Czech Republic: Situation of Roma, including treatment by the authorities as well as in the education, employment, health and housing sectors; state protection and assistance from Romani organizations; prevalence of Roma among judges, legislators, physicians, police and teachers (January 2006 - November 2007)

General situation of Czech Roma

Official census figures on the number of Roma (also known as Romany) in the Czech Republic are reportedly highly understated since many Roma avoid identifying their ethnicity (ERRC et al. July 2007, 6) out of fear that such information could be misused by the authorities (CTK 10 Jan. 2006). In the absence of reliable statistical data, the number of Roma living in the Czech Republic is estimated to lie between 250,000 (ERRC et al. July 2007, 6) and 275,000 (Reuters 22 Mar. 2006) out of a total population of 10 million (ibid.).

Citing the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the Czech News Agency (Ceska tiskova kancelar, CTK) notes that a quarter of Czech Roma live below the poverty line, compared to eight percent of the general population (CTK 23 May 2006; ibid. 30 Apr. 2006).

A submission made to the United Nations Human Rights Committee (HRC) by four Roma-rights organizations, namely the European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC), Peacework Development Fund, Vzajemne Souziti and the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions, notes that "[i]n practice, Roma in the Czech Republic are regularly subjected to discrimination in almost all aspects of their lives" (ERRC et al. July 2007, 3).

Anti-Roma racism is reportedly high in the Czech Republic, with many Czechs admitting to feelings of fear regarding Roma and a sense that Roma negatively affect Czechs' quality of life (ibid.). In 2006, the Ministry of Interior reported 248 extremist or hate-related crimes, a slight decrease over the 253 that it had recorded in 2005 (EU 2007, 115). According to the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF), there were 25 cases of racial violence in 2006, mostly targeting Roma (2007).

In July 2006, Roma living in Svitavy reportedly evacuated the town when 90 skinheads marched through the streets (ERRC et al. July 2007, 8).

Several polls have found high levels of anti-Roma sentiment among the majority of Czech citizens (CTK 16 June 2006; ibid. 8 Jan. 2007). For example, a survey conducted by the Centre for Empirical Research in Prague (STEM) (Helsingin Sanomat 1 Aug. 2000) in June 2006 found that two-thirds of Czechs "have a negative stance on Romanies" while a third felt that it would be "unacceptable" to have a Rom as a neighbour (CTK 16 June 2006). In January 2007, CTK released the results of another poll conducted by the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic's Public Opinion Research Centre (Centrum pro vyzkum verejneho mineni, CVVM) (CVVM n.d.), which interviewed 1,119 Czechs over the age of 15 years old (CTK 8 Jan. 2007). According to the survey, 9.4 percent of respondents "said they liked Romanies very much" (ibid.) as opposed to 76.1 percent who "said they did not like them" (ibid.; IPS 6 Apr. 2007).

According to the leader of the Government Human Rights Council, Jan Litomisky, the Czech government's Romani integration programs "[have] been a failure so far" with little will on the government's side (CTK 6 Nov. 2006).

Treatment by the authorities

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2006 indicates that police have responded to complaints involving discriminatory treatment of Roma in public places such as bars and restaurants, including some cases in which signs were posted prohibiting Roma from entering the premises (US 6 Mar. 2007, Sec. 5).

In August 2006, CTK reported that police in Brno set up a free summer camp for Romani children in an effort to foster a positive attitude about the police (CTK 31 Aug. 2006).

However, there were reports of police mistreatment of Roma, and by 2007 there was still no independent police watchdog to investigate complaints (AI 2007).

In June 2006, two police officers arrested a Romani man in Brno suspected of assault and robbery, and physically and psychologically abused him (ibid.; CTK 24 July 2007). In November 2006, the two officers were convicted of "beating and torturing," and received a sentence of two years imprisonment and a five year ban on resuming their law enforcement duties (ibid.; AI 2007). After an appeal, the Czech Supreme Court upheld the two-year prison sentence against the police officers (CTK 24 July 2007).

