Fraternity-Testvériség, 2007 (85. évfolyam, 1-3. szám)
2007-04-01 / 2. szám
Hungarian Human Rights Foundation Reliable Partner for Hungarian Minority Communities The Hungarian Human Rights Foundation (HHRF), a Hungarian-American non-governmental and charitable IRS 501(C)(3) organization founded 31 years ago to combat the false propaganda of Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, is continuously renewing itself to answer the challenges facing the 2.5 million-strong Hungarian minority communities in the Carpathian Basin. Whether it's human rights issues in Erdély, Felvidék, Vajdaság or Kárpátalja, or community building programs across the region, local leaders and organizations can rely on HHRF to raise international awareness of their issues and aspirations. By Márton Aichelburg and Zsolt Moldován Árpád The steel and glass headquarters of the European Parliament (EP) in Brussels is a labyrinth where one easily gets lost. Wandering the corridors of this magnificent building, you can loose sight of the fact that this is the place where the future of the European Union’s 450 million citizens is decided. Among them are Romania’s 1.5 million, Slovakia’s 500,000, and Serbia's 100,000 ethnic Hungarians. Recognizing the power center shift back to the Old World, the New York-based Hungarian Human Rights Foundation has increased its presence in Brussels over the past couple of years. outstanding problems which must be rectified after membership: ■ failure to adopt a Law on National Minorities; ■ continuous delay to restore to their rightful owners church properties confiscated during communism; ■ deficiencies in Hungarian-language higher education; ■ failure to provide autonomy for the Hungarian community. Vojvodina/Serbia Defending Hungarian Minority Rights Transylvania/Romania The 785-member European Parliament (EP) was the forum which deliberated Romania’s candidacy to join the European Un-ion. With the Romanian Government spoon feeding the Parliamentarians with false or incomplete information, it was essential to balance the propaganda with first-hand data from Transylvania. Through its Kolozsvár, Romania office, HHRF maintains close ties with the Hungarian AT , . , community, its leaders and 7 7 years after communism, the ... , ... Batthyaneum Library in Gyulaf- institutions, and specializes in ehérvár still awaits restitution to its gathering and preparing steady rightful owner, the Roman Catholic streams of reliable informaChurch tion. HHRF approached key members of the EP Foreign Affairs Committee and informed them of the real facts. The Foundation personally delivered to each EP member successive issues of the Foundation’s publication, EU' Enlargement Watch - Romania, furnishing names, dates, places and photos of continuing human rights abuse. As a result, the official EP reports highlighted Romania’s “debts” toward the Hungarian community and, most importantly, the last document issued before the 2007 accession named four Another country where HHRF interceded in the last few years is Serbia. As acts of violence and intimidation against minority inhabitants - mostly Hungarians, often schoolchildren - became a daily routine by 2004, HHRF raised the issue in the U.S Congress and the European Parliament. Relying on local sources, Foundation co-workers sifted through the evidence and prepared continuously updated reports for international decision-makers which documented 143 verified incidents of anti-minority aggression in a frightening array: ■ harassment and physical assaults against non-Serb minorities; ■ threats against ethnic Hungarian and pro-autonomy leaders; ■ desecration of cemeteries, vandalism of property; ■ proliferation of racist, xenophobic and anti-Semitic graffiti; and ■ vandalism of multi-lingual signs. Briefed by HHRF, two U.S. Congressmen Tom Lantos, then ranking member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and Christopher Smith, Chairman of the Helsinki Commission wrote strongly worded letters to Serbian authorities de- ^nandhngAnmiediat^ictioi^^toj^he anti-Hungarian violence. After the “Americans, and especially Hungarian Americans, have a moral obligation to ensure that Hungarians living beyond Hungary ’s current borders enjoy the same freedoms and have the same opportunities we enjoy here in the United States, and which Hungarians living within Hungary enjoy. This is our task! ” Former 3-Term Governor of New York, George E. Pataki, December 9, 2006, Washington, DC determined stand of the American Congress-men had broken the ice, the European Parliament ■ sent a fact-finding mission to Vojvodina, and HHRF’s local staff were among the first NGOs that were con-suited. Citing HHRF documentation, the European Parliament Foreign Affairs Fraternity - Testvériség / Summer 2007 27
