WUNRN
Czech Republic - Human
Rights Groups Say Regret for Illegal Sterilization of Romani Women Must Be
First Step Toward Apology, Compensation
Brno/Budapest/Ostrava/Prague/New
York, 24.11.2009, 21:09, (ROMEA)
_______________________________________________________________________
CZECH REPUBLIC -
GOVERNMENT EXPRESSES REGRET FOR ILLEGAL STERILIZATIONS OF ROMANI WOMEN
Yesterday, at the
instigation of Czech Human Rights Minister Michael Kocáb, the Government of the
The government
wants to do its best to completely eliminate the risk of illegal sterilizations
occurring in future. The most important aspect is the design of more careful,
detailed arrangements for health care facilities to secure informed consent
prior to performing sterilizations. There are currently no statistics on the
number of women who have been harmed by this surgery in the
Activists
say dozens of Romani women have undergone forced sterilizations in the
During the
20th century, sterilizations without informed consent have been a problem not
only in Central Europe, but also in
Illegal
sterilization is a serious violation of a person’s physical integrity and
violates one of the most basic human rights, the right to the inviolability of
one’s person, enshrined not only in the Charter of Fundamental Rights and
Freedoms but also in all other international human rights documents. It is only
possible to intervene into someone’s integrity under circumstances established
by law. No other instances are justifiable. The most frequent kind of
legitimate intervention is surgery performed by a doctor on the basis of the
competent, free, and informed consent of a patient prior to the surgery. This
consent is not required only in exceptional cases specifically listed in the
law, such as cases in which immediate action is required to save a patient’s
life or preserve their health. It is essential to not only guarantee that
patients receive the required information and instruction on such procedures
from professionals, but that physicians, medics and health care personnel be
continually educated over the course of their careers on the human rights
aspects of their work.
In his
motion, Kocáb informed the government of the existence of the problem of
illegal sterilizations. He proposed several measures to better clarify the
practice and prevent the repetition of similar cases. The government expressed
its regret over the past instances of errors found with respect to
sterilizations performed in contravention of the Health Ministry directive on
sterilizations.
The Czech
Health Minister is to submit information to the government on the fulfillment
of the recommendations made on the issues by the previous Advisory Council,
which was established in 2004 to investigate women’s complaints about
sterilizations. These recommendations included support for all forms of family
planning, the establishment of unified procedures for informed consent to the
performance of sterilizations including an interview with a psychologist, re-evaluation
of the existing indications for the performance sterilization, and updating of
the directive on sterilizations, particularly as it relates to the performance
of Caesarian deliveries.
The
government resolution has tasked the Czech Health Minister with including the
issue of sterilization on the program of the Expert Forum for the Creation of
Standards of Care and Concentrations of Selected Highly Specialized Care. As
part of prevention and further education of professionals, the minister will
address organizations directly administered by the Health Ministry and other
health care facilities in the
ROMEA, ČTK, translated by
Gwendolyn Albert
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