Czech Health Ministry refusing evidence other than original medical records when awarding compensation for forced sterilizations, more than 1,500 victims have applied

Those results were presented at a press conference by lawyers with the League of Human Rights (Liga lidských práv-LLP) who have been aiding forced sterilization victims with applying for compensation. They pointed out that the proceedings have become very protracted.

Victims have been able to apply for compensation as of 1 January 2022. The process is open for three years, until the end of 2024.

Those who can prove they underwent the procedure between 1 July 1966 and 31 March 2012 without freely giving their consent to it and without being informed as to its impact are able to receive CZK 300,000 [EUR 12,245] from the Czech state. “More than 1,500 applications have been filed so far, which has exceeded expectations…the women are in a difficult situation when their medical records have been shredded, as is frequently the case. The Health Ministry has a problem with recognizing other kinds of evidence,” said Jana Řepová, a lawyer with the League.

Those who drafted the law originally counted on approximately 400 victims applying. “It is apparent, therefore, that the number of personnel who are working on this at the ministry should be increased because the lack of staff is impacting the length of these proceedings. We do consider it regrettable that the ministry has not received more support for the personnel working on the agenda of compensating the victims of illegal sterilizations,” Řepová said.

Of 1,519 applications, 785 have been settled so far: 500 cases have been approved, 178 rejected, and in 107 cases the proceedings were halted with no final decision issued. As of 10 November, 734 applications were still being processed.

Analysis of 388 decisions by the Czech Health Ministry

The ROMEA organization, on the basis of letters submitted under the law on freedom of information, has received almost 388 anonymized applications to and decisions by the ministry, which were then analyzed by the League of Human Rights. Of those 388, 198 concerned forced sterilizations performed after 1989.

“This is not just a matter of the previous regime, as we originally believed,” pointed out the statutory representative of the League of Human Rights, lawyer Anna Štefanidesová. “Just two applications were successful with submitting other kinds of proof (since the original medical records no longer existed), one was a confirmation that a social benefit had been disbursed to the patient for her sterilization, and one patient’s case was described by the [2005] Final Statement of the ombudsman,” Štefanidesová said in a press release sent to news server Romea.cz.

The ministry still has a problem with recognizing any evidence other than original medical records. It especially will not recognize witness testimonies.

“We believe the ministry should take into consideration indirect testimonies (i.e., the kind of witnesses who were not directly present during the sterilization itself). During proceedings about sexual violence and domestic violence, indirect testimonies are usually recognized, as are testimonies by witnesses who were not directly present during the illegal act, but who are able, along with other proofs, to contribute to decisions about guilt and punishment,” Řepová said.

Activist Elena Gorolová reported during the press conference that since the compensation procedure opened in 2022 she has already been contacted by five women who underwent sterilization without giving informed consent to it even after 2012. The compensation law does not cover them. 

One case from 2018 is currently being addressed with the maternity hospital and the result should be known by the end of the year, according to the lawyers. For the time being, they do not want to identify the facility involved.

Under the law, the Czech Health Ministry is meant to settle the applications for compensation within 60 days, and after the claims are acknowledged, to send the money within 30 days. According to the LLP, the deadline for settling the claims is exceeded quite frequently.

The fastest decision made in the analyzed materials took just 18 days, while the slowest took 316. “The League of Human Rights has one application yet to be decided that was submitted in late July 2022,” Štefanidesová said during the press conference.

Gwendolyn Albert tells the victims: Apply, the compensation proceedings end on 31 December 2024

Despite all of these complications, independent human rights activist Gwendolyn Albert has a message for everybody who has been sterilized against his or her will: “Apply to this process, it’s the only way we can have a record for history of what happened to you. However, do not fall for people who allege that if you pay them, they can guarantee you that your application will be successful. Nobody ethical will make you such a promise. I would also like to reiterate that the process ends on 31 December 2024 and after that there will no longer be an opportunity to apply for compensation.”

For aid with applying, people can take advantage of the assistance being provided by the IQ Roma Servis organization, or they can turn to the Czech Bar Association with a request for free legal representation if they cannot afford to hire a lawyer. Several human rights organizations and Romani organizations have been calling since last summer for the awarding of compensation to be improved.

The organizations have complained that the legally-prescribed deadlines for deciding on the applications are not being upheld and that evidence other than original medical records is not being recognized. They have pointed out that in cases where original records from several decades ago have been destroyed, lost or properly shredded, the compensation law does allow for other evidence to be submitted.

The Czech Government Council on Roma Minority Affairs has repeatedly met to discuss the process of awarding this compensation. Czech Government Commissioner for Roma Minority Affairs Lucie Fuková and Czech Government Human Rights Commissioner Klára Šimáčková Laurenčíková previously mentioned efforts to arrange for solemn declarations or testimonies to be admitted as evidence.

According to the lawyers from the League of Human Rights, the procedure has not yet been adjusted to be more flexible. The suspicion that these forced sterilizations, which first began during communism, were still being perpetrated against Romani women, mostly, in the Czech Republic were raised in 2004 by the European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC).

Dozens of women then applied to the ombudsman for aid and some also sued in court. The Czech Government Committee against Torture proposed instituting compensation in 2006.

In 2009, the Czech Government expressed regret for the fact that illegally-performed sterilizations had actually happened.