News

Croatia adopts law recognizing rape as a war crime

17.8.2015 19:56 The Global Fund for Women reports that on 29 May the Croatian Parliament passed legislation recognizing rape as a war crime. It will take effect in January and compensate war rape survivors through free counseling, legal and medical aid and a monthly financial stipend.  full story

Czech academics sign petition against xenophobia

17.8.2015 17:46 Scientists and other staffers of the Czech Republic's academic and research institutions have signed a petition against the growth of xenophobic sentiment in Czech society. They are also disturbed by extremist group activity which, in their view, is not being sufficiently counterbalanced.  full story

Karel Holomek: Roma should fundraise for removal of pig farm from concentration camp site

17.8.2015 1:06 Karel Holomek, a former dissident and current chair of the Society of Roma in Moravia (Společenství Romů na Moravě - SRNM), said during the Czech Government's official commemorative ceremony at the Lety by Písek memorial on 3 August that in addition to the Government taking an active approach toward the issue of the pig farm there, Romani people themselves should be active. Holomek believes Roma should take up a collection to raise funds for relocating the farm, part of which now covers the site of the former WWII-era concentration camp for Roma.  full story

Helsinki Agreement marks 40th anniversary

17.8.2015 0:01 Rudolf V. Perina, the U.S. Ambassador to Slovakia, has released an opinion piece that was reprinted by the Slovak daily Hospodarske Noviny on 29 July to mark the 40th anniversary of the Helsinki Final Act, which concluded the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, a process that resulted in the creation of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. The piece explains how Helsinki became the basis for international criticism of various countries' human rights records.  full story

Czech Republic: Romani Holocaust memorial to be created within two years in Hodonín

15.8.2015 20:17 The building of a memorial to the former labor and concentration camp at Hodonín by Kunštát is now continuing. "In July the construction site was handed over and digging work is currently underway at the site," Petra Holovková, director of the Hodonín Memorial department of the Jan Amos Comenius National Museum and Library, has told news server Romea.cz.  full story

Czech scandal of pig farm on Holocaust site has a precedent - in Germany

15.8.2015 19:28 For 20 years, domestic and foreign organizations have been protesting against the operation of an industrial pig farm on the territory of the former concentration camp at Lety by Písek, Czech Republic. Few in the Czech Republic know, however, that a similar problem existed for decades in Germany.  full story

Czech football fans hang up Islamophobic banner during match, team later apologizes

14.8.2015 21:07 During a football match on 2 August between the Bohemians 1905 and FK Jablonec teams, fans from Jablonec nad Nisou hung up a banner in the stands that insulted Muslims. The provocative caricature depicted a Nordic female carrying a shield inscribed with "Europe" and kicking a pig wearing a turban, who is dropping a copy of the Koran as a result.  full story

Former German Foreign Minister says today's attacks on migrant facilities reminiscent of Nazism

14.8.2015 19:14 Attacks on residential hotels for migrants in Germany remind former German Foreign Affairs Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher of his youth during Nazism. Genscher made that statement in an interview for the 6 August issue of the Die Zeit weekly.  full story

Romea.cz editor says Czech policy toward Roma full of chaos, poor concepts and populism

14.8.2015 2:10 Michal Komárek, the editor of news server Romea.cz, discussed the degree to which the Czech Republic is managing to solve its "Romani problem" during a radio program on the ČRo Plus station yesterday. The discussion was occasioned by the current session of the UN Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination reviewing the situation in the Czech Republic.  full story

Czech President, legislative heads say EU should beef up border protection, Czech Army should be ready if that fails

14.8.2015 1:08 The European Union should beef up the protection of its external borders according to Czech President Miloš Zeman, Czech Senate leader Milan Štěch and Czech Chamber of Deputies leader Jan Hamáček (both Social Democrats). If EU measures do not aid the situation, then the Czech Republic should enhance its own border protection because of the ongoing migration crisis.  full story

Czech media reopen dispute over Agency for Social Inclusion's approach to aiding Roma

