Human rights in Slovakia are governed by the laws of

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

and overseen by international organizations such as the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; french: Conseil de l'Europe, ) is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold European Convention on Human Rights, human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. ...

Legal basis

Chapter two of the

Constitution of Slovakia A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...

outlines the rights and freedoms guaranteed by law. These include the rights to life, privacy, due process, dignity, property, religion, free movement, free speech, free press, petition, association, and voting, as well as freedoms from torture, cruel punishment, and slavery. The constitution also guarantees that rights can not be protected in a discriminatory manner.

Political freedom

The Office of the Public Defender of Rights and the Slovak National Center for Human Rights are responsible for protecting rights in Slovakia.

Elections in Slovakia There are five types of elections in Slovakia: municipal elections, regional elections, parliamentary elections, presidential elections and elections to the European Parliament. All four types of elections are normally held after fixed periods, al ...

have been found to be free and fair by the

Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world's largest regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization with observer status at the United Nations. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, prom ...

. The law provides for government action to be made transparent, and government contracts are disclosed to the public. Corruption by government officials is a criminal offense under Slovak law, and isolated cases of corruption in the government have been identified. The government of Slovakia has implemented measures to combat corruption. Anti-corruption raids have been conducted by the police, and dozens of state officials have been charged with corruption and related crimes between 2020 and 2021. Women and LGBT groups are underrepresented in politics. The

Democracy Index The ''Democracy Index'' is an index compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), the research division of the Economist Group, a UK-based private company which publishes the weekly newspaper ''The Economist''. Akin to a Human Development I ...

rated Slovakia as a "Flawed Democracy" in 2021 with a score of 7.03 out of 10, placing it 45th out of 167 countries.

Freedom House Freedom House is a non-profit, majority U.S. government funded organization in Washington, D.C., that conducts research and advocacy on democracy, political freedom, and human rights. Freedom House was founded in October 1941, and Wendell Wil ...

rated Slovakia as "Free" in 2022 with a score of 90 out of 100.

Human trafficking

As of 2021, the

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other n ...

classifies Slovakia's human trafficking prevention as "Tier 2", meaning that it "does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking but is making significant efforts to do so". Human trafficking is criminalized by Section 179 of the criminal code, with penalties ranging from four to ten years in prison. In 2021, Slovakia initiated 15 investigations into sex trafficking, four for forced labor, and three for forced begging. The government of Slovakia also funds a

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

to assist victims of human trafficking.

Civil rights

Due process

Arbitrary detention, arbitrary deprivation of life, and torture are illegal and not practiced in Slovakia. Laws regarding inhuman or degrading punishment are generally respected, though occasional reports of police abuse exist. Defendants are guaranteed the right to a fair trial, an independent judiciary, the presumption of innocence, and legal counsel. Trust in an independent judiciary has been undermined in Slovakia by accusations of corruption and inefficiency. According to the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

, only 28% of Slovak citizens had confidence in the judiciary as of 2021.

Expression

Freedom of expression and freedom of the press are guaranteed under the law of Slovakia.

Libel Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...

laws are treated as criminal offenses and have been used to restrict reporting by the media and suppress criticism of politicians and other notable figures.

Hate speech Hate speech is defined by the ''Cambridge Dictionary'' as "public speech that expresses hate or encourages violence towards a person or group based on something such as race, religion, sex, or sexual orientation". Hate speech is "usually thoug ...

and

Holocaust denial Holocaust denial is an antisemitic conspiracy theory that falsely asserts that the Nazi genocide of Jews, known as the Holocaust, is a myth, fabrication, or exaggeration. Holocaust deniers make one or more of the following false statements: ...

are criminal offenses. The 2018

murder of Ján Kuciak Ján Kuciak (17 May 1990 – 21 February 2018) was a Slovak investigative journalist. Kuciak worked as a reporter for the news website Aktuality.sk, focused mainly on investigating tax fraud of several businessmen with connections to top-level Slo ...

in response to his investigations into corruption represented a major attack on the freedom of the press in Slovakia.

Discrimination

LGBT

Discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity is illegal, but this law is not consistently enforced. Political representation of LGBT people in Slovakia is limited. Politicians rarely identify as LGBT and public comments disparaging the LGBT community are common. The government requires individuals seeking

legal gender Legal gender, or legal sex, is a sex or gender that is recognized under the law. Biological sex, sex reassignment and gender identity are used to determine legal gender. The details vary by jurisdiction. History In European societies, Roman ...

recognition to be sterilized.

Race and ethnicity

The constitution guarantees equality on the basis of race, nationality, ethnicity, and any other status.

Hate crimes A hate crime (also known as a bias-motivated crime or bias crime) is a prejudice-motivated crime which occurs when a perpetrator targets a victim because of their membership (or perceived membership) of a certain social group or racial demograph ...

are penalized more strictly in Slovakia. Anti-discrimination laws are enforced inconsistently, and the

Romani people The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sig ...

in particular experience discrimination, harassment, and

police brutality Police brutality is the excessive and unwarranted use of force by law enforcement against an individual or a group. It is an extreme form of police misconduct and is a civil rights violation. Police brutality includes, but is not limited to, ...

. The Romani people are often segregated from other groups in Slovakia, and crimes against the Romani are not sufficiently investigated. The government of Slovakia has acknowledged its role in the forced sterilizations of thousands of Romani women.

Religion

The constitution states that there is no official religion of Slovakia and that equality is guaranteed on the basis of religion. Government recognition of religious groups grants special privileges such as ministering in prisons, performing wedding ceremonies, and receiving subsidies. To be granted recognition, religious groups are required to submit the signatures of 50,000 adherents. Students are required to attend religious instruction in school, though alternatives are available. Materials advocating discrimination or hatred against a religious group are illegal and punishable by up to eight years in prison. Despite this,

antisemitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

and

Islamophobia Islamophobia is the fear of, hatred of, or prejudice against the religion of Islam or Muslims in general, especially when seen as a geopolitical force or a source of terrorism. The scope and precise definition of the term ''Islamophobia'' ...

are prevalent in Slovakia, and both are common in the political campaigns of extremist parties.

Women

The constitution guarantees equality on the basis of sex. Women are granted full political freedoms in Slovakia, and in 2019 the country elected its first woman president. Women are underrepresented in parliament, making up about 21% of the parliament in 2020. Domestic violence in Slovakia is widespread, and outreach for victims of domestic violence is low. Slovakia signed the

Istanbul Convention The Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence, better known as the Istanbul Convention, is a human rights treaty of the Council of Europe against violence against women and domestic v ...

on violence against women but had not ratified it as of 2021.

References

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