TOMORROW: "Happening" at Prague memorial to Czechoslovak politician executed on false charges by the communist regime calls for preservation of Human Rights Minister post

On Wednesday, 6 December 2017 a day-long "happening" will be held to preserve the post of Human Rights Minister and to bolster the human rights agenda in the new Government. The beginning of the event, which is convened by the Czech Women's Lobby network of nonprofit orgnaizations, will be 9:30 by the statue of Milada Horáková on Sněmovní Street in Prague's Lesser Quarter.

By laying flowers by the memorial on the day when Czech PM-designate Andrej Babiš is delivering his proposal for the Government's composition, the organizers of the "happening" want to publicly express their disagreement and disenchantment with the fact that the new Government is not counting on including a cabinet-level post on human rights. They are also drawing attention to the fact that it is not clear what will happen with the human rights agenda, which is currently handled by the Office of the Governmet in organizational terms.

In the Facebook invitation to the event the organizers say that "We consider it essentially important that the post of human rights minister not just be preserved, but that this cross-cutting agenda also remain part of the agenda of the Office of the Government. Further, we consider it important that it remain one functional whole because that is the only way it is possible to responsibly undertake the agenda in an informed manner. We are also demanding that the existing system and continuity of advisory bodies to the Government be preserved, the so-called committees and councils for the area of human rights, as we consider them an appropriate, functional instrument for communication between the Czech Government, civil society, and other important groups in society, employees and employers first and foremost."