Czech Republic

Czech Platform for Human Rights holds seminar on hate violence

10.6.2015 22:43 The Platform for Human Rights, represented by spokespersons František Kostlán (ROMEA), Jana Smiggels Kavková (Czech Women's Lobby), Lucie Otáhalová (La Strada), and ROMEA, o. p. s. invite you intend a seminar on "Human Rights and Hate Violence in the Czech Republic - civil society and policy" on Monday, 15 June from 9:00 to 13:00 at the Chamber of Deputies in Prague (Sněmovní 4, Praha 1, Room No. 108A). The aim of the event is to bring politicians and other attendees a new perspective on the issue of human rights, focusing on the specific areas of discrimination and hate violence, through presentations by experienced people from various nonprofit organizations involved in human rights.  full story

Czech Government project holds contest for a "HateFree Song"

10.6.2015 21:09 The "HateFree Culture" project has announced an open contest for music performers, whether groups or solo artists, called "SLOŽ TO!" ("COMPOSE IT!") whose work reflects on themes such as coexistence; extreme nationalism; hate violence; intolerance for members of minorities, social groups and subcultures; prejudice; racism; respect; right-wing radicalism; or xenophobia. The composers of the winning piece will be provided with a backup team to produce a professional video.  full story

Interview with Sabina Badžová: "Jump, your wings will unfold on the way"

10.6.2015 17:06 When Sabina Badžová was supposed to go to primary school, her mother stood up to those who told her that she didn't have what it takes. Instead of attending a "practical school" in the Czech Republic, she enrolled in a regular primary school, completed her studies at a business academy, and now has just completed her second year at the College of Information Services.  full story

Czech police file is labeled "GYPSIES + DRUG ADDICTS", but no one will be held responsible

8.6.2015 22:36 The online Czech daily ECHO24.cz has reported on the case of a police inspector who had a file labeled "GYPSIES + DRUG ADDICTS" on the shelf among others he was working on. The label was noticed by a person who came to the Prague II District Police Directorate in mid-April to be deposed.  full story

New Czech EdMin will be Kateřina Valachová

6.6.2015 15:07 The Czech Social Democratic candidate for the post of Education Minister, according to new information from the party leadership, is Kateřina Valachová. Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka was scheduled to inform President Miloš Zeman about his chosen nominee yesterday.  full story

Commentary: Hypocrisy takes center stage in Czech housing policy across the spectrum

4.6.2015 19:20 Hundreds more people have become potentially homeless in the Czech Republic over the past few days. They are impoverished, and up until now they have been living in residential hotels.  full story

Czech PM may nominate Deputy Human Rights Minister as new Education Minister

4.6.2015 17:38 Kateřina Valachová, Deputy Minister for Human Rights, Equal Opportunities and Legislation, may become a candidate for the next Czech Education Minister. Several sources close to Czech PM Bohuslav Sobotka (ČSSD) said today that he is ready to propose a female candidate to replace outgoing EdMin Marcel Chládek (ČSSD).  full story

Sociologist says Czech Republic is creating two states, an impoverished north and a wealthy center and south

3.6.2015 22:03 Sociologist Ivan Gabal says the Czech Republic is now beginning to look like two states in one. The center and the south of the country are prospering, while the north is worried about poverty.  full story

Czech towns begin to "produce" hundreds of newly homeless people after law has potentially catastrophic effect

3.6.2015 21:13 Reality has turned out differently than Czech Labor and Social Affairs Minister Michaela Marksová believed it might. "Most municipalities behave rationally, they know they cannot afford to create dozens or hundreds of homeless people," she said last week.  full story

Tasks awaiting the Czech Education Ministry need more than a temporary replacement in charge

3.6.2015 19:16 Even though it may seem that Marcel Chládek is leaving office primarily because he has not treated women and colleagues not involved with sports well at the Czech Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport, there are more reasons than that for his dismissal. The degree of his misconceived ideas, such as the distribution of tablet computing devices to schoolchildren, or the introduction of "practical" classes in the primary schools, had in fact exceeded all tolerable limits.  full story

Does the Czech Human Rights Minister grasp the purported dispute between the "ethnic" and "social" approaches to inclusion?