July 2007 coincided with the release of a recording in which Liana Janackova, a senator and the mayor of Ostrava, stated during a local housing committee meeting that "[u]nfortunately, [she was] a racist" and that she didn't believe in integration for Roma in her district (TOL 10 Aug. 2007; Roma in the Czech Republic 11 July 2007). Janackova reportedly denied the seriousness of her remarks and blamed their publication on a smear campaign by political opponents (ibid.). However, Transitions Online (TOL) reports that apart from calls by some senators for Janackova to resign, the remarks, along with previous ones made by a mayor of a town near the Austria border who used derogatory epithets against Roma, "aroused little protest" (10 Aug. 2007).

Treatment in the education sector

According to the Roma Education Fund, a Budapest-based non-governmental organization (NGO) that seeks to improve the educational opportunities of Roma people, there have been some improvements in Romani education in recent years, including:

• preparatory classes for children with difficult backgrounds to help them make the transition from home to school (there were 146 such classes in 2006 versus 123 in 2005);
• teachers' assistants funded by the Ministry of Education who work mainly in schools with a high proportion of Roma (there were 326 assistants in 2006 versus 318 in 2005);
• free pre-school education in the final year of kindergarten;
• secondary school scholarships for Roma, which has led to an increase in Romani students in high schools;
• abolishing "special education" schools and thus reducing the social stigma associated with Roma attending institutions for the developmentally disabled;
• Government initiatives and funding have increased, providing a more stable source of funding than irregular private donations. (Roma Education Fund 2007, 37)

Various pro-Roma NGOs have developed programs to assist Romani students (ibid., 19). For example, the Association of Roma in Moravia and Nova Skola have introduced Romani teacher's assistants; People in Need conducts social work in Romani communities; and the organization Poradna pro obcanstvi a lidska prava conducts research and testing on discrimination-related issues (ibid.).

The only secondary institution in the Czech Republic specially designed for Romani students, the High School for Social and Legal Issues, has seven branches throughout the country, a total of 600 students, and has graduated 300 students since its inception in 1998 (The Prague Post 23 May 2007). The high school is also the only one to give students classes in Romani language, literature, culture and history (ibid.). One of the school's teachers notes that the government has had some recent success in integrating greater numbers of Roma into the general education system, "[b]ut some teachers still don't want Romany children in their schools.... There's still a lot of prejudice" (ibid.).

The Czech Republic is reportedly one of the few countries in Central Europe where the Romani language is not taught in public schools (Roma Education Fund 2007, 38).

The UNDP is cited as reporting that one quarter of Romani children complete primary school, compared to three quarters of other Czech children (CTK 30 Apr. 2006; Los Angeles Times 23 June 2006). Few Romani teenagers attend high school (CTK 16 June 2006; The Prague Post 23 May 2007). A principal at a primary school was quoted by the Los Angeles Times as stating that she "could not name a single Roma success story" in her 27-year career; she also noted that each year, out of 30 of her students who begin secondary school, only 2 obtain their diploma (Los Angeles Times 23 June 2006). However, Romani attitudes towards education are apparently changing; an August 2006 poll by the Dzeno Romani association found that nearly two-thirds of Czech Roma want their children to obtain a secondary school education (CTK 30 Aug. 2006).

There are reportedly no desegregation strategies to counter the trend of Roma being "educated in separate facilities, with an inferior curriculum and teachers with lower expectations" (Roma Education Fund 2007, 38). Most Romani children continue to attend schools for the developmentally challenged (ERRC et al. July 2007, 33), and over half the population in remedial schools is Romani (ERRC 15 Nov. 2007). Romani pupils are reportedly 27 times more likely to attend "remedial schools" than non-Romani children (ibid.; Los Angeles Times 23 June 2006; The Guardian 14 Nov. 2007).

According to the report by the ERRC and three other Romani-rights NGOs, "Romani children are still systematically turned away from regular schools and sent to schools where the curriculum is not as challenging and does not meet minimum requirements for dignity" (ERRC et al. July 2007, 36); some 70 (CTK 16 June 2006) to 80 percent of Romani pupils attend segregated educational institutions (Roma in the Czech Republic 30 Nov. 2006). However, the Czech government has introduced a "Re-integration of Roma Pupils" project which seeks to correct cases in which Romani students were wrongfully placed in special schools (EU 2007, 103).

