DOCSLIB.ORG

Final Statement of the Public Defender of Rights in the Matter of Sterilisations Performed in Contravention of the Law and Proposed Remedial Measures

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Final Statement of the Public Defender of Rights in the Matter of Sterilisations Performed in Contravention of the Law and Proposed Remedial Measures Final Statement of the Public Defender of Rights in the Matter of Sterilisations Performed in Contravention of the Law and Proposed Remedial Measures CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................................................1 2. THE COURSE OF THE INQUIRY......................................................................................................3 3. THE LEGAL ADMISSIBILITY OF STERILISATION IN HEALTHCARE...............................7 3.1. THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK FOR STERILISATION........................................................................................7 3.2. CASE REPORTS .................................................................................................................................... 15 3.3. EVALUATION.......................................................................................................................................21 4. STERILISATION AND THE ROMANI COMMUNITY ...............................................................23 4.1. HISTORICAL INITIATIVES POINTING OUT ROMANI WOMEN'S STERILISATIONS .................................... 24 4.1.1. Charter 77 Document No. 23/1978...........................................................................................24 4.1.2. Ruben Pellar's and Zbyn1k Andrł's Initiative........................................................................25 4.1.3. Charter 77 Document No. 3/1990............................................................................................27 4.2. THE REACTION OF STATE AUTHORITIES TO CRITICISM OF "ROMANI STERILISATION" ......................... 28 4.2.1. The Inquiry by the General Prosecutor's Offices of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic...........................................................................................28 4.2.2. The Inquiry of the Office for the Documentation and Investigation of the Crimes of Communism ........................................................................................................................................35 4.2.3. Digression œ The Investigation in Slovakia..........................................................................37 4.3. SOCIAL WORKERS' PRACTICE IN WORK IN THE ROMANI COMMUNITY................................................. 43 4.3.1. The Development of Roma Policy in Czechoslovakia.............................................................44 4. 3. 2. Sterilisation As a Tool of Social Work in Practice................................................................48 4.3.3. Case Reports.............................................................................................................................52 4.3.4. The Dubiousness of Sterilisation As a Social Measure..........................................................58 5. DIGRESSION œ EUGENICALLY-ORIENTED SOCIAL SYSTEMS.........................................59 5.1. SWEDEN............................................................................................................................................. 60 5.2. SWITZERLAND .................................................................................................................................... 64 5.3. THE EUGENIC MOVEMENT IN CZECHOSLOVAKIA ................................................................................ 68 5.4. EUGENIC DELIBERATIONS IN SOCIAL PRACTICE BEFORE 1989............................................................. 71 6. SUMMARY ............................................................................................................................................73 7. CLOSING RECOMMENDATIONS...................................................................................................77 1. Introduction On September 9, 2004, the Public Defender received a complaint, via IQ Roma servis, from ten Romani women concerning their sexual sterilisation without due consent. They either claimed that they had not consented to the intervention at all, or admitted they had signed some documents but asserted that they had not been in a situation to make any judgment, due to a lack of information from attending physicians on what treatment they would undergo. These complaints fitted the context of previous events that suggested the Czech Republic would have to come to terms with the burning issue given the working title "the sterilisation of Romani women" for the purposes of this report. 1 The European Roma Rights Center addressed the Public Defender of Rights in February 2004. Based on its staff's interviews with Romani women, the Center had concluded that the problematic sterilisation of Romani women, a practice the Center asserts contravenes fundamental human rights, has taken place in the Czech Republic. To illustrate its suspicion, the Centre attached a list of people's names with the towns where sterilisation was purported to have happened to a request that the Public Defender of Rights investigate the cases. Because the Center's data did not give detailed identification of those affected, the Public Defender of Rights called on the Center to complete it, and respectively instructed the Centre on the requisites a complaint to the Public Defender of Rights must include to be acted upon. The Center took a long time to react to this. The stances were clarified only at a personal meeting of the Public Defender of Rights and the Center's representatives, where the conditions necessary for the Defender to take an active role in