Czech Republic

Czech Army's own survey shows officers are racist, Defense Minister suspects a set-up

24.9.2015 18:19 According to internal materials produced by the General Staff of the Czech Army, aggression, racism, sharp disagreement of generals and soldiers with the Czech Republic's foreign policy and military position, and xenophobia are the main security risks now extant among the Army's officers and soldiers. Army psychologists based those findings on a survey of 816 employees of the General Staff.  full story

Czech Bar Association calls on its members to service refugees pro bono

23.9.2015 21:46 The board of the Czech Bar Association reviewed motions at its meeting on 14 and 15 September concerning the problems of ensuring the rights of immigrants from Africa and Arab countries who find themselves on Czech territory. The Czech Bar Association has no ambition to address political matters, but is concerned about indications that these people's rights might be violated.  full story

Czech politician's anti-Gypsyism is no impediment to her career

23.9.2015 18:37 Alena Rašková (Czech Social Democratic Party - ČSSD),the Deputy Mayor of Prostějov who is infamous for her remarks about Romani people, is now seeking the mayoralty there. Her candidacy was supported today by the local governing coalition of the ČSSD, the PéVéčko movement and the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (KSČM).  full story

Influential Czech Social Democrat wants Human Rights Minister dismissed, exploits refugee crisis to attack Roma

23.9.2015 4:35 Martin Klika, a Social Democrat and Regional Councilor in Ústí nad Labem Region, has called on his website for Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka to dismiss Human Rights Minister Jiří Dienstbier. In an interview for the Českolipský deník daily on 19 September he expressed understanding for citizens' concerns about migrants by saying he believed people are concerned migrants will behave like Romani people.  full story

Czech figures active in 1989 transition call on Gov't to reassess its position on refugee redistribution

19.9.2015 2:29 Public figures connected with the democratic transition of Czechoslovakia in November 1989 believe the current uncompromising position of the Czech Government on the question of redistributing refugees among the Member States of the European Union could lead to a disruption of the Schengen area and the breakup of the European Union. A letter they have sent to the Government which the Czech News Agency has seen calls on the executive branch to honor its European commitments and reassess its current "negativist" position on the issue.  full story

Czech Gov't Agency for Social Inclusion director says all-Romani classes are unfortunate, media misquote him

18.9.2015 19:48 Radek Jiránek, Director of the Czech Government Agency for Social Inclusion, was quoted recently by news server iDNES.cz in a way that suggested he was praising the separate classes for non-Romani and Romani pupils that have been set up at a primary school in the Czech town of Krásná Lípa. He considers the quotation imprecise and has told news server Romea.cz that it could have a negative impact on how the public and the schools might interpret how to include children with special education needs into "normal school".  full story

Czech Labor and Social Affairs Ministry publishes updated online maps of socially excluded localities

17.9.2015 19:54 The Czech Labor and Social Affairs Ministry has published the updated version of its online maps of socially excluded localities. The map is one of the main outputs of a research project commissioned by the ministry and performed by the GAC company.  full story

Czech Republic: Gay Romani man's week includes a racist assault with a gun, rejection from a bar and strange police treatment

16.9.2015 20:55 At the beginning of August, I experienced several amazing days with the organization ARA ART. I participated in the first international Roma LGBT conference. As part of the conference, together with six other gay Roma, I took part in the Theater of the Oppressed by putting on a play about being Roma and gay. At the conference, I met 20 other Romani LGBT. In our free time, we were able to enjoy ourselves freely in clubs and other entertainment facilities without being discriminated against. All this changed upon my return to the mundane reality of the city of Ostrava.  full story

Czech volunteer firefighters tell Romani children club is full - then accept a different applicant

16.9.2015 20:14 The Plzeňský deník daily reported on 11 September that the Voluntary Firefighter Unit in the Bolevec neighborhood of the Czech town of Plzeň recently refused to accept applications from four Romani children to join their club. Allegedly there was no more room for new members.  full story

Czech NGO found barefoot, hungry children in detention center for asylum-seekers who are being charged money by authorities

16.9.2015 18:03 Czech NGOs report that the conditions in Czech facilities for asylum-seekers are substandard. The situation in detention facilities is especially bad, where asylum-seekers complain that their mobile telephones and money are being confiscated.
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Czech NGOs question whether mandatory preschool is an effective way to help socially disadvantaged children

16.9.2015 4:39 A proposed amendment to the Schools Act that would make the final year of preschool mandatory in the Czech Republic as of 2017 is not being unequivocally accepted by all experts on education. Those opposed include, for example, the Association of Forest Nursery Schools (Asociace lesních mateřských škol).  full story