On 14 November 2007, the European Court of Human Rights ruled in favour of 18 Romani Czech students who complained of racial discrimination when, following psychological testing, they had been sent to special schools for children with learning difficulties (ERRC 15 Nov. 2007; HRW 14 Nov. 2007). The Court found that sending these children to remedial schools amounted to "indirect discrimination" and violated the European Convention on Human Rights (ibid.). The Court further noted that

due to segregation, the applicants "received an education which compounded their difficulties and compromised their subsequent personal development instead of tackling their real problems or helping them to integrate into ... ordinary schools and develop the skills that would facilitate life among the majority of the population." (ibid.)

The court ruled that the Czech government should pay 4,000 euros [approximately 6,000 Canadian dollars (Canada 5 Dec. 2007)] in costs plus damages to each student (The Guardian 14 Nov. 2007). The court's verdict obliges the Czech Republic and all Council of Europe member states to enact legislation prohibiting discrimination against Romani children in the education system (AP 15 Nov. 2007).

Treatment in the employment sector

According to several estimates, the unemployment rate among Czech Roma is between 70 (EU 2007, 45; TOL 31 May 2007) and 80 percent (Roma in the Czech Republic 30 Nov. 2006; CTK 16 June 2006). Citing Romani activists, CTK reports that 19 percent of Romani women have a job (ibid.). The estimated unemployment rate in the approximately 300 poorest Romani localities, which house 80,000 people (CTK 6 Sept. 2006; IPS 18 Dec. 2006), ranges between 90 and 100 percent (Roma Education Fund 2007, 14; CTK 6 Sept. 2006). According to Transitions Online, many of those Roma who are employed have unskilled jobs (TOL 31 May 2007).

Reliance on social benefits as a source of income is reportedly high in the Czech Roma community (ibid.; CTK 6 Nov. 2006). A sociological analysis conducted by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs found that state social benefits did not encourage many unemployed Roma to find work, since the payouts were larger than salaries for low-skilled jobs (ibid.).

The ERRC notes that

[a]fter 1989, Roma were systematically laid off; as a result of very high levels of discrimination on the labour market, most have not held a job since or ever. Roma who are employed frequently work in dangerous, short-term, or other forms of substandard employment. (ERRC et al. July 2007, 38)

According to the Report on Racism and Xenophobia in the Member States of the EU, there are no official statistics on racial discrimination in the employment sector of the Czech Republic (EU 2007, 49).

A poll conducted by a Romani organization named Dzeno found that approximately two-thirds of unsuccessful Romani job applicants in the Czech Republic blamed racial discrimination for their inability to get hired (CTK 30 Aug. 2006).

Country Reports 2006 indicates that there were cases of employers refusing to hire Romani job applicants; in some instances, they had asked hiring agencies not to send them any Romani employees (US 6 Mar. 2007, Sec. 5). At the same time, Country Reports 2006 notes that more and more Roma have been able to find justice in court if they suffered job-related discrimination (ibid.).

The government has reportedly instituted an affirmative action program which provides assistance to Romani job-seekers and subsidies to Romani high school students (ibid.).

The EU's EQUAL initiative, which works to ensure equal rights and combat discrimination for all EU citizens (EU n.d.), funds a project entitled Minibus in the Czech Republic which assists long-term unemployed citizens, mostly Roma, by offering training and matching jobseekers with potential employers (EU 2007, 75).

For further information on the employment situation of Roma in the Czech Republic, please consult the ERRC publication entitled The Glass Box: Exclusion of Roma from Employment (Feb. 2007).

Treatment in the health sector

According to the ERRC, racism has played a role in the delivery of medical services to the Czech Republic's Romani community (ERRC 4 Oct. 2006).