investigating cases the Center had highlighted were repeatedly stressed. These discussions resulted in enlisting the civic association IQ Roma servis, Liga lidskðch práv (League of Human Rights) and Vzájemné soušití (Living Together) to mediate contact between the sterilised women and the Public Defender of Rights, and the filing of the first complaints. Quite apart from the activities initiated by the European Roma Rights Center, the Public Defender of Rights received a complaint from a man who, on behalf of his wife (also Roma), condemned her sterilisation, which had been performed even though as an illiterate deaf-mute she could not express her consent in a qualified fashion. This man began to co- ordinate the efforts of other women in his area who also objected to the dubious circumstances of their sterilisation. In addition to this, it should be borne in mind that the European Roma Rights Center's complaint, and those of other associations or individuals who became active in gathering details on the affected women (IQ Roma servis together with Vzájemné soušití, and the League of Human Rights), came roughly a year after public discussion on the same topic had climaxed in Slovakia, stirred by publication of "Telo i duła" (Body and Soul) by the Centre for Reproductive Rights and the Counselling Centre for Citizenship, Civil and Human Rights. The Public Defender of Rights was aware of societal processes in coming to terms with similar issues in Sweden and Switzerland. Given these connections and the fact that the potentially problematic sterilisations of Romani women have been pointed out to a greater or lesser extent for more than 15 years, the Public Defender of Rights decided to pay the utmost attention to reports of involuntary sterilisations. This issue is not typical of the agenda of the Public Defender of Rights. It became evident from the outset that a procedure restricted to the mere application of the Act on the Public Defender of Rights would not meet the expectations of complainants or public. It is important to be aware that the Public Defender of Rights is, in compliance with the provisions of Section 1 of Act No. 349/1999 Coll. on the Public Defender of Rights, as later amended, tasked with protecting persons against the conduct of authorities and other institutions specified in the Act on the Public Defender of Rights, if such conduct is in conflict with the law, the principles of a democratic legal state, the principles of good administration, or if authorities or institutions are inactive. Complaints of involuntary sterilisation are not about any authority or institution specified in the Public Defender of Rights Act, but are rather against doctors and healthcare facilities. Strictly speaking the basic condition for execution of the Public Defender of Rights' authority in accordance with the Public Defender of Rights Act was not met. The Public Defender of Rights was conscious of this from the beginning. Therefore the Defender chose to act to some extent outside what the Act stipulates in the matter. He did so particularly because the women addressing him opened an issue they did not have the courage to speak on publicly, each for herself and formally in the presence of authorities, and thus expressed extraordinary trust in the Public Defender of Rights as guarantor of due investigation into the matter. This basic trust between a state institution and a citizen who has chosen to give evidence on the most intimate of concerns could not be trampled on by a formal refusal to act on this sensitive issue due to a lack of authority. Thus the Public Defender of Rights plumped 2 for an approach that enabled him to remain the mediator between the state and the women who had addressed him, and yet consequently to execute his basic mission in line with the Public Defender of Rights Act, i.e. to pay attention to the legality of the public administration authorities' conduct. Therefore, the Public Defender of Rights chose
Load more

Recommended publications
  • How Teachers Cope with Social and Educational Transformation
    How Teachers Cope with Social and Educational Transformation Struggling with Multicultural Education in the Czech Classroom Dana Moree EMAN 2008 How Teachers Cope with Social and Educational Transformation Struggling with Multicultural Education in the Czech Classroom Hoe docenten omgaan met sociale en educatieve veranderingen met een samenvatting in het Nederlands Proefschrift ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor aan de Universiteit voor Humanistiek te Utrecht op gezag van de Rector, prof. dr. Hans Alma ingevolge het besluit van het College van Hoogleraren in het openbaar te verdedigen op 24 november 2008 des voormiddags te 10.30 uur door Dana Moree Geboren op 20 November 1974 te Praag PROMOTORES: Prof.dr. Wiel Veugelers Universiteit voor Humanistiek Prof.dr. Jan Sokol Charles University Praag Co-promotor: Dr. Cees Klaassen Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen BEOORDELINGSCOMMISSIE: Prof. dr. Chris Gaine University of Chichester Prof.dr. Ivor Goodson University of Bristol Prof. dr. Douwe van Houten Universiteit voor Humanistiek Dr. Yvonne Leeman Universiteit van Amsterdam Dr. Petra Zhřívalová Charles University Praag This thesis was supported by the projects: The Anthropology of Communication and Human Adaptation (MSM 0021620843) and Czechkid – Multiculturalism in the Eyes of Children. for Peter, Frank and Sebastian EMAN, Husova 656, 256 01 Benešov http://eman.evangnet.cz Dana Moree HOW TEACHERS COPE WITH SOCIAL AND EDUCATIONAL TRANSFORMATION Struggling with Multicultural Education in the Czech Classroom First edition, Benešov 2008 © Dana Moree 2008 Typhography: Petr Kadlec Coverlayout: Hana Kolbe ISBN 978-80-86211-62-6 7 Contents Acknowledgements . 9 Introduction . 10 Chapter 1 – Transformation of the cultural composition of the Czech Republic . 15 Introduction .
