Romania: Information on remedies available to women who have been raped by police officers while in their custody and on any provision for disciplining these police officers
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 May 1995 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | ROM20550.E |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Romania: Information on remedies available to women who have been raped by police officers while in their custody and on any provision for disciplining these police officers, 1 May 1995, ROM20550.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6abbd64.html [accessed 22 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
According to the attached excerpts from the Annual Report of Activities 1993/1994 of the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF) "complaints against police officers only can be brought before military prosecutors who alone decide to bring charges" (1994, 82).
A representative of the Romanian Helsinki Committee (APADOR-CH) in Bucharest stated that the Criminal Code prescribes a sentence for rape which vary from 2 to 10 years imprisonment (18 May 1995). The attached excerpt from the APADOR-CH annual report for 1993 provides information about a case of a women raped by a police officer (1993, 12-13). The APADOR-CH representative added that this case was recently settled in a civil court and that the victim received payment for moral damages (18 May 1995).
For information on the conduct of the police and on investigation and prosecution of police abuses, please refer to the DIRB Question and Answer Series paper entitled Romania: Selected Issues of April 1994 and to the Country Reports for both 1993 and 1994. These documents are available at Regional Documentation Centres. In addition, further information on the above-mentioned subject is contained in the attached documents.
This response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.
References
International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF), [Vienna]. 1994. Annual Report of Activities 1993/1994. Vienna: International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF).
Romanian Helsinki Committee (APADOR-CH), Bucharest. 18 May 1995. Telephone interview with representative.
Attached Documents
International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF), [Vienna]. 1994. Annual Report of Activities 1993/1994. Vienna: International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF), pp. 80-3.
Romanian Helsinki Committee (APADOR-CH). 1994. Human Rights Development in Romania: The Activities of the Romanian Helsinki Committee (APADOR-CH). Bucharest: Romanian Helsinki Committee, pp. 3, 19-22, 26-7.
_____. 1993. Aspects of the Evolution of Human Rights in Romania and the Reactions of APADOR-CH. Bucharest: Romanian Helsinki Committee, pp. 1, 12-3, 22-3.
