World

European Commission: Internet giants must combat hatred more

6.12.2016 10:00 The European Commission has warned Internet companies such as Facebook and YouTube that they must expend more effort to combat hatred online because they are too slow at removing racist posts, news server EurActiv.cz reports. If they do not improve, the Commission is prepared to adopt norms that will legally force them to change their approach, according to EurActiv.cz.  full story

Austria: Independent centrist candidate wins Presidential election, ultra-right populist loses

5.12.2016 6:52 Yesterday's repeat of the second round of the Austrian presidential elections was won with 51.68 % of the vote by the independent candidate Alexander Van der Bellen. His rival from the populist right-wing Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ), Norbert Hofer, earned 48.32 % of the vote.  full story

Commentary on eviction in Slovakia: A rational society does not make a profit from or save money on the poor

3.12.2016 9:48 Roughly one month ago, in the city of Žilina, Slovakia, an apartment building on Bratislavská Street was evacuated with the assistance of police and subsequently demolished. Its approximately 120 occupants, including 58 children, were moved into a nearby gym for a couple of days.  full story

Slovakia: Study says failure of mainstream parties supports right-wing extremism

2.12.2016 6:34 The success of right-wing extremism in Slovakia consists to a great degree of the fact that standard institutions and political parties are not fulfilling the roles expected of them, the authors of a study analyzing extremism and nationalism in the country warned on Tuesday. The ultra-right in Slovakia unexpectedly succeeded in the March parliamentary elections this year when the LSNS, the party of the Governor of Banská Bystrice Region, Marian Kotleba, won 8 % of the vote and took 14 seats in the 150-seat legislature.  full story

EU FRA: 80 % of Roma in Europe at risk of poverty, 85 % of Roma in the Czech Republic are discriminated against

1.12.2016 11:09 The lives of Romani people throughout the European Union (EU) are being destroyed by omnipresent deprivation. A new report by the Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) of the EU has found that Romani families are living excluded from society in shocking conditions and Romani children with low educational attainment do not have much hope of a better future.  full story

Slovak Roma Spirit awards for 2016 go to antiracist campaigner and Mayor of the Luník IX housing estate

1.12.2016 9:11 On Sunday, 27 November, the 2016 Roma Spirit Awards were given out to express appreciation for those individuals, municipalities and organizations that are helping improve the position, quality of life, and social conditions for the Romani community in Slovakia through their work. In 2016 there were 147 nominations in seven categories for the competition.  full story

UN Human Rights Committee asks Slovak Government for independent body to investigate the forced sterilizations of Romani women

22.11.2016 17:13 The UN Human Rights Committee (UN HRC) has called on the Slovak Government to take responsibility for investigating past cases of forced sterilizations of Romani women and to establish an independent investigative body for that purpose. That is the outcome of the concluding recommendations published by the UN HRC after its October session of discussions with the Slovak Government delegation in Geneva.  full story

Romani fashion designer wins international competition in the USA

20.11.2016 11:09 Pavel Berky, a fashion designer from Slovakia of Romani origin who lives and works in London, England, was one of four finalists in the international fashion competition Exalt Fashion Show. On Saturday, 19 November, he showed his collection in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA at the final evening of the contest, which he won.  full story

Militant Bulgarian nationalists visited the Czech Parliament this year

12.11.2016 9:14 Several of the anti-Islam demonstrations held at the end of the summer in the Czech Republic featured members of the Bulgarian ultra-nationalist party Shipka and Bulgarian paramilitary units known as the Military Union of Vasil Levski standing side by side with the Czech Islamophobic movements. The Bulgarian paramilitary units are infamous for their militant clothing, knives, pepper spray and truncheons worn while chasing refugees at the Bulgarian-Turkish border who are attempting to enter Europe through Bulgarian territory.  full story

Council of Europe's Special Representative of the Secretary General for Roma Issues writes to Czech Interior Minister about death of a young Romani man

