Human Rights in Bulgaria in 2009
In the first half of 2009, Bulgaria was governed by the triple coalition of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), the Simeon the Second National Movement (SSNM) and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF). The parliamentary elections on 5 July 2009 brought the end of this coalition. The elections were won by the centre-right Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (GERB), which formed a minority government supported in parliament by several centre-right parties. These include the extreme nationalist Ataka party, known for its anti-minority, xenophobic and homophobic rhetoric.
In 2009, the situation with regard to human rights was subject to varied developments. Both before and after the parliamentary elections, there were positive changes in some areas, as well as severe violations in others. The vulnerable social groups, including some religious and ethnic minorities, women, individuals with different sexual orientation, some categories of detainees and the poor, were most affected by the violations.
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This report was written by Antoaneta Nenkova, Daniela Furtunova, Elena Krasteva, Emil Cohen, Gabriela Galabova, Georgi Voinov, Iliana Savova, Krassimir Kanev, Margarita Ilieva, Slavka Kukova, Stanimir Petrov, Yuliana Metodieva. Chapter 9 of the report is based on information provided by the Access to Information Programme. Chapter 15 of the report is based on information provided by the Bulgarian Gender Research Foundation.
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