Bulgarian NGO to Intervene in Landmark ECHR Access to Justice Case

Following a scandal with a huge number of avoidable deaths of disabled children placed in state institutions, the Bulgarian government announced plans to shut down all such facilities for children within 15 years, a goal that human rights campaigners have

The Bulgarian Helsinki Committee (BHC) has received an invitation from the claimants and has been given the court's permission to intervene in a landmark case concerning minority groups' access to justice.

The Campeanu vs Romania case sets a key precedent because it was initiated by two nongovernmental organizations, the Center for Legal Resources and INTERIGHTS, acting on behalf of a deceased without explicit authorization.

A Romani Gypsy living in Romania, Valentin Campeanu suffered from a mental disability and HIV.

He spent his childhood in various public institutions, after which no facilities were willing to accept him.

Finally, Campeanu was accepted into a social care facility, to which the local authorities failed to provide the antiretroviral medication he needed to manage his HIV.

His health deteriorated rapidly, and within a week of his arrival, Campeanu was sent to Poiana Mare Psychiatric Hospital, where he died within seven days of his arrival.

A coincidental visit of monitors from the Center for Legal Resources found that he had been left to die in utter neglect, with the hospital staff reported as refusing to touch him for fear of being infected with HIV.

The official investigation into the circumstances of Campeanu's death resulted in a decision of non-indictment, following an investigation termed "limited in scope, superficial, overly deferential towards medical opinion, and extremely lengthy" by INTERIGHTS.

The application brought before the European Court of Human Rights on 23 April 2009 is important because the case is representative of all institutions in the region, including the ones in Bulgaria, according to BHC.

According to INTERRIGHTS, the claim will test "the Court's ability to ensure effective access to its proceedings for people with disabilities".

"Currently the Court makes access to its proceedings in right to life cases conditional on the existence of a next of kin to bring a complaint on behalf of the deceased. Based on this approach, claims referring to deaths which occurred in social care institutions are effectively barred from being brought before the Court,", the NGO explains.

According to BHC's statement, if the Strasbourg court examines the claim, this will set a precedent which the Bulgarian NGO could use before the ECHR in cases of children with disabilities which died in state facilities.

BHC underscores that these cases were inadequately handled by the Bulgarian prosecution.

"ECHR has not yet ruled on the admissibility of the claim, but the document has been communicated to the government, which means that the Strasbourg court will hold serious deliberations before deciding", BHC says, adding that otherwise people with disabilities who die in long-term stay institutions without relatives to represent them would be served equal injustice twice, once by the ECHR and once by the national-level bodies.

BHC's intervention targets the lack of access to criminal justice for institutionalized people with disabilities from the entire region and insists on the recognition of NGO's rights to file claims on behalf of people who have died in the said situation or people who are alive and have been placed under guardianship in an institution and have no concerned relatives.

Apart from BHC, the case involves the intervention of Thomas Hammarberg, Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, and international NGOs Human Rights Watch and the Mental Disability Advocacy Centre.

In October 2010, Bulgarian prosecutors vowed to launch a thorough probe into the grisly picture of neglect at the country's state homes for mentally disabled children, where 238 kids have died since 2000.

The disturbing facts were revealed in September, following a joint operation of the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee (BHC) and the Chief Prosecutor's Office.

BHC's report said that more than three-fourths of the deaths had been avoidable: 84 from physical deterioration caused by neglect; 36 from exposure to cold or long-term immobility; 31 from malnutrition; 13 from infections caused by poor hygiene; 6 from accidents; 15 were unexplained.

The criminal investigations came as the government announced plans to shut down all state institutions for children within 15 years, a long-time goal pursued by human rights campaigners.

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