There were reports that the coercive sterilization of Romani women continued until at least 2004 (ERRC et al. July 2007, 12). While there are no accurate statistics on its prevalence, the Associated Press (AP) cites human rights activists as stating that the number of Romani women affected by the procedure could be in the hundreds or higher (12 Oct. 2007). The ERRC identifies four reasons for the persistence of this phenomenon in the Czechoslovak successor states:

(i) the unaddressed legacy of eugenics in Central and Eastern Europe, which continues to influence medical practice in these countries to today;

(ii) a general vacuum of respect for patients' rights;

(iii) particular contempt for the moral agency of Romani women;

(iv) "concern" at high levels of Romani birth rates. (ERRC 3 Oct. 2006)

In September 2005, 87 victims of forced sterilization, the majority of whom are Roma, submitted complaints to the Czech Ombudsman (ERRC et al. July 2007, 14). After investigating these complaints, the Ombudsman concluded in December 2005 that "'the problem of sexual sterilisation carried out in the Czech Republic, either with improper motivation or illegally, exists, and Czech society has to come to terms with this'" (ibid., 15). However, contrary to the opinion of the ERRC, the Ombudsman failed to attribute the sterilization to racial discrimination (ibid.).

Despite this, after considering a case involving two Romani women, the Most District State Attorney's Office ruled in May 2007 that non-consensual sterilization was a crime (ibid., 19). As of 2007, the Czech government had yet to speak to or apologize for any accounts of forced sterilization (ibid., 21). According to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the Czech government should train medical staff on the rights of patients, provide compensation to Romani victims of forced sterilization and undertake measures to prevent future incidence (Roma Rights Quarterly 15 Nov. 2006a).

In January 2007, a Vitkovice hospital apologized to a Romani victim of coercive sterilization in order to comply with the Olomouc High Court's ruling, but the Court did not consider the woman eligible for financial compensation (ibid. 3 July 2007b).

However, in October 2007, an Ostrava court ordered a local hospital to pay a woman 500,000 koruna [approximately 26,750 Canadian dollars (Canada 16 Nov. 2007)] for sterilizing her without her consent in the late 1990s, marking the first time that a Romani woman received compensation for the procedure (AP 12 Oct. 2007).

Treatment in the housing sector

The submission by the ERRC and three other NGOs to the UN Human Rights Committee notes that large numbers of Czech Roma live in poor housing conditions in racially segregated districts; many reportedly face eviction, even if they have been paying their rent in a timely manner (ERRC et al. July 2007, 24). There are reports of real estate agents sending "unwanted" apartment seekers to unpopular housing estates that may become "Roma ghettos" (CTK 20 Mar. 2007). According to the report, there is no housing law which prohibits private or public institutions from allocating housing in a racially discriminatory manner; indeed, the report states that the new Law 107/2006 "on the unilateral increase of rent on flats" permits landlords, in certain instances, to bypass court approval to evict their tenants (ERRC et al. July 2007, 24). Citing the Ministry of Labour, Amnesty International (AI) notes that the Romani population living in substandard housing has increased in the past decade (AI 2007).

In October 2006, municipal authorities in the eastern Czech town of Vsetin expelled Romani residents of public housing; 42 families were moved to "metal containers" in the city outskirts, while others were evicted during the night to "substandard housing," hundreds of kilometres away (ERRC et al. July 2007, 28). According to Inter Press Service (IPS), the Roma had signed relocation agreements "under duress" and were not clearly told where they would be resettled (IPS 18 Dec. 2006). Some of the families were "forcibly transferred to villages throughout the Jesenik district," before being dropped off "in front of their new 'homes,' which are derelict farms" (ERRC et. al. July 2007, 29). Some of the transferred children were reportedly accompanied by their fathers but separated from their mothers during the displacement (ibid.). The ERRC reports that other evictions of Romani tenants have taken place in the towns of Novy Jicin, Radslavice, Plzen and Nove Dvory (ibid., 30-31). Czech President Vaclav Klaus reportedly told CTK that the eviction of the Romani families from Vsetin was "not very fortunate" but that it would be wrong to "'cheaply condemn'" the move (CTK 8 Dec. 2006).

