Roma Still Being Attacked - Amnesty International

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Still Separate and Unequal


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"Three years after the European Court for Human Rights judgment which confirmed that the separate, substandard education of Roma people should be prohibited, the government has still not succeeded in bringing an end to discrimination in the country's education system," Amnesty reported in its annual report of human rights violations in the Czech Republic.
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In March of 2010 the Czech government initiated its National Action Plan of Inclusive Education. This is intended to prohibit the segregation of children based upon their "condition or disability". It does not however address the fact that Czech Republic schools still can and will segregate children based upon their ethnic origins. A fact that has led to the placement of Romani children into classes designed for the mentally handicapped.
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The National Action Plan of Inclusive Education also fails to place a time for which the schools must be integrated. It does not give a set date for the classes to be altered in their current designs. And no incentive for integration has been given except the loosely based idea that the government has mandated it.
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Amnesty also reported that the Czech Republic allows and in some cases promotes the "open hostility" that Roma face in Czech society. They did recognize that the Czech government had brought a handful of people to justice years after they had reportedly attacked Romani peoples. Unlike Amnesty however I do not nor have not agreed with the sentences handed down to the few assailants charged in these attacks.
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Until the racist past of the Czech Republic taught in the public schools, to all students, they can not assume it will ever end. This is a problem that Amnesty seems to overlook. This is an issue that the Czech government does not want to address. It is simply easier to maintain the status quot... it is simply easier to believe that their is nothing wrong with the current racist attitude of Czech society.
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If the same situation happened here in America we would be in arms to stop it. However when the European governments permit the segregation and demonetization of a given race we here in United States seem to be the ever ready and willing accomplices. Where is the outcry to force and end to this treatment of the Roma in Europe? Where is your courage to speak America?
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Source Documents
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Romea.cz
http://www.romea.cz/english/index.php?id=detail&detail=2007_2445
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The Prague Monitor
http://praguemonitor.com/2011/05/13/ai-czech-roma-discriminated-against-education
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Politics.Hu
http://www.politics.hu/20110513/amnesty-international-report-underscores-climate-of-fear-facing-hungarian-roma
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