The Bulgarian Helsinki Committee (BHC) strongly condemns the protest march that took place on Friday, September 12, under the slogan "Prohibit BHC." It was organized by the political party Bulgarian National Union - New Democracy (BNS-ND) and the Facebook group Fatherland Protection Movement. BHC also condemns the inaction of the Bulgarian authorities regarding a number of grave violations of the law committed at the event.

The march was attended by nationalist Boyan Stankov-Rassate, a member of the leadership of the BNS-ND, and Elena Vatashka and Radenko Grigorov from the Association of Bulgarian Football Fans.

Slurs and threats of rape

The protest reached its endpoint in front of the headquarters of the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee. While driving there, and in the presence of uniformed police officers, a significant group of the participants violated the traffic laws. Those gathered outside BHC's office directed a number of threats and insults at the organization and at specific employees, who were present in the office at that time.

The threats and insults included, "You are dead," "If it is still not clear to them, we will come to make it clearer, angrier and stronger," "Put up safety bars...and buy bulletproof vests," "Expect to be lynched," "Dirty, shitty whore," "Diyarbakir is waiting...and it is worse in the dark streets of Sofia where there are no cameras," "Bastards," "Monkeys," and "We’ll hang you upside down."

A woman visiting BHC's office was threatened with rape. During the demonstration, calls were made for a ban on NGO activities in Bulgaria as a whole. The slogans that were chanted essentially constituted public incitement to hatred and discrimination on racial or ethnic grounds.

These insults and threats were made in the presence of minor children and uniformed police officers, who did not react in any way.

Silence from Sofia's mayor

On the day of the march, BHC referred in writing to Sofia Mayor Yordanka Fandakova and called on her to issue a ban on the march in the light of its aims and of previous similar behavior of many of the participants in other similar public events. In a letter to the Sofia Municipality, BHC stated that one of the organizers of the protest, BNS-ND, is a neo-totalitarian organization that, despite being tolerated by Bulgarian authorities, is known for its racist and xenophobic activities and for its denial of the principles of political democracy and human rights. The mayor remained unavailable after numerous attempted phone calls. As of now, BHC has not received any response from the the mayor or any other municipal official.

During the rally, the demonstrators carried banners with the national-socialist symbol used by the BNS-ND party - a crossed hammer and sword. This is a modified version of the symbol of the Black Front - a political group that existed in Germany in the early 1930s and whose founder, Otto Strasser, was expelled from the Nazi Party.

Rising rhetoric against human rights

This case is yet another act of political persecution and harassment against BHC on the basis of its work in defense of human rights in Bulgaria. Earlier in 2014, the National Revenue Agency ordered and conducted a tax audit on the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee on the signal of the Bulgarian National Movement party (VMRO) another organization of neo-totalitarian bent. The audit came in response to the open signal that BHC referred to the prosecutor general regarding a march with xenophobic slogans, organized by the VMRO party and the "Association of Bulgarian Football Fans" in November 2013.

BHC notes with concern the trend of rising frequency and popularity of anti-human rights and anti-NGO rhetoric in the country in recent years, as well as the trend for political parties embracing such discourse. Freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of association are fundamental human rights, as proclaimed in the Constitution of the Republic of Bulgaria and in a number of international treaties signed by Bulgaria.

The regulation and the existence of civil society organizations are among the hallmarks of a democratic society and a fundamental value. Undermining them is undermining the foundations of democracy and civil society. There is an inherent danger in the calls for the closure of NGOs and attempts to delegitimize their work by reason of their funding from foreign donors, because such calls are always antidemocratic and xenophobic in their nature.

At the same time, the inaction of the Bulgarian authorities, including both law enforcement and municipal authorities, is disturbing and symptomatic. BHC will take legal action before the competent authorities against the organizers and participants of the demonstration, as well as against the state and municipal authorities, if it is found that their inaction was itself illegal.