The mayor of Vsetin, Jiri Cunek, who presided over the eviction in his town, was later appointed chairman of the Christian Democrat party (TOL 10 Aug. 2007; CTK 2 Apr. 2007). Although fellow Christian Democrats expressed disapproval over Cunek's later remarks, including derogatory comments about the Roma's skin colour or the opinion that Roma "abuse welfare benefits," none expressed the opinion that Cunek should resign over his comments (ibid.). However, leaders from several other parties called for Cunek's resignation (IPS 6 Apr. 2007). According to Inter Press Service (IPS), 13 criminal complaints were filed against Cunek over the eviction of Roma from their homes (ibid.).

In April 2007, the Report for the Second Quarter of 2007 authored by the Public Defender of Rights (Ombudsman) concluded that the expulsion of the Romani families from Vsetin to poor housing in "inconvenient premises" "cannot be accepted as a conceptual and effective solution" (Czech Republic 17 Apr. 2007, 10, 11). According to the Ombudsman, the social and legal rights of children were not respected during the eviction (ibid.). The Ombudsman also noted that despite a "'media myth'" that the evicted families had all failed to pay their rents, three out of six evicted families were free from debts while the other three were in the process of repaying their arrears (ibid., 10). As the families' "fundamental human rights and freedoms were actually violated by the aforementioned intervention (the freedom of movement and residence, the right to respect for private and family life)" (ibid., 11), the Ombudsman recommended that municipal authorities cooperate with Roma and NGOs to prevent debt accumulation, and he also suggested that the families expelled from Vsetin be given material aid to improve their living conditions (Czech Republic 9 Jan. 2007, 35).

The Roma Rights Quarterly reported that by May 2007, the majority of the Romani families evicted from Vsetin remained in the "container homes" where they had initially been sent (3 July 2007a). Besides their "poor housing conditions," the NGO Life Together states that these Roma must travel hundreds of kilometres to their previous home town of Vsetin in order to collect social allowance, use employment offices or visit their doctors, since they have not been able to register in their new city (Roma Rights Quarterly 3 July 2007a).

State protection

The task of the Czech Public Defender of Rights (Ombudsman) is to protect citizens against offices of the state administration, including police, municipalities, the army, prisons, public health insurance and courts should they act in a way that [is] "contrary to the Law," does "not comply with principles of a democratic state respecting the rule of law" or is seen as a "fail[ure] to act" (Czech Republic n.d.b). Citizens may lodge a complaint with the Ombudsman in writing, by electronic mail or in person at the Office of the Public Defender of Rights in Brno (ibid.). A copy of the complaint form can be obtained on the website of the Public Defender of Rights (ibid.).

The Czech Retail Inspection Office, which investigates cases in which retailers and service providers allegedly infringe on their customers' rights (Czech Business Weekly 8 Jan. 2007), employs two female Romani inspectors; the Office investigated 260 discrimination-related complaints in 2006 (US 6 Mar. 2007, Sec. 5).

However, according to the ERRC, in 2006 there was "near total impunity for racial discrimination against Roma" in the Czech Republic (1 Mar. 2007). The International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF) states that in the majority of cases involving neo-Nazis targeting minorities, including Roma, "authorities, including the police, turned a blind eye" (IHF 2007). According to IPS, a survey conducted in 2006 found that "courts rarely investigate cases of racial discrimination" (6 Apr. 2007), although further details on this survey could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

In May 2006, three neo-Nazis reportedly stormed into an apartment building in the town of Neratovice, broke windows and uttered death threats against the Romani residents (ERRC et al. July 2007, 9; AI 2007; Roma Rights Quarterly 15 Nov. 2006b). Police were said to have arrived in 10 minutes and immediately arrested the culprits (ibid.; AI 2007; ERRC et al. July 2007, 9).

In July 2006, an unidentified gunman shot and injured four Roma, including two children, in a Ceske Budejovice housing estate (ibid., 8). The municipality refused to increase the police presence in the estate citing a lack of funds, and by August 2007 the police had yet to make any arrests (ibid., 9).

