News

Czech Gov't approves plan to close pig farm at Lety, wants estimate of land value

7.11.2016 15:33 The Czech Government has approved a plan to close the industrial pig farm in the vicinity of the remembrance site for Romani victims of the Holocaust at Lety by Písek. Spokesperson Martin Ayrer announced the news on Twitter without further details.  full story

Czech Government approves closure of pig farm on site of former concentration camp for Roma

7.11.2016 14:25 The Czech Government has approved a bill to close the operations of the industrial pig farm located in the vicinity of the remembrance site at Lety by Písek. Spokesperson Martin Ayrer announced the news on Twitter.  full story

Renata Berkyová: Who were the guards at Lety by Písek?

7.11.2016 8:58 Even though more than half a century has passed since the camp at Lety by Písek came into existence, to this day that place and especially its story continues to spark tempestuous emotions. For some, the Romani Holocaust is one of the most tragic episodes in the life of the Czech Roma, while for others this controversial topic seems, at a minimum, one that it is appropriate to cast doubt on or to exploit as a way to score votes  full story

Czech Govt Roma Council reviews Romani Holocaust sites, victim database, and compensation for involuntary sterilizations

4.11.2016 15:38 The Czech Government Council on Romani Minority Affairs met on Tuesday in Prague and discussed much more than just the scandal in Žatec. After opening with a vote of agreement to call on the Interior Ministry and Police Presidium to report to the Council on the investigation there, the Council focused on the opening of the school year in relation to implementation of the amendment to the Schools Act legislating the education of children and pupils with special educational needs.  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

Czech candidate for 2018 presidential run says social exclusion is a topic of his campaign

4.11.2016 7:35 The writer Michal Horáček will run for President of the Czech Republic in the next elections at the beginning of 2018. He announced his candidacy yesterday at a press conference in Prague.  full story

Emilie Horáčková calls on Czech PM and EU Justice Commissioner to focus on anti-Romani racism

4.11.2016 6:18 The Romani activist Emilie Horáčková has called on Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka, EU Justice Commissioner Věra Jourová, the chair of the Chamber of Deputies Jan Hamáček and Public Defender of Rights Anna Šabatová to focus on the state of institutional racism and structural discrimination against Romani people at all levels of the local and state administration and in all bodies of executive and judicial power. In her letter, she expresses her dissatisfaction with how the Constitution of the Czech Republic is being upheld.  full story

Czech broadcast regulator says TV Prima must explain its manipulation of news reporting about refugees

3.11.2016 7:48 The Council on Radio and Television Broadcasting (RRTV) has ascertained that the Prima television station manipulated its news reporting about refugees in at least four cases and has published an analysis of Prima's newscasts focused on the issue of migration between 28 March and 17 April of this year. The television channel must respond to the Council within 30 days of receiving its call for an explanation.  full story

Czech Republic: Allegations of police brutality against Romani youths at Prague housing estate

2.11.2016 19:59 Last week a young Romani man posted on the Facebook social networking site complaining of an improper intervention against him and others by police officers in the Černý Most neighborhood of Prague. The police have decided, on the basis of the speculation that has arisen about the case, to investigate the entire situation, including the police intervention.  full story

Czech principal says new law is clarifying educational support for socially disadvantaged pupils

2.11.2016 14:22 As part of its WEEK FOR INCLUSION 2016, the Czech Society for Inclusive Education has published the following interview online with school principal Zdenka Juklová (age 59), who has led the Velké Hamry Primary School since 2015. Previously she was an educator at the Masaryk Primary School and Business Academy in the town of Tanvald and at the Secondary School of Glassmaking in Železný Brod.  full story

Three-volume biography of Czechoslovak Romani partisan, decades in the making, has been published

2.11.2016 12:30 On 21 October the Moravian Museum and the Triáda publishing house launched a new book, "Česká cikánská rapsodie" (Bohemian Gypsy Rhapsody) by Josef Serinek and Jan Tesař at the Dietrichstein Palace in Brno. Those scheduled to discuss this three-volume biograpy of Serinek included Jiří Mitáček, the General Director of the museum, former dissident and former chair of the Czech Senate Petr Pithart, historians Daniel Říčan, Petr Koura and Vítězslav Sommer, conservationist Marta Procházková, publisher Robert Krumphanzl and the author, Jan Tesař, who has worked on the book for decades.  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

Czech NGO offers paid internships for Roma - deadline is 9 November

2.11.2016 10:46 If you would like to achieve or change something in your life, the nonprofit organization Slovo 21 has a unique opportunity for you that may never repeat itself. Romani college students or fresh graduates interested in intensifying their professional skills and applying them in their own lives, personal and professional, now have the opportunity to apply for internships.  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

Czech Gov't Roma Council calls on Interior Minister, Police President to thoroughly investigate death of Romani man in Žatec

2.11.2016 7:20 The Czech Government Council for Romani Minority Affairs has demanded that Czech Interior Minister Milan Chovanec (Czech Social Democratic Party - ČSSD) and Police President Tomáš Tuhý thoroughly investigate the October incident at a pizzeria in Žatec during which a young Romani man died. "After extensive discussion, the Council adopted a resolution asking the Interior Minister and Police President to thoroughly investigate the case of the death of the man in Žatec," reads a press release issued by the Council after yesterday's meeting.
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Council of Europe's Commission against Racism and Intolerance holds round table in Prague on Thursday

1.11.2016 17:46 On Thursday, 3 November, the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), in collaboration with Czech Minister for Human Rights, Equal Opportunities and Legislation Jiří Dienstbier and Public Defender of Rights Anna Šabatová, will convene a round table to discuss the measures that have been undertaken in response to the recommendations made by ECRI during its most recent monitoring report about the Czech Republic in 2015. The round table will take place in the building of the Office of the Government of the Czech Republic from 9:00 to 17:00.  full story

Czech Republic: Romani activist calls on Mayor of Žatec to resign

1.11.2016 12:46 Romani activist Robert Tonelli has sent an open letter to the Mayor of Žatec, Zdeňka Hamousová. The activist is calling on her to resign from her post because of what she said during the appearance she made at last week's event commemorating the young Romani man who died there in on 18 October.  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

Commentary: Romani children in the Czech schools

1.11.2016 7:35 News server Romea.cz published a news item several days ago about the Czech Education Ministry tracking the number of Romani and socially disadvantaged children currently being educated using the "Framework Education Program for Pupils with Mild Mental Disability". That particular curriculum has been used up until now in the "practical" primary schools.  full story

videoCzech Republic: Eyewitness video footage shows Romani man was subjected to violence before he died

31.10.2016 17:40 An eyewitness to the incident in the pizzeria in the Czech town of Žatec on 18 October during which a Romani man died used a mobile phone to film what transpired. When the images are enlarged and also slowed down, they clearly show other customers committing violence against him prior to his death, including in front of the local police officers who intervened.  full story