World

Czech Human Rights Minister: We must never forget the Nazi atrocities against millions of Jews, Roma and other human beings

Prague, 26.1.2015 20:33, (ROMEA) Tuesday, 27 January 2015 marks 70 years since the liberation of the concentration and extermination camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau, a place that embodies and symbolizes the horrors of WWII to the entire world. That is why 27 January is Holocaust Victims' Remembrance and Prevention of Crimes against Humanity Day here.  full story

Czech Holocaust commemoration will appeal against anti-Semitism and extremism - Romani victims forgotten?

Prague/Terezín, 25.1.2015 1:36, (ROMEA) This coming Monday, Prague Castle will be the venue for an international forum that aims to draw attention to rising anti-Semitism and extremism in the world and to seek solutions to the most burning problems linked to religious intolerance; it will be attended by 30 heads of national legislatures from around the world as well as 500 additional guests. The conference is part of a two-day commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp and the end of the Holocaust.  full story

Ukraine: Editorial offices of "disobedient" newspaper set on fire in Kharkov

Kharkov, 15.1.2015 18:59, (ROMEA) A serious incident took place last weekend in the Ukrainian city of Kharkov when unidentified perpetrators broke windows in the editorial offices of the nationwide newspaper Slovyanka, defaced the walls with Nazi swastikas and threatening messages, and set the building on fire with Molotov cocktails. According to eyewitnesses, the group of perpetrators had been active participants in demonstrations in Kharkov honoring the victims of the Islamist terrorist attacks in Paris.  full story

More than 50 physical and verbal attacks committed against Muslims in France

Ankara/Berlin/Paris, 14.1.2015 0:22, (ROMEA) The repercussions of last week's terrorist attack in France are still reverberating worldwide. The French continue to feel threatened, the terrorists are praising each other, tens of thousands of Germans have taken to the streets, Germany's eurosceptic party is arguing with itself, and the number of attacks against Muslims is rising in France  full story

Ukraine: New Year's Day saw thousands of extremists marching, journalists attacked

Kiev, 9.1.2015 0:18, (ROMEA) Several thousand Ukrainian extremists marched through Kiev with lit torches on 1 January to mark the 106th anniversary of the birth of Stepan Bandera, the leader of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army. Those participating in the assembly included supporters of the neo-Nazi Right Sector group and radical football fans.  full story

Young Roma at OSCE conference: We must increase our participation in public life

Belgrade, 8.1.2015 22:45, (ROMEA) More than 40 young activists across the OSCE region gathered on 8 and 9 December 2014 in Belgrade for a Conference on Roma and Sinti Youth. The meeting was organized by the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and reviewed the opportunities for mobilizing and strengthening communities and galvanizing their participation in politics and decision-making processes.  full story

"Je suis Charlie" and "I like moderate Muslims"

Paris, 8.1.2015 18:19, (ROMEA) Some in France have responded to yesterday's mass murder in Paris by carring signs reading "Je suis Charlie" and "I like moderate Muslims". Islamist terrorists broke into the editorial offices of the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, shooting 12 people dead and wounding others yesterday.  full story

Roma wanted: Apply for unique cultural management training – Khamoro Shares its Experience

Prague, 2.1.2015 20:37, (ROMEA) The NGO Slovo 21, based in the Czech Republic, has issued the following press release:
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Parallel worlds: The life of Romani people in Norway

Prague, 29.12.2014 21:59, (ROMEA) "There probably does not exist any other group against which Norwegians harbor more prejudice," says Balder Hasvoll, the Romani Minority Adviser to the Norwegian capital of Oslo. News server Romea.cz is interviewing him in Czech, as he has both studied and worked in the Czech Republic.  full story

videoRomani singer sues Beyoncé, claiming she used her music without permission

Budapest/New York, 29.12.2014 2:34, (ROMEA) Agence France-Presse reports that Mónika Juhász Miczura, a Romani singer from Hungary, is suing Beyoncé because she is convinced the American superstar stole a musical motif of hers and used it in her song "Drunk in Love". According to the Romani singer, the music was used without permission.
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Czech Senate distances itself from former Senator's lies about "gypsies" in Switzerland