In August 2006, an appeals court in Olomouc sentenced a "right-wing extremist" to three years in prison for seriously injuring a pregnant Romani woman and her friend in the town of Jesenik (AP 31 Aug. 2006).

In September 2006, skinheads and Roma clashed violently in Orlova; police responded by increasing their presence, but laid charges on both sides for "hooliganism, inflicting bodily harm and defamation of nation, race or belief" (ERRC et al. July 2007, 9; CTK 8 Sept. 2006).

In September 2007, the Minister of Human Rights, Dzamila Stehlikova, reportedly announced plans for a new anti-discrimination agency to fight social exclusion throughout the Czech Republic (Roma in the Czech Republic 19 Sept. 2007). Further or corroborating information on this project, however, could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

Legislation

While there are general bans on discrimination in such legislation as the Czech Constitution, the Education Act and the Labour Code (Roma Education Fund 2007, 18), as of 2007, the Czech government had yet to adopt a comprehensive anti-discrimination law (ibid.; ERRC et al. July 2007, 3). In addition, the Roma Education Fund believes that the aforementioned bans on discrimination are difficult to implement because of "a lack of official enforcement mechanisms" (2007, 18). An anti-discrimination bill was approved by the Czech Parliament in December 2005 but was not passed by the Senate the following month; many senior officials were reportedly opposed to the bill, including Czech President Vaclav Klaus (ERRC et al. July 2007, 10). However, IPS notes that the Czech government, "facing possible European Union sanctions, is already working on a new rights bill" (IPS 6 Apr. 2007), although further or corroborating details on this proposed bill could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

Assistance from Romani non-governmental organizations (NGOs)

According to the Roma Education Fund, there were 381 Romani NGOs in the Czech Republic as of 2005; however, 20 percent existed only nominally (2007, 19).

Following the sentencing of a military officer to a two-year suspended sentence for the beating of a Romani man, a group of five Romani NGOs announced their dismay at what they considered was a light sentence which "confirmed the judges' bias towards them"; according to CTK, the five NGOs called on Czech Roma to consider mass emigration away from the Czech Republic or Europe as a whole (14 Sept. 2006).

The organization Athinganoi was founded in 1999 by Monika Mihalickova, a Romani ex-representative to the Czech Chamber of Deputies (Athinganoi n.d.). The organization's 21 activists, most of whom are students, have hosted Romani cultural events for Romani students, launched the International Day of Roma People, organized training seminars to help Roma who wish to enter political life, and opened a library and resource centre aimed at Romani youth (ibid.).

The association Life Together (Vzajemne Souziti) is a Czech-Romani NGO that has worked in the Ostrava area since 1997 to improve the social and living situation of poor families, focusing on such issues as school desegregation, justice for victims of forced sterilization and the respect of Roma housing rights (ERRC et al. July 2007, 43).

The Open Society Fund (OSF) Prague aims to provide financial assistance to Czech minority NGOs, particularly Roma, to fight discrimination and xenophobia, improve relations between Roma and the majority population, and help Roma better integrate into the job market (OSF n.d.).

The Romani organization Romodrom helps Roma living in Prague who have a drug addiction by offering them clean needles (TOL 31 May 2007). According to a Romodrom representative, approximately 40 percent of the 5,000 drug users who registered with Romodrom are Romani, and up to 140 Roma seek help from the organization on a daily basis (ibid.).

Prevalence of Roma among judges, legislators, physicians, police and teachers

According to the Roma Education Fund, as of 2007 there were no Roma in the Czech Parliament or the cabinet of ministers, and Roma were absent from the Czech government (2007, 17). Since 1989, there have reportedly been two Romani representatives in the Chamber of Deputies (The Prague Post 4 Oct. 2006).

The minister responsible for human rights and national minorities chairs the Council for Roma Community Affairs, which includes the human rights commissioner of the Czech Republic, deputies of 12 ministers and 14 Roma representing as many regions (Roma Education Fund 2007, 17; US 6 Mar. 2007, Sec. 5). The council is instrumental in mediating disagreements between Roma and their non-Romani neighbours (ibid.) and pushing for the integration of Roma into the wider community (Czech Republic n.d.a).

