The organization warns that the world is facing a watershed moment for international law amid flagrant violations of the rules by governments and corporate giants.
In our country, the main problems continue to be the deterioration of freedom of expression, the violation of the rights of the LGBTI community and the instilling of hatred against ethnic minorities. The human rights organization researches the period 2023-2024 on the state of human rights in a total of 155 countries, bTV informs
Freedom of expression
The deterioration of freedom of expression in our country is deepening. According to the report, the practice of filing strategic “slap cases” as a form of harassment and stopping embarrassing journalistic investigations is increasing in Bulgaria.
The organization notes the parliament’s efforts to provide better protection for journalists against such practices, but describes the changes to the Penal Code as “inadequate”. Among the changes adopted are significantly smaller penalties for insulting and defaming officials.
The Center for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom identifies Bulgaria as a “high risk” country in terms of media freedom and pluralism.
Rights of LGBTI people
Violation of the rights of the LGBT community remains a problem in Bulgaria.
In February, the Supreme Court of Cassation canceled the possibility of legal gender reassignment for trans people. In July, parliament passed amendments to the Penal Code that treat assaults based on the victim’s sexual orientation as hate crimes, thereby imposing harsher penalties on perpetrators.
In September, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that the lack of legal recognition of same-sex couples in Bulgaria constitutes a violation of the right to private and family life.
In its reasons, the court said that a legal framework, different from marriage, should be created in the country to regulate the relations of same-sex couples. The ruling does not mean it should allow same-sex marriage. Changes to the Family Code are required to create a legal framework governing same-sex family relationships.
Rights of migrants and refugees
Cases of pushing refugees and migrants across our borders, increasingly accompanied by violence, especially on the border with Turkey, are not decreasing, the report shows.
With the final vote of the European Parliament on the Pact on Migration and Asylum of the EU countries, it was decided to introduce “mandatory solidarity” between countries for the distribution of migrants in the European Union.
Thus, the principle of solidarity between the 27 countries has now become mandatory.
Countries that do not want to accept migrants will help frontline countries by engaging in other activities – for example, paying a contribution for each applicant they refuse to accept.
If Bulgaria signals that there are too many asylum seekers on our territory, the Council of the EU must decide how to redistribute them. If a country refuses to accept the number it is entitled to and another country agrees to take it, then the refusing country pays the agreeing country a sum of 20,000 euros per migrant.
“Over the last year, we have observed a deterioration in the state of human rights in Bulgaria, and this requires greater responsibility from the government and state institutions. Broad public engagement is needed to better understand and respect human rights, as well as mechanisms for citizen participation. This will also be the main focus of the newly formed office of Amnesty International Bulgaria, together with the building of a strong network of activists and supporters and the active dialogue with partners and the government”, commented Nayden Rashkov, Director of Amnesty International Bulgaria, quoted in the announcement of the organization.
Rights of people with disabilities
The report notes Bulgaria’s continued inability to guarantee the rights of people with disabilities and highlights the alarming state of conditions for people housed in psychiatric institutions and social care homes.
In April, the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture visited Bulgaria to review progress on the implementation of its long-standing recommendations regarding the “extremely worrying” situation of people in psychiatric institutions and social care homes.
In November, parliament set up a temporary committee tasked with drafting legislative proposals to guarantee the rights of patients with psychiatric illnesses.
Changes to the Health Act were passed in first reading earlier this month. They included the creation of mental health committees at the municipal councils of the municipalities in our country, the provision of protection for registered patients with mental illnesses in medical institutions, as well as funding of BGN 2 million for 273 patients who live in psychiatric clinics.
You can find the full report in English on the Amnesty International website.
