World

Human Rights Watch: Success of populists in Europe and US endangers human rights

13.1.2017 11:15 The electoral success of Donald Trump in the USA and the triumphs of populists in Europe represent a serious threat to the protection of fundamental human rights. Today the international organization for human rights protection, Human Rights Watch (HRW), presented that finding in its annual report.  full story

Hungarian PM attacks nonprofits supported by Soros, wants to close them

13.1.2017 9:24 The BBC and the Bloomberg wire service reported yesterday that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is said to be intent on taking aggressive action against NGOs financed by billionaire George Soros. The Hungarian PM has previously been criticized by the EU and the USA for his attacks on such organizations.  full story

Slovak President gives state honors to 20 figures, including Czech politician

10.1.2017 11:45 High state honors were awarded yesterday in Slovakia to film director Juraj Herz, in memoriam to the longtime editor of the Romano nevo l'il newspaper Daniela Hivešová-Šilanová, and to the Czech politician Michael Kocáb. They were among 20 such figures honored by Slovak President Andrej Kiska at the castle in Bratislava.  full story

Germany: Berlinale Film Festival opens with film about Django Reinhardt

10.1.2017 10:55 The 67th annual incarnation of one of the most significant film festivals in the world, Germany's Berlinale, will open this year with the world premier of "Django". The feature-length film about the genius Sinti jazz musician is a directorial debut for French producer and screenwriter Etienne Comar, who is known primarily thanks to his work on the screenplay for the critically-acclaimed 2015 film "Mon Roi" (My King).  full story

England: Families of girls who died after hit-and-run give thanks for support, ask Romani community not to raise any more money

10.1.2017 8:26 The families of the Romani girls who were killed in England on New Year's Eve by an irresponsible hit-and-run driver have sent a video message through the Facebook profile of one of their relatives asking the public not to organize any more fundraising drives to support them. In the roughly three-minute message, the family members each express their gratitude to everybody who has already provided them with financial, moral and psychological support.  full story

Civil March for Aleppo crosses into the Czech Republic

9.1.2017 17:24 Hundreds of people left Berlin, Germany at the end of 2016 on a 4 000 kilometer long march to Aleppo, Syria. Those participating will continue through Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Macedonia, Greece and Turkey to Syria.  full story

Model is shocked by Czech racists' response to him, incident now an international embarrassment

9.1.2017 7:26 The scandal of racist commentaries being posted to Facebook in response to the international Lidl retail chain's use of a black model in an advertising flier in the Czech Republic has drawn media attention in many European countries including Germany, Hungary and Slovakia. The news has reached the model himself, who lives in Hamburg, Germany.  full story

NGO representatives from 20 countries attend ODIHR/OSCE round table on monitoring demonstrations and keeping them nonviolent

6.1.2017 8:06 Last month the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) held a three-day round table on the topic of monitoring public assemblies and demonstrations during which representatives of nonprofits from 20 countries, including a representative of the ROMEA organization in the Czech Republic, presented their experiences with monitoring demonstrations and working with local authorities and police during public assemblies. Roughly 35 representatives from 20 countries worldwide attended.  full story

Czech Republic: Two-day European conference on Romani education to take place in Prague

5.1.2017 11:51 On 17 and 18 January an international exchange conference called "It Is Not Too Late" (Ještě není příliš pozdě) will take place at Prague City Hall (Mariánské náměstí 2). The program will feature primarily examples of good practice in the area of educating members of the Romani minority.  full story

Poland: Solidarity march with Muslims planned in Elk after xenophobic unrest continues

5.1.2017 8:05 In the Polish town of Elk, anti-foreigner unrest has been continuing after the death on New Year's Eve of a young Polish man during a scuffle with the employees of a kebab restaurant there. Police have already arrested at least 24 local residents and charged most of them with disturbing the peace.  full story

Renáta Kováčová: Tragic death in UK of two Romani girls from Czech Republic sparks horrible online commentary

4.1.2017 7:30 Most of us have probably heard about the tragedy that happened on New Year's Eve in Great Britain when a driver ran into two young girls from the Czech Republic and then left the scene without providing them first aid. One girl died on the spot and the other also succumbed to her injuries later.  full story

Germany: Researchers find there were more victims of the Holocaust than previously believed

3.1.2017 8:46 The number of victims of the Holocaust from the Jewish communities living on the territory of the German Reich is approximately 15 000 more than has heretofore been reported. According to the German news server Spiegel Online, researchers from Germany's Federal Archive announced the findings on the basis of a detailed study of the fates of individual Jewish people living in Nazi Germany.  full story

Poland: Attempted robbery results in death, racist unrest

3.1.2017 7:14 Polish Police have chargd a 26-year-old Tunisian man with murder after the stabbing death of a 21-year-old Polish man on New Year's Eve sparked racial unrest in the town of Elk in the northeast of the country. Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza reported yesterday that police arrested 28 people who were involved in the unrest on Sunday.  full story

Ukraine: Odessa is flooded with anti-Romani posters

2.1.2017 11:33 Squares and streets in the Ukrainian city of Odessa have recently been flooded with posters featuring portraits of Romani people splattered with blood and messages such as "Roma are bandits and murderers!" Other posters read "Don't forget Loshchynivka", a reference to a case in which a girl from that village was murdered in August, sparking pogroms against local Romani residents.  full story

videoSlovak President addresses anti-Romani sentiment in New Year's Day speech

2.1.2017 9:28 Not all Romani people are parasites and not all Muslims are potential terrorists, Slovak President Andrej Kiska pointed out in his New Year's address yesterday. Kiska highlighted that people are now willing to tolerate the hatred, nonsense and vulgarities spreading on the Internet and online social networks.  full story

videoVIDEO: We are the change! Young Roma want to get into politics

2.1.2017 6:35 One way to overcome discrimination against Roma and ensure their equal status in society, according to the organization ERIO (European Roma Information Office), os the involvement of Roma young people in politics. The organization has now released a video in which young Roma appear from five different European countries - Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Macedonia and Spain.  full story

French left and right unite on mass evictions of Roma: Hollande forces thousands more Roma onto the streets

27.12.2016 21:01 A report released earlier this month by the European Roma Rights Centre and the Ligue des Droits de l’Homme shows France stepped up the number of forced evictions of Roma this year after a relative reprieve in the second quarter. After a reduction in eviction numbers, France has seemingly made up for lost time and increased the number of forced evictions of Romani people; the full report on the forced evictions of Roma in France for the third quarter of 2016 is available in English and French.  full story

HOAX: Video from Prague spreads through Facebook alleging "Islamic refugees" were caught trying to rape a girl

20.12.2016 23:57 On 14 December the administrators of a Canadian website called "Never Again Canada" posted video footage to their Facebook profile that originally came from the Czech Republic and has been viewed 900 000 times, shared 14 000 times, and received 5 000 reactions as of 20 December. The footage shows an argument about methamphetamine followed by an assault on a young woman in Prague.  full story

Slovakia: Commander of brutal police raid against Romani people prosecuted

20.12.2016 19:36 The Slovak Interior Ministry's Inspectorate has accused the police officer who was directly in charge at the scene of a raid against Romani people in the Slovak town of Vrbnica in 2015 of criminal activity. Other prosecutions of the individual police officers accused of committing violence against the Romani residents during the raid have been halted.  full story

How you can aid the people trapped in Aleppo, Syria

18.12.2016 22:58 The horrifying photographs and video footage of what is currently happening in Aleppo are probably being seen right now by all of us. Many of us are asking ourselves: What can I do?  full story