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ROMEA launches first year of Literary Competition for Romani college students

10.11.2016 19:14 On the occasion of the International Day of the Romani Language the ROMEA organization in the Czech Republic announced its first-ever Literary Competition for Romani Students. College students of Romani origin can submit their contributions for the inaugural year of this competition now.  full story

Green Party says Czech Interior Minister must guarantee proper investigation of tragic incident in Žatec

10.11.2016 18:57 The Green Party in the Czech Republic believes the Interior Minister must guarantee the state will take an interest in properly investigating last month's incident in a pizzeria in the town of Žatec during which a 26-year-old Romani man died. There are suspicions that the intervention performed by uniformed officers was not proportionate in terms of the use of force.  full story

Commentary: Why we need data about Romani pupils, and not only about them

10.11.2016 6:39 "The discussion of the collection of sensitive data in the schools, i.e., data about disability or ethnicity, has been connected in the Czech Republic exclusively with tracking the number of Romani pupils," Štěpán Drahokoupil of the Open Society Foundation Prague writes in a commentary first published by the news server "Česká škola" (Czech School).  full story

Commentary: Trump won. Should we admire him?

9.11.2016 12:31 Donald Trump has won the election. His purposeful efforts, worthy of a successful businessman, have become the symbol of today.  full story

Czech Health Minister, Human Rights Minister and Labor Minister may step down - PM and President meeting today to decide

8.11.2016 16:27 Three ministers are likely to be dismissed from the Government of Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka, the chair of the Czech Social Democratic Party (ČSSD): Czech Health Minister Svatopluk Němeček, Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Minister Jiří Dienstbier, and Labor and Social Affairs Minister Michaela Marksová-Tominová.  full story

Czech Radio marks International Romani Language Day by premiering radio drama based on a Romani fairytale

8.11.2016 9:57 Czech Radio's "Vltava" station, which focuses on culture, broadcast a segment dedicated to the Romani language and literature on 5 November at 9 AM as part of its "Weekend Edition" program. At 10 AM the station broadcast the premiere of a dramatized reading of the Romani fairytale "About the clever (but deceitful thief) Bajcúr".  full story

Czech Republic: Funeral of young Romani man who died after a scuffle in a pizzeria last month

8.11.2016 9:16 Yesterday more than 200 people attended the funeral, held just after noon in Lenešice near Louny, for the young Romani man who died in mid-October during an incident in a pizzeria in the town of Žatec. The situation was monitored by police, who were also on patrol in Žatec at the scene of the unfortunate incident.  full story

Council of Europe's Special Representative of the Secretary General for Roma Issues writes to Czech Interior Minister about death of a young Romani man

7.11.2016 20:25 On 7 November, the very day that Miroslav Demeter's funeral was being held, the Council of Europe's Special Representative of the Secretary General for Roma Issues, Mr Valeriu Nicolae, has sent a letter to Czech Interior Minister Chovanec expressing his "deep concern" over the circumstances of Mr Demeter's death. News server Romea.cz republishes the letter in full here:  full story

videoCzech Republic: Romani woman who saved five lives four years ago lives in a shelter because no one will rent to her

7.11.2016 15:54 "I still remember what happened back then, I frequently discuss it with my friends... or I sometimes jerk awake when I'm asleep and dreaming about the water. It's better now, though," says Irena Drevňáková, the Romani woman who did not hesitate four years ago to save the lives of several people who were in a car crash.  full story

Czech Gov't approves plan to close pig farm at Lety, wants estimate of land value

7.11.2016 15:33 The Czech Government has approved a plan to close the industrial pig farm in the vicinity of the remembrance site for Romani victims of the Holocaust at Lety by Písek. Spokesperson Martin Ayrer announced the news on Twitter without further details.  full story

Czech Government approves closure of pig farm on site of former concentration camp for Roma

7.11.2016 14:25 The Czech Government has approved a bill to close the operations of the industrial pig farm located in the vicinity of the remembrance site at Lety by Písek. Spokesperson Martin Ayrer announced the news on Twitter.  full story

Renata Berkyová: Who were the guards at Lety by Písek?

