Illegal police database targeted Roma

Published on 8 October 2010 at 08:39

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“Police are using a computer file that illegally targets Roma and travelers,” reports Le Monde. The daily explains that from 2000 to 2004, arrest records for Roma were subdivided into national categories. As a result, the individuals listed “were not Hungarians or Georgians who might or might not have been Roms, but Roms that were Hungarians or Georgians.” The existence of the Non-Sedentary Ethnic Minorities (NSEM) computer file directly contradicts the official line, which claims that France does not maintain statistics based on racial or ethnic origin. Four associations representing the rights of Roma and traveling communities have filed suit with the French courts. In September, the European Commission already threatened to initiate proceedings against France for ethnic discrimination.

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