Czech MP criticizes restrictive approach to compensating forcibly sterilized women: Requests are being rejected when the law makes a broader interpretation of evidence possible
Czech MP and former Government Human Rights Commissioner Helena Válková, speaking during the "Last Chance" discussion held by the ROMEA organization last week, criticized the approach of the bureaucracy toward enforcing the law on the compensation of illegally sterilized women. According to her, the law is being applied too restrictively, which leads to the unjustified rejections of some requests.
“I suspect that currently there is a tendency among the state bureaucrats to strictly approach this through a restrictive interpretation, which is why some compensation requests may be rejected unjustifiably, in my opinion,” she said.
The law makes room for a broader interpretation, Válková says
According to the sponsor of the bill, the legislation was written so as to provide enough room for a broader interpretation that would make it possible to also take circumstantial evidence into account. What that means is that in addition to original medical records, other circumstances could play a role which, in their totality, would support the justifiability of a request. “That would include not just the data and the documents which have to be submitted. It includes everything, including the circumstances and the indirect proofs which, in their totality, should support the bureaucrat’s conclusion that a request is justified. That is not happening,” she explained.
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Válková further emphasized that qualified lawyers must be involved in this process to aid bureaucrats with correctly enforcing the law. “What has been needed was a really good lawyer, a brave one, to advise the bureaucrats on how to correctly interpret the law,” she added.
The long road to adopting the compensation law
The journey toward adopting the law to compensate people who have been illegally sterilized was complicated and took many years. Válková joined the preparations in 2019, when she began intensively negotiating support for it across the political spectrum. “We began the legislative process on 1 October 2019, when bill no. 603 was distributed after having made it through the Government successfully. The bill was supported by lawmakers across the political spectrum,” she said.
The negotiations were preceded by the failure of more than one attempt to advocate for similar legislation. Michael Kocáb, the former Czech Government Human Rights Minister, arranged for the Government to apologize to the women, but never managed to find sufficient political support for compensation. Jiří Dienstbier, another former Czech Government Human Rights Minister, made another attempt, but his bill frightened politicians with estimates that the compensation could eventually cost the state a billion crowns [EUR 40 million].
Válková took up the initiative when she became Czech Government Human Rights Commissioner herself. She emphasized that her collaboration with nonprofit organizations played a crucial role, as did her cooperation with Deputy Public Defender of Rights Monika Šimůnková. “If not for the support of nonprofit organizations and the people who had long been advocating for this, we never would have succeeded,” she said.
Crucial meetings with Babiš and Schillerová
A crucial moment, according to Válková, was when she gained the support of then-Prime Minister Andrej Babiš and then-Finance Minister Alena Schillerová. Válková said she concentrated on persuading these influential figures that the financial cost of the compensation would not financially ruin the state. She argued that the European Court of Human Rights, should these people win awards at that venue, would order the state to compensate them between EUR 20,000 and EUR 30,000 each, which could lead to much greater expenditures than if the state were to compensate them directly.
“Andrej Babiš and Alena Schillerová ultimately agreed to find the financing for compensating these women,” said Válková. A meeting between a group of Romani women who had been sterilized unlawfully and Schillerová was also significant. “Schillerová described that meeting quite emotionally to Andrej Babiš and it was definitively decided that we would give them this money,” recalled Válková. In her view, it was that meeting which was the crucial moment that aided with pushing the entire process forward.
No more room for changes
The bill to compensate illegally sterilized persons was signed into law in 2021 and expires at the end of this year. Válková warned that the political will to extend the deadline or open the law for amendment is minimal. “In the current constellation of politics I do not see any room to open up the legislation and to extend it. My concern is that we would no longer be able to reach agreement politically,” she said.
Victims are able to apply to the state for CZK 300,000 [EUR 12,000] in compensation who were subjected to such surgery unlawfully between 1 July 1966 and 31 March 2012 without freely deciding to undergo it and without first receiving information as to its repercussions. The ministry must receive such requests by 2 January 2025 at the very latest.
As of 30 September 2024, the Health Ministry has received 1,979 compensation requests. It has processed 1,389 of them and awarded compensation to 658 victims of illegal sterilizations. The ministry has paid out almost CZK 200 million [EUR 8 million].
