Amnesty International criticizes discrimination against Ukrainians and weapons for Israel

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 today. The Czech Republic also criticizes the outdated law on access to abortions and the export of weapons to Israel, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

“Against a backdrop of economic recession and rising inflation, Ukrainians have been exposed to hate speech, harassment and hate crimes,” Amnesty said in a document on the situation of refugees in the Czech Republic. According to the report, Ukrainians also faced obstacles in integration. Although their employment rate was 64%, 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, Youth and Sports at the beginning of this year.

Amnesty noted that Czech MPs rejected an amendment to the Marriage Act for all couples. “Which creates uncertainty about the future of equal rights in marriage,” the report said. And she 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 non-EU citizens due to incorrect claims by the Czech Medical Chamber – repeatedly refuted by the Ministry of Health and the Ombudsman’s office – that the law does not allow this,” the report said.

Amnesty has called arms exports to Israel, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates irresponsible because of the risk that 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.