News

Struggle over Czech social housing law begins

20.3.2015 20:13, (ROMEA) Will the law on social housing currently being drafted strike a harsh blow against ghettos, residential hotels, and "trafficking in poverty"? Will even "inadaptables" have access to social housing?  full story

Does the European Platform for Roma Inclusion impact Roma in the Czech Republic?

20.3.2015 0:55, (ROMEA) At the start of this week the ninth session of the European Platform for Roma Inclusion convened in Brussels. The Platform has reviewed basic problems with the integration of the Romani minority throughout the EU since 2009, focusing on addressing integration policies in the EU Member States.  full story

Analysis: Neo-Nazi murders of homeless in Czech Republic may not even be counted as such

Prague, 19.3.2015 22:30, (ROMEA) The recent case of the murderous attacks committed by a supporter of the neo-Nazi Workers Social Justice Party (DSSS) against defenseless homeless people, which news server Romea.cz reported on here, has once again pointed out an enormous problem in Czech society which the media are either ignoring altogether or greatly neglecting. Homeless people in the Czech Republic are frequently targeted for brutal assault.  full story

videoEuropean Platform for Roma Inclusion meets in Brussels

Brussels, 19.3.2015 19:01, (ROMEA) The ninth session of the European Platform for Roma Inclusion took place in Brussels earlier this week, attended by Věra Jourová, European Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality, as well as by a delegation from the Czech Republic led by Minister for Human Rights, Equal Opportunities and Legislation Jiří Dientsbier. Through this initiative, the European Commission facilitates a broader dialogue between the Member States, nonprofit organizations and Romani representatives with respect to inclusion and integration policies.  full story

Czech court reduces sentence for assailant of wheelchair user on appeal, acquits relative

18.3.2015 23:13, (ROMEA) Marek Polhoš (age 18) of Ostrava, who last October attacked Lukáš Král, a candidate for the ANO party and a wheelchair user at a tram stop in Ostrava-Zábřeh, robbing him of his mobile telephone, will serve five years in prison for his crime. The verdict was announced on Friday 13 March by the appeals tribunal of the Regional Court in Ostrava.  full story

Czech Police complete investigation of radical Islamic book

18.3.2015 22:30, (ROMEA) Officers from the Organized Crime Detection Unit (Útvar pro odhalování organizovaného zločinu - ÚOOZ) have completed their investigation of a case of the alleged dissemination of a radical Islamic book in the Czech Republic. Pavel Hanták, spokesperson for the unit, updated the Czech News Agency about the case on 16 March.  full story

Czech Republic: Interview with Romani resident of town that has banned sitting outdoors

18.3.2015 20:55, (ROMEA) The town of Duchcov has adopted an ordinance banning people from sitting outdoors in certain localities. The measure is supposed to protect greenery and public order and improve the town's appearance.  full story

Documentary films by Roma about Roma screen in Vienna

Vienna, 18.3.2015 20:01, (ROMEA) How can one make a film about coexistence between non-Romani and Romani people without supporting prejudices or stereotypes and without participating in the classic division of people into good and evil, culprits and victims? Such a task might seem hard even for experienced filmmakers, but Romani filmmakers from several different European countries evidently seem to have risen to the challenge.  full story

Czech Human Rights Minister says Government is addressing discrimination in the schools

18.3.2015 14:48, (ROMEA) Czech Human Rights Minister Jiří Dienstbier says a planned amendment to the Schools Act and the institution of compulsory preschool education as of 2017 are examples of how the Czech Government is doing its best to handle criticism from the EU regarding discrimination against the Romani minority in the schools. Yesterday in Brussels the most important aspects of Romani inclusion into society were discussed by representatives of EU Member States, EU institutions and NGOs from the EU-28.  full story

Yet another Czech town bans sitting outdoors

17.3.2015 22:31, (ROMEA) The Czech town of Duchcov has adopted a new ordinance that is intended to improve the upholding of public order there. The generally binding ordinance bans people from sitting on concrete barriers or walls and also bans them from grilling food in public areas.  full story

Czech Republic: Romani town councilor critiques antigypsyist petition

17.3.2015 19:09, (ROMEA) After spending a longer period of time out of the news, the Janov housing estate is once again being very actively discussed, and not only by local media. The proof is a petition asking for aid in addressing social problems that has been sent to Prime Minister Sobotka by a group of the "decent majority", led by the chair of the Krušnohor housing cooperative, František Ryba.  full story

Czech ombud says human rights are being violated everywhere she looks

17.3.2015 0:41, (ROMEA) The weekly RESPEKT (12/2015) has published an interview with the Czech ombud, Anna Šabatová, in which she discusses discrimination against Romani people with author Marek Švehla. "Human rights violations occur wherever you look here," she says in the interview.  full story

Czech online environment cultivating hatred of Roma

16.3.2015 23:08, (ROMEA) "So the gypsies are going tol get preferential treatment at the Labor Office. They will also be giving them all CZK 60 000 for enrolling their children into school, where they will get free food."  full story

Czech DSSS supporter tells court that "gypsies" and homeless people are better off dead

Prague, 16.3.2015 16:50, (ROMEA) Jan Mokrý (age 24), who is accused of the attempted murder of two homeless men, told the court today that his intention had been to torture them. He also said he regrets that they survived his attack.  full story

Czech Republic: Demonstration against Islam, counter-protest for coexistence

České Budějovice, 14.3.2015 22:27, (ROMEA) More than 200 people gathered in the town of České Budějovice today for a demonstration convened by the "We Don't Want Islam in the Czech Republic" initiative. Approximately 30 people counter-protested them nearby.  full story

Slovakia: Antifascists try to block neo-Nazi march celebrating WWII-era fascist state

Bratislava, Slovakia, 14.3.2015 21:49, (ROMEA) Approximately 150 neo-Nazis marched today through the center of Bratislava to commemorate the 76th anniversary of the creation of the fascist Slovak State. The same number of their opponents gathered for an assembly organized by the "Nazi-Free Bratislava" initiative on Slovak National Uprising Square; police arrested one antifascist activist.  full story

Germany: Right-wing radicals attack police in Wuppertal, ultra-conservative Muslims and Pegida demonstrating

14.3.2015 21:06, (ROMEA) Violence broke out today in the center of the German city of Wuppertal when masked right-wing radicals assaulted police with rocks. Several demonstrations had been announced there by rival groups, and city hall summoned more than 1 000 police officers with water cannon to maintain order.  full story

Commentary: Embarrassing ministerial games about Romani children and the "special schools"

14.3.2015 19:10, (ROMEA) On 12 March a sad and serious fact about the discrimination of Romani children in the Czech Republic was confirmed: The approach of the Czech Education Ministry continues to show that it does not take seriously the notion that schools should be open to all children and that Romani children should enjoy equal access to education. The ministry's position on this issue is embarrassing at the very least.  full story

Slovak psychiatrist says crimes against Romani boys considered less outrageous than if they had been white

Slovakia, 14.3.2015 0:30, (ROMEA) The eduRoma civic association has reached out to several experts in the fields of psychiatry and psychology in connection with the case of police officers in Košice, Slovakia who bullied and humiliated Romani children. The association asked the experts to comment on the content of video recordings of the officers abusing the boys.  full story

Czech Republic: Demonstration against scandalous verdict acquitting Slovak Police of abusing Romani children

13.3.2015 23:27, (ROMEA) At the end of February a court in Slovakia acquitted police officers accused of having abused Romani children aged between 11 and 15 who had been suspected of injuring and robbing an older woman. According to the indictment, the officers forced the children to strip and to beat each other, among other things.  full story