Analyses

Analysis: Police in Ostrava intentionally failed to protect anti-racist demonstration

Prague, 1.10.2013 2:27, (ROMEA) I set out for Ostrava last Thursday and stayed there until early Saturday evening. On Thursday the 11th annual "Stop Drugs!" event for children and youth was convened by the Life Together association's community center in Hrušov, and the children there spent a pleasant afternoon of contests, dancing, games and songs, a special event in the stereotypical life of the ghetto.  full story

Analysis: Weekend surge of anti-Roma hatred in the Czech Republic part of larger cycle

Prague, 30.9.2013 17:55, (ROMEA) The "Let's Block the Marches!" (Blokujeme!) platform, of which the Konexe association is a proud member, has just made it through yet another busy weekend. Together we have stood up to demonstrations aiming to spark hatred in four towns - on Friday in Ostrava, and on Saturday (St. Wenceslas Day) in Krupka, Prague and Vítkov - suffering one defeat, one draw and two overwhelming victories.  full story

Analysis: Czech news outlet misleads readers by mastering Photoshop

Prague, 2.9.2013 22:04, (ROMEA) Have you always longed to become a regionally-recognized journalist whose articles will be read by many? Do you not know how to go about attracting that many readers? The Prostějov Evening News (Prostějovský Večerník) can advise you. Its editors have developed an effective system for achieving this. They have also demonstrated that they are more than proficient at working with Photoshop and have become first-class users of this technology in their field.  full story

Analysis: Czech NGO People in Need loses independence working with Provident Financial loan company

Prague, 2.9.2013 20:34, (ROMEA) The Provident Financial firm has launched a new TV ad. The message that will stick in many people's heads isn't that the company is offering new loans, but that it has connected its authority and name with the respected organization People in Need (Člověk v tísni).  full story

Czech experts warn politicians to address anti-Roma racism or there will be pogroms

Prague, 27.8.2013 21:12, (ROMEA) In the struggle for coexistence between the Romani minority and the rest of the population, optimists are getting the short end of the stick now more than ever before. Last Saturday's coordinated, simultaneous racist marches in six towns, the biggest event of its kind in the history of the country, were proof enough of this.  full story

Analysis: Two towns in one - where is Duchcov heading?

Duchcov, 13.8.2013 0:19, (ROMEA) The town of Duchcov in the Czech Republic today is running as if it were two separate municipalities with different administrations. The northern, wealthier section is well-financed from public resources, with well-maintained buildings, services and shops, a new sports field, and publicly subsidized activities for adults, children, and youth. Most of the practical resolutions adopted by the municipal council focus on that part of town.  full story

Analysis: Vítkov a day of absurdity, dialogue, paradoxes and reciprocity

Vítkov, 4.8.2013 19:50, (ROMEA) A park on Husova Street, a residential hotel on Opavská Street, and Jan Zajíc Square, where those attending an anti-Romani march assembled: These are three places in Vítkov where people gathered yesterday because they did not like the fact that several locals, together with neo-Nazis, were demonstrating in the town where the worst-ever arson attack against Romani people in this country took place four years ago. Recently it has become a common phenomenon that people from civil society, Romani people included, are starting to wake up, to raise up their heads, and to notice what people other than themselves need.  full story

Gwendolyn Albert: Zimmerman verdict is about living in fear

USA, 23.7.2013 12:41, (ROMEA) The verdict of “not guilty” in the trial of George Zimmerman the weekend before last was extremely disheartening for millions of Americans, as indeed the entire drama has been. In order to understand why it was possible for Zimmerman to shoot unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin in the heart and be legally absolved of wrongdoing by his claim of self-defense, we need to understand where the law that has spared him the designation of “murderer” came from.  full story

Analysis: Street violence committed by "ordinary people" with right-wing extremists bothers Czech public

České Budějovice/Prague, 9.7.2013 20:27, (ROMEA) The street violence sparked by right-wing extremists recently in the towns of Duchov and now twice in České Budějovice is starting to bother more people besides members of the Romani community and their supporters. The recent violence in České Budějovice followed a pattern similar to that of other towns, where any excuse has been enough to kick off crusades through the streets.  full story

Commentary: Absurdly low sentences for murderous hunt for Roma in Czech Republic

Prague, 20.6.2013 18:44, (ROMEA) A new wave of open antigypsyism has recently resurfaced in the Czech Republic, one of several in this country's recent history. Both poverty and unemployment are contributing factors to it.  full story

Analysis: How to produce hate, or, Roma, the Czech floods, and the YMCA

Prague, 19.6.2013 20:43, (ROMEA) Unfortunately, a common thread running through the Czech media scene today is incitement to hatred against Romani people with the aid of "correctly" phrased disinformation, half-truths, and lies. This is no longer just the province of neo-Nazis and other extremists. Growing numbers of ordinary citizens, including some "journalists", are involved in this as well.  full story

Patrik Banga: Judge, the arrow got him in the head by accident...

