Commission Hearing Announced:

Romani Human Rights:

The Path of Martin Luther King or Malcolm X?

For Immediate Release

Contact: Chadwick R. Gore

July 2, 1998

(202) 225-1901

Washington, DC-The Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe today announces a forthcoming hearing:

Romani Human Rights:

The Path of Martin Luther King or Malcolm X?

Tuesday, July 21

2:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m.

Room 2226 Rayburn House Office Building

Washington, DC

Open to Members, Staff, Press and the Public

Scheduled to testify are:

David M. Crowe, Professor of History at Elon College (N.C.); author of the just-released A History of the Gypsies of Eastern Europe and Russia (St. Martin's Press, 1994) .

Ian Hancock, Professor of English, Linguistics, and Asian Studies, University of Texas at Austin; appointed by President Clinton to U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council; received Norwegian Rafto Prize for Human Rights in 1997; Head of the International Romani Union.

James Goldston, Legal Director for the European Roma Rights Center (ERRC) in Budapest. The ERRC is an international public interest law organization which monitors the situation of Roma and provides legal defense to victims of human rights violations.

Livia Plaks, Executive Director, Project on Ethnic Relations (PER). PER was founded in 1991 in anticipation of the serious inter-ethnic conflicts that were to erupt following the collapse of communism in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. PER conducts programs of high-level intervention and dialogue, serves as a neutral mediator in several major disputes in the region and has been actively involved with Romani communities throughout Europe.

Background: There are an estimated 10 million Roma (commonly known by the misnomer "Gypsy") dispersed throughout Europe, with significant concentrations in Central, Eastern and Southern Europe. They are the fastest growing population on the continent. Since the fall of communism, Roma have become scapegoats in much of the region and are the victims of an increasing number of racially motivated attacks. They face widespread and unremedied discrimination in employment, housing and public places. Faced with this desperate situation, Roma have recognized the importance of being politically active and are beginning to organize.