The European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC), in coalition with other NGOs, produced a Shadow Report to supplement the July 2007 UNHR Committee’s review of the Czech Republic. The report focused particularly on the government’s obligations to the Roma people under the International Covenant for Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Roma people make up 250,000 of the 10.2 million Czech population. According to the findings of the NGO Report, they are continuously subjected to acts of violence and discrimination in the Czech Republic. Roma children are not granted equal access to education and are often segregated in less privileged districts. Roma houses are located at the edges of towns and they are frequently subjected to poor treatment by landlords. Hate speech is part of regular discourse, even among elected officials. In addition, Roma people are often targeted by extremist nationalist groups because of their race. There is evidence that Roma women have fallen victim to coercive sterilization as recently as 2004, with no legal consequences for the perpetrators. According to the Shadow Report, the Czech government is failing to live up to its obligations under ICCPR and should pass a law prohibiting discrimination against minority groups.
Compiled from: "Czech Republic NGO Shadow Report to UN Human Rights Committee on ICCPR," Women's UN Report Network, 2 July 2007.