Czech Republic

Czech Interior Ministry says DSSS still in crisis, Islamophobia stronger than antigypsyism

27.4.2015 20:59 Extremists in the Czech Republic convened 44 events during the first quarter of this year, 32 fewer than during the same period last year. The number of crimes related to extremism during the same period rose slightly year-on-year, from 46 in 2014 to 50 this year.  full story

Analysis: Czech PM must clarify Government's stance on discrimination in education

27.4.2015 16:37 A report by Amnesty International (AI) released last week reminded us of more than the fact that the discrimination of Romani children persists in the Czech schools. The differing reactions to the report from Czech Education Minister Marcel Chládek and Czech Human Rights Minister Jiří Dienstbier once again showed that despite declarations of unity, the approaches taken by governing politicians to the future of inclusive education and the "practical schools" are very different.  full story

Czech court commissions evidence review in response to convicted neo-Nazi murderer's request for retrial

Hradec Králové, 27.4.2015 0:30 On 22 April, the Regional Court in Hradec Králové did not reach a decision on a motion filed by Vlastimil Pechanec to reopen the proceedings in the case of the racially motivated murder of a Romani man, Otto Absolon, at a discotheque in the Czech town of Svitavy in 2001. The court postponed the proceedings until it has received the results of its newly-commissioned expert evaluation of whether there is evidence on the murder weapon.  full story

Czech Republic: Commemorative ceremony 13 May at Romani Holocaust site at Lety

26.4.2015 20:07 On Wednesday, 13 May, a commemorative ceremony honoring the Romani victims of Nazism will take place at the site of the Lety Memorial. The ceremony is traditionally organized by the Committee for the Redress of the Roma Holocaust in the Czech Republic (Výbor pro odškodnění romského holocaustu v České republice - VPORH v ČR), which brings together Romani former prisoners of the Nazi concentration camps and relatives of the victims of those camps.  full story

Commentary: Dismissal of Czech Gov't Agency for Social Inclusion director is bad news, and not just for impoverished Roma

26.4.2015 5:30 At the end of last week, most of those "involved with Roma" were startled by the news that Martin Šimáček had been dismissed as director of the Czech Government Agency for Social Inclusion. Voices were immediately raised in support of him by more than 50 employees of the Agency.  full story

Czech media outlet puts unnecessary emphasis on ethnicity in reporting public transport incident

26.4.2015 3:30 On Thursday 23 April, online news server iDNES.cz wrote about an incident that took place on 22 April on public transport in Jihlava using the headline "Gypsies fight on trolleybus". After the obcasnik.eu website drew attention to this interesting headline, the iDNES.cz editors quietly and rapidly erased the content.  full story

Czech Human Rights Minister: Schools must educate Czech and Romani children together

25.4.2015 19:52 Czech Minister for Human Rights, Equal Opportunities and Legislation Jiří Dienstbier has expressed appreciation for the activities of Amnesty International (AI) in pointing out problem areas and weak spots in the education of Romani children in the country's schools. "Understandably we are aware of the vast majority of the problem areas mentioned and we see this report as a confirmation of the fact that it is necessary to find appropriate measures to correct them," he said in his reaction to the AI report.  full story

Amnesty International condemns Czech EdMin's response to its report on discrimination of Roma

25.4.2015 0:18 On 24 April, Amnesty International (AI) sharply criticized the reaction of Czech Education Minister Marcel Chládek (Czech Social Democratic Party - ČSSD) to its recent report on discrimination against Roma in the Czech education system. AI says the minister's remarks that the report is not based on the true facts were counterproductive and prejudiced.  full story

Czech EdMin says Amnesty International report is not based on true facts

24.4.2015 23:45 A recent report by Amnesty International (AI) criticizing the discrimination of Romani people in the Czech education system is not based on true facts, according to Czech Education Minister Marcel Chládek (Czech Social Democratic Party - ČSSD). The minister alleges that AI staffers learned from the Czech School Inspectorate that one of their suspicions was not confirmed but failed to inform Secretary-General Salil Shetty of that fact.  full story

Renata Berkyová: Should the Czech Gov't Agency for Social Inclusion have been more "Romani"?

