News server Romea.cz. Everything about Roma in one place

News server Romea.cz. Everything about Roma in one place

Czech NGOs lobby to preserve human rights agenda on international day

10 December 2012
2 minute read

Human rights defenders are demanding that the Czech Prime Minister instruct his cabinet not to go through with budget cuts to the Office of the Government and not to transfer its advisory boards to various ministries. They are concerned that human rights protections in the Czech Republic will deteriorate as a result.

The activists say the move would reduce the significance and weaken the influence of these advisory bodies, the Czech Government Human Rights Commissioner, and the Czech Government Agency for Social Inclusion. Their open letter, signed by seven nonprofits, the Czech Women’s Lobby and a former Human Rights Commissioner, has been published today on the occasion of International Human Rights Day.

"We consider the proposed reduction of the Office of the Government to be a sign that the Czech Republic does not intend to fulfill the obligations it undertook in the past in the area of human rights and social inclusion," reads the letter, which the Czech Press Agency has a copy of. The authors disagree with the plan to transfer the government’s advisory boards to various ministries. The letter says they have "serious concerns" about human rights protections and about the direction of human rights policies in the Czech Republic.

The letter is signed by the Czech Women’s Lobby, the Czech Helsinki Committee, the Association for Integration and Migration, the Slovak Minority Center, and other organizations. It is also signed by Petr Uhl, who was the first-ever Czech Government Human Rights Commissioner from 1998 – 2001.

Representatives of various ministries, nonprofit organizations and experts sit on the government advisory bodies. According to the open letter, the advisory bodies are the "sole permanent platform" where experts can meet with state administration staff. The advisory bodies propose and recommend what measures the Government should take and how it should proceed in various matters.

The Czech Helsinki Committee says the state of human rights has recently deteriorated in the Czech Republic. According to its annual report for last year, budget cuts have affected children, people living with disability, senior citizens, single-parent families, and the unemployed. The inclusion of Romani children into mainstream schools was halted, hatred of Romani people grew, there were more assaults on members of sexual minorities and the prisons became even more overcrowded than usual. Women’s organizations are pointing out that measures to help women balance family life with professional work have been stalled.

The agenda of Czech Government Human Rights Commissioner Monika Šimůnková now includes the Human Rights Council, the Inter-ministerial Commission on Roma Community Affairs, the Council on National Minorities, the Council for Non-Governmental Non-Profit Organisations, the Board for People with Disabilities, and the Agency for Social Inclusion. Šimůnková disagrees with transferring these bodies to different ministries and previously stated that this would practically mean the liquidation of her section. Even the Council for Drug Policy Coordination and the National Drug Coordinator would no longer be part of the Office of the Government under the proposed changes.

Help us share the news about Romas
Trending now icon