7.11.2016 20:25 On 7 November, the very day that Miroslav Demeter's funeral was being held, the Council of Europe's Special Representative of the Secretary General for Roma Issues, Mr Valeriu Nicolae, has sent a letter to Czech Interior Minister Chovanec expressing his "deep concern" over the circumstances of Mr Demeter's death. News server Romea.cz republishes the letter in full here:  full story

Europe's Human Rights Commissioner raises lack of redress for involuntary sterilization with Czech Govt again

4.11.2016 13:13 The Council of Europe's Commissioner for Human Rights, Nils Muižnieks, has reiterated to the Czech Prime Minister that an ex gratia compensation procedure for survivors of involuntary sterilization is the best way to redress them. In his letter, the Commissioner mentions that many other Council of Europe member states - namely, Austria, Germany, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland - have assumed responsibility for sterilization policies that have resulted in human rights violations in the past and have established special remedies for those who have survived such treatment.  full story

OECD publishes report on how resources are managed in the Czech education system

2.11.2016 11:26 The OECD has published a report about the situation in the Czech schools when it comes to the management of various resources - financial, human, material, etc. - so that equality in access to education and the quality of education generally can be increased. The assessment was implemented by a team of professionals, both expert staff at the OECD and external consultants.  full story

Macedonia: Children's education being cut short by early and forced marriages

2.11.2016 7:39 Teen marriages pose a dilemma for primary and secondary education, which in Macedonia is regulated by law, compulsory, and meant to be finished at the age of 18. In practice, teen marriages are still being approved by the authorities, with no one being concerned about the teenagers’ further education. Those most devastated by such parental and institutional actions are girls, who, instead of getting an education and living a normal way of life for their age, are left to continue living in poverty and dysfunctional marriages.  full story

Hollande admits France's role in persecuting Romani people during WWII

1.11.2016 10:28 Yesterday French President François Hollande became that country's first head of state to admit France's contribution to the persecution of Romani people during the Second World War. During a visit to a former internment camp, Hollande said countries become better places when they acknowledge their faults.  full story

President of Bulgarian Helsinki Committee assaulted in Sofia, says it was retribution for his human rights work

28.10.2016 16:05 The Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) reports that Krasimir Kanev, the president of the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee (BHC), an independent NGO that protects human rights, was assaulted in Sofia yesterday. Kanev has told the BIRN he was attacked around 9:30 AM in front of the Radisson Hotel by two men he did not know who punched him in the face and stomach before fleeing the scene.  full story

Slovak Parliament bans ultra-right party's "train patrols"

28.10.2016 15:26 News server Novinky.cz reports that the Slovak Parliament has approved an amendment to the law on the railways which means that as of February 2017 the only persons empowered to supervise public order on trains and at train stations are the Slovak Police and persons designated as security by a particular rail carrier. The law is a response to patrols by the nationalist "People's Party Our Slovakia" (LSNS), chaired by Marián Kotleba, who have been "patrolling" trains in the country whenever they like since April.  full story

Twelve assemblies announced internationally to mourn the death of young Romani man in Czech Republic

27.10.2016 8:51 In response to the death of a young Romani man at a pizzeria in Žatec last week there have been and will continue to be several commemorative assemblies throughout the Czech Republic and England. News server Romea.cz is publishing a list here and will update it as new events are announced.  full story

UK: Romani family from Czech Republic convicted of human trafficking and slavery

26.10.2016 6:15 News server iDNES.cz reports that the BBC has reported that five members of a Romani family from the Czech Republic have been convicted of human trafficking and slavery. The gang of two men and three women, all between the ages of 28 to 37, lured Czech citizens to the UK and then forced them to work and live in shocking conditions through various threats.  full story

Pavel Botoš: After the events in Žatec I will never return to the Czech Republic

24.10.2016 17:52 Not long ago I decided not to comment about some of the events that have been taking place in the Czech Republic anymore. I decided this because I have been living with my family abroad for a long time and some of the information that reaches me can be significantly biased.  full story

Analysis: Swiss Parliament approves law on "solidarity aid" to victims of forced sterilization

21.10.2016 17:20 "Solidarity contribution" instead of compensation  full story