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A typical feature for the development and dynamic of crime89) in the Czech Republic in 1999, in comparison with 1998, is stagnation in the number of ascertained offences accompanied by the higher number of offence cleared up and by detection rate (45.3 %; the detection rate of violent and moral crimes reaches on long-term basis 80-90 %, economic crime almost 95 %). The exception is rise in economic crime, which may be also interpreted positively, since it does not display high latency as it used to. Sustained increase in ascertained damages of both economic and total crime is negative (including the crimes where, on long-term basis, the decline was recorded - e.g. flat burglaries). The rise in crimes of violence, where children are involved, is alarming. The elements of good organisation can be determined in all kinds of crime, the links between crimes of violence and crimes against property continued. The number of violent robberies increased, especially in Prague, which accounts for 28 % of all offences ascertained. The increasing number of applicant for a refugee status is accompanied by misuse of asylum procedure for illegal migration. Moral crime latency can be considered to be very negative. The offences of unauthorised production and distribution of psychotropic substances and poisons displayed an increasing trend. There was a marked increase in the number of offences in which weapons were involved.
The crime development in 1999 demonstrates a certain movement the stability of which may be proved within a longer period. In terms of long-term development decrease in proportion of burglaries and increase in proportion of economic crime have been recorded. The crime development is substantially influenced by offences committed in Prague, which is the most affected territory in terms of the number of crimes ascertained per 10,000 inhabitants. Except for Prague the decline (or stagnation) in offences ascertained was recorded in all regions, with the most significant decline in North Moravia. Correlation between the number of offences ascertained and unemployment rate has not been proved.
To objectively evaluate crime levels and especially citizens' feeling of safety it is necessary to say that according to victimological researches90) in comparison with 1998 the proportion of citizens directly affected by crime slightly decreased from 28 % to 19 % interviewed people. Citizens report more committed offences, three of four victims informed the police, while some time ago it used to be only a half of victims. A part of the concerns relates, of course, to security risks - organised crime, drug issues and a general rise of aggression and violence in society; on the other had there was a sort of adaptation to risks. In terms of actual risks, people are afraid of having a car stolen or being involved in a car accident, burglary (into a house or flat) and pickpockets (in the street, in public) follow. The trust of social institutions has stabilised; satisfaction with police work displays a slightly increasing trend. People criticise the “lower visibility” of the police. People usually react to risks actively; the better technical personal security as well as property security is evident.
Damage recorded from total crime displays a negative trend, particularly for damage ascertained from economic crime, and there was a fall in damage recovered. The proportion of damage caused by registered economic crime to total damage due to crime has risen sharply (while 1990 figure was 8.9 %, it was 59.2 % in 1999). Even the crimes, which on a long-term basis display fall in the number of offences ascertained, recorded a marked increase of damage ascertained, in particular burglaries to flats and car thefts.
More than 34 % offenders are people between 20-30 years of age. In 1999, the highest number of persons was lawfully sentenced since 1990. The proportion of repeat offenders, foreigners and children in the total number of offenders remains unchanged; the proportion of juveniles has fallen. In the long-term, almost all offences committed by youth have displayed increasing professionalism, aggression and brutality. In comparison to juveniles, children committed more crimes of violence; injuries to health and the number of moral offences were almost the same. These facts are alarming. The number of murders committed by children has risen. To decrease offences committed by youth and a proactive approach to prevent such crimes are priorities in crime prevention. Most often offences committed by foreigners are, in addition to crimes against property, robberies, intentional injuries to health, extortion and murders. 24.2 % of murders committed by foreigners were cleared up in the long term; there has been decline in Slovak citizens prosecuted. The Ministry of Interior Inspection recorded higher number of prosecuted policemen as well as the number of offences committed by Czech police members. (The data concerned ascertained and cleared up offences. The rise in police crime means the lower latency rather than the absolute increase.) The policemen up to 30 years old with service periods up to 10 years committed the highest number of offences; abuse of power by a public official is the most frequent offence
.In crimes against property there was a substantial decrease in burglaries, mainly in burglaries to flats (in Prague there was 14 % increase in such offence, while the numbers in other regions decreased). After a dynamic growth in the number of thefts from cars and car thefts, in the year monitored the number of such thefts decreased. Burglaries (tipped off flats and family houses) and common thefts (particularly theft from cars) display the elements of organisation (from the persons giving the tips to the persons selling the stolen goods or in case of car theft, getting the forged documents, etc.). This stability has been influenced by a set of preventative measures (see Chapter 3.1.3) and citizens'activity in protection of their property. However, mainly burglaries to flats, family houses and car theft are perceived very negatively by citizen. (see. J. Buriánek: “Actual Trends in Public's Attitude to Crime”. Signal information from the research “1999 Security Risks” - see Annex 2). This negative evaluation is influenced also by substantial rise in damage ascertained. Offences committed in the field of the cultural heritage are a problem. Targeted selection of stolen articles is demonstrated especially by rise in damages. The interest is focused mainly on archives, rare prints and articles from archaeological sites.
