Condemning murder of three Roma sisters in Rome, ODIHR Director Link stresses need for investigation of, robust reaction to possible racist motivation

WARSAW, 11 May 2017 – Michael Georg Link, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), today condemned the murders of three Roma sisters, ages four, eight and 20, who died in a fire after a Molotov cocktail was thrown at their camper van on the outskirts of Rome early Wednesday morning.

“Whoever committed this monstrous crime must be brought to justice, and I urge the relevant authorities in Italy to carry out a thorough investigation to find those guilty and prosecute them to the full extent of the law,” the ODIHR Director said. “Investigators are reviewing all possible motivations for the crime, and if the attack is determined to have been racially motivated, only a robust response by the criminal justice system and from political leaders can send the necessary message.”

Director Link commended public statements by both Italy’s President, the Speaker of the Lower House of the Parliament and the Mayor of Rome condemning the murders. He also stressed that more needed to be done to improve the living conditions and security of Roma communities, and to counter and prevent inflammatory anti-Roma rhetoric, including by politicians, that can create and fuel the hatred that leads to such attacks.

“All OSCE participating States have committed themselves to improving the situation of Roma and Sinti and to preventing and countering hate crimes of any sort in their countries,” the ODIHR Director said. “We are concerned about repeated reports on hate incidents targeting Roma communities in Italy. If this inhuman act was, indeed, motivated by such hatred, it is incumbent on the relevant Italian authorities to demonstrate that such crimes will not be permitted.