site.btaChange in Attitude among Law-Enforcers to Respect for Human Rights Is "Not that Visible" - Human Rights Lawyer

Unfortunately, the change in the attitude of the law enforcement authorities towards respect for human rights is not as visible as the change in the attitude of lawyers, judges and prosecutors, lawyer Sofia Razboynikova of the Bulgarian Lawyers for Human Rights said in a BTA interview.

She blames this on the law-enforcement leaders and says for them the issue of human rights does not exist.

She believes that education and training in the field of human rights in the Ministry of Interior Academy are important because the standard in this department should be taught there and law enforcers should learn that certain rules are never to be broken. 

"If a focus is put on training, change will happens in law enforcement as well," said Razboynikova.

She said that once the Interior Ministry recognized the problem of domestic violence, the reaction of police officers to such cases changed significantly. "Until a few years ago, police officers did not understand that there was a problem with domestic violence. I would often get a phone call from a woman saying that her husband did this or that to her, and the police told her that it is a domestic problem and they should figure it out among them. Now that has changed dramatically. Every phone call about domestic violence leads to two police officers being sent to check what is going on. The fact is that the police always intervene now," Razboynikova said.

"Fighting domestic violence is part of protecting human rights," said the lawyer.

Regarding cases of refugees whose human rights were violated, she told the story of Salman Ahmed, who was a medical student in Iran and came to Bulgaria. The Migration Directorate issued an order that he was an illegal in Bulgaria and should be returned, and he was sent to a foreigners' facility in Busmantsi near Sofia. He appealed this order, the Sofia Administrative Court and the Supreme Administrative Court examined and annulled the order as unlawful, but the case lasted about 10 months. After the judgment came into force, he was released and he sued the two courts for failing to consider his application for release in a timely manner. The Sofia District Court ruled that the two courts violated the State and Municipal Liability Act, and ordered them to pay the claimed compensation of BGN 50. The man has always taken his case to the Strasbourg Court where he is suing this country for the degrading conditions he endured, lawyer Razboynikova said.