24.4.2015 21:33 Over the last few days, Martin Šimáček has become a popular face in the media in connection with his dismissal from the post of director of the Agency for Social Inclusion. The entire Agency staff and a noticeable portion of the public have protested the decision of Czech Human Rights Minister Jiří Dienstbier to remove him.  full story

Czech Republic: OSF Prague agrees with ombud that "preparatory classes" are not the same as nursery schools

Czech Republic, 24.4.2015 6:05 The Open Society Fund Prague, which focuses on inclusive education, among other things, does not agree with the option of allowing children to complete their mandatory final year of preschool education by attending "preparatory classes". Like the Czech Public Defender of Rights (the ombud), Anna Šabatová, the foundation sees the threat that socially disadvantaged children will be segregated into such classes, according to the spokesperson for the foundation, Jitka Rabitsch Adamčíková.  full story

Czech Republic: Hundreds protest anti-Semitism in Prague

24.4.2015 4:07 On Sunday, 19 April, hundreds of people participated in the 12th annual Good Will March (Pochod dobré vůle) in Prague. The event took place under the slogan of "Culture against Anti-Semitism" in the center of the capital.  full story

Karel Holomek: Why might the director of the Czech Agency for Social Inclusion have been dismissed?

Brno, 24.4.2015 2:36 Czech Human Rights Minister Dienstbier has completely unexpectedly dismissed the director of the Czech Government Agency for Social Inclusion, Bc. Martin Šimáček. While he did not initially state the reasons for the dismissal on 17 April, he did so in a follow-up on 22 April.  full story

Czech Republic: Theater as a victory over bullying and racism

24.4.2015 1:01 Bullying, manipulation and racism are the subjects of three plays that were presented last week by the Theater of the Oppressed (Divadlo utlačovaných) in Prague. This is a special form of theater in which actors create a situation of oppression on the basis of their own experiences and audience members get the opportunity to join the action and try to change the fates of the protagonists for the better  full story

Commentary: Czech Human Rights Minister fights with social inclusion head while the "Nazis" laugh

23.4.2015 1:24 Czech Human Rights Minister Jiří Dienstbier has removed Martin Šimáček from his position as head of the Agency for Social Inclusion and both men have engaged in mutual recriminations in a public clash. The only people who are hugely enjoying this are probably the antigypsyists and the "Nazis", so what are we to make of what seems at first glance to be an absurd situation?  full story

Czech town says it will block housing benefits for residential hotel dwellers

21.4.2015 23:39 The leadership of the Bohumín town council is threatening to block the housing benefits awarded to those living in residential hotels. As of May, applicants for this welfare benefit will need the consent of their local municipality to receive it.  full story

Czech Human Rights Minister says Agency director removed over public tender errors

21.4.2015 17:03 Czech Minister for Human Rights, Equal Opportunities and Legislation Jiří Dienstbier held a special press conference today at which he said that Martin Šimáček has been removed from his post as director of the Czech Government Agency for Social Inclusion because he made administrative errors in public tenders and the concluding of contracts. Dienstbier said another reason for the removal was that Šimáček had refused to discuss the reorganization of the Human Rights Section at the Office of the Government, where the Agency is located, with his superior, Deputy Minister Martina Štěpánková.  full story

Czech Human Rights Minister meets with Janov residents, few of them Romani

20.4.2015 18:26 Residents of the Janov housing estate in the Czech town of Litvínov (Most district) are calling the situation in the locality unmanageable. During a meeting today with Czech Human Rights Minister Jiří Dienstbier (Czech Social Democratic Party - ČSSD) the residents asked for concrete aid.  full story

Czech ombud warns Education Ministry against perpetuating segregation

20.4.2015 16:17 The Czech Public Defender of Rights (the ombud) Anna Šabatová disagrees with the Czech Education's proposal that children be permitted to spend their mandatory final year of preschool in what are called preparatory classes. She is concerned that this could lead to such children being segregated from others from the very start of their educational careers.  full story

Czech children's theater director to leave at year's end over allegedly racist remarks

20.4.2015 7:34 Speculation around the choice of Vlastimil Peška to direct the Divadlo Radost children's theater in Brno and the allegedly racist remarks he made during the job interview is continuing. Deputy Mayor of Brno Matěj Hollan, who is responsible for cultural and social issues, has announced that Peška should remain as director only until the end of the year, when he will evidently be replaced by Tomáš Pavčík, who was the hiring commission's second choice.  full story