Rome — the capital of Italy — a world-wide attraction. The tourists are taking snapshots of beautiful Fontana di Grevi, the Coliseum and Piazza de Venezia (Venice Square), unaware that this ancient city's current mayor and presidential candidate for the Partito di Sinistra (Political Party of the Left), Mr. Rutelli, is committing human rights abuses in order to win the votes of his national constituency. He promotes his party's ambitions at the cost of expelling the Romá from Róma. According to the information which I received from #3 Febraio Assiciazione Nazionale Antirazzista (National Organization for Anti-racism; also called "#3 Febraio"), the City is going to build a new archeological theme-park/tourist-attraction at the very location of refugee camp Casilina 700.
What is Casilina 700?
Casilina 700 is one of the largest Roma refugee camps in Europe. Living there are some 450-500 people who have taken flight from their countries of origin in order to escape life threatening political situations. There are Roma from Romania, Macedonia, Bosnia and Morocco.
People in the camp are living in very bad conditions, having no electricity, or gas. The nearest water source is 1.5 kilometers away and the barracks themselves are hastily improvised by the residents from pieces of wood, plastic tarps and other material, in order to have at least some kind of shelter. The children are not even allowed to go to the Italian schools. The entire camp is surrounded by big bars, with a guarded checkpoint controlling the comings and goings of everyone there.
Record of Events at Camp Casilino 700:
(compiled from reports by Sani Rifati - VOR President, Kate Carlisle - N.Y. Times reporter, and Stefano Montesi - Italian NGO representative)
Casilino 700 has been subjected to further dismantling. On Saturday, August 26, 2000, Lieutenant Lodoni (head the Municipal police unit overseeing Casilino 700 and 900) and another plain-clothed policeman, along with police photographers, arrived with two bulldozers. Eight shacks were destroyed in the Romanian section of the camp.
Inhabitants were first allowed to remove their possessions, after which police took photographs of the Shacks' interiors. Then these Roma were told that they were "free to leave". Reportedly, Roma with staying permits issued for pregnancy (temporary permits, Valid until four months after birth) and with asylum applications pending were told that these documents were invalid and that they were not eligible for transfer to another "authorized" camp, either.
Ten more shacks were destroyed on the morning of Tuesday, the 29th. In a continuing effort to further dismantle the "favelas of Europe" and make way for the building of the archeological theme-park, the city of Rome authorized bulldozers to flatten what they insisted were "empty shacks".
Despite protests from Romani inhabitants and activists from #3 Febriao, as well as from VOR, three shacks, along with their inhabitants' possessions, were destroyed. Giorgio Bultianu, 61 years old, suffered the loss of his means of survival: two violins which he had brought with him from Romania.
Well known on the streets of Rome for his lively performances, Giorgio had to hear about his loss via telephone. He was in Romania, preparing for his wedding to his now wife, Maria, who had to call him and explain that their carefully tended shack had been completely erased.
This was in spite of the fact that Giorgio was a legal resident in Italy and was slated for a spot in one of Rome's new authorized camps. Along with his violins, the shack also held his doll collection, clothing, family photos and most of his and Maria's possessions.
The usual crew arrived at 6:15 am. Lieutenant Lodoni and approximately 23 police (eight in street clothes) oversaw the operation. This time, however, they didn't check to see if any possessions had been removed. One woman, who was at the water fountain, arrived just in time to pull her sleeping child from his bed. According to witnesses, the undaunted destruction team paused only briefly to let her and her two year old pass in front of their vehicles and disappear into the morning fog.
On Monday, the 28th, another 15 shacks in the same area were destroyed under identical circumstances. Since that previous Saturday, a total of approximately 150 inhabitants had been dispersed to whereabouts unknown.
There were also three from among the Romanian Roma who were taken into Via Genoa police headquarters at 10am that same morning. Their status is still unknown and the police will not reveal any information regarding their detention.
On August 30, at 10am, a procession of some 200 Roma and Moroccan immigrants, as well as representatives from Voice of Roma (California), and the Italian and International NGO's, arrived at the Prefecture's office (Enzo Mosino) in the center of Rome to protest the continuing destruction of homes. The ten shacks torn down on the morning of Tuesday the 29th brought the total number of habitations destroyed to 33, since that previous Saturday.
Officials at the camp that Wednesday morning denied that any possessions were destroyed and insisted that they had photos to prove this fact. Witnesses at the site, however, reported that at least three of the shacks still held property belonging to Roma and that they were not uninhabited, as the officers maintained. The officer responsible for overseeing the destruction of one of the particular shacks in question (that of Mr. Bultianu) was "away from the site when it was torn down" and, therefore, could not say if it was empty or not.
According to photographer Stefano Montesi, when Mr. Bultianu's wife attempted to question the camp authorities, she was dismissed "with the wave of a hand". Lieutenant Lodoni reportedly turned to another officer and commented, "now what does she want?", but refused to speak with her directly. Roma who had their shacks destroyed were not allowed to examine the ruins to recover lost goods, nor were NGO representatives or photographers allowed to go near these heaps which, less than 24 hours previously, had been people's homes.
The group of volunteers from #3 Febraio and I arrived at the camp at 6:15 am, along with some other journalists from a daily newspaper. It was very frightening to see fully equipped police cordons waiting there. There were around 45-50 of them, as well as several inspectors.
When we were denied access, I pulled out my video camera and began recording. Immediately, one of the inspectors came very close to me and took my picture in an attempt to intimidate me, after which I spontaneously pulled out my photo camera and began taking his picture.
Several bulldozers were roaming in the direction of the camp, followed in front by a police car and several big trucks. At the end of this procession were three police vans carrying policemen in riot gear. The destruction of the barracks then began at 7:00 am, sharp. We did not go in until 9:30. At this time, the police were still inside and the bulldozers were still destroying people's houses.
The fear and devastation that these people felt could be seen in their faces, which silently begged for an end to this nightmare. "This is like hell", I heard one of the women say to Antonella Pelillo, president of #3 Febraio. Another woman said "I am here since 1993, my documents are legal, and still they tore down my barrack. Now where am I going to sleep with my three kids?".
At 10:00 am, a group of 200-250 Roma and Moroccans went to Piazza de Venezia to protest. They stayed there until 3:00 pm and managed to talk with the Prettura officials without any resolution. I camped at Casalina 700 that night with a friend of mine from #3 Febraio. We got up at 5:30 am to the same scene as before — several police with a couple of bulldozers and trucks.
Protesters were taken to the police station for questioning. Five of these people had their documents torn up in front of them. Police told the protesters to think twice before marching against Roman authority. Police then went to the camp and singled out families to check on documents, which they then ripped up and threw at their feet, saying, "let this be a lesson to all." Because I had been at the march, police tried to take my camera before escorting me off the camp. The Minister of Foreign affairs, Luigi Lusi, picked one man from the camp to speak for the Roma. After the protest Lusi sent word, telling him to keep his Gypsies under control and to avoid media contact.
In the last week of this tragedy #3 Febraio volunteer Meyer Journo jumped in front of a bulldozer, effectively putting an end to these operations. Police attempted to pull him out, but he resisted and refused to move. Roma who were present at that point encircled them and made the police pull back. This was a very courageous act by Mr. Journo and a successful move by the Roma at ending that day's destruction.