    [Show full text]
  • Open Data and PSI in the Czech Republic
    Open data and PSI in the Czech Republic European Public Sector Information Platform Topic Report No. 2014 / 03 Open data and PSI in the Czech Republic Authors: Dušan Chlapek, Jan Kučera, Martin Nečaský, Michal Kubáň Published: March 2014 ePSIplatform Topic Report No. 2014 / 03 , March 2014 1 Open data and PSI in the Czech Republic Table of Contents 1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 5 2 OGD activities in the Czech Republic ..................................................................................... 6 1.1 Open Government Partnership in the Czech Republic .................................................. 7 1.2 OGD activities of the Czech government ...................................................................... 9 1.3 Open Data Forum .......................................................................................................... 9 1.4 OGD activities at the local and regional level .............................................................. 10 1.5 Activities of the NGOs ................................................................................................. 11 1.6 Notable research projects ........................................................................................... 11 1.6.1 LOD2 .................................................................................................................... 11 1.6.2 COMSODE ...........................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Annual Report Masaryk University in Brn0 2001
    MASARYK UNIVERSITY IN BRNO ANNUAL REPORT MASARYK UNIVERSITY IN BRN0 2001 Czech Republic, January 2002 1 ©Masaryk University, Brno, 2002 ISBN ISSN 2 CONTENT RECTOR'S OFFICE OF MASARYK UNIVERSITY............................................................................... 7 BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF MASARYK UNIVERSITY ...................................................................... 8 ACADEMIC COUNCIL OF MASARYK UNIVERSITY.......................................................................... 9 ACADEMIC SENATE OF MASARYK UNIVERSITY........................................................................... 11 RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT.................................................................................................... 12 ORIENTATION OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT ................................................................... 24 AT MASARYK UNIVERSITY................................................................................................................ 24 ACTIVITY ASSESSMENT .................................................................................................................... 31 EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES ............................................................................................................. 32 OFFICE FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDIES ....................................................................................... 47 UNESCO CHAIR OF MUSEOLOGY AND WORLD HERITAGE....................................................... 50 STUDENT SERVICES, PUBLISHING ACTIVITIES ..........................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Vliv Novely Zákona Na Objem Veřejných Zakázek
    Centre for applied economics Opletalova 26, Praha 1, 110 00, FSV UK email: [email protected] , web: cae.zindex.cz, twitter: cae_research ANALYSIS OF CZECH POLITICAL PARTY DONATIONS 12.1.2015 Jiří Skuhrovec, Vítězslav Titl, Miroslav Palanský 1 Centre for applied economics Opletalova 26, Praha 1, 110 00, FSV UK email: [email protected] , web: cae.zindex.cz, twitter: cae_research Summary This study analyzes the financing of selected political parties in the Czech Republic since 2006. It makes extensive use of available data sources and reaches results unique not only in the Czech Republic, but also internationally. We find that 29.6% of all Czech procurement winners directly donate money to political parties. Other 20% of corporate party donors receive European donations, and few are even owned by the state. These situations pose a high risk of conflict of interests, as party members often directly decide about the outcomes of these transactions. The problem also manifests in real procurement results - our results suggest that a donation to a political party significantly increases the expected value of received public procurement contracts of the donor. At the same time the competition in its tenders is significantly lower. The results are robust despite the considerable errors in the available data we identified, when many donors among both physical and legal persons apparently do not exist (donors born after the donation, companies with a non-existing identification number). This is further complemented by significant accumulation of donations just under 50 000 CZK for which the proper identification of the donor is not required. The study also points out significant shares of offshore donors and donating shell corporations with no economic activity, possibly concealing true donor.
