Pozivamo se na pravo na istinu često kada govorimo o kršenju ljudskih prava i humanitarnog prava. Obitelji žrtava pogubljenja, nestalih, mučenih, kao i obitelji djece koja su oteta, zahtijevaju znati što se s njima dogodilo. Pravo na istinu podrazumijeva saznanje cjelovite istine o događajima, njihovim specifičnim okolnostima, onima koji su u tim događajima sudjelovali, uključujući upoznavanje s okolnostima u kojima su se kršenja ljudskih prava dogodila, kao i razloge kršenja.

Tri su glavna razloga obilježavanja Međunarodnog dana prava na istinu o teškim povredama ljudskih prava i dostojanstva žrtava. Prvenstveno ovaj dan obilježavamo u znak sjećanja na ljude koji su bili žrtve kršenja ljudskih prava i promicanje važnosti prava na istinu i pravdu. Drugi je odavanje počasti onima koji su svoj život posvetili, a potom i izgubili u borbi za promicanje i zaštitu ljudskih prava. Treći je kako bi se odala počast i obilježila važnost onoga što je činio katolički nadbiskup San Salvadora Oscar Arnulfo Romero, koji je ubijen 24. ožujka 1980. godine, nakon što je javno osudio kršenje ljudskih prava i zauzeo se za najugroženije. Nadbiskup Romero stao je u obranu zaštite života, promicanja poštovanja ljudskog dostojanstva i protivio se svim oblicima nasilja.

Oscar Arnulfo Romero, prva osoba iz Srednje Amerike, koju je katolička crkva proglasila svetcem, od početka se protivio sustavnom kršenju ljudskih prava koje je vojna hunta provodila. Dan prije nego što je ubijen, predvodeći misu, u propovjedi je osporio autoritet vojne diktature tako što se izravno obratio policajcima i vojnicima, poručivši im da ih nitko ne može prisiliti na počinjenje ubojstva, i podsjetio ih kako je Božja zapovijed "Ne ubijaj" iznad svih drugih zapovjedi. “(Katolička) Crkva, braniteljica Božjih prava, Božjeg zakona, ljudskog dostojanstva i samih ljudi, ne može šutjeti na takve gadosti. Želimo da vlada shvati kako reforme nisu korisne ako su zaprljane krvlju." Pretpostavlja se kako je ova propovjed nadbiskupa bila ključni okidač njegova ubojstva.

Romi su najveća kršenja ljudskih prava pretrpjeli tokom porajmosa odnosno genocida nad Romima. Bio je to rezultat napora nacističke Njemačke i njenih saveznika u Drugom svjetskom rata da istrijebe sve Rome u Europi. Romi su tada označeni kao "neprijatelji države zasnovane na rasnom principu", kao i Židovi.

Primjere zvjerstava koje su Romi pretrpjeli lakše je posvijestiti na osnovu opisa dva romska dječaka u koncentracionom logoru Auschwitz o kojima je svjedočio Michael Berenbaum.

"Mengele ih je odveo. Kad su se vratili, bili su u strašnom stanju, zašiveni su leđa o leđa, poput sijamskih blizanaca. Iz inficirnih rana curio je gnoj. Tada su njihovi roditelji (...) uspjeli nabaviti morfij i usmrtili djecu kako bi okončali njihove patnje."

Saznavanje istine o teškim povredama ljudskih prava važno je i kako bi se spriječilo ponovno počinjenje tih zlodjela. Također, to je nužan korak ka iskorjenjivanju svih oblika diskriminacije usmjerenih prema manjinama ili zajednicama čija su prava već bila povrijeđena, a utvrđivanje istine o događajima neophodno je za bilo koji proces ozdravljenja među društvima.

Čak ni danas nije u dovoljnoj mjeri ostvareno priznanje porajmosa odnosno genocida učinjenog nad romskim narodom. Primjer za to je činjenica da je njemačka vlada plaćala ratne odštete Židovima koji su preživjeli holokaust, ali ne i Romima. O Pojasmosu se nedovoljno zna i zbog romske tradicije usmenog prenošenja povijesti kao i nepismenosti, prisutne zbog raširenog siromaštva i stalne diskriminacije usljed koje su neki Romi bili prisiljeni napustiti redovno obrazovanje. Prema riječima Nika Fortune, sociologa i romskog aktivista, nedovoljan pristup institucijama i diskriminacija s kojom su danas suočavaju Romi u Europi i svijetu, stvorila je ljude kojima nedostaje "nacionalna svijest (...) i povijesno pamćenje Holokaust jer ne postoji romska elita."

U Hrvatskoj je najtragičniji oblik Porajmosa bio koncentracijski logor Jasenovac. Uz Rome u Jasenovcu bili su i Sinti, koje su ustaše nasilno dovele iz raznih područja Hrvatske, Bosne i dijelovima Srbije koji su bili pod ustaškom državom. Prema popisu žrtava Jasenovca čija su imena utvrđena, najmanje 17.000 Roma ubijeno je u ovom koncetracijskom logoru.

