US report: Discrimination against Roma, corruption problems in ČR

Washington, May 24 (CTK) - Discrimination against Roma, corruption, violence against women, anti-Semitic acts and overcrowded prisons are the major human rights shortcomings in the Czech Republic, says the annual report that the U.S. Department of State released Thursday.

The report focused on the state of human rights in individual countries mentions discrimination against Roma and corruption as the main problems in Slovakia as well.

At the beginning of the chapter on the Czech Republic, the report says the social discrimination against Romani inhabitants was a serious problem in the Czech Republic last year, while human rights observers criticised the government steps to solve it as insufficient.

In spite of the effort to implement the respective legislation, public corruption remains a serious problem in the Czech Republic, the report adds.

"The government took steps to prosecute and punish officials who committed abuses, both in the security services and elsewhere in the government, but pockets of impunity existed," the report writes.

Other human rights problems in the Czech Republic include prison overcrowding, delays in the delivery of justice, violence against women, sexual and other abuse of children, anti-Semitism, and discrimination against trade unions and immigrant workers, the report notes.

In Slovakia, Washington criticises the abuse of power by judicial officials and the lack of checks and balances within the judicial system.

Moreover, the report points to "continued societal discrimination and violence against Roma," corruption on the government level, prison overcrowding and "targeting of the press over civil defamation suits by members of the political and business elite."