Last year, Ukrainian refugees faced hate speech and discrimination in the Czech Republic, the de facto segregation of Roma children in education continued, and sexual minorities did not see an improvement in their rights either. This is stated by the international human rights organization Amnesty International in its annual report published on Wednesday. The Czech Republic also criticizes the outdated law on access to abortions and the export of weapons to Israel, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
The report, which assesses the state of human rights in more than 150 countries and regions, strongly condemned the decline of the rule of law in the world. Criticism did not escape the Czech Republic either, to which Amnesty devoted a page and a half in the document, which has a total of 420 pages.
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“Against the background of economic recession and rising inflation, Ukrainians have been exposed to hate speech, harassment and hate crimes,” Amnesty said about the situation of refugees in the Czech Republic. According to the report, Ukrainians also faced obstacles in integration. Although their employment rate was 64 percent, these were mostly poorly paid and unskilled jobs.
Last year, according to Amnesty, the Czech Republic did not even make progress in solving the ongoing de facto segregation of Roma children in education. The Czech branch of the international organization noted that measures to improve the situation were presented by the Ministry of Education at the beginning of this year.
Amnesty noted that the Czech parliamentarians rejected the amendment to the law on marriage for all. “Which creates uncertainty about the future of equal rights in marriage,” the report said. She also pointed out that transsexuals seeking legal gender recognition were still required by law to undergo sterilization. “This is despite a 2017 ruling by the European Court of Human Rights, which found it to be a violation of human rights,” noted Amnesty.
According to Amnesty, the law on access to abortion remains problematic in the Czech Republic. “Many medical facilities refused to provide abortions to citizens of non-EU countries due to incorrect claims by the Czech Medical Chamber, but repeatedly refuted by the Ministry of Health and the Office of the Ombudsman, that the law does not allow this,” the report said.
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Amnesty has called arms exports to Israel, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates irresponsible because of the risk they could be used to commit serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law.
The report also stated that although the Czech government is committed to carbon neutrality by 2050, the country has not yet adopted any law with specific climate goals.
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Globally, Amnesty finds, among other things, that nationalist and racist forces are on the rise, the status of women has deteriorated and civilians are often left to fend for themselves in armed conflicts as governments, militaries and armed groups trample human rights standards.
Julia Duchrow, head of the German branch of Amnesty International, presented this conclusion at a press conference in Berlin during the presentation of the annual report. According to her, human rights suffer not only in Ukraine, which faces the Russian invasion, but also in the Palestinian Gaza Strip or in China.
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Tags: Amnesty International Ukrainians discriminated Roma children segregated Czech Republic
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