Category: Czech Republic
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Czech Republic rolls back on inclusive education for children with disabilities
Validity is concerned that the Czech Republic is rolling back on its commitments to ensure inclusive education for children with disabilities in the country. This week, the Minister of Education signed a regulatory amendment reducing the support made available for children with special educational needs to receive a quality education in mainstream schools. The amendment…
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Czechia: UN Anti-Torture Experts Express Concern Regarding Ongoing Use of Cage Beds in Psychiatry
The United Nations Committee against Torture has expressed concern about the continued restraint of people with mental disabilities in so-called ‘net beds’ in Czech psychiatric facilities. The comments came following a wide-ranging review of the country’s progress in stamping out torture by the UN’s top expert body, who pointed out to Czech representatives that involuntary…
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Preventing Child Abuse in Institutions
Robert Martin, CRPD Committee Member, talks institutionalistion, ill-treatment and human rights. Earlier this month, Validity (formerly MDAC) published a first-of-its-kind monitoring methodology for identifying and preventing abuse of children with mental disabilities in institutions – the CHARM Toolkit. The Toolkit was the product of a two-year, EC-funded project carried out together with our partners, GIP-Sofia…
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Duped, detained and drugged
Today, the European Court of Human Rights found that 55-year-old Jaroslav Červenka from the Czech Republic was deceived and wrongfully held in a social care institution for eight months (judgment here). Validity (formerly MDAC) calls on the Government to prohibit disability-based incarceration, and to evacuate the more than 28,000 people living in social care institutions, and…
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All children have the right to inclusive education
Despite significant pressure from civil society and the international community, the Czech Republic still denies inclusive education to tens of thousands of children with disabilities and from the Roma community. Few steps have been taken and there continues to be a lack of understanding about how to achieve full inclusion for all. Inclusive education was…
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Why was a boy with autism repeatedly denied an inclusive education?
This month, MDAC and our partners at the League of Human Rights submitted an application to the European Court of Human Rights on Jan’s behalf. The case challenges the Czech Republic’s denial of Jan’s right to an education on grounds of discrimination, and the refusal to provide him with the support he needs to access mainstream education. Jan…