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Czech EdMin wants stricter criteria for practical school enrollment

Prague, 17.11.2012 20:00, (ROMEA) The Czech Education Ministry wants to change the methods used for evaluating candidates for the practical (previously called the "special") schools. Within two years, preparatory classes at these schools will be closed, as will pupils' so-called diagnostic stays in them. Those are the conclusions of working materials which the ministry will present in December to the Council of Europe. The materials, which have been made available to the Czech Press Agency, are the ministry's response to a five-year-old European Court of Human Rights judgment according to which 18 Romani pupils were unjustifiably transferred to "special schools".  full story

Roma segregation remains a serious problem in the Czech Republic

16.11.2012 16:50 “The “practical schools” in the Czech Republic perpetuate segregation of Roma children, inequality and racism. They should be phased out and replaced by mainstream schools that need to be properly prepared to host and provide support to all pupils, irrespective of their ethnic origin. There are certain examples in the country that show the feasibility of this necessary paradigm shift, which will require the government’s political will and sustained commitment”, stated the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Nils Muižnieks, after his four-day visit to the Czech Republic.  full story

Will professional fostering empty the Czech orphanages next year?

Prague, 16.11.2012 16:44, (ROMEA) TV RTM reports that recently-approved Law No. 359 on the legal and social protection of children will take effect as of 2013 in the Czech Republic. Through this amendment, legislators have decided to replace institutional care for abandoned children with foster care. Over time, this means some orphanages may be at risk of losing their clients.  full story

Czech Republic: Romani students meet with CoE Human Rights Commissioner

Prague, 16.11.2012 16:00, (ROMEA) A round table was held in Prague this week between those involved in the D.H. case, Romani student representatives, First Deputy Education Minister Jiří Nantl, and Council of Europe Human Rights Commissioner Nils Muižnieks. Video of the press conference held after the round table is available at http://www.romea.cz/cz/video/konference-seminare/sestrih-tiskove-konference-po-kulatem-stolu-ucastniku-pripadu-d-h-a-romskych-studentu (in Czech only).  full story

Michael Mates investigated over Gypsy comment in PCC election statement

Hampshire, 16.11.2012 12:28, (ROMEA) Hampshire police refer two complaints alleging use of racist language by candidate to neighbouring force for investigation.  full story

Nils Muižnieks: States must take resolute measures to end school segregation of Roma

Strasbourg , 16.11.2012 10:31, (ROMEA) Roma children are experiencing segregated and substandard education in the school systems in the majority of the 47 Council of Europe member states. The consequences are devastating. It makes it very hard for these children to escape poverty and marginalisation later on in life. Non-integration also generates large – and unnecessary – costs for society at large.  full story

Germany: Schleswig-Holstein officially protecting Roma and Sinti

Kiel, Germany, 15.11.2012 22:08, (ROMEA) German news server Spiegel Online reports that the state of Schleswig-Holstein in Germany has become the first in the country to incorporate protection for Romani and Sinti people into its state constitution. Members of the Romani and Sinti minorities now have the right to protection and support equivalent to that of two other minorities living in the state, the Danish and the Frisians.  full story

Czech PM meets with CoE Human Rights Commissioner on inclusion

Prague, 15.11.2012 17:40, (ROMEA) Czech Prime Minister Petr Nečas believes inclusive education as an instrument for incorporating vulnerable groups into society is one of the key tools of Czech minority policy. Nečas familiarized Council of Europe Human Rights Commissioner Nils Muižnieks with the Czech Government's position on this issue today. Muižnieks, who is originally from Latvia, is on a regular visit to the Czech Republic as one of the European Union Member States.  full story

Czech court fails to compensate Romani family attacked by racists

Klatovy, 15.11.2012 16:38, (ROMEA) Members of a Romani family who were violently assaulted by racists in the Czech town of Nýrsko at the start of August 2011 have not been awarded compensation through the criminal courts. The District Court in Klatovy has rejected their request and instructed them to file a civil complaint in order to secure compensation. The state prosecutor will not be appealing the verdict.  full story

Czech Embassy Protest Over School Apartheid

London, 15.11.2012 15:17, (ROMEA) Showing solidarity with events in Ostrava, Prague and elsewhere, Roma and supporters from several countries protested outside the Czech Embassy in London on 13 November against the failure of authorities there to end apartheid in schools despite a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights.  full story

Marksová-Tominová: Czech PM, let human rights alone!

