Forced Sterilization

[Liberal]

Kal

Only now am I able to compose myself enough to post here. And all I can think to say is that my heart is broken and I love you.

[Anahita]

What some humans can do to others makes me sick.

[Kal]

Libertarian: I’m humbled.

[Kal]

Update (of a kind):

This article has just been posted to a Romani news site and it contains some very interesting information:

It reports the reactions of the Slovakia’s Health Minster - who complains that the original report didn’t name the doctors and give the dates, which means that he is restricted as to what to do - and the Slovakian Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration and National Minorities* - who is threatening to sue the author for failing to report a crime or (if the report is false) slander.

It also reports that the ERRC have similar concerns that “abusive sterilizations” are taking place in the Czech Republic and Hungary. They go on to say;

Slovakia is of particular concern due to the extent and frequency with which the idea of coercive contraceptive measures have emerged as part of public discourse on Roma in the country. However, we have reason to believe that if all facts could be known, differences between Slovakia and other countries of the region would be ones of degree rather than kind.

So, lovely news from Eastern Europe.

And, if anyone is interested, I’m still waiting for a reply to my emails.

Kal - Who wonder how large the brass plate on the guy’s door must be in order to fit the title; “Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration and National Minorities.”

[Kal]

I know it’s bad form to bump a thread but this deserves a final update.

I wish it could be a positive one, but it’s not.

http://www.womensenews.com/article.cfm/dyn/aid/1243

And

http://www.genocidewatch.org/RomaSlovakiaFebruary28.htm

The first article goes into some depth about what is happening in Slovakia.

This one quote sums it up:

Police and Government Harassment Has Increased as a Result of the Report

.

In short: The police are going after Romani women who have spoken to the authors of the initial report and journalists covering the story.

In other, more personal news: You may remember that I said the following in my OP -

If I do start to rant, I really don’t think I’ll ever stop. Then I’d start hate. That’s not a good thing.

I was right. It wasn’t a good thing.

[Michael_Ellis]

Grr…

[cleosia]

The worst part is that many state governments in the U.S. endorsed forced sterilization of minorities, the mentally ill, Etc. in the 20’s and 30’s.

Actually, that’s where the Nazis got their ideas about sterilization.

[Malacandra]

[stating the bleedin’ obvious]

Kal, that’s an utter disgrace.

[/stbo]

More power to you.

Part of me wants to go “But… but… isn’t there the slightest chance that this is being done for bone fide medical reasons?”, not because I doubt you but because I hate to believe anyone, any people, could be so wicked on purpose… but I have the horrible feeling that my denial is idiotic.

Ack.

tries to get rid of bad taste in mouth

[Kal]

*Originally posted by Malacandra *
Part of me wants to go “But… but… isn’t there the slightest chance that this is being done for bone fide medical reasons?”

It’s possible. In fact, that’s exactly what the doctors involved claim.

From the second cite in my last post:

Slovak doctors deny any form of discrimination, noting that Gypsy women rarely visit doctors before birth and often have infections, in part because of the conditions in which they live.

<snip>

“The Roma from the settlements have no toilets, no showers,” Dr. Kysely said. “They are different from the point of view of hygiene.” Some Gypsy women who complain of coerced sterilization, he said, may be suffering from untreated gynecological problems.

You’ll excuse me if reading that Romani women are “…different from the point of view of hygiene” makes me want to track down Dr. Kysely and hurt him. Badly.

But I think any rationale they hide behind is a load of bollocks. There’s a very interesting little piece from the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, an independant agency of the U.S. government, which you read here.

Dated June 8th 2000, it has this little snippet of information:

In other countries, Roma may face even greater dangers. In Slovakia, one local official called for a “Chinese fertility program” for Roma, raising the threat of renewed forced sterilizations.

[Malacandra]

Thanks, Kal. I was afraid, given the sensitivity of the subject, that I might have expressed myself badly, and I was all set to be deservedly jumped on, but you saw what I meant.

I take my hat off to you for your self-restraint: I could very well understand if you were looking for someone’s ass to get mediaeval on. Sterilising anyone against their will is sick and evil, infinitely more so if it’s being deliberately done as a kind of “ethnic cleansing” (a euphemism for genocide, nothing else).

Ack, again.