Anti-Roma demonstrations organized by “far-right” political groups in the north led
to clashes with police. The government failed again to address discrimination against
Roma in education, despite a European Court of Human Rights judgement.
In March, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights noted that racist and
anti-Roma discourse was still common among mainstream politicians at both national
and local levels. Both the Commissioner and the UN Committee on the Rights of the
Child expressed concerns over the perpetuation of systemic and unlawful segregation
of Romani children from mainstream education.
Racism and violent attacks
Following tensions between Roma and non-Roma in Nový Bydžov in the Hradec Králové
region, the town’s mayor stated in November 2010 that “citizens… want the Roma to
disappear. But… [t]he hands of the local government are tied by the legislation”.
Representatives of the Workers’ Social Justice Party welcomed the mayor’s statement
and announced their readiness to help the municipality. On 12 March, the Party organized
a march in Nový Bydžov. Three Roma were attacked by the demonstrators. NGOs expressed
concerns about reports of excessive use of force by the police against peaceful counter-demonstrators,
who attempted to create a blockade to prevent the marchers from passing through the
predominantly Roma neighbourhood.
In March, the High Court upheld the decision of the Regional Court in Ostrava, which
found four men guilty of racially motivated attempted homicide and property damage
in an arson attack against a Romani family in Vítkov in 2009. The perpetrators appealed
against the High Court decision at the Supreme Court in July. In December, the Supreme
Court rejected their appeal.
On 11 July, an arson attack was reported in Býchory, central Bohemia. No one was injured.
A police spokesperson told the media that the perpetrators had passed through the
neighbourhood shouting racist slogans. Within several hours, the police arrested four
individuals. The regional prosecutor pressed charges of attempted racially motivated
serious bodily harm against one of the suspects. The remaining three were charged
with violence against a group of people and against individuals.
In August, following two incidents between Roma and non-Roma, “far-right” political
groups including the Workers’ Social Justice Party staged several anti-Roma protests
in the towns of Nový Bor, Rumburk, Varnsdorf and Šluknov in northern Bohemia. The
protests, marked by violent clashes between protesters and police, continued until
late September. Special police units were deployed to ensure public order. High-level
officials including the President condemned the anti-Roma violence and the police
spokesperson expressed readiness to prevent racially motivated abuses.
In response to increased tensions between Roma and non-Roma in the Šluknov area, the
Minister of Interior met with the mayors of the region on 8 November. He announced
the establishment of a special public order police unit. The Prime Minister reportedly
said that the tensions were the result of excessively generous welfare policies and
that the state should not assist “slackers and delinquents” who abuse benefits.
Education
Approximately 50 experts from NGOs, academia and government agencies resigned from
their Ministry of Education working groups in May. The resignations were in protest
against the government’s failure to allocate sufficient resources to implement the
National Action Plan for Inclusive Education, and its retrograde action on implementing
necessary reforms. The group stated that remaining would amount to participation in
a “window-dressing” exercise to mask the lack of action by the authorities.
The government continued to be criticized also for its failure to implement the European
Court of Human Rights judgement in the case of D.H. and Others v. Czech Republic, in which the Court held that the state had discriminated against Romani pupils in
access to education. The judgement required the Czech Republic to adopt measures to
prevent discrimination and redress its effects. In May, the government adopted amendments
to the decrees on the provision of counselling services in schools and on the education
of children, pupils and students with special educational needs. These entered into
force on 1 September. However, local NGOs expressed concerns that the amendments had
not introduced the strong framework necessary to implement the judgement. Moreover,
the CERD Committee had stated in August that the amended decrees may in fact reinforce
discrimination.
Following a review in June, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe called
on the government to speed up its implementation of the National Action Plan and
provide precise information on its current state. The Committee also noted with concern
that much remained to be done to ensure that Romani children were not discriminated
against within the education system.
Housing
In August, the Regional Court in Prague rejected two complaints of ethnic discrimination
and segregation of Roma in access to housing. The complaints involved Romani families
in Kladno who had been evicted by the municipality and relocated to inadequate housing
in a former slaughterhouse complex that was segregated from the town. The Court held
that the families’ relocation did not amount to segregation and discrimination and
failed to call on the municipality to justify why only Romani tenants had been relocated
to the site. An NGO, Z§vůle práva, representing the Romani applicants, appealed against
the decision at the High Court.
Enforced sterilization of Romani women
In June, the Supreme Court ruled that the High Court in Olomouc, Moravia, had to review
the case of a Romani woman who was allegedly sterilized without her informed consent.
The Supreme Court disagreed with the lower court’s decision that a victim of sterilization
was not entitled to compensation because the statute of limitations had expired.
In January, legislation came into force extending the maximum period of immigration
detention to 18 months, giving rise to profound concern that it would lead to foreign
nationals languishing in detention solely for immigration purposes. In July, the Ministry
of Interior presented a draft of the new Act on the Stay of Foreigners. The draft
maintained the extended maximum period of immigration detention. Moreover, the human
rights Ombudsperson expressed concern that the draft, if adopted and implemented,
would sanction a discriminatory two-tier system for Czech nationals and their non-EU
family members.
Credible allegations emerged concerning trafficking in foreign migrant workers and
fraud in the forestry industry, where people were forced to work for up to 12 hours
per day without being paid their salary. In some cases no wages had been paid at all,
often for several months. A police investigation into those reports was ongoing at
the end of the year, but its pace and effectiveness gave rise to concern. Czech forestry
companies continued to recruit new workers for the 2011 season.
