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Czech Republic: Romani situational tester of real estate discrimination appeals ruling for damages

21.8.2015 20:06 News server iDNES.cz reports that Lenka Balogová, the Roman situational tester who sued a real estate office for discrimination, plans to appeal a recent verdict from a court in Litoměřice which did not award her compensation or coverage of her court costs for the discrimination she suffered. "I am only 50 % satisfied [with the judgment] because, as the judge explained, he did not accede to my two requests, and in my opinion that was not reasonable. The costs of the entire court proceeding are supposed to be paid by the losing party," Balogová told the news server.  full story

Macedonia announces state of emergency over refugees

20.8.2015 20:10 Macedonia has declared a state of emergency at its northern and southern borders over an unprecedented influx of refugees heading across its territory in order to reach the European Union and plans to deploy the Army. Reuters reports that the Macedonian Interior Ministry announced the move today.  full story

Czech ministers support academic effort to de-escalate hatred of immigrants

20.8.2015 16:41 Czech Vice Prime Minister for Science Pavel Bělobrádek, Human Rights Minister Jiří Dienstbier and Education Minister Kateřina Valachová expressed support today for a recent effort by academics to de-escalate hatred of immigrants in the country. Dienstbier had previously expressed support for the academics' petition at the beginning of the week.  full story

Hungary: Roma forcibly displaced in Miskolc as Budapest markets Roma neighborhood to tourists

19.8.2015 18:14 The news server www.neweasterneurope.eu reports that members of the Romani community in Hungary are still being evicted in the eastern city of Miskolc despite international pressure and a Supreme Court ruling against the process. The news server likened the local authorities' policy to "ethnic cleansing" and said it sets a dangerous precedent.  full story

Czech Republic: Unidentified assailants break mosque windows

19.8.2015 17:20 Unidentified assailants have broken two windows at a mosque on Vídeňská Street in Brno. They are said to have used iron bars to smash them in.  full story

Germany: Neo-Nazi murderer turned his life around to become a clergyman

18.8.2015 19:46 The preacher Johannes Kneifel knows what the saying "People can change" means. The strapping 33-year-old with reddish-blond hair has a rebirth of his own behind him.  full story

Czech President's spokesperson criticizes academics for expressing solidarity with refugees

18.8.2015 18:42 Jiří Ovčáček, press spokesperson for Czech President Zeman, has criticized hundreds of Czech scholars for expressing tolerance for refugees. Ovčáček said he believes the petition they released yesterday is "broadening the gulf between so-called elites and the rest of Czech society".  full story

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