protocol Agreement signed with the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania) to do so. President Iliescu had labeled Hungarian aspirations as "ethnic cleansing" while Education Minister Ecaterina Andronescu’s position on the issue vacillated.
	Status. A compromise solution was achieved on April 25. While DAHR had wanted that all Romanian-language grades be transferred out of the school by the end of this school year, agreement was reached with the government that as of Fall 2002 no new grades instructing in Romanian would commence. The school’s leadership also approved the terms. Therefore, in three years time, the Bolyai Lyceum will revert to its original status as a high school instructing in the Hungarian language. The Prime Minister assured HHRF during their meeting that there would be no repetition of ethnic violence in Targu Mures as in 1990 and that the issue would be resolved in the Hungarian community's favor. The promise is in place, although the substantive fulfillment can only occur in three years.
	On the following day, April 26, Cluj/Kolozsvár Mayor Gheorghe Funar demanded the elimination of the city’s four Hungarian-language high schools. In a letter to Minister of Education Ecaterina Andronescu, Funar threatened to suspend teacher pay and distribution of funds to these schools beginning in the fall unless they introduce Romanian-language sections. This tactic is reminiscent of those used under communism to destroy the network of minority-language schools in Transylvania.
Issue No. 2: Return Illegally Confiscated Church, Community Properties HHRF highlighted the need to rapidly adopt a comprehensive law—in consultation with the affected parties—which would facilitate restitution of more than 2,000 Hungarian church and communal properties illegally confiscated under communism to their rightful owners, and to actually return at least those 45 properties promised in four previous government decrees. HHRF also urged actual implementation of an existing law restoring to their rightful owners ecclesiastical objects, artwork, baptismal records and church archives seized by communist authorities.
	Status. On October 17 the Romanian Government adopted the implementing provisions of the "Law on the Adoption of Government Decree 94/2000 on the Restitution of Certain Properties Formerly Belonging to Religious Denominations in Romania" passed by the Romanian Parliament on June 25. The law, No. 501/2002, which was signed into effect by President Ion Iliescu on July 31, does not address the issue of minority communal properties also confiscated under communism, thereby leaving this as a still unresolved issue.
	Only thirteen of the requested 45 properties covered under four government decrees have been returned, under separate order, with occupancy established.
	Prior to its adoption, on May 7, leaders of the affected constituency—the four historic Hungarian religious denominations—issued a statement outlining reservations over major shortcomings in the bill and voicing concern over the fact that (1) the text of the law did not correspond completely to the draft jointly prepared by the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania and the Churches’ representatives (2) one of the effected parties—the Hungarian Churches themselves whom the law is ostensibly meant to serve—were not included in the process every step of the way (3) the law itself leaves many opportunities for occupants and state institutions to obstruct its implementation, and (4) the request for the legislated, immediate and unqualified return of ten percent of the total properties confiscated was denied. One of the most compelling illustrations of point (3) above is the failure to return a school building located at No. 33 Avram Iancu Street in the Transylvanian capital of Cluj/Kolozsvár confiscated in 1948 from the Hungarian Reformed Church. Although restituted by Government Decree No. 83/1999, the current occupant, the "Gheorghe Sincai" High School, refuses to transfer the property, most of which it does not utilize but rents to third-party institutions! While the Church was given back 10 rooms on two floors in the older (Kogalniceanu Street) building before Christmas 2002—matters are far from being satisfactory. Although the Church is legally the owner of the entire two-building compound, and has paid an annual tax of 70 million ROL as a result, the new status quo was challenged by the Cluj County School Superintendent, Valentin Cuibus, on January 14, 2003. He claims that the buildings belong to the Romanian state and expressed his readiness to go to court to evict the Reformed High School from the Kogalniceanu Street building. Adoption of the law is a significant, long-overdue step towards instituting the rule of law in Romania, resolving the minority church restitution issue, and the Romanian government fulfilling its promise. But the law and its implementing provisions contain many shortcomings, enumerated in a separate document. In addition, the number of properties de facto restituted and occupied by the Churches is thirteen of 2,140. Only six of these thirteen properties was returned and occupied subsequent to HHRF’s April meeting with the Romanian Prime Minister. Consequently, by no means has restitution actually occurred and the matter cannot be considered resolved.
Issue No. 3: Independent Hungarian State University Establish a Hungarian-language division at the Babes-Bolyai University in Cluj/Kolozsvár. In its Cooperation Agreement for 2002 with the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania, the ruling PSD promised to facilitate the measure. This is a minimum request since the Hungarian community’s full aspiration is to have the Bolyai University restored as an independent, Hungarian-language state institution destroyed after its forced merger with the Romanian Babes University in 1959 by the communist party activist Ceausescu, later dictator of Romania.
	Status. Though in the meeting with HHRF, the Prime Minister stated that the problem will be solved, no effort has been made to do so. The ball is in the government’s court. All that is needed for the University Senate to act is a government directive.
Issue No. 4: Implement Bi-Lingualism Prosecute Cluj/Kolozsvár Mayor Gheorghe Funar, and the mayors of other localities, for repeated, flagrant violations of the rule of law by failure to implement provisions of the law mandating bi-lingualism in local administration.
	Status. The law mandates use of the native language, and the display of bilingual government institution, street- and place name signs, in localities where a minority population exceeds 20 percent. The deadline for implementation was March 7. While 921 of the 1,072 settlements in Transylvania eligible under the law for Hungarian-language inscriptions have posted them, the rate of non-compliance in those counties, towns and villages where Hungarians are not in the majority is a whopping 64-70 percent. The rule of law is seriously undermined by the near total failure to implement bi-lingualism in Alba, Satumare, Arad, Maramures and Cluj counties, and the continued failure on the part of centrally-appointed government Prefects—legally bound to oversee the upholding of laws locally—to file charges against Mayor Funar and other violators.
Issue No. 5: Education Rights for Csángó Hungarians Provide Hungarian-language public education to members of the Csángó community in Bacau County, in the province of Moldavia, who request it.
	Status. Recently, Romanian authorities have harassed the Csángós for holding Hungarian-language instruction in the privacy of their own homes, after years of ignoring their legitimate request for native-language public education. At a May 2 meeting with a delegation of high-ranking Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania officials, Bacau County Prefect Radu Catalin Mardare, Bacau County School Board Superintendent Ghiorghi Iorga and PDS Vice-President Viorel Hrebenciuc concluded that study of the native language will soon be made possible in schools in two major Csángó-inhabited settlements, Pustina and Cleja. On June 13, the Ministry of Education did approve the request to commence limited language instruction for 24 and 17 students, in the two villages respectively, beginning in the fall. Instruction has commenced.
Issue No. 6: Terminate Persecution Release Antal Reiner, the last ethnic Hungarian still imprisoned for participation in revolutionary acts related to the 1989 overthrow of communism.
	Status. Still in prison. No word of an upcoming pardon or amnesty. Dezso Héjja, another ethnic Hungarian who was imprisoned on the same case, was pardoned and released by President Iliescu this March.

Hungarian Human Rights Foundation - 2003