…of the Association of Former Political Prisoners of Romania, against the decision of Craiova City Hall to DISESTABLISH CRAIOVA MEDICAL REHABILITATION CENTRE FOUNDATION by not extending the lease agreement for the space held for 18 years!
Craiova Medical Rehabilitation Centre Foundation (previously named ICAR Foundation – Craiova Subsidiary) assists mainly the victims of torture of the Communist regime – members of the Association of Former Political Prisoners of Romania (former political prisoners, deportees, displaced persons etc – beneficiaries of special laws 118/1990, 189/2000 and 309/2002) and serves 833 members of AFDPR. The foundation has carried out continuous activities from its setting-up – 22.11.1997 and up to the present time in the space belonging to the public domain, located in Craiova, 30 Amaradia St. This space is managed by RAADPFL Craiova, is the object of Lease Agreement No 461/20.11.2007 (previous agreements: 134/06.09.2000, 18/30.07.1997) and was made available to the Foundation by the local public administration authorities pursuant to the law of 1997, at the request of AFDPR.
The interruption of the implementation of the ongoing agreements RESULTS IN LEGAL CONSEQUENCES FOR WHICH NOT THE FOUNDATION, BUT THE LOCAL AUTHORITIES WHICH HAVE PREVENTED IT WILL BE RESPONSIBLE.
We would like to remind you that Romania is signatory of:
– The United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, of 26 June 1987, which provides as follows: the governments of the signatory countries must undertake the compliance with international laws regarding the prevention and support of victims of torture, as well as the following obligations: full prohibition of torture; prosecution and punishment of torturers; guaranteeing the right to reparation, including rehabilitation for victims of torture;
– Directive 2012/29/EU OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 25 October 2012, from which we quote:
Article 8 – Right to access victim support services
(3) Member States shall take measures to establish free of charge and confidential specialist support services in addition to, or as an integrated part of, general victim support services, or to enable victim support organisations to call on existing specialised entities providing such specialist support. Victims, in accordance with their specific needs, shall have access to such services and family members shall have access in accordance with their specific needs and the degree of harm suffered as a result of the criminal offence committed against the victim.
(4) Victim support services and any specialist support services may be set up as public or non-governmental organisations and may be organised on a professional or voluntary basis.
Craiova Medical Rehabilitation Centre Foundation is a medical centre approved and accredited by the Directorate of Public Health, Dolj College of Physicians and Dolj Health Insurance House.
We are convinced that the Romanian authorities, through the competent institutions, will fulfil their responsibilities towards the civil society and international bodies, to whose conventions and directives Romania is signatory.
Read the full text: Letter of Protest.
AFDPR, the 22nd Congress, 28-29 August 2015 Râmnicu Vâlcea; LETTER of PROTEST against the decision of Craiova City Hall to DISESTABLISH CRAIOVA MEDICAL REHABILITATION CENTRE FOUNDATION by not extending the lease agreement for the space held for 18 years! Craiova Medical Rehabilitation Centre Foundation (previously named ICAR Foundation – Craiova Subsidiary) assists mainly the victims of torture of the Communist regime – members of the Association of Former Political Prisoners of Romania (former political prisoners, deportees, displaced persons etc – beneficiaries of special laws 118/1990, 189/2000 and 309/2002) and serves 833 members of AFDPR. The foundation has carried out continuous activities from its setting-up – 22.11.1997 and up to the present time in the space belonging to the public domain, located in Craiova, 30 Amaradia St. This space is managed by RAADPFL Craiova, is the object of Lease Agreement No 461/20.11.2007 (previous agreements: 134/06.09.2000, 18/30.07.1997) and was made available to the Foundation by the local public administration authorities pursuant to the law of 1997, at the request of AFDPR. Summary: – On 8 June 2015, we submitted with RAADPFL Craiova a request for the extension of the ongoing lease agreement (No 8809/08.06.2015), 5 (five) weeks before the expiry of the lease, as we have done every year for the past 15 years, because, once the lease expires, so do other contracts, authorisations, approvals, accreditations that need to be changed/reregistered, depending on the lease document. (Directorate of Public Health, Dolj College of Physicians and Dolj Health Insurance House, CEZ Vanzare SA) – Further to the letter of the foundation, RAADPFL Craiova submitted the necessary documentation to Craiova City Hall (on 14 July 2015), pursuant to the Framework Rules for the Lease of Assets Belonging to the Public or Private Domain of Craiova Municipality (approved by Local Council Decision 192/2015, Article 93): «At the expiry date of the lease agreements concluded prior to these rules, they shall be extended with the approval of the Local Council of Craiova Municipality». – On 14 July 2015: a) representatives of RAADPFL informed the Foundation verbally that the extension of the agreements falls no longer within the competence of RAADPFL. b) The Foundation submitted Notice No 104409/14.07.2015 to Craiova City Hall. The result: no answer. c) Smarandache Simona, as legal representative of the foundation, made an appointment to see the Mayor (no number of registration was allotted, the office claiming that that was the procedure; «We’ll call you back»). The result: We received no telephone call. b) Smarandache Simona, as legal representative of the foundation, requested a meeting with the Mayor, to be able to present the critical circumstances of the foundation. The answer: “I am sorry, the Mayor can’t see you. Please leave a telephone number and we’ll