In terms of decreased latency it is necessary to assess the increase in the number of economic offences ascertained positively. Since 1997 the rise of this kind of crime has been 18 - 20 %. The increasing number of economic offences ascertained means better work of prosecution authorities and of other state administration authorities as well as better social climate for detection of such crime. It is not however easy for entities other than prosecution authorities to punish crimes; there is a problem with maintaining official secrets, prosecution authorities are overloaded by private-law cases and there is no regulation for lodging criminal complaints so that they could be a sufficient guidance for criminal prosecution authorities. There has been a marked increase, by 405 %, in the number of crimes related to failure to transfer statutory social and health insurance contributions. Tax evasion concerning production and distribution of spirits and crude oil products, cigarettes without duty stamps and agricultural products remains a problem. Criminal groups use money laundering transfers of funds through bank accounts opened in other persons' names; there is available information that insurance companies are more involved in money laundering. (Money laundering is a global problem. Efficient measures lay in legal framework - relevant laws against money laundering and property confiscation, and in practical co-operation of all countries involved). The increasing amount of misuse of information in business relations (so called “tunnelling”), breaching of the duty to administer another's property and insurance fraud can be considered positive in terms of lower latency of such crimes. Corruption is one of the most serious offences exceeding the boundaries of economic crime, since it is difficult to prove it anywhere, not only in the Czech Republic. The majority of corruption cases are related to various forms of bribery, abuse of power of a public official, breach of mandatory rules in economic relations and breaching of the duty to administer another's property. The Ministry of Interior will support a range of projects focused on hiring more professionals and on improvement of the competence level of the Czech police specialised units, preparation of conditions for establishment of financial police as a special unit of the criminal police. Corruption and serious economic crime investigation service is responsible for the Central Analytical System, which is being prepared using Phare funds.91) Computer crime including information technology and Internet is a specific form of a crime with high latency. Organised crime focuses also on highly latent environmental crime (storage and disposal of waste, breaching of the international agreement on protection of endangered plant and animal realms, etc.) The Czech Republic is internationally known as a transit country with a high rate of illegal transactions.
The crimes of violence are more often linked with economic crime and display elements of organised crime. In spite of their decline, murders remain the most serious crimes of violence. The number of robberies increased sharply (mainly in Prague); the number of muggings, bank, shop and post office robberies rose as well. The majority of murders and murder attempts as well as robberies are committed with weapons (short firearms and stabbing weapons); the brutality of offenders is higher. Increasing attacks using booby traps are very risky. The State Prosecutor's Office makes all its efforts in order to use when dealing with exceptionally serious offences the maximum scope of punishment given by the relevant Act and to differentiate in terms of the length of the punishment among the offenders of the crimes of violence.
The moral crimes remain latent, which is considered to be a problem. There is a fluctuation trend for the number of moral offences - while they were on decline in the previous years, in 1998 the number of moral offences ascertained increased, in 1999 a decline was recorded. The decline relates to recorded offences of procurement, rape, trade in women, sexual abuse. Prostitution directly relates to procurement (in the year monitored demonstrates the decline by one third), which is hard to prove. This kind of crime involves elements of other offences, mainly crimes of violence often showing the elements of organised crime.
Road safety remains a persistent nation-wide problem. In comparison with 1998, there was an increase in number of car accidents, the number of killed persons rose.
The year 1999 meant significant activation of anarcho-autonomous movements. The autonomous movement started with strong radicalisation, they improved organisation and links between groups. They are more militant and ready for violent demonstrations, which are usually of a crowd nature. This trend is escalating. The attempts to legalise their activities by registration of a civil association or political party were typical for the right-wing scene. All those attempts to transform into a political party were unsuccessful. The trend which started in 1998 - a shift towards the hidden forms of delinquency of the right-wing extremists -continued. As in the previous year there were more serious breaches of peace by juvenile or close to juvenile, almost exclusively supporters and members of skinhead movement. In the year monitored there was not any murder or injury to health that caused death, however there were serious attacks mainly against the members of Roma community. Also dark skinned foreigners were often victims of such attacks. The attention was paid to detection crime committed through illegal prints-out, symbols and emblems with fascist motives or motives showing support for another, similar movement.
