The Council of Europe’s Advisory Committee, which monitors compliance with the Framework Convention on the Protection of the Rights of National Minorities, has called on the Czech Republic to update its laws to ensure better protection of minorities, in a report released today.

The Advisory Committee, which is assessing the measures of the Czech authorities in the protection of minority rights for the sixth time, is also urging them to continue combatting stereotypes and prejudices against minorities living in the Czech Republic.

“The Advisory Committee urges the authorities to amend the relevant legislation with a view to regulating access to certain minority rights with a more flexible and less restrictive arrangement, ensuring that persons belonging to national minorities can enjoy the rights enshrined in the Framework Convention on a sustainable basis and taking into account the demographic situation of the national minority concerned over a longer period of time,” the Committee writes in its report.

According to the report, the Czech Republic has implemented a number of positive initiatives, such as revising the school curricula, updating the legislation on personal names, and ensuring a comprehensive system of education in national languages for those in the Polish minority.

At the same time, however, the Committee warns that the protection of the rights of national minorities is apparently limited by a non-systematic approach and a lack of resources. According to the Committee, a number of unresolved issues persist, including the reproductive rights of Roma women, the right of minority communities to preserve and develop their own culture, and the social and economic situation of Roma families.

The Czech Government Council for National Minorities currently includes representatives of 15 minorities: Belarusian, Bulgarian, Croatian, Georgian, German, Greek, Hungarian, Polish, Roma, Russian, Ruthenian, Serbian, Slovak, Ukrainian and Vietnamese.

In its report, the Advisory Committee of the Council of Europe (CE) has called on the Czech authorities to “ensure effective redress for sterilisations of women, in particular Roma women, unlawfully carried out in the past, and compensate the victims, and improve the general situation of the Roma, notably access to education.”

The report notes that the 2021 law allows for one-off financial compensation for the illegally sterilised Roma women. However, according to the Committee, the Ministry of Health was very slow in processing these applications, and rejected many of them for lack of evidence.

Moreover, a study commissioned by the state authorities has confirmed the continued segregation of Roma pupils, and the Committee considers the measures taken to be insufficient.

In addition to the persistence of intolerance towards Roma people in the Czech Republic, the report found that hate speech against Ukrainians and, to a lesser extent, Russians has increased in the country.

The committee also pointed out that the use of minority languages in the public sphere is very limited.

According to the committee, there is only one newspaper published in a minority language (in Polish), and public television is available in only one minority language (again in Polish). The Advisory Committee has therefore called on the authorities to allocate regular time slots for television programmes in minority languages.

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The right to use a minority language in dealing with public authorities is still severely restricted – if no official speaks their language, the applicants must arrange for an interpreter themselves, the Committee noted.

It further states that there is a demand for the Slovak language instruction in general education and that Slovak should be introduced in public education in the Czech Republic, as recommended by the Committee.

The Advisory Committee has urged the Czech authorities to continue to combat stereotypes and prejudices against members of minorities, including through awareness-raising campaigns.

The Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, which was adopted by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on 10 November 1994, and entered into force on 1 February 1998, sets out the principles to be observed by states and the objectives to be achieved in order to secure the protection of national minorities.

The Council of Europe is the leading human rights umbrella organisation on the European continent, bringing together 46 countries, including all member states of the European Union. The European Court of Human Rights, the Council’s international court, oversees national compliance with the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.