In 1999, the critical international evaluation of the Czech Republic in terms of observation of human rights was and still is related mainly to the situation of the Roma ethnic community and the approach of the state authorities to this situation. The negative publicity of the Roma problem has not changed so far.
As in 1998, in 1999 the continuing migration of Roma community members was perceived as a consequence of crimes committed by skinhead movement supporters. In terms of this issue, the Czech Republic received the highest attention in foreign media.88 The fact that the data reoccurring in the foreign public media connected the Czech Republic with 30 racially motivated murders and 1, 500 – 2,000 cases of racially motivated attacks from the side of the skinhead movement supporters (in the past 8 years) is considered very serious.89 According to the data published by the Human Rights Department of the Czech Government Office 11 Roma were victims to racially motivated crimes with subsequent death.90
As a consequence of manifestations of racism and national intolerance in the Czech society the following issues, which were projected also to bilateral relations as well multilateral negotiations, were noted abroad:
After 1997 more than 1,2000 Roma applied to be granted a refugee status in Canada and in Great Britain; the immigration of Roma families continued. By the end of 1999, 737 persons (i.e. 70% applicants) were granted a refugee status in Canada. An additional 171 persons applied for asylum in 1998. The number persons seeking asylum in Great Britain grew up in spite of the fact that the majority of applications were rejected. Until the end of 1999, 1,790 Roma from the Czech Republic applied for asylum (this figure represents only the number of ”principal applicants” without family relatives.) The estimations of the actual numbers of Roma asylum seekers are for 6 000 - 7 000 persons. Roma from the Czech Republic sought asylum also in Finland and Belgium.91
Mainly Roma from Prague, Kladno, Rokycany, Litoměřice and Ostrava arrived in Great Britain while some applicants came from Pilsen, Karlovy Vary, Opava, and Teplice. The main reasons for their leaving the Czech Republic were as follows: reoccurring physical assaults including attacks against children, discrimination in education, employment and health care, discrimination in restaurants, at discos, etc. hostility of the majority society against them, swear words, threats, verbal attacks of racist and or neo-nazi nature including intentional destruction of their property. Skinhead movement supporters were marked as the main offenders of such conduct. The majority of them did not report incidents to the police, since they did not trust them because they did not receive an adequate protection from the side of the police. Mostly, they stressed that it was impossible to prove racist subtext of the verbal attack. According to them the police did not show any interest in investigating such offences. Rather, the police were said to be inclined to actively protect or even support to those crime offenders. A number of them stated that they had been discriminated against by the local administration bodies because of their Roma origin (job centres, the policy of flat allocation). Some of them indicated discrimination and bullying of their children at schools by their peers, saying that such situations had not been solved by teachers, including efforts to transfer their children to special schools. Some of them said they had not been able to solve their situation by moving to another region in the Czech Republic since the discrimination of the Roma community is spread nation-wide. Further they explained that they had not been able to seek asylum in the neighbouring countries because racism as well as skinheads were spread there as well.
The UN extraordinary reporter for human rights and racial issues - Maurice Glélé-Ahanhanzo – visited the Czech Republic on 20th – 22nd September 199992. The major attention was devoted to the construction of the wall in Matiční Street in Ústí nad Labem - Neštěnice.93 The Advisory Committee of the Framework Agreement on National Minority Protection required on 5th October 1999 in connection with the Roma issues in particular with the Matiční Street case additional, updated information on meeting the Agreement principles.
The Roma issue was essentially criticised in the regular 1999 Report of the European Committee on Progress of Accession to the European Union. This report concentrated on the issues of Roma discrimination in the Czech society, their unsatisfactory social conditions, transfers of Roma children to special schools and the aforementioned Matiční Street case. Inadequately low punitive sanctions for racially motivated crimes were also mentioned.
The European Committee against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), an advisory body to the European Council, dealing in its regular report with manifestations of extremism, racism and intolerance in the member countries, adopted on its 20th plenary meeting held on 9th December 1999 the final report on the situation in the Czech Republic relating to the development of ”good practices” or general recommendations.
