AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL REPORT 2016/17

officer was found guilty of verbally assaulting
Doros Polykarpou.
CZECH REPUBLIC
Czech Republic
Head of state: Miloš Zeman
Head of government: Bohuslav Sobotka
The government adopted measures aimed at
addressing concerns from the European
Commission on discrimination against
Roma children in education. Anti-refugee
and anti-migrant protests continued and
groups supporting refugees faced threats
from far-right groups.
DISCRIMINATION – ROMA
Right to education
On 1 September, an amendment to the
School Act came into force. It had been
adopted in 2015 in response to infringement
proceedings launched by the European
Commission under the Race Equality
Directive. Positive reforms included support
measures for children identified as having
special educational needs; the introduction of
a compulsory year of kindergarten for all
pupils; and the aim for all children with “mild
mental disabilities” to be integrated into
mainstream education and be provided with
inclusive education. National and
international NGOs welcomed the reforms,
highlighting, however, that further measures
were required to tackle prejudicial attitudes
against Roma children and provide sufficient
resources for the educational support of
those pupils who require it.
Forced sterilization
In March, the UN CEDAW Committee
recommended establishing a mechanism for
providing compensation to Roma women who
were victims of forced sterilization, and the
appointment of an independent body to
investigate the full extent of the
consequences of forced sterilization. The
government had not taken any steps towards
implementing such measures by the end of
the year.
RACISM AND XENOPHOBIA
Anti-migrant and anti-refugee protests
continued. In February, thousands of people
participated in an anti-refugee demonstration
in the capital Prague, after which the office of
the refugee rights organization Klinika was
attacked, resulting in one person being
injured. In April, several businesses taking
part in the “hate-free zones” campaign in
Prague were attacked and sprayed with hate
messages and far-right symbols. In
September, five people were charged with
criminal damage and “expression of
sympathy for a movement aimed at
suppressing human rights and freedoms”.
This was followed by a several-hundredstrong
“anti-hate” demonstration in the city.
President Zeman continued to present
refugees and asylum-seekers as “a threat”
and used anti-migrant rhetoric. In August, a
man fired shots into the air and shouted
racist abuse at a Roma children’s summer
camp in Jiřetín pod Jedlovou, village, Děčin
District. According to camp organizers, local
police did not send officers to the scene
despite the camp managers’ repeated
requests for help. In September, a regional
police office investigation dismissed these
claims but found that the incident was not
investigated thoroughly.
REFUGEES AND ASYLUM-SEEKERS
The government agreed to continue with
resettlement and the EU-sanctioned
relocation scheme but with in-depth security
checks. Only 52 refugees were resettled and
12 were relocated to the country by the end
of the year. The routine detention of asylumseekers
and migrants continued.
RIGHTS OF LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL,
TRANSGENDER AND INTERSEX PEOPLE
In June, the Constitutional Court found that
Section 13(2) of the Registered Partnership
Act, which prohibited an individual in a
same-sex registered partnership from
adopting children and being the sole
136 Amnesty International Report 2016/17