U lipnju 1942. godine, kada je broj dovedenih Roma u koncentracijski logor bio ogroman, podijeljeni su u dvije skupine. Stariji muškarci, žene i djeca, razdvojeni su od mlađih muškaraca i odmah poslani u Donju Gradinu na pogubljenje. Mlađi muškarci smješteni su u dio koncentracijskog logora Jasenovac poznatog kao III C. U logora, točnije u delu III C, zatvorenici su umirali u velikom broju zbog gladi, žeđi, iscrpljenosti i fizičkog maltretiranja. Svakodnevno su ih ubijali. Tek je mali broj Roma bio izdvojen radi fizičkog rada, pretežno obavljajući najzahtjevnije poslove. U selu Uštica, nedaleko od Jasenovac, stvoren je dio ustaškog koncentracijski logor namjenjen za dio Roma, kojeg su ustaše nazivale "Ciganski logor". Veliki dio Roma prevezen je tijekom ljeta 1942. godine u Donju Gradinu i tamo ubijeno na najstrašnije načine. Dvadeset i jedna masovna grobnica na romskom groblju u Uštici svedoči o tome.

 

 

 

On 21 December 2010, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 24 March as the International Day for the Right to the Truth concerning Gross Human Rights Violations and for the Dignity of Victims. The date was chosen because on 24 March 1980, archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero of El Salvador was assassinated, after denouncing violations of human rights. It is also the date that in 1976 the most violent military dictatorship of Argentina was established.

The right to the truth is often invoked in the context of gross violations of human rights and grave breaches of humanitarian law. The relatives of victims of summary executions, enforced disappearance, missing persons, abducted children, torture, require to know what happened to them. The right to the truth implies knowing the full and complete truth as to the events that transpired, their specific circumstances, and who participated in them, including knowing the circumstances in which the violations took place, as well as the reasons for them.

There are 3 main purposes of the Day: to honour the memory of victims of gross and systematic human rights violations and promote the importance of the right to truth and justice; Pay tribute to those who have devoted their lives to, and lost their lives in, the struggle to promote and protect human rights for all; and to recognize, in particular, the important work and values of archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero, of El Salvador, who was assassinated on 24 March 1980, after denouncing violations of the human rights of the most vulnerable populations and defending the principles of protecting lives, promoting human dignity and opposition to all forms of violence.

Romero, who was the first person from Central America to become Saint, stood up from the first moments against La Junta’s systematic violations of Human Rights. One day before of his death, in his mass he challenged the authority of the dictators by referring directly to the police and soldiers, telling them that no one can force them to kill, and that God’s commandment “Do not kill” prevails over any order they can receive. “The (Catholic) Church, defender of the rights of God, of God’s law, of Human dignity, of people, cannot remain in silence against such an abomination. We want the government to understand that reforms are not useful if they are stained with blood.” It is said that this speech was the final trigger of his murder.

Regarding the Roma people, their biggest human rights violation were suffered in the Porajmos (Romani Genocide). It was an effort made by Nazi Germany and its World War II allies to commit genocide against Europe's Romani people. They were classified as "enemies of the race-based state", being in the same category as Jewish people.

An example of the atrocities suffered by Roma can be easily imagined by the description made by Michael Berenbaum regarding two Roma boys at the Auschwitz concentration camp:

“Mengele took them away. When they returned, they were in a terrible state: they had been sewn together, back to back, like Siamese twins. Their wounds were infected and oozing pus. Then their parents (…) managed to get some morphine and they killed the children in order to end their suffering.”

The importance of knowing the truth about gross human rights violation lies in that it is an essential element in order to prevent all these atrocities from happening again. It is also a necessary step to eradicate all forms of discrimination towards the minorities or communities that were affected by the human rights violations, and stablishing the truths of events is indispensable for any healing process among societies.

There is not enough recognition still today of Roma Porajmos / Genocide. An example of this is the fact that the German government paid war reparations to Jewish survivors of the Holocaust, but not to the Roma. Lack of information on Porajmos is due both of their tradition of oral history and illiteracy, heightened by widespread poverty and continuing discrimination that has forced some Roma out of state schools. Factors also like their lack of social institutions, and the discrimination faced by them in Europe and worldwide today have produced a people who, according to Nico Fortuna, a sociologist and Roma activist, lack a "national consciousness ... and historical memory of the Holocaust because there is no Roma elite.”

In Croatia, the most tragic form of the Porajmos is the Jasenovac concentration camp. Roma in Jasenovac consisted of both Roma and Sinti, who were captured in various areas of Croatia, Bosnia and parts of Serbia under ustashe state. According to Jasenovac’s list of identified Roma murdered, there is at least 17.000.

In June 1942, when the number of incoming Roma to the concentration camp was particularly high, they were divided into two groups. Older men, together with women and children, were separated from younger men and immediately dispatched to Donja Gradina for extermination. Younger men were placed in Camp III C. In Camp III C prisoners died in large numbers of hunger, thirst, exhaustion and physical mistreatment. They were led to be exterminated on a daily basis. Only a small number of the Roma were divided into groups to perform physical labour, where they predominantly worked on the most demanding jobs. In the village of Uštica, adjacent to Jasenovac, the Ustasha concentration camp for the Roma, a so-called “Gypsy Camp” was set up. A portion of the prisoners was transported during the summer of 1942 to Donja Gradina and exterminated there in the most horrific ways. Twenty-one mass graves at the Roma cemetery in Uštica are proof of this.