The U.S. State Department Report on the Observation of the Human Rights in the World in 1999 stated a persistent problem of discrimination of the Roma community and violence against Roma and other minority members conducted by skinheads.94 The report also mentioned the employment, education and living standard discrimination. Attention was paid to the Roma exodus and to the Matiční Street case.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs provided to the foreign counterpart information on the aforementioned issues both within bilateral visits abroad and in the Czech Republic and in multilateral forums held by international organisation (the UNO, the OBSE and the European Council). The need for more information on corresponding measures taken by the Government emerged especially in connection with an increase of Roma applications for asylum as well as the Matiční Street case, which received a high level of attention in the media. Trying to ensure the foreign counterparts were provided optimal information, the Ministry produced the documents serving as a basic information source on the measures taken by the Government, the Ministry of Interior and the Czech police to punish racially or nationality motivated crimes or crimes motivated by other kinds of extremism to eliminate all racial discrimination manifestations.95 The Ministry of Foreign Affairs distributed the document ”The Chronology of Legislative and Executive Body Activities – Roma Issues” directly to the foreign counterparts or through the Czech embassies.96 The Ministry of Foreign Affairs monitored the issues and the trends in manifestations of extremism, racism and intolerance in the Central European geopolitical area including the experiences related to this phenomenon. The punishment of extremism was also monitored.97 The international symposium on the Role of the Police Forces in the Suppression of Racism and Xenophobia, held under the auspices of the Minister of Interior together with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, contributed to the inclusion of the extremist, racial and intolerance issues to the Europe-wide context.98
Regarding the Roma issues the Ministry of Foreign Affairs met in 1999 a new foreign policy framework developed in 1998 consisting in pan-European approach to Roma issues. In the document ”The Czech Republic Policy in Relation to the International (European) Dimension of the Roma Issues (evaluating information)” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs assessed the conclusions contained in the document submitted to the Government on 7th October 1998, mainly efficiency and successful application of the measures, which the Czech Republic gained after implementing a new conception at the international scene (the UNO, the OBSE, the European Council, the EU, the International Conference on Roma Issues). The document also contains some proposals for the further procedures of the Czech Republic in its policy towards the Roma issues.99 The third and fourth period Czech Republic Report on meeting the obligations contained in the International Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.100
A very close co-operation with the High Commissioner for National Minorities and with the contact place for Roma and Sinti issues involved within the OBSE in information relating to extremism, racism and intolerance continued. The Czech Republic participated in their activities; a number of meeting and consultations took place. The Czech Republic was also active in preparation of the report on Roman and Sinti Situation in the OBSE Member Countries, produced by Mr. Max van der Stoel, a High Commissioner for National Minorities. A final text draft aiming also at extremism, racism and intolerance partially takes into account comments and suggestions of the Czech Republic.101
By the Resolution No. 796 from 28th July 1999 the government approved the draft declaration according to the Article 14 paragraph 1 of the International Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. The Minister of Foreign affairs submited this draft declaration. The Chamber of Deputies of Czech Parliament approved the draft declaration by Resolution No. 925 on the 6th April 2000, and it was approved also by the Senate by Resolution No. 352 on the 10th May 2000. The Declaration will be prepared by autumn 2000.102
On 1st April 1999 the General Secretary of the European Council received ”The Complete Information on Legislative and Other Measures Adopted by the Czech Republic on Meeting the Principles Determined in the Framework Convention on Protection of National Minorities in particular under the Article 25, paragraph 1 of the Framework Convention on Protection of National Minorities.” This ”Complete Information” including ”Supplemented Information on Meeting the Principles Determined in the Framework Convention on Protection of National Minorities” submitted on 3rd December 1999 to the Advisory Committed of the European Council, which was processed pursuant to the Czech Government Resolutions No. 809 from 9th December 1998 and No. 132 from 17th February 1999 by the Human Rights Department of the Czech Government Office and the Czech Government Commissioner for the Human Rights in co-operation with the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
The Czech Republic presented the speech ”Roma Position as an International Problem” at the 55th Meeting of the Sub-Committee for the Support and Protection of the Human Rights (Geneva, 17th – 18th August 1999) under the point ”Discrimination Prevention and Protection of Minorities”. The speech accepted the global approach to the Roma issues and solutions under the universal international organisation. The sub-committee adopted on the basis of this speech the resolution ”Human Rights Issues and the Roma Protection”, by which Mr. Yen Kam Yeung Sik Yuen (Mauritius) – a sub-committed expert – was instructed to process a study involving this topic.103
The Czech Republic has participated since 1999 in preparation of the European Conference Against Racism, which will be held on 11th – 13th October 2000 as one of the regional conferences preceding the World Conference.104