7.11.2016 8:58 Even though more than half a century has passed since the camp at Lety by Písek came into existence, to this day that place and especially its story continues to spark tempestuous emotions. For some, the Romani Holocaust is one of the most tragic episodes in the life of the Czech Roma, while for others this controversial topic seems, at a minimum, one that it is appropriate to cast doubt on or to exploit as a way to score votes  full story

Czech Govt Roma Council reviews Romani Holocaust sites, victim database, and compensation for involuntary sterilizations

4.11.2016 15:38 The Czech Government Council on Romani Minority Affairs met on Tuesday in Prague and discussed much more than just the scandal in Žatec. After opening with a vote of agreement to call on the Interior Ministry and Police Presidium to report to the Council on the investigation there, the Council focused on the opening of the school year in relation to implementation of the amendment to the Schools Act legislating the education of children and pupils with special educational needs.  full story

Europe's Human Rights Commissioner raises lack of redress for involuntary sterilization with Czech Govt again

4.11.2016 13:13 The Council of Europe's Commissioner for Human Rights, Nils Muižnieks, has reiterated to the Czech Prime Minister that an ex gratia compensation procedure for survivors of involuntary sterilization is the best way to redress them. In his letter, the Commissioner mentions that many other Council of Europe member states - namely, Austria, Germany, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland - have assumed responsibility for sterilization policies that have resulted in human rights violations in the past and have established special remedies for those who have survived such treatment.  full story

Czech candidate for 2018 presidential run says social exclusion is a topic of his campaign

4.11.2016 7:35 The writer Michal Horáček will run for President of the Czech Republic in the next elections at the beginning of 2018. He announced his candidacy yesterday at a press conference in Prague.  full story

Emilie Horáčková calls on Czech PM and EU Justice Commissioner to focus on anti-Romani racism

4.11.2016 6:18 The Romani activist Emilie Horáčková has called on Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka, EU Justice Commissioner Věra Jourová, the chair of the Chamber of Deputies Jan Hamáček and Public Defender of Rights Anna Šabatová to focus on the state of institutional racism and structural discrimination against Romani people at all levels of the local and state administration and in all bodies of executive and judicial power. In her letter, she expresses her dissatisfaction with how the Constitution of the Czech Republic is being upheld.  full story

Czech broadcast regulator says TV Prima must explain its manipulation of news reporting about refugees

3.11.2016 7:48 The Council on Radio and Television Broadcasting (RRTV) has ascertained that the Prima television station manipulated its news reporting about refugees in at least four cases and has published an analysis of Prima's newscasts focused on the issue of migration between 28 March and 17 April of this year. The television channel must respond to the Council within 30 days of receiving its call for an explanation.  full story

Czech Republic: Allegations of police brutality against Romani youths at Prague housing estate

2.11.2016 19:59 Last week a young Romani man posted on the Facebook social networking site complaining of an improper intervention against him and others by police officers in the Černý Most neighborhood of Prague. The police have decided, on the basis of the speculation that has arisen about the case, to investigate the entire situation, including the police intervention.  full story

Czech principal says new law is clarifying educational support for socially disadvantaged pupils

2.11.2016 14:22 As part of its WEEK FOR INCLUSION 2016, the Czech Society for Inclusive Education has published the following interview online with school principal Zdenka Juklová (age 59), who has led the Velké Hamry Primary School since 2015. Previously she was an educator at the Masaryk Primary School and Business Academy in the town of Tanvald and at the Secondary School of Glassmaking in Železný Brod.  full story

Three-volume biography of Czechoslovak Romani partisan, decades in the making, has been published

2.11.2016 12:30 On 21 October the Moravian Museum and the Triáda publishing house launched a new book, "Česká cikánská rapsodie" (Bohemian Gypsy Rhapsody) by Josef Serinek and Jan Tesař at the Dietrichstein Palace in Brno. Those scheduled to discuss this three-volume biograpy of Serinek included Jiří Mitáček, the General Director of the museum, former dissident and former chair of the Czech Senate Petr Pithart, historians Daniel Říčan, Petr Koura and Vítězslav Sommer, conservationist Marta Procházková, publisher Robert Krumphanzl and the author, Jan Tesař, who has worked on the book for decades.  full story