http://www.todayonline.com/articles/102623.asp
Thursday February 23, 2006
Natasa Botosova
"A sterilized woman is like a dead tree, all that
remains is for it to be cut down."
In an emotion-filled voice, Natasa Botosova, 39,
recounts her case to around 15 Gypsy women,
determined, like her, to obtain justice after years of
silence.
Those listening share the same experience: all
maintain they were subject to forced sterilizations;
Jirina "without knowing about it," Anna "without
comprehending," and Helena "without giving her
consent."
For years, Natasha guarded her silence "because being
sterilized is a personal disgrace," in a community
where children are a reason for pride.
The recent legal victory of 22-year-old Gypsy, Helena
Ferencikova, followed by the conclusions of an
official report which admitted for the first time the
existence of victims of "illegal sterilizations" in
the Czech Republic, have given them "the courage to
fight on."
Ferencikova, whose outrage at what happened to her has
not dimmed since the event in 2001, explained what
happened: "They were going to perform a Cesarian, they
made me sign a paper, then I learnt when I woke up
that I had been sterilized."
In November, the Ostrava regional court said that her
"personal rights had been flouted," because she had
not given her "clear consent" to the doctors.
The ruling represented a first in Central Europe,
according to the Budapest-based European Centre for
the Rights of Gypsies.
Protests against such eugenic practices have been
voiced in the Czech Republic since 1978, but a Czech
representative in 2003 assured a session of the United
Nations that they were "a myth."
Ferencikova says her victory "belongs to all the women
of Ostrava," a bleak industrial city in the east of
the country, and that she will fight on "until the
end."
The court ordered the hospital to apologize for what
happened but rejected claims for compensation on the
grounds that the deadline for damages had lapsed.
The case is now the subject of a separate appeal.
Ferencikova's lawyer claims that damages should not be
waived for a violation of personal rights, the
hospital bases its appeal on the argument that it
acted according to established medical procedures.
In total, 87 gypsies have tabled complaints against
forced sterilization in the Czech Republic since 2004.
Without waiting for the authorities to look into the
cases, the ombudsman - charged with upholding
citizens' rights against the public administration -
opened an inquiry.
He concluded in his December report, the result of 12
months of investigation, that around 50 cases of
"illegal sterilizations" without proper consent had
occurred.
On each occasion, doctors asked for the patient's
written agreement before tying the tubes. But,
according to the report, some of the women did not
know how to read or write, others "did not receive
sufficient information, which is not in accordance
with the law," and none were granted enough time to
think over their actions.
The medical notes show in fact that sometimes just 20
minutes separated the patients' entry into the
operating theatre and the sterilization operation.
In his conclusions, the ombudsman proposes damages for
those cases preceding 1991, the period where the
social policies put in place by the Czechoslovak
communist regime allocated "sterilization bonuses" and
urged social workers to limit Gypsies' fertility.
After 1991, the ombudsman places the blame on
individual medical and social personnel involved in
the different cases.
"For years we pressured Gypsies to get sterilized
because we thought it was for their own good, I did
that myself, that is what we were taught in schools,"
said social assistant Anna Geleticova, who joined the
association "Live Together," which lay behind the
mobilisation of Ostrava's Gypsy community. issue.
The sterilization issue is far from creating unanimity
within Czech society. "Everyone knows that the
Gypsies have children for the family benefits they can
claim, that the women were sterilized for the bonuses
and that today their only goal is to obtain fresh
damages," Katarina, a young Ostrava teacher, commented
bluntly.
For Ferencikova and the others "the most important
thing is to be recognised as a victim and to know that
others will not suffer the same fate." AFP
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