The Romani civil rights movement has succeeded in forwarding a number of international resolutions and recommendations, many of which have been adopted by multilateral organizations. However, resolutions and recommendations need to be implemented. Those ad opted by the multilateral organizations are usually not binding; they may be ignored by government executives as well as by national legislation, and usually they are. If improvements are to be made in pursuit of protection of Romani human rights, a bindi n g European Charta on Romani Rights needs to be drafted and ratified by the legislatives of European states, this would enable Roma and their representatives to use all legal means to assure the implementation of measures.

A European Charta on Romani Rights should include the following points:

• The right to receive protection against racist incitement, discrimination and violence;

• Freedom of movement within communities, states and member states of the European Community, freedom of cultural and political organization,

• The right to political representation as a national minority in national legislatives and as a nation in multilateral organizations.

• The right to elect a political representation to these bodies and the right to veto, via this representation, projects and measures that concern the fate of the Roma community,

• The right to receive native language instruction and vocational training, and the right to run an autonomous school system

In the Charta on Romani Rights, special reference must be made to government policy:

• Rather than encourage human rights violation by demanding restrictions on the freedom of movement, as has been the case recently, western governments should tie economic aid to control mechanisms for ensuring the safety and protection of the Romani popu la tion, as well as to development programs aimed at granting equal opportunities.

Government policies must include:

• immediate protection for refugees threatened by racist and other violent attacks;

• intervention, including political and economic pressure, to ensure protection in the countries of origin. Such measures, including political recognition of the Roma as an ethnic minority, should be made conditions for admitting applicants into European or ganizations and for granting economic and development aid;

• continuous monitoring of the human rights situation of Roma in eastern and central Europe,

• development projects must be run within the Romani communities if they are to serve as an instrument for long-term emancipation and integration.