Czech State Attorneys Will Not Punish Doctors for Forced Sterilisations of Romani Women

20 November 2007

According to articles published on 25 July 2007 by the Czech News Agency (CTK) and the Prague Daily Monitor, in the cases of forced sterilisation of two Romani women in a hospital in Most during the 1990s, the state attorney's office upheld the verdict that although the doctors had clearly violated sterilisation laws and the rights of the Romani women, their actions also fell within the statute of limitations, and would therefore go unpunished. Appeals to check all medical documents on the cases of sterilisation conducted by the doctors were refused by the state attorney's office, on the grounds that this would violate medical secrecy. Eighty-nine Czech Romani women have filed complaints about forced sterilisation since the end of 2005, after the ERRC expressed concern over the issue in 2004. Human Rights Minister Dzamila Stehlikova and authorities from the Czech Ombudsman Office are considering amending sterilisation legislation in order to minimise the risk of errors.

(CTK, Prague Daily Monitor)