June 1990 Mineriad

The June 1990 Mineriad was the suppression of the student-led protests ("the Golaniad") in 1990 Romania by the miners of Jiu Valley called in by the newly-elected power to Bucharest. The miners, armed with clubs, wounded more than a thousand people and killed up to 200 people. The Mineriad has been described as an "'instrument of pressure and intimidation' designed to coerce and punish forces which were felt to be threatening the security and welfare of Romania and its people". [Tom Gallagher, "Modern Romania: The End of Communism, the Failure of Democratic Reform, and the Theft of a Nation", New York: New York University Press, 2005. ISBN 0814731724]

Background

:"Main article: Golaniad"

The initial enthusiasm after the Romanian Revolution of 1989 was tempered in January 1990, after the National Salvation Front (Frontul Salvării Naţionale, FSN), the organization that seized power during the revolution, decided to run as a party in the elections it would organize. Further discontent was brought by fact that many of its leaders, including its president, Ion Iliescu, were ex-communists. The protesters believed that the revolution had been hijacked and were concerned that all the victims of the revolution might have died in vain.

Protests in University Square began in April and were led by students and professors at the University of Bucharest. Their main demand was official recognition for the eighth demand of the popular Proclamation of Timişoara, which stated that the communists should be prevented from holding official functions—the elected president of Romania, Ion Iliescu being a former Communist himself.

Iliescu named them "golani" (rascals) or "huligani" (hooligans) and said that the protesters were either fascists or good-of-nothing hooligans. The protesters used that name "golani" and the movement came to be known as the Golaniad. In the months that followed, these "hooligans" became the symbol of anti-communism in Romania.

The movement and protests intensified after the success of Iliescu and his party, the FSN, in the May elections. The protesters saw this as being mainly because the opposition had little chance to make an effective campaign. The FSN government's program had few or no reforms on its agenda, while the intellectuals wanted Romania to switch to a capitalist democracy as soon as possible.

President Iliescu called in the miners and his government provided them with train transportation to Bucharest in order to save the "besieged democratic regime" and restore order and democracy in Bucharest. He later thanked them for helping him quell "the fascist attempt to create a coup d'état".

Prelude

On 22 April, the Christian-Democratic National Peasants' Party (Partidul Naţional Ţărănesc Creştin şi Democrat, PNŢCD, now the Christian-Democratic People's Party) and other parties organised a demonstration in Aviators' Square. After the peaceful demonstration, groups of people marched towards the Romanian Television (TVR) station, calling for its political independence. They continued their protest in University Square and decided to sit in overnight. Two days later, they were still there, their numbers growing. They stated that they would not leave the Square, dubbing their protest the big anti-communism protest.

Their main demands were the adoption of point 8 of the Proclamation of Timişoara (no ex-communists in the new government), the political independence of TVR, and enquiries about the truth of the Revolution. The Geology Faculty's balcony became the stage for almost a month of protest.

On 11 June, negotiations between the government with the demonstrators failed. About 100 people, dissatisfied with the result of the dialogue between the government and the hunger strikers, started rioting in Victoria Square (Piaţa Victoriei) and closed in on Victoria Palace (Palatul Victoriei, the government's headquarters).

Police, military police and army forces appeared, together with some armoured personnel carriers. The police pushed the demonstrators back to Calea Victoriei and retreated towards the Palace. On 12 June, there was a meeting in Victoria Palace in which it was decided to "liquidate" the demonstration in University Square.

13 June

4:00 AM: The police forces attack the hunger strikers. Tents are ripped up and destroyed, medical files disappear, and personal objects are confiscated. The strikers are beaten and arrested, but some escape and take refuge in the hall of the InterContinental Hotel.

5:00: Police attack the Architecture Institute (Institutul de Arhitectură), beat up the students, surround the Square and build barricades out of vehicles. The representatives of the Police Press Bureau declare that they don't know what is happening in the city centre.

9:30: Demonstrators appear around the barricade built between Colţea Hospital and "Luceafărul" Cinema and start chanting anti-government protests: "Jos Chiţac", "Jos Iliescu!", "Jos comunismul!" ("Down with (Mihai) Chiţac!", "Down with Iliescu!", "Down with Communism"). Many arrests take place.

11:00: The number of arrests is made public by radio: about 240. At the Architecture Faculty (Facultatea de Arhitectură) there is a press conference of students and hunger strikers who were attacked but had managed to evade arrest.

12:00: The Architecture Institute is assaulted by a group of men shouting: "I.M.G.B. makes the law!". Another group, mostly of women, shout: "I.C.T.B. makes the law!", brandishing clubs, crowbars and other such weapons. The students barricade themselves, but the building is assaulted. The police show up. Other groups shout anti-governmental slogans and split apart the two groups of workers. Curious people started to appear.

14:00: From the Academiei and Colţei streets Molotov cocktails are launched. In the area surrounded by the University, Architecture Institute and the Negoiu Hotel, the crowd shouts and boos. The police appear, but withdraw because people are throwing bottles and rocks from the rooftops.

17:30: The demonstrators smash the police barrage and reach the balcony. More policemen appear, but are forced to withdraw under the heavy "artillery barrage" of rocks and bottles. An explosion sets fire to the police bus that blocks the entry to the square. The police withdraw and the square is occupied. At the truck barricade on Oneşti street a bus is set on fire. At the balcony of the Geology College (Facultatea de Geologie), Marian Munteanu, head of the Student League from the University of Bucharest, announced that the students are on strike and will barricade themselves in the building until their arrested colleagues are released. Shortly after, the main HQs of the Bucharest Police, Interior Minister and SRI are attacked. Molotov cocktails are thrown, fires started, acts of violence take place, documents and objects are destroyed and people are taken captive. There are rumours that trains full of miners are heading for Bucharest.