Prague, 24.5.2013 7:08, (ROMEA) So: Our Czech William Tell is on trial. He didn't hit the apple but the head, and surprise! The man he shot, died. A legend then sprang up about a hero protecting his property from a horde of gypsies who were robbing his house. The prosecutor, however, sees it differently, and her qualification of what happened approximates murder.  full story

Analysis: Czech political parties cleanse municipal district of “Romani garbage”

Ostrava/Prague, 28.4.2013 4:06, (ROMEA) The municipal department of Moravská Ostrava a Přívoz, which is governed by the Czech Social Democratic Party (ČSSD) together with the Ostravak (“Natives of Ostrava”) movement, is gradually “purging” this central section of Ostrava of “Romani garbage”. At least, that is how developer and municipal department councilor Lukáš Semerák (Ostravak movement) expressed himself last year when explaining his desire to purchase buildings on Přednádraží Street and his purchase of an apartment building on Palackého Street just a few steps away.  full story

Czech Govt Agency for Social Inclusion and ROMEA offer to work with media for more objective reporting about Romani people

Prague, 11.4.2013 17:22, (ROMEA) On the occasion of International Romani Day this Monday 8 April, the Czech Government Agency for Social Inclusion and the ROMEA civic association held a round table on the topic of Portraying Romani People in the Media at the Journalists’ Syndicate under the auspices of Czech Government Human Rights Commissioner Monika Šimůnková. The Agency presented the results of its extensive analysis of the Czech media there.  full story

Czech trafficking in poverty: Residential hotel owners cashing in on state welfare

Ostrava, 4.4.2013 22:32, (ROMEA) Overpriced rents, poor hygienic conditions, families with children living in one small room, strange contracts, infectious diseases: This is life in the residential hotels for the impoverished in Ostrava as described by an analysis performed by the Life Together (Vzájemné soužití) association and publicized yesterday at a press conference by experts criticizing another recent analysis published by the Czech Regional Development Ministry (MMR). That MMR analysis has stated that "social residential hotels" could become one component of social housing in the Czech Republic.  full story

Czech experts disagree with residential hotels as social housing

Prague, 3.4.2013 17:00, (ROMEA) A group of academics and representatives of organizations serving the needy disagrees with including residential hotels as a component of social housing and are criticizing a recent analysis recommending such an approach. The group is also asking for a law to be adopted to ensure "affordable, non-segregated, quality housing" for the poor, according to the initiative's coordinator, Štěpán Ripka, who spoke at a press conference today.  full story

Czech permanent settlement law expired 15 years ago

Prague, 30.3.2013 19:27, (ROMEA) Deeply engrained stereotypes about Romani people, formed in Europe over the course of six centuries, persist today even though various regimes have made efforts to more or less eliminate the stereotypes in various ways. One of those efforts was the forced assimilation of Romani people that began in the fall of 1958 in the former Czechoslovakia with a law on the permanent settlement of vagrant persons.  full story

Valeriu Nicolae: Incentives to stimulate NGOs and governments to effectively address social inclusion

Sofia, 1.3.2013 16:47, (ROMEA) Before we can even start to look at incentives, we need to consider the people responsible for setting up incentives. While the most effective incentives differ from case to case, many of the basic requirements for those in charge of finding incentives are the same: hands-on and academic experience, a high level of trust within the targeted communities, empathy, and great communication skills. Other essential skills are the ability to adapt and respond quickly to rising challenges, critical thinking, and the ability to accept and learn from inherent failures.  full story

Commentary: Did Romani activist cause CZK 10 million damage?

Prague, 24.2.2013 20:46, (ROMEA) Ladislav Bílý, the chair of the Romani Civic Association (Romské občanské sdružení) was sentenced this week to six years in prison for subsidy fraud. According to information in the media, he committed the fraud between 2007 and 2010 when he requested subsidies in the name of the association from the municipality of Karlovy Vary, the Karlovy Vary Regional Authority, and the Czech Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs and submitted a falsified confirmation of solvency with his application.  full story

Czech Republic: Good and bad examples of helping the poor

Prague, 21.2.2013 18:47, (ROMEA) News server Novinky.cz reports that yesterday, 20 February, was the World Day of Social Justice, an effort to draw attention to the topic of poverty and social problems. According to the EU Statistical Office, 15 % of the population of the Czech Republic is jeopardized by poverty and social exclusion, defined as suffering from material deprivation or working less than 20 % of what ordinarily constitutes a full-time work year.  full story