    [Show full text]
  • European Roma Rights Center
    EUROPEAN ROMA RIGHTS CENTRE 1386 Budapest 62, P.O. Box 906/93, Hungary Phone: (36-1) 413-2200; Fax: (36-1) 413-2201 E-mail: [email protected] http://errc.org 24 April 2009 Mr. Jan Fischer, Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, Mr. Václav Klaus, President of the Czech Republic Mr. Vladimír Špidla, European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities RE: Ministry for Human Rights and Ethnic Minorities and the Anti-Discrimination Law Honourable Sirs, In response to reports that the Ministry of Human Rights and Ethnic Minorities may be disolved,1 the European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) is writing to encourage the new government of the Czech Republic to keep this Ministry intact. Being aware of the current situation in the field of human rights in the Czech Republic, especially recently increased levels of anti-Romani violence, neo-Nazi marches in Romani communities and racially motivated attacks, the importance of the Ministry cannot be doubted. The ERRC acknowledges the immediate reaction of the police and political representatives to ensure any anti-Romani violence is suppressed and punished. We are concerned, however, that the discrimination Roma face is not only manifest in physical violence, but unfortunately influences all spheres of their lives demanding a more complex approach from the side of authorities. Therefore we would like to urge the government to immediately adopt the comprehensive anti- discrimination law transposing EU Council Directive 2000/43/EC, which is already prepared. The Czech Republic is the only EU Member State which has yet to transpose this Directive as it was obliged to do by 1 January 2004.
    [Show full text]
  • The Czech Republic Is a Landlocked State Located in Central Europe Covering an Area of 30,450 Square Miles (78,866 Square Kilometres)
    CZECH REPUBLIC COUNTRY ASSESSMENT APRIL 2002 COUNTRY INFORMATION & POLICY UNIT IMMIGRATION & NATIONALITY DIRECTORATE HOME OFFICE, UNITED KINGDOM CONTENTS I. Scope of document 1.1 - 1.5 II. Geography 2.1 - 2.2 Economy 2.3 - 2.6 III. History 3.1 - 3.14 IV. State Structures The Constitution 4.1 Political System 4.2 - 4.12 Judiciary 4.13 - 4.14 Military 4.15 - 4.17 Internal Security 4.18 - 4.19 Legal Rights/Detention 4.20 - 4.24 Prison 4.25 Medical Service 4.26 - 4.28 Education System 4.29 V. Human Rights V.A. Human Rights Issues Overview 5.1 - 5.16 Freedom of Speech 5.17 - 5.26 Freedom of Religion 5.27 - 5.30 Freedom of Assembly & Association 5.31 - 5.34 Employment Rights 5.35 - 5.37 People Trafficking 5.38 - 5.40 Freedom of Movement 5.41 - 5.44 V.B. Human Rights - Specific Groups Women 5.45 - 5.51 Children 5.52 - 5.54 Roma 5.55 - 5.161 Conscientious Objectors & Deserters 5.162 Homosexuals 5.163. - 5.169 Political Activists 5.170 Journalists 5.171 Prison Conditions 5.172 V.C. Human Rights - Other Issues Citizenship 5.173 People with Disabilities 5.174 Annexes ANNEX A: CHRONOLOGY ANNEX B: PROMINENT PEOPLE ANNEX C: POLITICAL ORGANISATIONS BIBLIOGRAPHY I. SCOPE OF THE DOCUMENT 1.1 This assessment has been produced by the Country Information and Policy Unit, Immigration and Nationality Directorate, Home Office, from information obtained from a variety of sources. 1.2 The assessment has been prepared for background purposes for those involved in the asylum determination process.
    [Show full text]
  • Nottingham Law Journal
    NOTTINGHAM LAW JOURNAL VOL. 21 2012 General Editor Dr Helen O’Nions, LLB (Middlesex), LLM (Leicester), PGDip HE Assistant Editor Ms Andrea Nicholson, LLB (Buckinghamshire), LLM (Durham) Advisory Board The Rt Hon the Lord Saville of Newdigate Prof Stephen Weatherill, University of Oxford Judge Bostjan Zupancic, the European Court of Human Rights The Rt Hon Sir Philip Otton Prof Mark Findlay, University of Sydney Prof Conor Gearty, London School of Economics Mr Jonathan Griffiths, Queen Mary, University of London Prof Michael J. Gunn, University of Staffordshire Prof Martin Hunter, Essex Court Chambers & Nottingham Prof Geraint Howells, Lancaster University Law School Prof Peter Jones, Nottingham Trent University Mr Roger Leng, University of Warwick Prof Robert G. Lee, Cardiff Law School Mr Gary Watt, University of Warwick Miss Helen Milgate, Solicitor Prof Neil Peck, Attorney, Snell & Wilmer, Denver, Mr Christopher Muttukumaru, Director of Legal Col, USA & Nottingham Law School Services, Department of Transport Prof Barry Rider, University of Cambridge Prof John Peysner, University of Lincoln Mr Paul Smith, Partner, Eversheds Prof Mary Seneviratne, Nottingham Law School Mr John Snape, Warwick University Mr Marc S. Stauch, Leibnitz University, Hannover Dr Kim Stevenson, University of Plymouth Prof Adrian Walters, Nottingham Law School Dr Christian Twigg-Flesner, University of Hull Editorial Board Development: Mr Simon Boyes, LLB (Hull), LLM (Hull), PGCert HE Nottingham Matters: Mr Graham Ferris, LLB (Nott), Solicitor Book Reviews: Ms Janice Denoncourt, BA (McGill), LLB (W.Aust.), LLM, Solicitor Case Notes: Miss Kay Wheat, BA (Reading), Solicitor Administrative Assistant Ms Carole Vaughan The Nottingham Law Journal is a refereed journal, normally published in Spring each year.
