WUNRN
Link to Details Ruling by European
Court of Human Rights:
Press release issued by the Registrar
CHAMBER JUDGMENT
K.H. AND OTHERS v. SLOVAKIA
The European Court of Human Rights has today notified in writing its Chamber judgment1 in the case of K.H. and Others v. Slovakia (application no. 32881/04).
_______________________________________________________________
April 29, 2009
SLOVAK ROMANI WOMEN VICTIMS OF FORCED
STERILIZATION
WIN DAMAGES FROM THE
EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS
U.S. Helsinki Commissioners welcomed
news that the European Court of Human Rights issued a decision yesterday
awarding damages to eight Romani women. The plaintiffs had sued the Slovak
Government in connection with investigations into sterilization without
informed consent.
Senator Benjamin L. Cardin, Chairman of the U.S. Helsinki Commission, remarked
on the decision: “I have personally expressed my concern to both Czech and
Slovak officials regarding the sterilization without informed consent of Romani
women. Neither government has done enough to acknowledge this past practice or
to provide victims with remedies, so I am particularly pleased that these women
have persevered and prevailed.”
“It is a travesty of justice that these victims were denied adequate access to
their very own medical records, which they have sought for nearly a decade now.
I commend them for their courage and tenaciousness throughout this ordeal,”
stated Co-Chairman Congressman Alcee L. Hastings.
Ranking Member Congressman Christopher H. Smith added that, “The full extent of
the emotional and physical damage these women have suffered is incalculable,
yet it is my hope that the court’s decision provides them some measure of
justice and comfort, and serves as a clear warning to the human rights abusers
who even today are coercively sterilizing women elsewhere in the world.”
Background
Based on theories of eugenics, the Czechoslovak communist state targeted Romani
women for sterilization. Although the sterilization policy ended with the fall of
communism, the practice continued sporadically in both the Czech and Slovak
Republics even after the end of communism.
An October 2000 Slovak Government national strategy paper reportedly stated,
“[i]f we do not succeed in integrating the Romani population and modify their
reproduction[,] the percentage of nonqualified and handicapped persons in the
population will increase.”
In 2001, the spokesperson for the Minister for Human Rights and National
Minorities threatened that women who came forward alleging wrongful
sterilization would go to jail.
In 2001, Romani activist Alexander Patkolo was threatened with the criminal
charge of “spreading alarming information” for even suggesting that Romani
women had been sterilized without informed consent.
In 2002, then-opposition MP Robert Fico (now Prime Minister) ran on a
parliamentary campaign pledge to “actively effect the irresponsible growth of
the Roman[i] population.”
On December 13, 2006, Slovakia’s highest court ruled that the regional
prosecution’s investigation in the cases of three Romani women alleging
wrongful sterilization had been so faulty that it violated both the Slovak
Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights.
In Case of K.H. and Others v. Slovakia, announced yesterday, the
European Court of Human Rights found a violation of article 6 of the European
Convention on Human Rights (right to a hearing regarding civil rights and
obligations) and article 8 (right to family life).
The Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the
U.S. Helsinki Commission, is an independent agency of the Federal Government
charged with monitoring compliance with the Helsinki Accords and advancing
comprehensive security through promotion of human rights, democracy, and economic,
environmental and military cooperation in 56 countries. The Commission consists
of nine members from the U.S. Senate, nine from the House of Representatives,
and one member each from the Departments of State, Defense, and Commerce.
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