CIVIL RIGHTS PRIZE OF THE SINTI ROMA

FROM ROMANO LILORO
European Civil Rights Prize of the Sinti and Roma 2010 – awarded to Simone Veil on December 16, 2010, in Berlin – Foreign Office

02/12/2010 -
Simone Veil will be the bearer of the European Civil Rights Prize of the Sinti and Roma 2010. This was unanimously decided upon by the Award Jury headed by the Chairman of the Zentralrat Deutscher Sinti und Roma (Central Council of German Sinti and Roma) and the Dokumentationszentrum Deutscher Sinti und Roma (Documentation and Cultural Center of German Sinti and Roma), Romani Rose, at their meeting.

Simone Veil, former President of the European Parliament, was chosen to receive the award for her exemplary commitment to the recognition and equality of the Sinti and Roma Holocaust victims, which she couples with a tireless support of human dignity and the protection of threatened minorities, especially the 12 million Sinti and Roma, in present day Europe.

18 young members of the Roma minority from the Czech Republic will receive an exceptional "special recognition" with an endowment of EUR 5,000. They made made a successful complaint to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg against discriminatory segregation practice in school. This was not only a courageous step taken by young people, which deserves the greatest respect and recognition, but is also a very important step for the Sinti and Roma as a whole and sets a judicial precedent which will help to prevent similar practices in other European member states of the Council of Europe. It also shows that the issue of education plays a central role within the minority in contrast to the usual clichés about Sinti and Roma.

Ms Agnes Daroczy will receive a “special recognition” with an endowment of EUR 5,000, too. She has been recognized as a dedicated human rights activist for the Roma minority in Hungary, of which she is also a member, and other communities. As a result of many years of tireless work as a journalist and scientist, she has brought both the Holocaust against the Sinti and Roma to the attention of the public and has also done a great deal for the Sinti and Roma in the struggle against the current forms of anti-ziganism.

The ceremony is kindly hosted by the Foreign Office in its Berlin headquarters.

For further information please contact:
Documentation and Cultural Centre of German Sinti and Roma
Bremeneckgasse 2
69117 Heidelberg
GERMANY