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Former dissident Šabatová quits Czech human rights body in protest

22 October 2012
2 minute read

Anna Šabatová, a member of the Czech Government Human Rights Council, has resigned her post in protest over the fact that the Czech PM has not yet appointed a new Czech Human Rights Commissioner to replace Michael Kocáb, dismissed earlier this year. Both Kocáb and Šabatová believe the government is cutting off domestic human rights protections, reports news server Deník Referendum. Šabatová sent her resignation letter directly to the Czech PM, writing him that “Since the office of Human Rights Commissioner remains empty and the Commissioner is supposed to chair the Human Rights Council, I am addressing my resignation to you directly.”

The Czech Government Human Rights Council has not met once since the current cabinet was appointed. Since the former chair, Michael Kocáb, was dismissed, the office has been empty for almost two months. Many are beginning to seriously doubt whether the right-wing government has any interest in protecting human rights domestically. The priorities of the coalition government evidently lie elsewhere.

“I believe there is no point in being a member of a body that doesn’t work. There is no point in advising this government when I doubt they take human rights seriously,” Šabatová explained.

“The last straw which contributed to this decision, which I have been considering since summer, was the open, specific support expressed by the PM for Senator Liana Janáčková during her campaign,” explained Šabatová, who was nominated as a candidate for ombudsman this summer by the Senate but was not appointed to the post. Janáčková is infamous for her racist remarks at the expense of the Roma. She was not re-elected to the Senate.

When Czech PM Nečas removed former Czech Human Rights Commissioner Kocáb from office in mid-September, he said someone else would take up the human rights agenda within two weeks. A replacement has yet to be nominated. Moreover, concerns remain that the PM will end up taking the advice of his human rights adviser, Roman Joch, who said this summer that he would recommend the PM abolish the Government Human Rights Council entirely.

Michael Kocáb expressed great skepticism over the human rights situation in the Czech Republic to Deník Referendum: “I unfortunately expected the PM to take this lax approach, and that is why I said I did not want to leave until I could hand the office over to the specific person who would replace me. That was not possible. The office is now in a state of total anarchy. Given our obligations to the Council of Europe, the EU, the OSCE, and the UN, this state of affairs is unsustainable. Moreover, 14 days ago the office was told it would no longer be handling the agenda on human rights in the EU, which I consider completely scandalous. The Czech Republic will no longer be overseeing its own implementation of human rights treaties within the EU framework.”

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