Rights official appointed

Amid domestic and international criticism about human rights issues, including the highly contentious integration of the country's Roma population, Prime Minister Petr Nečas has appointed lawyer Monika Šimůnková as the new human rights commissioner. The move helped quell growing fears that Nečas would abolish the post altogether after pushing the resignation of the former commissioner last year.

Šimůnková, who specialized in the protection of children as a practicing lawyer, assumed the post Feb. 16. She most recently served as counsel for an NGO, the Our Child Foundation (Nadace Naše dítě).

"Amnesty International welcomes that the post of the commissioner is not empty anymore, as it was a very negative signal by the government that human rights does not belong among its priorities," said Kateřina Šaldová, spokeswoman for the local branch of Amnesty International.

The post has been empty since Michael Kocáb agreed to step down in September after being taken off-guard by a press release issued by Nečas' office announcing Kocáb's resignation, of which he had no prior knowledge. The move alarmed human rights advocates, who speculated the post would be abolished because of Nečas' earlier appointment of conservative Roman Joch as human rights and foreign policy adviser.

Joch, a vocal advocate of small government, is the head of the Občanský institut, a think-tank with roots in the 20th-century anti-communist movement, and had previously expressed his desire that the post of human rights commissioner be done away with.

"The appointment was delayed far too long, and it is far too early to say what this really represents with respect to human rights," said human rights activist Gwendolyn Albert. "Šimůnková is an interesting choice, and the children's rights issues she has expertise on are definitely critical ones for the Czech Republic."

Šimůnková, who has worked as a lawyer project manager for NGOs in the field of children's rights since 2004, said her priorities as the new commissioner would be Roma integration and the protection of children and seniors.

"I know the nonprofit sector has a role to play, and dialogue with nonprofit organizations will be one of my priorities while in office," Šimůnková said at a press conference following her appointment. 

As the country emerges as a leading economy in the region, it has drawn criticism from international bodies for being one of the most problematic European Union countries in the area of minority and children's rights. Recent austerity measures have led to budget cuts in a number of departments responsible for social issues.

"The new commissioner has got many tasks and challenges considering financial cuts done by the government that affect those people on the margins of society," Šaldová said. "We wish her to be more than a loyal officer and defend human rights with courage, be it the rights of children, seniors or marginalized groups such as Roma or migrants."

The Czech Republic has more Roma children placed into special education schools than any other country in the world, which resulted in a 2007 ruling from the European Court of Human Rights that found the country had violated human rights conventions by systematically placing Roma children into schools with less intensive curricula. The lack of a human rights commissioner, in addition to the resignation of several key Education Ministry staff, has been cited as one of the major barriers to progress by Roma rights activists.

In addition, the country has some of the highest numbers of children placed in institutions, a practice criticized by groups like Eurochild and UNICEF, and which the EU and United Nations have pushed to reduce among their members. Budget cuts in the Labor and Social Affairs Ministry have strained the nearly 1,800 social workers assigned to deal with the more than 20,000 children in alternative care.

Cat Contiguglia can be reached at
ccontiguglia@praguepost.com