Czech 'phallometric test' criticised by EU

The European Union's leading human rights agency has sharply criticised the Czech authorities for using a controversial method of testing whether homosexual asylum seekers are genuinely gay.

The Fundamental Rights Agency said the Czech Republic was the only EU country still using a "sexual arousal" test.

Gay asylum seekers are hooked up to a machine that monitors blood-flow to the penis and are then shown straight pornography. Those applicants who become aroused are denied asylum.

The agency said in a report that "it is dubious whether (the test) reaches sufficiently clear conclusions".

It said the practice could violate the European Convention on Human Rights "since this procedure touches upon a most intimate part of an individual’s private life".

The Interior ministry reacted angrily to the claims, saying that the "phallometric tests" had been used in fewer than 10 asylum cases. The tests were conducted under the supervision of experts and always with the asylum seeker’s full written consent.

The Czech government’s human right’s commissioner, meanwhile, has described the phallometric tests as "undignified".

— BBC