The Eighth Hungarian Tribe, 1982 (9. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)

1982-04-01 / 4. szám

human rights violations against its citizens in gener* al and the Hungarians in Transylvania in particular.

I believe that our economic leverage toward Rumania has considerably increased in the last 6 months and will play an even more important role in the weeks and months to come. I believe that this is the time to raise the issue of an abatement of discrimination and persecution of the Hungarians in Transylvania as well as economic reforms already demanded by the IMF as a quid pro quo for our understanding, patience, and possible financial assistance.

“We members of the U.S. House of Representatives must send an appropriate signal to our administration and to the Government of the Socialist Republic of Rumania on this issue.

“The Hungarian minority in Transylvania comprises 2.5 million people. If it were independent it would constitute the 49th most populous state in the world. We are talking here about the second largest national minority in Europe outside of the U.S.S.R., people who have greatly contributed to Western culture and civilization. To countenance their slow but steady ethnocide would do injustice to our ideals, our commitment to freedom, justice and the human rights of people everywhere.

This resolution establishes how the House of Representatives feels about the human and national selfdetermination rights of the Transylvanian Hungarians and strengthens the hand of the administration in its dealings with Rumania.”

Again, we thank you Mr. President for a good beginning. We hope that Congressman Yarton’s suggestion concerning the use of the available economic leverage toward Rumania will be used wisely and prudently by your Administration in order to gain at least the following concessions for the benefit of the Hungarians in Transylvania:

1. The Re-establishment of the Autonomous Hungarian Region which was granted in 1950, but dissolved in 1960.

2. The Recognition of the Hungarian Language as the second official language in Transylvania.

THE TRANSYLVANIAN QUARTERLY

3. The Return of the Confiscated Hungarian Schools, Libraries and Archives.

4. The Termination of all Harassments, Intimidations and Discriminations. Equal opportunity in every field of human existence to all minorities.

5. The Re-establishmen of the Freedom of the Churches and Church-related Organizations.

These demands represent nothing more than the rights outlined in the Human Rights Proclamation of the United Nations, the Helsinki Accords and the Peace Treaty of 1947, all signed and accepted by Rumania but never implemented.

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U. N. Provisions for the Legal Protection of Minorities

“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 other members of their group, to enjoy their own culture, to profess and practice their own religion, and to use their own language.”

í Covenant of Civil and Political Rights, Art. 27, adapted by the U. N. General Assembly, Dec. 16, 1966.)

“The States Parties to this Convention agree that . . . C. It is essential to recognize the right of members of national minorities to carry on their own educational activities, including the maintenance of schools and, depending on the educational policy of each State, the use or the teaching of their own language.”

(Art. 5, part 1, Unesco Convention Against Discrimination in Education, Dec. 14, 1960.)

The Transylvania Quarterly is a supplement to the Eighth Tribe bi-lingual monthly magazine. Subscription is $10.00 per year — $12.00 outside U.S.A. payable in U.S. funds. Eighth Tribe, P.O. Box 637, Ligonier, Pa. 15658.

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