Update on Forced Sterilisations Issues in Czech Republic

19 June 2007

According to a report by Radio Prague, the Group of Women Harmed by Sterilisation demanded that a fund be established to compensate women sterilised without their consent. The group also called for an apology for the harm they have suffered. The women have asked that such compensatory measures be made available also to women sterilised but whose claims would exceed the statute of limitations under Czech law, according to a document prepared by the Group.

In related news, in January 2007, the Vitkovice hospital in northern Moravia apologised to Ms Helena Ferencikova, a 24-year-old Romani woman, who had sued the hospital for performing an unwanted sterilisation procedure on her six years ago, according to a Prague Daily Monitor report of 13 March 2007. The hospital's apology followed a January ruling by the High Court in Olomouc ordering the hospital to apologise to Ms Ferencikova. According to the report, the Court did not recognise her right to financial compensation as her case fell outside the statute of limitations.

(Prague Daily Monitor, Radio Prague)