    [Show full text]
  • Public Defender of Rights 2011
    ANNUAL REPORT ON THE ACTIVITIES OF THE PUBLIC DEFENDER OF RIGHTS 2011 ANNUAL REPORT ON THE ACTIVITIES OF THE PUBLIC DEFENDER OF RIGHTS 2011 © Offi ce of the Public Defender of Rights, 2012 © Omega Design, s. r. o. ISBN 978-80-904579-2-8 Contents Introduction 7 1 / General Observations – Recommendations to the Chamber of Deputies 11 1 / Evaluation of the Recommendations for 2010 11 1 / 1 / Changed competence of highway administrative authorities 12 1 / 2 / Heritage preservation 12 2 / New Recommendations of the Defender for 2011 13 2 / 1 / Advice on the right to fi le an administrative action 13 2 / 2 / Exclusion from the jobseekers register for failure to appear at the contact point of public administration (DONEZ) 13 2 / 3 / Refund of value added tax to persons with disabilities 14 2 / 4 / Lotteries 15 2 / 5 / Health insurance for foreigners 15 2 / 6 / Territorial competence of distrainers 16 2 / 7 / Public Service Act 16 3 2 / Relations with Constitutional Authorities and Special Powers of the Defender 19 1 / The Defender and the Chamber of Deputies 19 1 / 1 / Petition Committee 19 1 / 2 / Healthcare Committee 19 1 / 3 / Committee on Social Policy 20 1 / 4 / Constitutional and Legal Committee 22 2 / The Defender and the Government 22 2 / 1 / Advising the Government of unlawful administrative practice 22 2 / 2 / Recommendations to the Government for amending laws 23 2 / 3 / Submission of comments by the Defender 24 3 / The Defender and the Constitutional Court 28 3 / 1 / Proposal of the Ministry of the Interior for annulment of a part of
    [Show full text]
  • The Czech Republic
    324 Antoni Kaminski external demands that decisive measures must be ~=:L.k::.en, no gov- ernment has done much to remedy this situation.14 ............................................................ Whatever the role of particular interests in the P«=:»-:Iii.s;h eeonomic 12 policy process, the professional integrity of the econo~s-ts in eharge ............................................................ of budgetary and financial policie s has been high ea:::8L<:>l.:1ghto keep these out of the realm of partisan quarrels. This haa.==- been an im- portant factor in Poland's relative economic success. :==i:anilarly, the existence of a group of professionals with a strong icI~c>.ogical eom- The Czech Republic: The Unexpected mitment to self-government, and the support this fou:r=:aacI ~mong loeal Force OrInstitutional Constraints and regional elites, were decisive factors in stimul8L~::::i=J:.g the drive i~ toward the reform of the Polish state. The Europea-=--- Commission has supported this reform, by making it a condition:L "<ar aceession and by providing funds. International factors have oIII~ 8Contributed Milada Anna Vachudová to making this reform feasible. By far the most important factor has been the relSL"8::;iiwe openness The Czech Republic provides an interesting study in the way that of Poland to Western influence since 1956. Poles trBiL~.e::Jled abroad international institutions may shape democratic consolidation more than any other nation within the communist CBiL-=r1]IJ, and were and economic reform in states that wish to join them. In Eastern able to acquire knowledge, albeit limited, of how tD=:.~ West oper- Europe, since 1989, the prospect of membership in the European ated.