13.8.2015 21:07 Czech commentator Petr Holub has revived the discussion on the future of the Czech Government Agency for Social Inclusion with an analysis published on news server Echo24.cz. Holub believes that Czech Human Rights Minister Jiří Dienstbier began a fundamental change in the Agency's approach to social inclusion with his dismissal of the previous head of the Agency in April.  full story

Azerbaijan: Lengthy sentences sought for human rights defenders accused of fraud

13.8.2015 3:34 The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (OPHRD) has reported that a fourth hearing has been held in the Azeri Government's case against Leyla Yunus, director of the Institute for Peace and Democracy (IPD) and her husband Arif Yunusov, who also works for the IPD. On 6 August the court was asked to sentence Yunus to 11 years in jail and Yunusov to nine years on charges of fraud  full story

Czech Education Ministry says inclusion will cost more than one billion crowns per year

11.8.2015 20:52 The recently approved amendment to the Schools Act that is meant to improve conditions for including disadvantaged children in mainstream schools could mean additional demands on the state budget in excess of one billion crowns in 2017 and 1.5 billion in 2018, according to Czech Education Ministry estimates. The ministry has now published online its Action Plan for Inclusive Education for 2016-2018.  full story

Albania: Romani neighborhood demolished for road, residents likely homeless

11.8.2015 1:09 The Roma Virtual Network has published a message from Brisilda Taco, a self-identified Romani activist in Tirana, Albania, about recent home demolitions there. The activist reports that on 23 July, the Albanian Government began to demolish Romani-occupied houses in Selita.  full story

Czech court says asylum seekers must not be detained, Interior Ministry disagrees

7.8.2015 21:40 The Czech Police are not permitted to detain asylum seekers in refugee camps on the basis of suspicion that they might pose a flight risk as stipulated by the European Union's Dublin Regulation. Wednesday's edition of the Czech daily Lidové noviny reported that the Regional Court in Ústí nad Labem has ruled against the practice.  full story

France: Human rights organizations protest forced evictions of Romani people

6.8.2015 23:35 The European Roma Rights Centre and the Ligue des droits de l'Homme (LDH), a French human rights organization, issued the finding last month that up to 4 000 forced evictions of Romani people have taken place in France during the first half of 2015. The organizations say the confiscation of the Romani people's property during these incidents is even worse for them than the displacement is.  full story

Czech paper unleashes hateful racist discussion online, may have committed crime

6.8.2015 20:30 A racist discussion online has been taking place on the Prostějovský večerník ("Prostějov Evening News") news server, and all it took was a few lines of text about a Romani woman who is reportedly receiving "an unbelievable CZK 51 000 a month for four children who aren't even hers from the state!" The online "trailer" for the entire article, which was only fully published in the print version, has been read by almost 100 000 people, several hundred of whom joined an ongoing online discussion beneath it which has been frequently absurd, but predominantly hateful and insulting.  full story

Bulgaria Must Stop Its Anti-Roma Attacks

5.8.2015 0:12 Since May, anti-Roma protests in Bulgaria have led to Roma families being attacked and beaten. Riots escalated after tensions rose between Roma and non-Roma in Garmen, in southwest Bulgaria, and Orlandovzi in Sofia. Dozens have been injured.  full story

Czech Republic: International conference to discuss ethnic data collection options

4.8.2015 23:44 The Office of the Government of the Czech Republic and Open Society Fund Prague are preparing to convene an international conference to review the permissibility of collecting ethnic data and methods for its accumulation and storage. Conference organizers informed members of the Working Group on Roma Education, which advises the Inter-ministerial Commission on Roma Community Affairs, of the project last week.  full story

Europe marks Roma Holocaust Memorial Day from Georgia to Ireland

4.8.2015 22:52 Both official and private commemorations and messages of solidarity were sent across Europe on the occasion of 2 August, not only in the EU-28 countries but in places as far-flung as Georgia. This past April the European Parliament passed a resolution recognizing 2 August as Roma Holocaust Memorial Day.  full story