Category: Czech Republic
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Unveiling Injustice – Conference and new reports launched
Today, in collaboration with the Network of Independent Experts-NIE and the KERA Foundation, the Validity Foundation launched two major reports in Sofia, Bulgaria, during an international conference titled “Unveiling Injustice: Deinstitutionalisation and intersectionality in disability rights.” One of the reports is the outcome of a series of pre-unannounced monitoring visits, which we conducted to 14…
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The European Committee of Social Rights publishes a new decision against Czechia concerning the use of cage beds
The European Committee of Social Rights, in a decision of 14 February 2024, has delivered a verdict addressing severe human rights violations in Czechia. This decision follows a meticulous examination prompted by a complaint filed in 2019 by the Validity Foundation in partnership with the Forum for Human Rights, highlighting the egregious use of cage…
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The European Committee of Social Rights requests that Council of Europe Member States introduce proper inclusive education and deinstitutionalisation processes.
At the end of March 2024, the European Committee of Social Rights published its Conclusions 2023 and Findings 2023 and called on Council of Europe Member States to introduce proper inclusive education and deinstitutionalisation processes. The European Committee of Social Rights (ECSR) published its 2023 Conclusions in respect of the articles of the European Social…
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Czechia: European Court of Human Rights Finds Violation of Right to Life of Young Man Tasered in Psychiatric Hospital
For the first time, the European Court of Human Rights has found that the Czech Republic violated a young man’s right to life due to wrong and violent interventions by the staff of a locked psychiatric hospital and police, tragically resulting in his death. The judgment sets an important precedent, challenging the common restraint practices…
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Czech Constitutional Court Rules in Landmark Decision on Inclusive Education and Access to Justice
On 4 December 2023, in a seminal ruling, the Constitutional Court of Czechia found that a child with disabilities had been unconstitutionally denied access to education and a fair trial due to the failure of the lower courts to adequately address the discrimination claims of a child with autism. The case started in 2015, and…
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Czechia must adopt concrete steps towards deinstitutionalisation to prevent inherent risk of ill-treatment in institutions – Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights says
The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights has published an eagerly anticipated report following her visit to Czechia in February 2023. Validity welcomes that the Commissioner’s report highlights key human rights violations experienced by persons with disabilities in Czechia. The Commissioner notes a lack of progress on abolishing guardianship measures applied to persons with…
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Representing Victims of Torture with Disabilities
A key cross-cutting objective for Validity is to contribute to the global push to end all forms of torture and ill-treatment faced by persons with disabilities. In this context, Validity works with partners to represent numerous victims with disabilities in Europe and Africa, with the strategic goals of ending disability-specific forms of torture, enhancing protections…
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Voices for Justice: EU justice systems must do better on rights of victims with disabilities
The justice system and its symbols are scary. In most places, courts are not about justice, they are about power. For anyone, facing these symbols of power is disabling. Start with thinking about de-focusing the power; the focus should be on justice. It is really about the humanisation of the justice system itself and making…
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Czechia: Reports expose shocking use of mechanical restraints in psychiatric institutions
A psychiatric hospital in Opava, Czechia, kept a young woman in mechanical restraint for over 12-years. The story was exposed by a Czech human rights activist, supported by Validity, who managed to obtain reports of monitoring visits in 2018 of Czech psychiatric hospitals conducted as a part of a programme of psychiatric reform. The reports…
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Joint statement on suspension of the draft Additional Protocol to the Oviedo Convention
Joint statement welcoming the suspension of the adoption of the draft Additional Protocol to the Oviedo Convention We, organisations of persons with disabilities, non-governmental organisations, international and human rights bodies, including national human rights institutions and equality bodies, welcome the decisions taken by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe that suspends the…