Last week’s meeting of the Czech government resulted in the abolition of the Department for Human Rights and Protection of Minorities of the Office of the Government of the Czech Republic. This office is disappearing after more than twenty years of operation. From July 1, his agenda will be divided between several ministries: Roma affairs will be taken over by the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, national minorities by the Ministry of Culture, and human rights by the Ministry of Justice.
The change, which the government justifies as efficiency, came unexpectedly not only for the public and the employees of the union themselves, but also for some members of the ANO movement, which initiated the move. Discussion of this point was not in the government’s original program at all.
They only found out about it from the media
The decision was not subject to any professional debate and a huge wave of criticism was unleashed against it. The chairwoman of the Committee for the Rights of Foreigners, Magda Faltová, confirmed to iROZHLAS.cz that she only learned about the changes from the government’s press conference.
Former Commissioner for Human Rights Klára Šimáčková Laurenčíková described the transfers as a massive intervention and a loss of continuity. “In this way, the trade unions will be completely dependent on the sympathy and will of one minister towards the given agenda,” she told Seznam Zprávy.
Czech Minister of Justice Jeroným Tejc (ANO) promised that there would be no layoffs of experts, but added that their inclusion would depend on individual ministers.
Absurd theater
Prime Minister Andrej Babiš is behind the abolition of the union, but after sharp criticism, he transferred the responsibility to the head of the Office of the Government of the Czech Republic, Tünde Bartha. In the past, she played a significant role in building the European Parliament faction Patriots for Europe, and critics also point to her connections to former Hungarian President Viktor Orbán.
It was Bartha who had the task of concluding transfer protocols with the ministries and resolving personnel and financial issues by June 5. However, the attempt at dialogue failed. Last Wednesday, a meeting with representatives of human rights organizations was held at the Strakova Academy. Although originally only Babiš and Bartha were supposed to be there, the concerned ministers also attended.
Several experts left the meeting after only a few minutes and called it an absurd theater and a farce. The director of the Think Tank Rational Addiction Policy, Jana Michailida, who left after 45 minutes, told iROZHLAS: “What happened there is completely undignified. We were prepared to talk in a small circle. Instead, we got a frontal lecture, which should have explained to us that these transfers are actually a great idea.”
Resignations and the Slovak scenario
The reaction to the absence of dialogue and impact analyzes was the announcement of the resignation of several experts from the advisory boards. Although they announce that they are willing to withdraw their decision if the prime minister cancels the transfers, there is skepticism behind the scenes. There are concerns that the government is comfortable with their departure because it will allow more loyal officials to be installed.
The opposition and experts recall a similar scenario from Slovakia. In 2012, the parliament there, under the leadership of the one-color government of Robert Fico, abolished the position of Deputy Prime Minister for Human Rights and National Minorities. Even then, the agenda, similar to the Czech one, was divided into the departments of culture and diplomacy, which was accompanied by a comparable wave of criticism.