Prague, 14.11.2012 23:53, (ROMEA) The Czech Government is quietly preparing a plan to disperse its human rights agenda among various ministries under the pretext of saving money. It is absurd to even consider cutting the state's budget for human rights. Right now there are already a bare minimum of bureaucrats working on that agenda, most of them at the Agency for Social Inclusion. While the Agency's activities can be criticized, we do not for the time being have a better institution attempting to resolve the desperate situation of people in excluded localities and those living in their vicinity.  full story

Czech Govt takes report on Romani minority under advisement

Prague, 14.11.2012 23:23, (ROMEA) The Government today took under advisement a report on the state of the Romani minority in the Czech Republic for the year 2011 but will not be taking any follow-up action to it. The aim of the report was to evaluate the development and fruitfulness of measures underway in this area.  full story

Czech Govt proposes closing Human Rights Section

Prague, 14.11.2012 16:31, (ROMEA) The Office of the Czech Government has announced through its spokesperson Michal Schuster that it is preparing for possible changes in its organization. One of them might even be the closing of the Human Rights Section there and the transfer of its advisory bodies to various ministries. News server Aktuálně.cz quotes the daily Insider's previous reporting on this issue and says Czech Government Human Rights Commissioner Monika Šimůnková has confirmed it is a possibility. The Government is arguing that the step would increase the efficiency of the state administration and reduce operational costs.  full story

Czech Republic: Nazi graffiti at primary school in Jihlava - again

Jihlava, 13.11.2012 22:13, (ROMEA) Deník.cz reports that a right-wing extremist vandal struck again last weekend at the Jungmannova Primary School in the Czech town of Jihlava. Two Nazi swastikas and the inscription "Sieg Heil" have turned up on the wall of the school gym in the exact same spot that similar graffiti appeared a month ago.  full story

New report shows anti-Romani violence is a pan-European phenomenon

Prague, 13.11.2012 17:10, (ROMEA) The European Association for the Defense of Human Rights (AEDH) and the Czech Helsinki Committee (Český helsinský výbor - ČHV) have issued a fundamental condemnation of the violence faced by Romani people in Europe. The organizations have written about this topic in a joint report entitled "Roma People in Europe in the 21st Century: Violence, Exclusion, Insecurity" (available in English at http://www.helcom.cz/dokumenty/Roma%20REPORT.pdf). Below you will find a translation of the AEDH/ČHV press release about this report and a translation of the Czech summary of the report:  full story

Czech Republic: Romani evacuees leave gym for residential hotels

Ústí nad Labem, 13.11.2012 15:38, (ROMEA) Romani tenants who have been evacuated from an unsuitable building on Beneše Lounského street in the Czech town of Ústí nad Labem have now left their temporary housing in the gym of the primary school in the Předlice quarter and have moved into a residential hotel in the Krásné Březno neighborhood. The 36 tenants, 27 of whom are children, were initially meant to move directly into the residential hotel after being evicted, but rejected it as untidy at the time. News server iDNES.cz reports that a female evacuee says the residential hotel has now been cleaned up and painted.  full story

Czech Roma Still Face 'Educational Apartheid', Despite Court Ruling Five Years Ago

Prague, 13.11.2012 10:33, (ROMEA) The Open Society Foundations is urging the Czech government to end the institutionalized segregation of Roma children within its schools, five years after it was ordered to do so by the European Court of Human Rights.  full story

Protest At Czech Embassy Over Denial Of Roma Children’s Rights

London, 27.10.2012 21:51, (ROMEA) Five year ago, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the Czech Republic must end the segregration of Roma children into “special schools” where education is said to be severely substandard.  full story

Ultra-right growing in former East Germany

Germany (eastern part), 12.11.2012 17:19, (ROMEA) The German media reports that the Friedrich Ebert Foundation is informing the public that during the last six years, the number of people advocating opinions typical of the ultra-right in the former East Germany has significantly increased. The foundation says the proportion of persons holding such beliefs has risen from 6.6 % to 15.8 %.  full story

Former Czech Human Rights Minister on Romani issues

Prague, 12.11.2012 16:54, (ROMEA) News server Novinky.cz has published an extensive interview with former Czech Human Rights Commissioner Michael Kocáb. Romea.cz is publishing in translation the sections of that interview related to his most recent time in politics, including his approach toward Romani issues.  full story