WUNRN
European Roma Rights Centre - ERRC
Hungary
Provides Compensation to Coercively Sterilised Romani Woman
Budapest,
24 February 2009. During a parliamentary session today, MP Jozsef Gulyas posed
a question to the Hungarian Prime Minister regarding the coercive sterilisation
of a Romani woman, Ms A.S.
The
State Secretary of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour, Mr. Lajos Korozs,
responded that the Ministry shall provide financial compensation to her.
The ERRC and the Legal Defence Bureau for National and Ethnic Minorities (NEKI)
welcome this decision of the Hungarian Government as an important
acknowledgement of the seriousness of this human rights violation, and of the
importance of respecting the rights of women under international law.
BACKGROUND
On 2 January 2001, a Romani woman (Ms A.S.) was sterilised by doctors at the
Fehérgyarmat hospital without her consent. During preparation for a caesarian
section operation to remove a dead foetus, Ms A.S. was asked to sign forms
giving her consent to this operation as well as to her sterilisation. However
the doctors did not explain the procedure, its nature, possible risks, or what
the consequences of being sterilised would be. Only after the operation did Ms
A.S. learn that she had been sterilised.
On 15 October 2001, Ms A.S. and her attorney filed a civil claim for damages
against the hospital. On appeal, the Szabolcs-Szatmar-Bereg County Court held
that the hospital doctors had indeed acted negligently, because they had not
informed Ms A.S. of “the exact method of the operation, of the risks of its
performance, and of the possible alternative procedures and methods”.
Nevertheless, the same Court concluded that since Ms A.S. had provided no proof
that she had suffered a lasting detriment, she was not entitled to
compensation.
On 12 February 2004, the ERRC and the Legal Defence Bureau for National and
Ethnic Minorities (NEKI) jointly filed a complaint with CEDAW relating to the
illegal sterilisation under the CEDAW optional protocol. In August 2006, the
Committee found the Hungarian government to be in violation of the
Convention.[1] The Committee recommended the Hungarian government provide
appropriate compensation to Ms A.S.; review domestic legislation on the
principle of informed consent in cases of sterilisation and ensure its
conformity with international human rights and medical standards; and monitor
public and private health centres, including hospitals and clinics that perform
sterilisation procedures to ensure that fully informed consent is given before
any sterilisation procedure is carried out. A year later, the Committee
expressed concern at the Hungarian Government’s failure to implement the
Committee’s recommendations[2] and again urged the Hungarian government to
“provide appropriate compensation to Ms A.S.” [3]
In 2008, the Hungarian Government amended the Public Health Act to ensure that
appropriate information be provided to patients in the context of sterilisation
procedures to ensure informed consent. However, in March 2008 the Hungarian
government advised the ERRC that it would not provide compensation to Ms A.S.
Today, after eight years of national and international legal proceedings, the
ERRC and NEKI welcome the State Secretary’s response on the compensation of Ms
A.S.
Ostalinda Maya, ERRC’s Women’s Rights Officer, stated: “The offer of compensation
means not only justice to A.S. but the recognition by the Government of Hungary
of its obligations to all women under international law. It is an important
step forward in ensuring respect for the optional protocol of the CEDAW
Convention. We hope that Hungary’s actions will serve as an example to other
countries, like the Czech Republic and Slovakia, where the problem of coercive
sterilisation still has not been fully addressed.”
The ERRC and NEKI will monitor the implementation of the Government’s decision.
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