Czech pizzeria has the answer: It won't serve immigrants and wants to "Stop Islam"

16.9.2015 2:50 The Grand Italia Ristorante Pizzeria in the Czech town of Hrušovany nad Jevišovkou posted the slogans "We don't serve immigrants" and "Stop Islam" to its Facebook profile at the start of September. After members of the public responded to his messaging, restaurant manager Tomáš Ševčík then posted the following: "Yesterday I was called a Nazi because I expressed my opinion about the problem with refugees - we got 200 negative reviews, insults and threats. When I looked at the profiles of those posting I couldn't believe it. They either work for a 'nonprofit' or are foreigners and don't understand at all what is going on - this is just a gimmick so we'll be afraid of them. I don't mind foreigners, what I mind is this invasion OF ILLEGAL REFUGEES WHO BELIEVE THEY ARE ENTITLED TO ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING."  full story

Pro-refugee demos throughout Europe, Czech Police detain Romani activist again over flag

14.9.2015 0:41 Czech Police detained Romani activist Ivana Mariposa Čonková in Prague yesterday immediately prior to the beginning of a demonstration there for an "Open Europe", one of several such events held throughout the continent. Although the officers did not initially inform her why she was being detained, it later turned out that it was because she was holding a Czech flag altered to feature elements of the international Romani flag.  full story

Czech platform for institutionalized children calls on Gov't to simplify its child welfare system

13.9.2015 1:05 Vteřina poté ("One Second Later"), an independent platform in the Czech Republic advocating for the rights of institutionalized children, has sent an open letter to Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka, Czech Labor and Social Affairs Minister Michaela Marksová, Czech Education Minister Kateřina Valachová, Czech Health Minister Svatopluk Němeček and Czech Human Rights Minister Jiří Dienstbier calling on them to fulfill the Government's pledge to simplify its care system for at-risk children. The Government made that pledge in its National Strategy for the Protection of the Rights of the Child in 2012.  full story

Czech Gov't Agency for Social Inclusion reports on transitional housing programs now underway

12.9.2015 19:10 The Czech Government Agency for Social Inclusion has released research analyzing so-called transitional housing systems currently being implemented throughout the country in detail. Such systems are being used by more than 10 cities and social service providers for working with people who are unable to access standard housing for various reasons.  full story

Another Czech school segregating Romani children this year

11.9.2015 1:50 On 1 September the parents of some of the first-graders at the Antonín Sochor Primary School in the Czech town of Duchcov found an unpleasant surprise awaited them. The first grade class identified as "1A" includes all of the newly-enrolled Romani children, while class "1B" next door has been reserved exclusively for the children of local non-Roma.  full story

Czech school opens "special" first-grade class, only Roma assigned to it

8.9.2015 19:57 The principal of a primary school in the town of Krásná Lípa in the Šluknov foothills has created a "special" class only for Romani first-graders. Their parents are complaining that they did not know their children would be attending a class that would be separate from the other children.  full story

Czech Human Rights Minister proposes illegally sterilized women receive CZK 300 000 compensation

7.9.2015 17:10 Czech Human Rights Minister Jiří Dienstbier will submit a proposal to the Government this month for women who have been illegally sterilized to receive compensation. The amount he is proposing is CZK 300 000 (EUR 11 000).  full story

Czech right-wing extremist proposes refugees be "concentrated" at Terezín

7.9.2015 15:41 Adam B. Bartoš, chair of the National Democracy (ND) political group, which is not seated in the Czech Parliament, posted yet another remark about refugees to his publicly accessible Facebook profile after midnight today. "Why create camps of tents for the aliens near Břeclav (and elsewhere) to stress and terrorize local residents? After all, we have the beautiful fortress town of Terezín (safer than any little tent city) where the aliens could be concentrated before the trains take them home..." he wrote.  full story

Czech Christian Democrats strip local councilor of party membership over his racist remarks about refugees

6.9.2015 23:58 Daniel Kalenda, a local councilor in the town of Liberec and member of the Czech Christian Democratic Party (KDU-ČSL) who made hateful, pejorative remarks about the refugees who recently perished in a truck in eastern Austria near the Hungarian border, has been stripped of his membership by party leaders. Kalenda posted the following remarks, among others, to social networking sites: "God, 71 dead on a highway in Austria... And should we be crying? They say they ran out of air the minute the doors were closed. What do you expect? You shouldn't be so stupid as to get into a truck like that. The very best thing of all would be for them to stay home. They say the world is crushed [by this news]... I am not mourning them, I'm not sorry for them... Not at all! This element doesn't belong here, they are filth and scum."  full story