about the hunger strike in the lobby of the European Commission in Ljubljana

Our action is a logic consequence of the illegal acts of the employees on the Ministry of Inner Affairs in 1992. They have - in the name of the people and without informing the people - erased people from their own family households. They have even been paid for their acts. Our main goal is not to bring disrepute to the Slovene state, but simultaneously we affirm: we do not want to be any longer a hostage of anyones reputation, because life is not eternal. We will fight with all in a democratic society legitimate means. In five days, on February 26, 2005, there will be the thirteenth anniversary of the illegal erasure of 18,305 people from the Register of Permanent Residence of the Republic of Slovenia. We are entering the fourteenth year full of trust into the state of law, since Slovenia undersigned on June 28, 1994, the European Convention on the Protection of Human Rights and is one of the first countries in the EU that ratified the Constitution for Europe. At the same time we would like to emphasise, that the status of permanent residence, at least in a state of law, that respects human rigths, can be obtained or confiscated only on a basis of law, administration acts or court decisions. We have obtained the status of permanent residence by birth or through other legal ways. This status provides duties and rights. Slovenia is the legal successor of the former common federative state of Yugoslavia, together with permanent residents appurtenant to it, regardless of nationality, sex, race or religion of respective individuals. Our basic existential status has been taken from us without any law, legal act or notification. The basis of the confiscation was a simple birocratic telegram from a official on the Ministry of Internal Affairs, mister Slavko Debelak. The number of this telegram of February 27, 1992, is 0016/4-14968

The Slovene Constitutional Court has ruled several times, that the erasure was unconstitutional, but this fact did not improve substantialy the position of 18305 erased. The abovementioned telegram, undersingned by the former director of the direction for administrative and legal affairs, was the cause for massive violations of human rights and many individual and family tragedies. It resulted in deportations, separations of families and »official« preventions of unifications of family members; confiscations of earned and already payed health insurances and consequently the inability of health treatment, the incapability to manage your own property, curtailment of the right to children bonuses, curtailment of the right to education to the children, born in Slovenia, nonrecognition of parenthood, nonrecognition of pensions, the annulation and "official" destruction of documents, acquired in Slovenia, such as driving licences and so on.

Inhabitants of Europe, we are fighting against violations of basic human rights and for rights, that refer to human dignity. Also the level of rigts, acquired by erased, will influence the society in which we will live together and on the legacy, that we will leave to future generations.

We demand:
– A visit of the competent state agency of Republic of Slovenia during the next five days and its assurance, that the content of the decision of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Slovenia on April 3, 2003, will be implemented completely and in reasonable time. Otherwise we will repeat our protest in a less symbolic manner in the period of 30 days.
– Since we are erased in the sphere of the european legal order, we are asking the ambasador of the European Comission in Slovenia, mister Erwan Fouere, to receive the delegation of the erased on hunger strike, so that he can be acquainted with our problematic and can make a stand towards it.

Violence against erased on hunger strike: Nocturnal Report from the Hunger Strike of Erased

The erased were, in spite of permission to do the hunger strike, violently throwen out of the foyer of TR 3 and taken to the hospital to receive urgent medical help.

We, the group of erased have today, February 21st, 2005, at 12pm, began with the warning hunger strike in the foyer of the TR3 building in Ljubljana. After hole day of hunger strike, which was intensly followed by the media, and in which participated more than forty supporters, at 10.55 p.m. we received the guarantee from the representative of the security servis Sintal, that we were permited to stay over night in the foyer of the TR3 buliding, and next day, to continue peacefully with our pollitical action.

Representative of the security servis Sintal informed the media and our supporters that they were going to close the entrance to the building at 11pm. Therefore, the media and the supporters left TR 3 at that hour. They waited for a while in front of the entrance to the building to got sure that everything was O.K. with us.

At approximatelly 11.30 p.m. when some of us were already sleeping, approximatelly 15 guardians of Sintal came into the TR 3 building. They called us to leave the building. Then they threw us out of the TR3 violently (pulling us on the floor, throwing us out of the door), in spite of our explanations that our action was permited, also by Sintal. Some of us got harmed during this violent act, to not mention the fear and insults from their side (cefurji, that’s old Balkan insult for Jews, etc.), they have also broken the glasses of one of us, etc. We did not answer to their violence. The whole act was registrated by the security cameras located at TR3, so the violence of Sintal can be proved. Therefore we appeall to everybody who can get into possesion of the recordings, to demand them, so you can check all the happening and react to it properly, because we are not in possibility to do it.

At 11.40 our supporters and some of the media came back. We met at the subway of Maximarket and at 12.02 a.m. We called the pollice, who arrived at12.30. Five policemen did the procedure, and the victims and witnesses of the violence testifyed. One of the erased was immidiatelly taken by the police to the hospital Klinicni center of Ljubljana. The rest of us must call the ambulance by ourselves and at 1.30 a.m. we went to the checkup of our injurys.

You will be informed of the following happening of the last night on our press conference tommorow (22. 2. 2005). The press conference will take place at 11.00 a.m. at the foyer of TR3.

The erased citizens of Slovenia, participants of the hunger strike.

Ljubljana, Klinicni center, 22. 2. 2005

Press release at the meeting of Erased on a hunger strike with the ambassador of the European Commission in Slovenia

Today on February 24, 2005 at 11pm the ambassador of the European Commission in Slovenia Erwan Fouere accepted us in his office in the TR3 building. We informed him on the course of our action - the hunger strike and about violent removal from the building TR3 (21. 2. at 23:30). We also informed him that we have invited the representatives of the ECRI and the Commissioner for Human Rights at the Council of Europe Alvar Gil-Roberts in Slovenia.

We suggested to mister Fouere to get involved in a making of a new political body which will be engaged in the issue of the Erased. We would like this new political body to involve the representatives of the Erased, political partys or representatives of political partys, governmental and non-governmental organisations on national and internation level, civil society and The network for supporting the Erased. Those of us proceeding with the hunger strike asked mister Fouere to use all his authority in order to get the decision of the Constitutional Court implemented with consistency and without reservations. In the course of our conversation we also presented tragic stories of the Erased on the hunger strike.

The ambassador of the European Commission in Slovenia summoned us to stop the hunger strike. Regarding the violence in the TR3 building he said that he talked with the management of the TR3 and expressed his satisfaction that the case in under investigation of the police. He also expressed his personal support to implementation of the decision of the Constitutional Court dating from 2003.

As to the formation of the new political body mister Fouere said that this is unfortunately not the practise implemented by a representative of the European Commission in Slovenia. He stressed that his role is monitoring and informing about happenings in the member state of the EU. He also promised to keep informing the institutions of the EU regarding the issue of the Erased in the future.

The Erased residents of Slovenia on a hunger strike

Ljubljana, Cankarjev dom, 24. 2. 2005 (13:30)