News

Czech senator leaves club over fellow lawmakers' antigypsyism

Brno, 7.11.2012 19:05, (ROMEA) Newly-elected senator and former Constitutional Court Justice Eliška Wagnerová is no longer a member of the Senate's "Club for the Renewal of Democracy" (Klub pro obnovenou demokracii). The opinions of club members Jiří Čunek and Tomio Okamura about Romani people bother her too greatly for her to stay.  full story

Czech town decides to repurchase privatized housing

Přerov, 6.11.2012 22:18, (ROMEA) The Přerov town hall wants to repurchase some of the buildings on Škodova street which it sold to a private investor five years ago. The landlord in the locality has not met the terms of the original purchase agreement, in which he promised to transform the Romani-occupied ghetto into a modern quarter. Town councilors also approved a motion to levy sanctions of CZK 500 000 against the investor and pledged to take care of the Romani people who continue to live in the half-demolished buildings. However, only tenants who have no outstanding debts with the town will be awarded leases for substitute apartments.  full story

Czech Republic: Romani march to mark D.H. anniversary

Ostrava, 6.11.2012 21:29, (ROMEA) On 7 November 2012, a group of Romani residents will peacefully march in Ostrava to mark the anniversary of the judgment handed down by the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg in the matter of "D.H. and Others versus the Czech Republic". That judgment confirmed that Romani children were being discriminated against in their access to education.  full story

Czech activist: NGO more loyal to local govt than to the poor

Ústí nad Labem, Předlice, 6.11.2012 20:41, (ROMEA) Miroslav Brož of the civic association Konexe has written an open letter to the People in Need (Člověk v tísni) public benefit corporation regarding the way in which the Romani minority is being integrated and the situation in the Předlice quarter of Ústí nad Labem. News server Romea.cz is publishing the letter in full translation below.  full story

Spanish gypsies lament after homes demolished

Madrid, 6.11.2012 11:19, (ROMEA) Photographer Susana Vera documented the demolition of a long-standing gypsy community in Spain over the course of several months. She has created diptychs that pair images from before and after the demolition, as well as tell the story of the effect on the communities, showing the demolition of houses and the displacement of families.  full story

Clinton, Ashton Should Seek Reforms by Bosnia and Serbia and Kosovo

Washington, 5.11.2012 22:23, (ROMEA) United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and European Union High Representative Catherine Ashton should emphasize the importance of improving human rights records in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and Serbia and Kosovo during their Western Balkan tour, Human Rights Watch said today. The visits are scheduled from October 30 to November 2, 2012.  full story

Template for Civil Society Monitoring of National Roma Integration Strategies and Decade Action Plans

Budapest, 5.11.2012 22:18, (ROMEA) The Decade Secretariat has prepared a monitoring template in order to encourage civil society coalitions to monitor the implementation of National Roma Integration Strategies and Decade Action Plans.  full story

Father Patrick Desbois to Present New Findings on Treatment of Roma People During World War II at UN Kristallnacht Event

New York, 5.11.2012 22:04, (ROMEA) On Wednesday, 7 November, the United Nations Department of Public Information, in partnership with Yahad-In Unum, will mark the anniversary of the Kristallnacht Pogrom of November 1938 with a roundtable discussion entitled “The Holocaust by Bullets: Uncovering the Reality of Genocide”.  full story

Czech government must do more to end marginalization and segregation of Roma children in schools, concludes ODIHR report

Warsaw, 5.11.2012 21:48, (ROMEA) The Czech government needs to do more to overcome the marginalization and segregation in schools of children from Roma and Sinti communities, concludes a field assessment visit report published by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) on 26 October 2012.  full story

Moscow: Neo-Nazis and Orthodox fanatics voice support for Breivik

Moscow , 5.11.2012 19:11, (ROMEA) News server iDNES.cz reports that Moscow has just experienced a wave of extreme hatred against immigrants and of ultra-nationalism. The so-called "Russian March" has taken place in the capital during which roughly 6 000 neo-Nazis and ultraconservative adherents of the Orthodox Church demonstrated in favor of purging Russia of all newcomers.  full story

