The "marginalization of and societal intolerance towards" the Romani minority remained Bulgaria's "most pressing human rights problem" throughout 2015, according to an official report of the United States.

The US Department of State's 2015 Human Rights Report on the country, issued along with reports on other countries on Wednesday, also highlights corruption, deterioration of the media environment and an increased dependence of the media's "corporate and political dependence" as other key issues.

"Concerns persisted... that corporate and political pressure combined with the growing and nontransparent concentration of media ownership and distribution networks gravely damaged media pluralism."

Further on, the executive summary lists: " unlawful killing; harsh conditions in prisons and detention facilities; police violence; and long delays in the judicial system. There were reports of religious discrimination and harassment; anti-Muslim demonstrations; shortcomings in refugee integration processes and policies; election fraud; gender-based violence and discrimination against women; violence against children; increasing online anti-Semitism; trafficking in persons; discrimination against persons with disabilities, ethnic minorities, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) persons; and social stigma against persons with HIV/AIDS. Child labor and discrimination against members of minorities in employment and occupation were also reported.

The government took steps to prosecute and punish officials in the security services and elsewhere who committed abuses, but their actions were insufficient, and impunity was a problem."

The US reports about the arbitrary or unlawful killing" of a Afghan migrant not far from the Turkish border on October 15.

"Human rights NGOs expressed concern that the government viewed migrants and asylum seekers more as a national security matter than as vulnerable persons in need of humanitarian assistance," the text reads in the "protection of refugees" section. Forceful pushbacks reported by NGOs ar also mentioned.  

A growing number of cases where force and weapons are misused by police is also listed as a concern, and mention is made of "a significant number of allegations of deliberate physical mistreatment of persons detained by police."

In 2015, "conditions in most prisons were harsh, with inadequate toilet and medical facilities."

On the October 2014 general election, the report reads observers noted "pervasive allegations of vote buying and the use of racist, xenophobic, and inflammatory rhetoric throughout the election campaign".

"It is important to underscore that the reports we released today, as voluminous as they are, represent just a tiny fraction of what this department does to advance freedom and dignity across the region," US State Secretary John Kerry noted at a press briefing on April 13, Wednesday.

The report is available here.

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