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Tranquilisers instead of individual support: even such cases are encountered during the Defender’s visits to residential facilities for people with disabilities

December 3, 2023 News

The stories of two men with mental disabilities recorded by employees of the Defender’s Office during their visits illustrate a phenomenon which has been mostly overlook so far: some people with mental disabilities, especially those with challenging behaviour, receive high doses of tranquilisers. According to the Deputy Defender, this practice has to change. Behaviour is often the only possible form of communication for people who cannot otherwise make contact with others. It is therefore necessary that the latter understand the unmet needs behind the patient’s challenging behaviour and be able to respond accordingly. Tranquillisers must not be the first, let alone the only and permanent “solution”.

According to educational plans designed for pupils with mild mental disabilities more Romani children are still being taught than would correspond to the representation of Roma among all schoolchildren

November 6, 2023 News

As in previous years, current data from the Czech Ministry of Education show that Romani pupils are roughly 10 times more likely to leave psychological counseling centres with a diagnosis of mild mental disability than their non-Romani classmates. According to the Ombudsman, in the three years when he has been monitoring this topic, the situation in Romani education has not improved much. On average 3.5% of primary school pupils are of Roma origin. However, over a quarter (26.2%) of pupils educated according to the rules with reduced requirements, designed specifically for children with mild mental disabilities, are Roma. Such a disproportion raises questions about whether equal treatment of Roma in access to and provision of education is ensured.

The Crimea Platform connected ombuds from all over the world, their online meeting was co-hosted by the ombudsmen from Czech and Ukraine

October 24, 2023 News

Before the start of the The Second Parliamentary Summit of the Crimea Platform held in Prague, ombuds and representatives of National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) from more than sixty countries around the world met at an online conference entitled "The Battle for Crimea — The Battle for Human Rights". The Ukrainian Ombudsman — Commissioner for Human Rights of the Ukrainian Parliament — Dmytro Lubynets asked his Czech counterpart, Ombudsman Stanislav Křecek, to co-organize the conference. Together with the participants, they discussed current problems and human rights violations in occupied Crimea.

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