PARALLEL REPORT BY THE EUROPEAN ROMA RIGHTS CENTRE CONCERNING THE CZECH REPUBLIC (For Consideration by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women at the 63th Pre-sessional Working Group 27 - 31 July 2015) (European Roma Rights Center, 2015)
The European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) submits this parallel report to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) for the attention of the PreSessional Working Group, commenting on the Combined Fourth and Fifth Periodic Report of the Czech Republic, submitted under Article 18 of the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (Convention). The present parallel report describes the current situation regarding one of the most serious human rights abuses of women - the practice of coercive sterilisation among Romani women - and the legal, policy and other obstacles in seeking an effective remedy for the victims. The submission focuses only on issues directly related to the practice of coercive sterilisation; i.e. Articles 10 (equal access to education), 12 (equal access to health care services) and 16 (freedom from discrimination in all matters relating to marriage and family relations) of the Convention. This report aims to provide an update on the situation since 2010 when CEDAW last reviewed the Czech Republic. It includes an update on the legislative changes, compensation mechanism proposals, updates on court cases, comments on the information provided by the Czech government and recommendations for government action