3.6.2015 17:35 Two important events took place recently that may fundamentally influence the approach to Romani integration policy and combating socially excluded localities for a long time to come. A new report on socially excluded localities was presented by the GAC company, and several hours later, Czech Human Rights Minister Dienstbier announced that the new director of the Czech Government Agency for Social Inclusion will be Radek Jiránek.  full story

Commentary: Not everyone has luck or talent - response to Julius Zajac about options for ghetto children

3.6.2015 15:40 Julius Zajac's recent commentary presented a proud, self-aware perspective on the problems of Roma - in his view the key to overcoming these problems is education, and anyone can access a decent education in the Czech Republic. Racism, he says, does not stand in the way.  full story

Czech town rejects residential hotel tenants' applications for housing benefits across the board

2.6.2015 14:41 Town councilors for the municipality of Bohumín have rejected all 124 applications for housing benefits submitted by individuals who are accommodated in residential hotels on their territory. Such rejections could impact as many as 210 such facilities throughout the country.  full story

REF Seeks a National Selection Board Member in Czech Republic

1.6.2015 13:16 Roma Education Fund Scholarship Program announces its call for applications for a National Selection Board (NSB) position for the Roma Memorial University Scholarship Program (RMUSP), who will participate in the evaluation and selection process of scholarship beneficiaries for REF Scholarship Program (REF SP) for the academic year 2015-2016, in Czech Republic.  full story

Czech Gov't Agency for Social Inclusion sees more staff quit over allegedly untransparent hire of new director

30.5.2015 8:19 Wednesday's announcement of the new director of the Czech Government Agency for Social Inclusion, Radek Jiránek, has not managed to halt the departure of another 10 employees. Notice has been given, for example, by the interim director, Alena Zieglerová, by an expert in debt counseling, and by a lawyer with the Government department.  full story

SURVEY: Romani figures respond to the choice of Jiránek as director of Czech Gov't Agency for Social Inclusion

27.5.2015 20:22 Radek Jiránek, head of the Crime Prevention Department at the Czech Interior Ministry, is the new director of the Czech Government Agency for Social Inclusion.  full story

Czech Republic: Number of socially excluded localities has doubled since 2006 to 606

27.5.2015 13:42 The number of socially excluded localities has almost doubled in the Czech Republic since the first Analysis of Socially Excluded Romani Communities and Localities in the Czech Republic and the Absorption Capacity of Entities Working in this Area was presented on 6 September 2006. That year the number of impoverished apartment complexes, impoverished neighborhoods and whole streets was estimated at 300, while now it is estimated to number 606 such localities in 297 municipalities.  full story

Czech Republic: Open Society Fund explains its financial cooperation with owner of tabloid Extra.cz

27.5.2015 8:13 The Open Society Fund Prague (OSF Prague) has announced a scholarship fund to support Romani college students in collaboration with Jan Barta, the owner of the tabloid publication Extra.cz. News server Romea.cz has asked OSF Prague whether they consider it problematic to collaborate with the owner of a tabloid whose Editor-in-Chief, Pavel Novotný, makes no secret of the fact that he manipulates "Romani topics" to increase readership.  full story

Czech trial of arson attack reviews neo-Nazi groups

26.5.2015 9:04 In mid-May the Regional Court in Plzeň continued with the trial of the allegedly organized groups operating from 2011-2012 under the names of Blood & Honour and Combat 18 (the number 18 is a synonym for Adolf Hitler's initials) on the territory of the Czech Republic. The nine-member group, according to the indictment, is said to have promoted neo-Nazism and some of its members are said to have perpetrated arson attacks on occupied and unoccupied buildings, to have supported racial hatred, to have perpetrated various forms of violence with a tendency to terrorism, to have denied the Holocaust, and to have committed violence against a particular group and its individual members.  full story

Interviews with rival Czech academics about the Institute of Ethnology, the Roma, and social inclusion

25.5.2015 10:36 Does an "ethnic" approach to the integration of Romani people represent the threat of their isolation and nationalism? Is it artificial and risky?  full story