A bill to compensate women unlawfully sterilised mainly by the former regime passed a second reading in the lower house of Parliament on Thursday. If the bill becomes law, victims – mainly Romani women – could apply for a one-off payment of CZK 300,000.
Beginning in 1966, Romani women and others where systematically sterilised without their full and informed consent as a way of controlling their birth rate. State policy in Czechoslovakia fully regulated the practice in 1971, as the Czech Public Defender of Rights noted in a 2005 report.
The statute of limitations on financial compensation for non-pecuniary damage is three years. Without special treatment from a judge, hundreds of victims would therefore be ineligible for compensation. Women who underwent sterilisation between 1 July 1966 and 31 March 2012 are eligible for compensation. According the bill’s authors, up to 400 people could apply.
The lower house of Parliament is due to continue discussion Thursday on a bill to compensate women unlawfully sterilised mainly by the former regime. If the bill is adopted, victims – mainly Romani women – could apply for a one-off payment of CZK 300,000.
Beginning in 1966, Romani women and others where systematically sterilised without their full and informed consent as a way of controlling their birth rate. State policy in Czechoslovakia fully regulated the practice in 1971, as the Czech Public Defender of Rights noted in a 2005 report.
The statute of limitations on financial compensation for non-pecuniary damage is three years. Without special treatment from a judge, hundreds of victims would therefore be ineligible for compensation. Women who underwent sterilisation between 1 July 1966 and 31 March 2012 are eligible for compensation. According the bill s authors, up to 400 people could apply.
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Hundreds of beneficiaries
The draft law stipulates that women who were sterilized against their will must prove their claim, which will be assessed by a Health Ministry commission. The procedure was necessary to make the draft enforceable, Valkova argued. The Czech Commissioner for Human Rights underlined that an estimated four hundred women are entitled, not thousands. So contrary to previous contentions, the compensation will not cost billions of Czech Koruna, she said.
The amount of compensation was decided on the basis of a 2011 ruling by the European Court of Human Rights on a case brought by Slovak Roma women against Slovakia for their forced sterilizations, when they received a similar sum, said Valkova.
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