Czech Republic: Romani tenants removed from dangerous building to gym

Ústí nad Labem, Předlice, 5.11.2012 18:06, (ROMEA) Occupants of a dangerous building in the Předlice quarter of Ústí nad Labem have ended up in a primary school gym. They left the building two weeks after being instructed to move out, at the insistence of a crisis team. The residential hotel into which they were originally to have moved does not meet their needs. They can remain in the gym until they find other housing.  full story

OSF: Czech Government has not ended discrimination of Romani children

Prague, 5.11.2012 17:09, (ROMEA) On 13 November 2007 the European Court of Human Rights issued its judgment in the case of "D.H. and Others versus the Czech Republic", in which 18 Romani children from Ostrava sued the Czech Republic over their having been assigned to attend "special school" on the basis of their origin. The judgment upheld their complaint and sanctioned the Czech Republic for discriminating against Romani children by disproportionately enrolling such children into the "special schools" (now called the "practical primary schools") which are designed for children who have been diagnosed as "lightly mentally disabled".  full story

Czech Agency says evicted tenants must be housed in the same town

Ústí nad Labem, 3.11.2012 22:37, (ROMEA) The Czech Government Agency for Social Inclusion has issued the following press release on the situation in Ústí nad Labem - Předlice:  full story

Čeněk Růžička: Czech society has not squared up to what happened during Nazism

Prague, 3.11.2012 21:06, (Romano vod'i) We interviewed Mr Čeněk Růžička, chair of the Committee for the Redress of the Romani Victims of the Holocaust (Výbor pro odškodnění romských obětí holocaustu) about this sensitive topic and about today's relations between the majority part of Czech society and the Romani minority. We also asked him about Romani pride and what he believes that involves. The interview was conducted at the recent Roma Pride event in the Czech Republic, which involved a march through the streets of Prague and a discussion in the St. Salvator Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren (Českobratrská církev evangelická).  full story

No record of agreement for second gypsy site in Llansamlet

Swansea, 3.11.2012 16:43, (ROMEA) AN "AGREEMENT" not to create a second gypsy traveller site in Llansamlet cannot be found, residents have been told.  full story

videoTensions running high over Swansea gypsy site plans

Swansea, 3.11.2012 11:51, (ROMEA) Tensions are running high in Swansea over plans to build a new gypsy traveller site in the city. One of the potential areas is Llansamlet which already has a gypsy site. Local people took their protest to the city council on Thursday evening.  full story

Czech NGO says tenants must leave condemned building

Ústí nad Labem, 2.11.2012 23:06, (ROMEA) People in Need (Člověk v tísni, o.p.s.) has released the following press release on the case of the building at Beneše Lounského street no. 5 in Ústí nad Labem-Předlice.  full story

Uproar over ambassador’s comments on Roma

Budapest, 2.11.2012 22:37, (ROMEA) University teachers, students and researchers on Tuesday protested against remarks by Geza Jeszenszky, Hungary’s ambassador to Norway, which they think “stigmatise” the Roma minority. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Jeszenszky cannot be blamed for prejudice for his lines.  full story

videoRomani Rose: Face of Germany's Sinti and Roma

Berlin, 2.11.2012 22:10, (ROMEA) For decades, Romany activist Romani Rose has been representing the interests of Germany's Roma and Sinti communities. He welcomes Berlin's new memorial for the murdered Roma and Sinti victims of the Nazis - they include many of his close relatives.  full story

Alleged assailant of 14-year-old Romani boy tells his side of the story

Ostrava, 2.11.2012 22:05, (ROMEA) As we reported earlier this week, 14-year-old Ladislav N., a Romani boy from Ostrava-Přívoz, is still hospitalized with bleeding of the brain. His mother, Jana Fišerová, says his injuries are the result of his having been assaulted and beaten, as do two eyewitnesses. Police officers have begun investigating the entire matter as a misdemeanor incident only. As promised, Romea.cz is now reporting on what the alleged assailant has to say about the incident.  full story