Ion Iliescu gives an address to the public, urging them to oppose the violent acts and do everything they can to re-establish order. Iliescu later described the atmosphere of that day: "The Romanian Capital lived a nightmare. The population was horrified by the scenes of violence and anarchy. Explosions and fires in the central points, clouds of smoke over the city, on the streets battles harassing between the police and demonstrators, fright and general confusion. The police forces were absolutely overwhelmed".

18:00: Thousands of demonstrators gather in the Television yard, although the zone is guarded by police and civilians. People armed with clubs and other improvised weapons get to the entrance to Pangratti Street. Violence occurs. Broadcasting is interrupted. In the Television building, the film archive is destroyed, along with IBM subtitle machines, montage rooms and mobile phones. Telephone wires are cut, documents are stolen or destroyed, windows are broken and people are violently attacked.

14 June

In the early morning, between 10,000 and 12,000 miners from the Jiu Valley reach Bucharest, on trains commissioned by the chief of the cabinet of the Romanian Prime Minister. They head for Victoria Square where they are welcomed and bread is distributed to them from army vehicles. Even on the way to the square they attacked at least one man, who they deemed to represent the opposition.

A number of officials appear at the Council of Ministers at Victoria Square, and finally Iliescu shows up accompanied by representatives of the miners. In his speech he accuses the demonstrators of the University Square of being alcoholics, drug addicts, fascists (making reference to the Iron Guard "Legionnaires" of the World War II era), and bandits. In the square are also groups carrying banners showing that they are from particular factories. The miners are thanked for their presence, and, following the guidances of Ion Iliescu who directly tells them to clear the University Square, the bands of miners appear to be led by a man with a clean "miner's suit" on and an arm-band with the colours of the Romanian flag.

Armed with clubs, chains, crowbars, etc. the miners start punishing those whom they hold responsible for the violence of the previous day. The violence was mostly blamed on the opposition. The miners take the opposition leaders' photographs and set off to find them. Many people who merely look like opposition leaders are badly beaten up. The Bucharest headquarters of opposition political parties from are assaulted. The Museum of the Romanian Peasant is devastated because it is mistaken for the headquarters of the National Peasants' Party (PNŢCD).

Also, the anti-communist newspapers and magazines "România Liberă", "Dreptatea", "Expres", "22", "Baricada" are attacked and devastated, and many newspaper workers are badly beaten. The miners rushed into the building where "România Liberă" is printed, destroying everything they could. "România Liberă", like many other publications, was not published in the interval of 15-18 June. The students are also subjected to the fury of the miners. The University and Architecture Institute are devastated and many students badly beaten: five are killed and 462 injured. Student leader Marian Munteanu survived, although badly beaten, and barely saved from a miner who wanted to decapitate him with a hatchet.

The witnesses of that day declared that many atrocities took place: innocent people were attacked, some because they were mistaken for other people, others because they had a beard, girl students because their skirts were too short. The miners took most of the people they arbitrarily arrested to the nearby Ministry of the Interior, where they had to pass a gauntlet of fists and clubs before they were taken in by the officials. The latter was a clear example of collusion between the miners and the officials of the government. For some reason, tanks and armoured cars were also manoeuvring in the streets close to the Ministry of the Interior.

From 14-15 June arrests of the people involved in the demonstration of University Square continued.

Victims

The official figures say that during this third Mineriad, seven people were killed and more than a thousand were wounded. However, some NGOs say that up to 188 people died. The newspaper "România Liberă" said that over 128 unidentified bodies were buried in a common grave in "Străuleşti II" cemetery, near Bucharest. The records of the Neurosurgery department of the Municipal Hospital from Bucharest show that hundreds of severely wounded people were treated in those days, of which 60 died in the next months.

Aftermath

According to the report of Gheorge Robu and Interior Minister Doru Viorel Ursu, from the events of 13-15 June 185 people were arrested; 34 put on trial; 2 freed unconditionally; 17 freed under parole after medical examinations; 81 freed under parole; 51 remained under arrest.

The demonstrations in University Square persisted until about 24-25 August 1990. Many people rioting shouted: "Iliescu, be a boyar, go and be a miner!" ("Iliescu fii boier, du-te şi te fă miner!"). After 13-15 June, on the walls of the Architecture College (Facultatea de Arhitectură) graffiti could be seen that read: "Tiananmen Square II" ("Piaţa Tien An Men II")

Iliescu later claimed that he had called the miners to Bucharest to plant pansies in University Square.

Press reaction

The pro-Iliescu press (such as "Adevărul", "Dimineaţa", "Azi") praised the miners for being the "defenders of liberty and democracy" and criticized the international press who, they claim, saw only one part of the issue.

The international press was horrified by the events of Bucharest, and all sympathy the new Romanian government had gained after the Revolution of December 1989 was lost. Some western nations even discussed the possibility of sanctions against Romania. The only news agency that was in favour of the Romanian government's actions was the Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union, which considered that the working men of Romania defended their government from the extremist forces supported by the Western nations.

The official government position on the foreign press opinion was expressed on 15 June 1990 by Prime Minister Petre Roman. He declared that the international press had a "strange" point of view and that the intervention against the opposition was not a "fascist program", but it was the other way around, the protesters being the fascists.

References

* Academia Caţavencu, "13-15 Iunie: Trei zile cu ghinION", no. 16/2005, 27 April 2005.
* Hotnews, [http://www.hotnews.ro/articol_50331-Razboiul-civil-din-13-15-iunie-1990-si-gropile-comune.htm Razboiul civil din 13-15 iunie 1990 si gropile comune]

External links

* [http://www.aliantacivica.ro/atitudini/1315iunie2005.htm Alianta Civica about the mineriad of June 1990]