News

Czech Republic: HateFree Zones combat rising intolerance

Prague, 13.2.2015 0:53, (ROMEA) Places that are open to all irrespective of their ethnicity or other group affiliation can become branded HateFree Zones. The branding is a new activity of the HateFree Culture campaign being run by the Human Rights Section of the Minister for Human Rights, Equal Opportunities and Legislation Jiří Dienstbier (Czech Social Democratic Party - ČSSD).  full story

Czech Republic: Drop-in club moves and starts children's rights project

Brno, 13.2.2015 0:06, (ROMEA) The Pavlač drop-in club, which has been working in a socially excluded locality of Brno for 13 years, is re-opening after a year's hiatus at its new address, Vranovská 4. The club will provide social services to children and youth from the Brno city center and surrounding neighborhoods.  full story

Czech anti-Muslim group tries to incite Roma against Muslims

Prague, 12.2.2015 23:03, (ROMEA) The ambitious xenophobes in the group called "We Don't Want Islam in the Czech Republic" use an intellectual perspective and language of manipulative half-truths and would-be humorous, unctuous servility toward the stereotypical lack of thought here about immigrants, intellectuals, minorities, multiculturalism, nonprofits - and, naturally, Muslims. It is an open question whether there is any point in dealing with them or responding to them.  full story

Hungarian ultra-right MP says Romani people are one of the country's "biggest problems"

Budapest, 12.2.2015 1:04, (ROMEA) The first child born in 2015 would usually just get a brief mention in the Hungarian media. Rikárdó Rácz, however became the most famous infant in the country within the course of a few days' time.  full story

Renata Berkyová: Slovak reporting on same-sex adoption and marriage casts aspersions on Roma

Prague, 12.2.2015 0:26, (ROMEA) Last Saturday an eighth referendum was held in Slovakia, a referendum "for the family" which has sparked a rather large fuss. The "Alliance for the Family" group, as the initiator of the referendum, has been haunting the public with the idea that the Slovak family is at risk, talking about freedom of speech and of the press, human rights violations, and forced, ideologically-driven sex education.  full story

Czech survey shows that young people have double standards about Roma

Prague, 11.2.2015 21:34, (ROMEA) A survey conducted by the MEDIAN agency for the HateFree Culture initiative, which is being implemented by the Human Rights Section of the Czech Minister for Human Rights, Equal Opportunities and Legislation, reports that more than half of young people surveyed in the Czech Republic believe that hatred on the Internet is so commonplace that there is no point in responding to it. The initiative is now set to establish in-person contact with people in regions throughout the country.  full story

Bulgaria: Most inmates in shocking juvenile prison conditions are Romani

Boychinovtsi, Bulgaria, 11.2.2015 19:14, (ROMEA) Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports that juvenile prisoners in Bulgaria are serving out their sentences in old military dormitories where conditions have horrified international observers, including broken windowpanes replaced with cardboard, filth and repeated beatings. "They have beaten me since I first arrived here. The showers are their boxing ring," says Angel, a 17-year-old prisoner.  full story

Czech Republic: "Dawn of Direct Democracy" movement splinters

Prague, 11.2.2015 0:38, (ROMEA) Several Czech MPs and the executive of the "Dawn of Direct Democracy" (Úsvit) movement have agreed to establish a new political party. They want a new platform to be created for the defense of Czech national interests that will collaborate with the French ultra-right Front National, among others  full story

Czech NGO says legal provision could lead to overuse of the concept of "mild mental disability"

Prague, 10.2.2015 21:44, (ROMEA) Tomorrow, 11 February, the Czech Chamber of Deputies will undertake a third reading of an amendment to the Schools Act. If adopted, the amendment would introduce a system of support measures for pupils with special educational needs, a system that has been given a consistently positive reception by experts across the board.  full story

Czech nonprofits and parents sign open letter rejecting law's definition of mental disability

Prague, 10.2.2015 20:53, (ROMEA) Representatives of nonprofit organizations and members of the informal Parents for Inclusion (Rodiče za inkluzi) alliance sent an open letter on Friday, 6 February to Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka about an amendment to the Schools Act that is currently undergoing approval. The amendment is supposed to improve the education of children with special educational needs, but according to the letter, it also includes a dubious definition of mental disability that increases the risk that children now educated in mainstream schools might be reassigned to the "practical schools" for children with "mild mental disability" in future.  full story

