On June 29th 2021, the European Roma Grassroots Organisations Network sent an open letter to EU institutions to demand justice for Stanislav Tomáš. Eurodiaconia is one of the co-signatories of the letter, among over 350 networks, national NGOs and individuals from all over the world.
The signatories of the letter call for an independent, thorough and objective investigation into the death of Stanislav Tomáš, a Romani man from Teplice, Czech Republic, who died on June 19th after two police officers kneeled on him applying excessive and unnecessary force to immobilise him against the hot pavement, even after he was handcuffed.
The open letter also calls for EU leadership, the Czech government, the media and non-governmental actors to take a clear stance against antigypsyism and police violence, including in their public statements.
The letter can be found here.
Ethnic profiling, under- and over-policing against ethnic minorities is a long-standing phenomenon in the EU. A paper by the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) from May 2021 reveals the differences between people’s experiences with police stops. It shows that Black people, Asians and Roma are still more likely to be stopped and searched by police, which also affects their trust in policing. The paper by FRA can be found here.
On June 30th, the family of Stanislav Tomáš filed a criminal complaint against the Czech police with the legal support of the European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC). More information can be found here.