40 Europe and Central Asia Summary of Amnesty International’s Concerns in the Region, January – June 2007 Violence against women (update to AI Index: EUR 01/001/2007) abuse, are not acceptable and will be the subject of severe sanctions. Croatia was reported as being increasingly a country of destination for women and girls victims of trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation. It remained a country of transit for trafficking victims. In April the Delegation of the EU Commision to Croatia and the Office of Human Rights of the Government of Croatia presented a EUfunded project to combat trafficking in human beings. The project inter alia aims at improving coordination between the Croatian police forces and the office of the State Prosecutor in investigating and prosecuting the cases of trafficking in human beings as well as the cooperation among law enforcement agencies, social welfare institutions, non-governmental organizations and international organization, with the aim of improving protection for victims of trafficking. CZECH REPUBLIC European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) In March the CPT published its report following a visit in 2003 to a number of detention facilities and social care and psychiatric establishments. The CPT found that allegations of ill-treatment of persons in police custody, although diminishing in number since the last CPT visit, continued to remain a problem. The CPT also received allegations of ill-treatment of detainees in prison establishments in Osijek, Split, and in the Lepoglava Prison. The CPT inter alia called on the Croatian authorities to ensure that senior police officers remind their subordinates that ill-treatment, including verbal abuse, is not acceptable and will be the subject of severe sanctions; a thorough and independent inquiry is carried out into the allegations of ill-treatment of inmates by prison staff at Split County Prison in April 2003; and a clear message is delivered to prison officers in establishments throughout the country that all forms of ill-treatment, including verbal Amnesty International Ratifications The Czech Republic remained the only European Union (EU) member state not to have ratified the Statute of the International Criminal Court. Discrimination against Roma The Romani minority continued to face discrimination at the hands of public officials and private individuals. On 26 April, a poll from the STEM agency showed the prevalence of prejudice against Roma. Only one out of 10 respondents said that Romani neighbours would not become a problem for them. Some 40 per cent said that Romani neighbours would be unacceptable for them, 26 per cent considered such a situation difficult, and 24 per cent said they would not feel good about having Romani neighbours. The percentage of those who consider Romanies as neighbours unacceptable has risen from 32 to 40 per cent during the last two years, according to STEM. Another STEM released on 4 May showed that more than two-thirds of Czechs have a negative relationship to Roma and only one in 20 assesses Roma positively. On 11 June, the government approved a new anti-discrimination bill, which should have been passed three years ago when the Czech Republic joined the EU. The law still has to be approved by parliament, where a previous anti-discrimination proposal fell when the Senate objected to its vagueness and pledges of affirmative action. Review by CERD On 10 April, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) made public its concluding observations on the Czech Republic's compliance with the AI Index: EUR 01/010/2007