Activities in the field of official secrets were focused on security screenings and amendments to the legal regulations. The amendments to the decrees enable to combine utilisation of technical means for protection of official secrets with the implementation of risk analysis, which should result in reduction of costs paid for security of the people and premises involved in official secrets. The amendment to the Official Secrets Act, which is being prepared, concentrates mainly on security screening, which should be more cost effective and faster. Despite the attention paid to this field there were the cases of unauthorised use of classified information e.g. at the Ministry of Defence or Ministry of Interior.
The higher number of foreigners with permanent or long-term residency permit was recorded on 31st December 1999. The amended Trades Licensing Act makes the conditions for foreign entrepreneurs - individuals in the Czech Republic more difficult but it represents only partial solution; the establishment of ordinary partnership companies and other types of legal entities especially but not exclusively by foreigners - individuals still remain the principal issue. Abuse of asylum procedures led to the growth of applicants for the status of a refugee in the Czech Republic; thus the asylum procedure is abused for illegal migration. Many foreigners do not legalise their residence in the Czech Republic. The point of entry for fugitives remains mainly the border with Slovakia. The illegal migration is globally professionally organised (offenders are managed centrally, they received firm tasks, fugitives get needed travel documents and are instructed how to behave when they are caught) and the hopeless situation of the fugitives is often abused (among caught foreigners there were 62 % without travel documents). Organised conveyance is confirmed also by the information gathered in the Czech Republic. Organised conveyance involves today also very professional counterfeiting and altering travel document for migrants. The current direction of illegal migration as well as statistical data confirm that the Czech Republic remains largely a transit country on route to Western Europe. Further to adoption of the new Asylum Act, which came into force on 1st January 2000, the Ministry of Interior ensures restructuring and expansion of refugee camps including smooth transformation of Refugee Camp Administration. The Czech Government will start the preparation and implementation process of active policy relating to integration of foreigners who live in the Czech Republic legally. The Integration Foreigner Conception will be submitted for approval by 30th November 2000. Up-to-date visa process, which means issuing visa via electronic transfer, has been implemented at 39 Czech embassies abroad (in the course of 2000 other embassies should be connected to this system. The partners from the EU countries positively evaluate this process. Machine-readable visas are processed at the 35 most significant border crossings.
The monitored criminal organisations are directly linked abroad, they are well -organised and are becoming more aggressive. The principal problem in the fight against serious and organised crime is the situation when witnesses of serious offences refuse to give their witness without being protected against possible attacks from the side of criminals. A new system of witness protection will mean a significant shift. Criminal organisations operating in the Czech Republic come mainly from the countries of the former Soviet Union, former Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, together with Italian criminal groups and criminal groups from Southeast Asia (particularly from China and Vietnam). Criminal organisations coming from the former Soviet Union rank among the most active; financial offences are dominant for them. Ukraine criminal organisations are getting more organised and they are becoming more aggressive. They participate in bank robberies; illegal employment of Ukraine workers is higher. The Bulgarian criminal organisations focused especially on car thefts and the trafficking of Bulgarian prostitutes to the erotic clubs. The erotic clubs are managed mainly by criminal organisations from the former Yugoslavia. Those organisations also concentrate on the trade in drugs, illegal migration and violent crimes. Italian criminal organisations, the offences of which are very latent, focused predominantly on purchasing real estates, mainly in Prague. Vietnamese criminal organisations are active in organising illegal migration and goods smuggling (mainly textile products and food). Chinese criminal organisations do not have in the Czech Republic classic Chinese criminal organisational nature. They focus on the running casinos and illegal brothels; they are suspicious of money laundering, organising illegal bets and trade in drugs. The Chinese who operate as intermediates of illegal migration concentrate on the illegal crossing of national borders; their kidnapping of illegal immigrants is followed by extortion of their relatives. They are also involved in the trade of “trademark goods”. Arab criminal organisations focused on drug smuggling and illegal trade in weapons and financial transactions. There have not been substantial changes in organised crime of violence - the offences are brutal, firearms prevail, devastation of victims is typical. Especially criminal organisations from Russia, Ukraine, Chechnya, and former Yugoslavia are involved in such kinds of crime.
Introduction of visas with some countries is one of the regulative measures restricting illegal migration and assisting detection and fight against organised crime and international terrorism92) since obligatory visas improve the check ups of person movements from some countries that represent the risks not only for the Czech Republic.
