Violent attacks against Roma in the Ponticelli district of Naples, Italy
On the evening of May 10th 2008, a young Italian mother of a six-month old baby living in the suburban district of Ponticelli in the municipality of Naples, found a young girl – later identified as a 16-year old Roma living in one of the city’s camps – in her apartment carrying her baby in her arms. Only a timely intervention by the police saved the intruder from the crowd threatening to lynch her. The GIP (Giudice per le indagini preliminari) of the Tribunal for Minors later confirmed the arrest of the girl after applying to her the restrictive measure of custodia cautelare (precautionary detention). (…) There was an immediate backlash against the Roma in Ponticelli, and law enforcement agents started patrolling the area to discourage attacks against Roma camps. Three hours after the supposed kidnap attempt, about 20 Italian residents of Ponticelli attacked a Romanian labourer returning home from work; he was beaten and stabbed in one shoulder. Fearing possible attacks against them, the Roma on their part organised themselves to keep watch over their shacks and alert the residents in case of an attack. On the afternoon of May 12th, three Italian boys set the entrance to a Roma camp in the district on fire after pouring petrol around it. Meanwhile small groups of Roma who lived in isolated shacks in the district started abandoning their homes and during the night between 12th and 13th May, unknown persons set a number of these isolated shacks on fire. In the days following the supposed kidnap attempt, numerous attacks were carried out against the Roma. (…) On the afternoon of May 13th, a group of about 300 to 400 locals led by women launched an assault against one of the biggest Roma camps in the district, home to 48 Roma families. Using wooden and metal clubs, the attackers succeeded in pulling down the metal fence. Once inside the camp, they shouted insults and threats, threw stones against shacks and caravans, and overturned some cars. At about the same time an abandoned building which until two days before had been used by six Roma families was set on fire. In two separate incidents on the same day, two Roma boys were beaten by a gang of local boys and a small pickup owned by a Roma person was set on fire. Two Roma women were harassed and driven out of a supermarket close to one of the big camps while they were shopping.
Source:
Incident Report – Violent Attacks Against Roma in the Ponticelli district of Naples, Italy (FRA 2008) http://fra.europa.eu/fraWebsite/attachments/Incid-Report-Italy-08_en.pdf
