The Eighth Tribe, 1980 (7. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1980-01-01 / 1. szám
d) participation in legislative, administrative, and/or judicial processes and decisions, e) distribution of public funds for the promotion of the economic, cultural, and social development of the minority or group, . . . g) the right to economic, social, and cultural development based on the guarantees laid down in the UN Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights. . . . Section IV: Other Forms of Autonomy. Art. 17: Every national or ethnic minority or group has the right to preserve its own cultural identity, whatever its manifestation (archives, museums, libraries, monuments, theatres, orchestras, cultural institutions of any other kind, etc.) may be, and to administer them independently. Every minority or group has the right to establish its own information and Press service. . . . Art. 19: Cultural autonomy consists further in an educational system providing instruction on all educational levels in the language of the group.... Diplomas and certificates issued by the educational institutions of the group shall have public recognition. The provisions of the UNESCO Convention against Discrimination in Education of 1960 shall be applied respectively. Art. 20: Linguistic autonomy consists in facilitating the use of the mother tongue before administrative and judicial authorities. If more than a certain percentage of the inhabitants of a pudicial or administrative district (the percentage to be fixed by agreement between the competent State authorities and the representatives of the relevant minority) belong to one or more national or ethnic minority or group, their languages have to be recognized as official languages. Districts may not be delimited in a way so as to prevent the realization of this right. The Transylvanian World Federation sincerely feels that the enlightened Resolution of the Minority Rights Group represents a great step forward on the road to understanding, mutual trust, and lasting peace. Available: Transylvania and the Hungarian-Rumanian Problem, a symposium, 330 pp. maps, statistics, bibliography, cloth. $18.00. American Hungarian Literary Guild, Rt. 1, Box 59, Astor, Florida 32002. AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL REPORTS FROM PARIS, FRANCE In spite of the internationally ratified minority rights the Rumanian government still practices extensive cultural, political and economical discrimination against the Hungarian minority in Transylvania and Moldavia. Those who dare to protest against these blatant discriminations are imprisoned or locked up into institutions for the insane where they are being used for experimental purposes in the field of new drugs. In the still existing forced labor camps along the swamps of the Danube delta still thousands of political prisoners are languishing under the most inhuman conditions. The treatment of the political prisoners is beyond description. Sadistic tortures and beatings are every day occurances and those accused of “crimes against the state” are denied any kind of legal counsel or defense. The long list of known victims of Rumanian terror include names of highly esteemed educators, writers and other personalities like Béla Demeter, Zoltán Zsuffa, János Török, Béla Niszlay, János Szabó, Tivadar Busa, Lajos Kuthy, Jenő Szirmay, Jenő Szikszai, Károly Király, Hona Luka and many others —reports Amnesty International. The “crime” of Ilona Luka for example consisted of protesting against the Russian occupation of Hungary in 1956. After years of torture she was placed permanently into the notorious Institution for the Insane located in Raduceni. The Amnesty International remarks that some years later Mr. Ceausescu also protested against the Russian occupation of Chechoslovakia, and was not imprisoned for his deed. It is clear therefore, that the case of Ilona Luka was an extremely blatant form of discrimination. —o— SENIOR DELEGATE SPEAKS UP AGAINST “LEADER” The London Telegraph reported in November 1979, that Constantin Pirvulescu, senior delegate to the Rumanian Communist Party Congress, criticized Ceausescu’s repressive policies and personality cult, calling for changes in leadership. To jeers from other delegates, Pirvulescu, 84, accused the Rumanian “Führer” of being undemocratic and of putting his own interest before those of the party and the country. IV THE TRANSYLVANIAN QUARTERLY