In 2006, the Czech government set up a six-month training program for Romani women interested in entering political life; three out of nine graduates reportedly ran in regional elections throughout the country (The Prague Post 4 Oct. 2006), but further information indicating whether or not they were successful could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

Some Romani activists blame political parties for not being amenable to having Roma join their ranks, while Monika Mihailova, a Roma politician who once served in the Chamber of Deputies, argues that "[t]he motivation has to come from within the Roma communities" (ibid.).

Estimates of the number of Roma among police officers could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate. However, according to CTK, police employ Romani assistants from NGOs to help them forge links with local populations (CTK 18 May 2006). According to CTK, two Romani police officers working in the city of Litvinov have reported "verbal attacks" from Roma citizens (ibid.). Under the slogan "The Police of the Czech Republic is also Your Police," the Czech Ministry of the Interior launched a program in 2003 to hire more Roma, Vietnamese and Ukrainian police officers (ibid.; EU 2007, 130).

According to the Roma Education Fund, "[t]here are virtually no Roma teachers"; Roma are mostly employed as teachers' assistants, but there have been instances in which they have reported a "high level of prejudice" from the teachers with whom they were working (2007, 38).

Information on the prevalence of Roma among judges and physicians could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

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Los Angeles Times. 23 June 2006. Jeffrey Fleishman. "New Gypsy Vision for the Future; The Roma Use Tactics from the U.S. Civil Rights Struggle to Seek Equal Access to Education and New Opportunities for Their Children." (Factiva)

Open Society Fund (OSF) [Prague]. N.d. "OSF: Human Rights and Non-Discrimination." [Accessed 15 Nov. 2007]

The Prague Post. 23 May 2007. Hilda Hoy. "High School Fosters Roma." [Accessed 15 Nov. 2007]
_____. 4 October 2006. Kristina Alda. "Roma Eye Political Roles." [Accessed 15 Nov. 2007]

Reuters. 22 March 2006. "Factbox – Main Roma Populations in Eastern Europe." (Factiva)

Roma Education Fund. 2007. Advancing Education of Roma in the Czech Republic. [Accessed 16 Nov. 2007]

Roma in the Czech Republic. 19 September 2007. Jan Velinger. "Government Agency to Fight Problem of Discrimination, Ghettos in Czech Towns." [Accessed 9 Nov. 2007]
_____. 11 July 2007. Rob Cameron. "Senator in Hot Water After Secret Recording Captures Racist Remarks." [Accessed 9 Nov. 2007]
_____. 30 November 2006. Daniela Lazarova and Alexis Rosenzweig. "European Monitoring Centre Says More Effort Is Needed to Integrate Romany Minority." [Accessed 9 Nov. 2007]

Roma Rights Quarterly [Budapest]. 3 July 2007a. "Continuing Problems for Roma from Vsetin, Czech Republic." [Accessed 6 July 2007]
_____. 3 July 2007b. "Update on Forced Sterilisations Issues in Czech Republic." [Accessed 6 July 2007]
_____. 15 November 2006a. "CEDAW Committee Reviews Czech Republic." [Accessed 24 Nov. 2007]
_____. 15 November 2006b. "Neo-Nazis Attack Roma in Czech Republic." [Accessed 24 Nov. 2006]

Transitions Online [Prague]. 10 August 2007. "Our Take; Rabble Revival." [Accessed 15 Nov. 2007]
_____. 31 May 2007. Mia Malan and Jayalakshmi Shreedhar. "Time Bomb for Roma." (Factiva)

United States (US). 6 March 2007. Department of State. "Czech Republic." Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2006. [Accessed 15 Nov. 2007]

Additional Sources Consulted

Oral sources: Several Romani-rights organizations were unable to provide information within the time constraints of this Response.

Internet sites, including: British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Council of Europe (COE), Courrier international, Czech Helsinki Committee, European Country of Origin Information Network (ecoi.net), Open Society Institute (OSI), Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), Radio Prague, United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.