The situation in the Czech Republic does not indicate that the country is threatened with immediate increase in terrorist incidents. None of the international terrorist groups operated in our country in the year monitored. The number of attacks on motor vehicles, buildings, and persons with the use of explosives increased. For the most part, this involved settling accounts, extortion and intimidation. (Likely exceptions are explosions in Přerov, Prague and detection of explosive system on the railway near Mělník.)
A reaction to Radio Free Europe's broadcasts to Iran and Iraq remains a possible risk factor, and we cannot rule out individual acts by radical members of the younger generation of Arab immigrants. Another risk from foreigners remains the presence of war veterans from Afghanistan and other conflicts. The radicalisation of extremist groups in the Czech Republic is a risk; above all the possibility if their being used to promote political and economic interests using violent means, in which ideological reasons will be a problem. Isolated terrorist attacks by individuals cannot be ruled out, although so far there have only been anonymous threats.
The CZK 5, 000 counterfeited banknotes still remain the biggest problem of the period assessed. The situation for other forged documents and certificates also remains dangerous. The principal issue is that there is no record of top copying machines in the Czech Republic, as it is in some countries in Western Europe; GO and TWIST cards are not registered as for example in Switzerland.
The rising trend was recorded in unauthorised production and distribution of psychotropic substances and poisons. There were no significant changes in the activities of the international trade in drugs in the year monitored. The Czech Republic is a centre for organisers of the international trade in heroin and cannabis products in particular. The Czech Republic is a target country for all kinds of narcotic and psychotropic substances with the exception of crack. It is involved in illegal production and transport of drugs, the illegal production and trade in precursors and laundering proceeds from the illegal drug trade The Czech Republic was chosen by organisers of the international narcotics trade as a “safe country”, in particular for overly liberal conditions for legal residence in our country and for practically risk-free laundering of drug money, low punishments for drug offences and the high probability of protecting assets acquired from drug deals without the threat of forfeiture. On the basis of an analysis of cases we envisage a further increase in the number of heroin addicts, the emergence of companies solely to distribute heroin, the violent settling of disputes over territory and sphere of influence, increasing efforts to infiltrate the state administration, the construction and operation of large synthetic drug laboratories and in increase in the number of Czech citizens involved in the international narcotics trade. According to the information available the supply of drugs in the streets decreased. Distributors changed their behaviour; the sale is provided in a hidden form, so-called “sale on phone” (the mobile telephone numbers used for drug sale are often changed). However, these trends cannot be directly connected to the amendment of the Criminal Code and the Misdemeanour Code.
As mentioned above, in the year monitored, there were not substantial changes in the development of public order and internal security. It does not mean that such situation can be assessed positively. Continuing high number of offences, increasing brutality and more sophisticated forms of crime call for taking measures to suppress criminal activities. The analysis showed a need to deepen, supplement or modify such measures. It should be emphasised that to reach more positive results it is required not only to apply the Government policy in public order and internal security but that the whole society should make all efforts to combat crimes. The authors of this report are aware of the fact that it is impossible to incorporate all information on meeting the tasks suggestions relating to internal security in the future period. Restricting crime and increasing security of citizens together with preparation of the Czech Republic for EU membership are an integral part of the Government policy. The accession of the Czech Republic to Schengen agreements and their application are crucial. The activities focused on fighting serious economic crime, corruption, organised crime, illegal migration, racism and xenophobia will continue. The amendments to the Code of Criminal Procedure, the Criminal Code, and some other relating acts such as witness protection, position of the Czech police as a independent body of the public power and proactive police approach are considered to be important tasks. The economic situation concerning policeman and civil staff's salaries and resources for basic operations remain a persistent problem.
The security risks in public order and internal security for 1999 determined by the Government were based on the Czech Republic Security Strategy93) (in this is documented the security priorities) in the Chapter - Internal Security Policy. They involve: organised crime fight, protection against illegal migration, racial hate suppression, official secrets protection and facilitating security in other than military crisis situations. This strategy was updated on the basis of the analysis carried out by all ministries. The broaden meaning of security risks and threats would exceed the framework of the reports on security in public order and internal security.
On the basis of information on trends and dynamics for crime, issues in areas related to internal order and security, information on safety feelings, the following security risks can be declared for the future, i.e. areas where maximum attention must be devoted (at the same time the creation of efficient protection against crime in all its aspects is required):94)
Serious economic crime (frauds, curtailment of taxes, “money laundering”). Corruption. Illegal Migration. Crime by criminal organisation. Crime having extremist nature. Terrorism. Unlawful conduct in the area of narcotic and psychotropic substances. Crime by youth. Infringements of intellectual property rights. Murders and robberies. Car thefts and thefts from cars. Infringements of road safety principles.