Prague, 19.12.2014 21:24, (ROMEA) "Geneva used to be a friendly, open city, but several hundred Balkan gypsies were drawn there and now the town is completely paralyzed. The Swiss are afraid to let their children walk down the street. Gypsy children are robbing stores where security measures are weak like magpies," former Czech Senator Pavel Lebeda said this past summer in an interview with the Czech tabloid news server ParlamentníListy.cz.  full story

Russia: Neo-Nazi gang connected to Kremlin murdered anti-Fascists, immigrants and judges

Moscow, 1.12.2014 2:09, (ROMEA) The Moscow Regional Court has been the venue recently for a closely watched trial in the BORN (Bojové organizace ruských nacionalistů - Combat Organization of Russian Nationalists) case. Members of the group have been charged with murdering several anti-Fascists, attorneys, immigrants from the Caucasus and Central Asia, a journalist and judges.  full story

UK: Muslim leader says Islamists' first victims are moderate Muslims

London, 19.11.2014 20:31, (ROMEA) Representatives of the Anglican Church have for the first time invited a Muslim representative to address their general synod who has condemned the violence perpetrated by Islamists in the Middle East and the suffering that religious minorities, especially Christians, are subjected to there. Agence France-Presse reports that the Muslim representative has pointed out that the first victims of Islamist extremists have been and continue to be moderate Muslims.  full story

Commentary: No detente in sight for Israel-Palestine

Israel, 19.11.2014 15:10, (ROMEA) One week in solitary confinement and a fine of EUR 60 euros is the punishment that Marwan Barghouti, a leading member of the secular movement Fatah, has received for urging the Palestinian Authority to immediately end its security cooperation with Israel in a letter released on the 10th anniversary of Yasser Arafat's death. AFP reported that the 55-year-old militant, who is serving a life sentence on five counts of murder related to the second intifada in 2000, called for Palestinians to put up an "overall and armed resistance" against Israel.  full story

Czech President offends brave Russians who stood up for Czechoslovakia in 1968

Prague, 14.11.2014 23:16, (ROMEA) It seems that Czech President Miloš Zeman is striving so hard for the favor of the Chinese communists and the Putin supporters that he has no hesitation about insulting those who stood up for Czechoslovakia during her darkest hour. He may not have intended it that way, but part of what he said in his now world-famous radio program of 2 November has offended the sons of Natalya Gorbanevskaya as well as Russian dissident Victor Fainberg.  full story

Amnesty International issues Urgent Action over death sentence for blasphemy

Lahore, Pakistan, 12.11.2014 11:49, (ROMEA) Amnesty International reports that on 16 October, the High Court of Appeal in Lahore declined an appeal against the 2010 conviction of Asia Bibi, a Christian Pakistan woman sentenced to death under Section 295C of Pakistan’s Penal Code for allegedly insulting the Prophet Muhammad during an argument with a Muslim woman. There are very serious doubts as to the fairness of the entire trial.  full story

EU takeover of Italian mission a catastrophe for Mediterranean migration

11.11.2014 17:26 After a year of operation, the Mare Nostrum humanitarian and military mission promoted by the Italian government to increase patrols in the Mediterranean Sea in order to prevent migrant shipwrecks came to an end on 1 November.  full story

Iranian woman gets two years for protesting ban on women attending sports matches

Teheran, Iran, 6.11.2014 12:29, (ROMEA) Ghoncheh Ghavami, age 25, is an English-Iranian woman arrested in Tehran this past June for trying to attend a volleyball match together with men. A court has now sentenced her to two years in prison.  full story

Canadian Muslims condemn Islamist radical violence, now face increased aggression themselves

Ottawa, 4.11.2014 1:29, (ROMEA) After two recent attacks reportedly committed by Islamists in Canada, the number of attempted attacks against members of the Muslim community has risen sharply. The National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) announced the increase last Thursday.  full story

Amnesty International: Court must consider hate motive behind attack on Romani woman

Messolonghy/Greece, 3.11.2014 12:23, (ROMEA) The court in Messolonghy, Western Greece, recognizes racial motivations in the brutal attack that two Romani people, Paraskevi Kokoni and her nephew Kostas, who has a learning disability, have been subjected to in October 2012.  full story