Sani Rifati is a

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

activist and the President of Voice of Roma. A native

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: People, characters, figures, names * Roma or Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas. * Roma called Roy, ancient Egyptian High Priest of Amun * Roma (footballer, born 1979), born ''Paul ...

himself, he was born in

Pristina Pristina or Prishtina ( , ), . is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. It is the administrative center of the eponymous municipality and District of Pristina, district. In antiquity, the area of Pristina was part of the Dardanian Kingdo ...

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

, lived and worked in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. He currently resides in Berlin, Germany. Rifati began dancing as a youth in

and was a part of the 'Kheljen Romalen!' Folklore Dance Ensemble. During the 1980s, he was a drummer for a professional band. He has worked as Romani dance instructor and choreographer. Since 2012 he has worked as a Roma-dance teacher at the refugee dance group Heimatsterne of the Arbeitsgruppe Flucht+Menschenrechte in Berlin. Rifati is a cousin of the Macedonian Gypsy vocalist and dancer Esma Redzhepova as well as being her tour manager. He has also managed Ivo Papasov, Yuri Yunakov, and Kal. He appeared on the

History Channel History (formerly and commonly known as the History Channel) is an American pay television television broadcaster, network and the flagship channel of A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney General Entertainme ...

s programme ''Curse on the Gypsies''.

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* * * * American human rights activists American Romani people American people of Romani descent Yugoslav emigrants to the United States Yugoslav Romani people Kosovan Romani people Romani dancers Serbian human rights activists Serbian Romani people People from Pristina Living people 1962 births {{Kosovo-bio-stub