Czechia
Gwendolyn Hubka Albert is an independent human rights activist and ally of the Romani minority involved in the issues of dignified remembrance of Romani Holocaust sites, guaranteed access to standard primary school for Romani children in Europe, and redress for women who have been forcibly sterilized. In August 2020 she was given the Award for Humanity by the Committee for the Redress of the Roma Holocaust in the Czech Republic in recognition of her work on the issue of redress for those who have been forcibly sterilized in the former Czechoslovakia and Czech Republic. She received the Alice G. Masaryk Human Rights Award from the Embassy of the United States of America to the Czech Republic in 2021, together with Elena Gorolová and Monika Šimůnková, for her work on that same issue.
She translates the news daily into English for news server Romea.cz. She was a co-author of the publication "Human Rights of Roma and Travellers" (Council of Europe: 2012) and contributed the paper “Anti-Gypsyism and the Extreme Right in the Czech Republic 2008-2011” to "The Gypsy ‘Menace’: Populism and the New Anti-Gypsy Politics," edited by Michael Stewart, (C. Hurst & Co., London: 2012). She recently published a peer-reviewed article in Czech translation in the special issue of Romano džaniben (2019/2) dedicated to the issue of forced sterilization.
In literary endeavors, she translated the novel "Baradla Cave" by Eva Švankmajerová into English (Twisted Spoon Press: 2000), edited the zine "JEJUNE: america eats its young", and authored two chapbooks of poetry ("green,green" and "dogs"). Her poetry has also been anthologized ("Short Fuse", "The Return of Kral Majales").
Her current activism includes sitting on the boards of the organizations Burma Center Prague and Pramení in the Czech Republic; she is a past board member of several other human rights-related organizations as well. Since September 2020 she has been a volunteer civil society member of the Czech Government Council on Romani Minority Affairs.
After earning a Bachelor's degree in Linguistics, she was a Fulbright grant recipient at Charles University in Prague for the 1989-1990 academic year. She participated in the Velvet Revolution as a translator for Civic Forum.
Podle Gwendolyn Albert český proces odškodňování za protiprávní sterilizace selhává a znovu traumatizuje mnohé žadatelky, včetně těch romských. V souladu s doporučeními komisařky pro lidská práva Rady Evropy a domácími soudními rozhodnutími vyzvala české orgány, aby zveřejnily pokyny, jak mají být hodnoceny důkazy jiné než původní zdravotnické záznamy.
We are coming to the end of the second year of the implementation of the law to compensate all those who have been forcibly and therefore unlawfully sterilized in the Czech Republic.
Peer-reviewed article in Czech translation in the Romani Studies journal Romano džaniben.
Abstract: This paper reviews domestic and international activism seeking justice for Romani and other women harmed by coercive, forced, and involuntary sterilization in the former Czechoslovakia and Czech Republic. Framed by Michel Foucault's theory of biopower, it summarizes the history of these abuses and describes human rights campaigns involving domestic and international litigation, advocacy, and grassroots activism, as well as the responses of the Czech governments.
Every morning, in the moment just before we wake, we are all the same. Then, like the clothes we wear, our identities begin to fill in: Boy, girl, man, woman, child, teen, adult, senior. Doctor, painter, driver, accountant, manager, teacher, student.French, American, Czech, Latino, British, African, Roma, European.
The conference on Forced and Coercive Sterilization of Roma Women: Justice and Reparations for Victims in the Czech Republic was organized by the OSCE/ODIHR on 1 June 2016 in Prague.
Ultra-right parties and their neo-Nazi supporters have unleashed an unprecedented level of coordinated anti-Roma demonstrations throughout the Czech Republic this year, aiming to tip the balance at the polls and increase their access to power in the country's upcoming elections.
Interview with me by Bernie Higgins about translating Baradla Cave.