Brussels, 23/05/2011 (Agence Europe) - The Ambassador of the Czech Republic to the EU, Milena Vicenova, on Thursday 19 May, categorically rejected the criticism made by the European Commission of the “phallometric tests” it claims that Prague imposes on asylum seekers, according to AFP, describing this attack as “unacceptable” and “based on untrue information” (EUROPE 10382).
“There is no doubt that the persecution of homosexuals and intolerance of them are unacceptable in modern Europe. But the accusation that the Czech Republic is committing such acts is also equally unacceptable”, said Vicenova. The “phallometric test” consists of measuring masculine erectile responses obtained when presenting various sexual and non-sexual stimuli, to verify whether asylum seekers are genuinely homosexual and can on these grounds argue the threat of persecution in their own country.
On 17 May, the Commissioner in charge of asylum issues described the practice as “degrading” and said that it “could not be accepted in the European Union or elsewhere”. On 16 May, the Commission wrote again to Prague on this issue, indicating that an in-depth investigation would be opened. According to Vicenova, these “serious accusations communicated in fairly strong language” are based on “untrue statements” and “massively distort the true facts”.
“The Czech Republic announced a long time ago that this method was no longer used”, she continued, adding that a “handful” of these tests had been carried out in 2008 and 2009, “with the written consent and, in some cases, by direct request” of the asylum seekers.
“The Czech authorities then had a choice to make: either they could send these asylum seekers back to their countries of origin and expose them to the danger of death, or offer them a sexological examination, as a final chance to verify the truth of their depositions”, said Vicenova, adding that these tests had the effect of “exorcising” the threat of repatriation and granting asylum to these people. (S.P./transl.fl)