get back to you when she can. The result: we received no telephone call. 2 – On 22 July 2015, the Foundation submitted Notice No 7581/22.07.2015 with the Prefect’s Institution – Dolj County, to request its support for the settlement of the critical situation. The result: the Prefect’s Institution submitted, in its turn, a notice to Craiova City Hall. – On 21 August 2015, further to the publication of the order of the ordinary meeting of 27.08.2015, it is found that the request for extension of the lease agreement is not included on the agenda (these meetings are held once a month, on the last Thursday of the month). On 24 August 2015 : a) The representatives of CEZ Vanzare SA interrupted the supply of electrical energy during medical activities (physiotherapy activities, appointments, issuance of prescriptions), paralysing the foundation’s activity and leaving ill people without treatment. b) Smarandache Simona, as legal representative of the foundation, requested a meeting with the director of the Legal Department of Craiova City Hall to be able to present the critical situation of the foundation. The result: after a few minutes, she was “invited“ to leave the office and was told: “Please, I’m not wasting my time with this, I’m not interested“. c) We requested with the Registry of the Local Council of Craiova Municipality the registration of a notice to the Local Council, but the receipt and registration of this notice was refused. The notice was received and registered only after repeated requests with the Registry of Craiova City Hall ( No 126205/24.08.2015). On 25 August 2015: we requested another meeting with the Mayor, but it was not possible again. Given this situation, we request the competent authorities to take urgent action to settle the request and to provide the support for: – the 833 members of AFDPR enrolled in the foundation, patients who receive medical, psychological and social services – to not endanger the continuity of the foundation’s activity, internal and external ongoing agreements namely : a) Agreement No 932 for clinical outpatient services and No 1253 for health recovery services, signed with Dolj Health Insurance House b) Agreement HOME/2013/PPVT/AG/5309 30-CE-0637334/00-51, signed with the European Commission c) Agreement No P.165-DA, signed with the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights – to justify before the international bodies that provide funding THE INVESTMENT OF OVER EURO 40,000 IN THE SPACE UNDER DISCUSSION, TO BRING IT TO NATIONAL AND EUROPEAN OPERATING STANDARDS. The interruption of the implementation of the ongoing agreement RESULTS IN LEGAL CONSEQUENCES FOR WHICH NOT THE FOUNDATION, BUT THE LOCAL AUTHORITIES WHICH HAVE PREVENTED IT WILL BE RESPONSIBLE. This attitude of the local authorities also results in losses to certain state institutions, as taxes and duties arising out of these agreements are not received by them. We would like to remind you that Romania is signatory of: – The United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, of 26 June 1987, which provides as follows: the governments of the signatory countries must undertake the compliance with international laws regarding the prevention and support of victims of torture, as well as the following obligations: full prohibition of torture; prosecution and punishment of torturers; guaranteeing the right to reparation, including rehabilitation for victims of torture; – Directive 2012/29/EU OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 25 October 2012, from which we quote: Article 8 – Right to access victim support services (3) Member States shall take measures to establish free of charge and confidential specialist support services in addition to, or as an integrated part of, general victim support services, or to enable victim support organisations to call on existing specialised entities providing such specialist support. Victims, in accordance with their specific needs, shall have access to such services and family members shall have access in accordance with their specific needs and the degree of harm suffered as a result of the criminal offence committed against the victim. (4) Victim support services and any specialist support services may be set up as public or non-governmental organisations and may be organised on a professional or voluntary basis. We specify that the foundation: – takes great efforts to obtain grants directly from the international bodies, to ensure medical services for 833 beneficiaries – victims of torture of the Communist regime and their families. – constantly presents to the international bodies the assistance of the Romanian local public authorities for the support of the victims of torture and, implicitly, of the foundation activities by offering this space that is absolutely necessary for our activity. The foundation’s activity consists of medical, psychological and social services for the members of AFDPR Dolj and other elderly persons – members of various associations of pensioners. The foundation’s activity is permanently monitored by international bodies such as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the European Commission and International Council for Torture Victims, where our centre is an accredited member (www.irct.org). The foundation’s activity is subject to the annual meeting of the Advisory Committee for Civic Dialogue for Issues of the Elderly, set up within the Prefect’s Institution – Dolj County and reported to the Government, as activity carried out in Dolj County for the support of the elderly. Craiova Medical Rehabilitation Centre is a medical centre approved and accredited by the Directorate of Public Health, Dolj College of Physicians and Dolj Health Insurance House. We are convinced that the Romanian authorities, through the competent institutions, will fulfil their responsibilities towards the civil society and international bodies, to whose conventions and directives Romania is signatory. In the name of the Association of Former Political Prisoners of Romania, President Octav Bjoza 29 August 2015, Râmnicu Vâlcea