    [Show full text]
  • Yearbook 2019 “… We Desire to Take Our Place in the Family of Nations As a Member at Once Cultured, Peace-Loving, Democratic and Progressive.”
    Yearbook 2019 “… we desire to take our place in the Family of Nations as a member at once cultured, peace-loving, democratic and progressive.” © Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic © Photo: Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic, Vladimír Novotný, (The second sentence of the Preamble of the Law of 29 February 1920, Aleš Ležatka, Jan Symon, Constitutional Court of the Dominican Republic, whereby the Constitutional Charter of the Czechoslovak Republic is introduced) Constitutional Court of Hungary, Constitutional Court of Belgium ISBN 978-80-87687-18-5 1. INTRoDuCTIoN 6 5. INTernatioNAL CooPeratioN AND exTeRNAL RelatioNS 78 2. ABouT THe CoNSTITuTIoNAL Court 8 Statistics oF DeCISIoN-MAkINg IN 2019 88 History of the Constitutional Judiciary 9 6. Statistics of decision-making of the Constitutional Current Justices 12 Court in 2019 89 Structure of the Court 38 Public oral hearings 90 Substantial structure of petitions to initiate 3. oN THe Seat oF THe CoNSTITuTIoNAL Court 40 CoNTents proceedings in 2019 90 History of the Seat of the Constitutional Court 42 Statistics in terms of petitions to initiate proceedings Recent Renovation of the Seat of the Constitutional Court 43 and other submissions 91 Developments of the numbers of submissions 1993–2019 91 4. DeCISIoN-MAkINg IN 2019 56 Fundamental constitutional principles 57 Fundamental rights and freedoms 60 Political rights 67 attachmeNT – PHoToS FRoM eVents IN 2019 92 Economic and social rights 70 C Right to judicial and other legal protection 74 Dear readers: It has become a well-established tradition to publish an english version of our we proudly represented CeCC at a number of foreign forums.
    [Show full text]
  • 15 Years of the Public Defender of Rights
    Together Towards Good Governance 15 Years of the Public Defender of Rights Editors: Petra Zdražilová, Dagmar Krišová 15 Years of the Public Defender of Rights Content List of Authors ......................................................................................................................................3 Foreword ...............................................................................................................................................4 15 years of the Public Defender of Rights: Foreword by Anna Šabatová ..................................5 Slovak Public Defender of Rights in 2001 and in 2015 ...................................................................9 The Ombudsman’s Role in Society ................................................................................................. 15 The Role of the Public Defender of Georgia ..................................................................................19 Extension of the Competence of the Public Defender of Rights ...............................................25 We Have Not Abandoned Human Rights in the Czech Republic ...............................................29 Parliament and the Ombudsman .................................................................................................... 31 The Public Defender of Rights and the Czech Social Security Administration – Co-operation between Two Different Organisations ...........................................................................................35 Cooperation of the Human Rights
    [Show full text]
  • 4. the Velvet Revolution: the Causes and Process of the Decline of Communist Power84
    4. The Velvet Revolution: the causes and process 84 of the decline of communist power Signs of the approaching collapse of communist rule could be observed from the mid-1980s onwards. In July 1985, a large Catholic pilgrimage was organised in Velehrad, a place linked with the beginnings of Czech and Moravians Christianity. Although the communist establishment sought to prevent the pilgrimage or at least impose severe restrictions on it, they found they no longer had enough power and authority. The pilgrimage became the largest anti-regime gathering of the communist era, with nearly 200,000 people participating, almost two-thirds of them young. The presence of young people was particularly painful for the regime, as it flew in the face of communist descriptions of the Catholic Church as a concern only of a few old people (Cuhra 2001: 168-174, Halas 2004: 625-626). Less than a year later, in April 1986, the dysfunction of the channels of power and information was made evident in the regime’s inadequate response to the disaster at the nuclear power plant in Chernobyl. For ideological reasons, the KSČ absurdly refused to inform the public about the possible dangers, as by doing so it would admit that Soviet nuclear technology was imperfect. The party preferred to put Czechoslovak citizens at risk. At the same time in the Soviet Union, the perestroika reform movement, linked with the elevation of Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev to the post of general secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in March 1985, was becoming increasingly vocal. Among other changes, perestroika reduced the pressure exerted on dissident circles.
    [Show full text]