Czech School Inspectorate says Romani enrollments in mainstream primary schools rising

Prague, 10.2.2015 19:53, (ROMEA) More and more Romani children in the Czech Republic are being educated according to the standard primary school program. Statistics produced recently by the Czech School Inspectorate indicate that in the current school year, compared to the 2013/2014 school year, the reduced curriculum for pupils with "mild mental disability" has reportedly been less frequently used.  full story

Czech ultra-right arsonists face extraordinary sentencing over attack on residential hotel in Aš

Prague, 10.2.2015 17:54, (ROMEA) Two right-wing extremists who began to testify in court yesterday before the Regional Court in Plzeň about a 2012 arson attack on a residential hotel in Aš could face extraordinary sentencing if convicted. Tomáš Kopecký (24) and Michal Poláček (34), according to police files, were members of the neo-Nazi racist organization Blood & Honour Division Bohemia and its militant daughter organization Combat 18 when they threw Molotov cocktails at a building occupied by families with children, most of them Romani, in February 2012.  full story

Czech Gov't Agency says funding for inclusive education already exists

Prague, 9.2.2015 20:12, (ROMEA) The Czech Government Agency for Social Inclusion has released a statement explaining that the costs for educating children with special educational needs in mainstream education have already been calculated as part of the Government's Strategy to Combat Social Exclusion. The Czech lower house is currently reviewing an amendment to the Schools Act that is supposed to introduce many changes to primary education in the country.
 full story

videoPope Francis pays surprise visit to immigrants in former camp for Roma

Rome, Italy, 9.2.2015 19:19, (ROMEA) Yesterday Pope Frances unexpectedly visited a camp occupied primarily by immigrants from Latin American and other countries, in addition to Roma. He stopped by the camp while en route to the parish of the Holy Archangel Michael in the the Roman quarter of Pietralata.  full story

Karel Holomek: Who "discovered" the Romani camp at Lety?

Brno, 7.2.2015 0:53, (ROMEA) I was a direct witness to the events written about by Petr Zídek in last Saturday's edition of Lidové noviny (24 January 2015) in his article "A report on the discovery of the Romani camp at Lety by Písek" ("Zpráva o objevu romského tábora v Letech u Písku"). In particular, I was a witness to the participation of the American Paul Polansky, how he has framed the events concerned and how he evaluates his own role.  full story

Greece: Danger of Nazism favorite topic of new government

Berlin, 6.2.2015 19:17, (ROMEA) The danger of Nazism has become a favorite topic of speeches being made by representatives of the Greek Government, which is facing off against the anti-Semitic, xenophobic Golden Dawn party, the third-strongest party in Parliament. Agence France-Presse reports that Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis most recently raised the specter of Nazism while visiting his German Counterpart, Wolfgang Schäuble, in Berlin.  full story

Hungary: Ultra-right mayor proposes fence against migrants

6.2.2015 17:57, (ROMEA) The Hungarian border with Serbia needs a fence to keep out the growing number of refugees heading into the country. That is the opinion of László Toroczkai. mayor of the southern Hungarian village of Ásotthalom and a member of the radical Jobbik party.  full story

Greek Parliament to convene with Golden Dawn MPs in handcuffs

Athens, 5.2.2015 22:15, (ROMEA) The Greek Parliament is meeting today for its first session after early elections more than a week ago. That poll was won by the left-wing SYRIZA party, previously in opposition, who together with the nationalist Independent Greeks have formed a coalition government rather quickly.  full story

Czech Republic: Juvenile gets 4.5 years for assaulting man helping accident victim

Prague, 5.2.2015 21:41, (ROMEA) Michal Mucha, who together with his brother Jan assaulted a man coming to the aid of the victim of a traffic accident before attacking yet another person at the scene will go to prison for 4.5 years. His sentence for bodily harm and rioting was reduced by the Prague High Court yesterday by six months.  full story

France: Controversial humorist could be fined EUR 30 000 for Facebook post

Paris, 5.2.2015 20:51, (ROMEA) The French Public Prosecutor is seeking a fine of EUR 30 000 against the controversial humorist Dieudonné, who testified in court today on charges of allegedly glorifying terrorism. The defendant feels he is innocent of the charges; the prosecutor could have sought a multiple-year prison sentence against him as well.  full story