Calvin Synod Herald, 1976 (76. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1976-07-01 / 7-8. szám
REFORMÁTUSOK LAPJA 5 government thus manages the statistical annihilation of at least 30% of the actual minority population of the country. 4. Confiscation of cultural archives Even taken alone, this despicable act of the Rumanian government constitutes the crime of cultural genocide. Legislation is now on the books whose sole aim is the destruction of the historical roots of minorities. For instance, Decree-Law 206/1974 (amending Decree-Law 472/1971 on the National Archives) and Act. No. 63 of November 2, 1974 on the protection of the national cultural treasury. The State has used these regulations for outright appropriation of historical documents, relics, manuscripts, maps, photos, diaries, posters, engravings, imprints and other material in the possession of church archives, private organizations and individuals. Uncompensated confiscation of this kind was reported by the respectable Swiss daily Neue Zürcher Zeitung (“Bureaucratic Chicanery Against the Churches in Rumania,” February 1/2, 1975, p. 6): “The material was — in many cases without receipt — loaded onto trucks and carted away. The historical order of the archives has become completely disrupted in the process — one method of ‘reserving’ and ‘protecting’ historical materials — rendering scientific research for the next decades impossible. The Rumanian government has openly embarked on an escalated campaign against the Reformed Church and the Hungarian nationality. “The intent behind the nationalization of the ecclesiastical archiives is to sever the religious communities from their historical roots. A church without a past (tradition) has no future, especially one which represents a religious and national minority. The first victim of these warlike designs against the religious and cultural minorrities by the Rumanian regime was the Hungarian Reformed Church...” 5. Obstructing contacts with relatives abroad Decree-Law 225/1975 prohibits the accommodation of non-Rumanian citizens in private homes in Rumania. Only immediate relatives are exempted. Since relatives from Hungary are usually of modest means and hotel facilities — especially in rural areas — are scarce, visits often become a practical impossibility. 6. Dissolution of ethnic communities As in all Communist States the Rumanian government has almost complete control over the labor market. Rumania however, utilizes this control to break up homogeneous ethnic groups. University and vocational school graduates of Hungarian origin are routinely assigned jobs outside their own communities. Rumanians are then encouraged to replace them through offers of attractive income and housing opportunities in those communities. Multiple Violations of International Law The above measures violate not only international standards of human rights, but the Constitution of Rumania itself. Minority populations must bear these outrages in addition to the usual intolerance and terror which affects the life of every citizen of Communist states regardless of ethnic origin. All of the above abuses continue despite Rumania’s ratification of the 1966 U.N. Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Article 27 of the Covenant reads as follows: “In those States in which ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities exist, persons belonging to such minorities shall not be denied the right in community with the other members of their group, to enjoy their own culture, to profess and practice their own religion, or to use their own language.” The United Nations Ad Hoc Committee on Genocide in 1948 accepted the following definition as one of the ways by which the crime of cultural genocide may be committed: “... systematic destruction of historical or religious monuments or their diversion to alien uses, destruction or dispersion of documents and objects of historical, artistic, or religious value and of objects used in religious worship.” (U.N. Doc. E/447) Regardless of the fact that the final text of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide did not incorporate the above language, Rumania’s recent behavior exactly corresponds with this definition. What can the United States do? As a reward for her “independence” from Moscow, Rumania was granted most-favored-nation status by Congress last year. That decision overlooked the fact that this “independence” is not founded on decency and a healthy respect for human liberty. The fact is that Rumania today is guilty of the most blatant internal oppression of all the Soviet satellites. The only condition upon which “mostfavored-nation” status was granted was the requirement of free emigration. Such systematic oppression cannot be offset by an easing of restrictions on emigration. Such a “solution” could well be just what the Rumanian government needs to justify a policy of exiling minorities from home, property and country. The net effect would visit even more hardship and misery on those left behind. Free emigration may solve the problem of a handful of people, but the 2.5 million Hungarians and the 400,000 Germans want to live, work and prosper in a land which, in the case of Hungarians, they have inhabited for over one thousand years. We urge Congress to reverse last summer’s decision making “most-favored-nation” status solely dependent upon the easing of emigration restrictions. Congress should revoke that status from Rumania until she completely satisfies the just and reasonable needs of her minority populations to maintain and develop their own contribution to Rumania’s rich ethnic mosaic. We urge the American Government to exert pressure on Rumania in any other manner to conform to enlightened standards in its treatment of minorities. The December 5, 1973 American-Rumanian joint statement specifically allows both parties to raise humanitarian issues with the other. We urge the American public to show the same sympathy and solidarity toward these people as it has toward so many other victims of political and cultural persecution over the last two hundred years. Committee for Human Rights in Rumania P.O. Box 873, Radio City Station New York, N.Y. 10019 (The New York Times, May 7, 1976) i
