Background
Following elections in October, the new administration announced a shift in government policy, including looser environmental protections and stricter regulation of the non-profit sector.
Refugees’ and migrants’ rights
Xenophobic incidents targeting Ukrainian refugees continued. According to a Ministry of the Interior report, certain political figures and others deliberately promoted disinformation and hostility towards Ukrainians. In a widely reported incident in February, a tram driver in Prague verbally assaulted a Ukrainian couple and their two-year-old grandson. Legal proceedings against the driver were initiated at a Prague district court.
According to data from UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, 397,240 Ukrainian refugees were recorded in the country in October. Despite high employment rates, half of all Ukrainian households remained below the income-poverty line.
Sexual and gender-based violence
Under a law effective from January, rape was defined as any sexual intercourse committed against a person’s will, without the requirement for physical resistance. In response to perceived lenient sentences in sexual violence cases, hundreds of people protested in Prague in April. The protesters called for systemic legislative reform, including the adoption of the Council of Europe’s Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention).
A new law came into effect in July strengthening protections for victims of domestic violence. It introduced a unified legal definition of domestic violence covering physical, psychological, sexual, and economic violence, and controlling behaviour.
Sexual and reproductive rights
The deadline for women who had been forcibly sterilized between 1966 and 2012 to apply for compensation was extended until the end of 2026. Many of the affected women were Roma. By April, more than 2,300 requests had been submitted, with 591 pending approval.
Amnesty International and the NGO Konsent advocated for enshrining abortion rights in the Constitution, citing current laws as insufficient.
LGBTI people’s rights
As of January, the Civil Code was amended to introduce a new legal institution of partnership for same-sex couples, aligning it more closely with marriage. Many considered the reform insufficient in terms of legal and parental rights.
From July, surgery or hormone treatment were no longer required for legal gender recognition. The amendment was through a Ministry of Health guideline; a legal framework had not yet been adopted.
Discrimination
In October, journalists alleged that Filip Turek, a newly elected member of parliament, had posted racist, xenophobic and pro-Nazi remarks on social media. The police launched an investigation.
Segregation of Roma children in Czech schools persisted. A study identified more than 130 primary schools as segregated. In November, authorities introduced a new set of measures aimed at supporting the desegregation of Roma children and preventing their placement in special schools solely due to social disadvantage.
Children’s rights
On 1 July, the Office of the Children’s Ombudsperson was officially established to oversee the rights of children and adolescents. Additionally, an amendment to the Civil Code banned the corporal punishment of children, stating that it was not an acceptable form of discipline.
Right to a healthy environment
The Czech Republic failed to adopt a framework climate law, leaving emission reduction targets unenforceable. The government maintained a cautious policy and voted against the EU’s proposed 2040 climate target in November.
Ecologists warned that the draft programme of the new coalition government threatened nature and quality of life by omitting key environmental protections and supporting fossil fuels. Elected officials within the coalition also called for the dissolution of the newly established Soutok Protected Landscape Area – a vast and biodiverse wetland area in the south of the country.
Freedom of association
There were efforts to control and restrict the non-profit sector. Several parties in the newly elected parliament repeatedly labelled NGOs as political and proposed funding cuts, stricter reporting requirements and a public grant registry.
Irresponsible arms transfers
The Czech Republic continued to transfer large quantities of military equipment to Israel despite the substantial risk that it could be used to commit genocide, crimes against humanity and other war crimes in Gaza. The transfers also contravened the country’s obligations under international law, including the Arms Trade Treaty.
