COMMITTEE ON ELIMINATION OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION COMPLETES REVIEW OF REPORT OF THE CZECH REPUBLIC

HR/CERD/98/12
9 March 1998


The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination concluded this morning consideration of the implementation of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination in the Czech Republic.

In response to questions raised Friday afternoon and this morning by the panel of experts, the Czech delegation said, among other things, that increasing attention was being given by its Government to racially motivated crimes. In the training of police officers, much attention was being given to human rights. Problems faced by the Roma community in education and employment were a high priority and much was being carried out to facilitate their integration.

As one 150 States parties to the Convention, the Czech Republic must periodically report on measures taken to eliminate discrimination. The Committee will issue formal, written recommendations on a report presented by the Czech Republic towards the end of the panel's three-week session, which concludes on 20 March.

In concluding remarks, Mr. Ion Diaconu, the Committee expert from Romania who served as rapporteur for the Czech document, welcomed the frank and open discussion. He said the Committee felt that the Czech authorities were committed to the implementation of the Convention and the resolution of the problems faced by the Roma minority.

The following experts participated in the proceedings this morning: Mahmoud Aboul-Nasr (Egypt); Ion Diaconu (Romania); Ivan Garvalov (Bulgaria); Gay Mcdougall (United States); Yuri A. Rechetov (Russian Federation); Agha Shahi (Pakistan); Michael E. Sherifis (Cyprus); Luis Valencia Rodriguez (Ecuador); and Mario Jorge Yutzis (Argentina).

The Committee will reconvene at 3 p.m. to consider the fourteenth periodic report of Ukraine on its implementation of the Convention (document CERD/C/299/Add.14).

Discussion of Report of Czech Republic

Continuing discussions on the situation in the Czech Republic, a Committee member said the report failed to give information on what steps were taken to encourage full implementation and adherence within public institutions. It would be useful to hear about the directives, codes of conduct or training of State officers and employees to guarantee sensitivity to the issues of discrimination that were covered by the legal framework. What methods did the Government use to measure whether the anti-discrimination laws currently in place were having any impact on society and whether there were patterns of discrimination that needed to be addressed in particular?

Another expert asked for the percentage of persons from minority groups elected in representative bodies at national and local levels. One member of the Committee said, among other things, that discrimination against the Roma minority remained widespread and that the Government had yet to enact legislation or administrative regulations prohibiting racial discrimination. Prominent public officials continued to disseminate racist hate speeches, suggesting, among other things, that Roma must be housed in separate areas, preferably, outside the Czech Republic. Another expert questioned if the Convention and recommendations and observations of the Committee published and disseminated.

MIROSLAV SOMOL, Ambassador, Permanent Mission of the Czech Republic at Geneva, responding to questions put by Committee members on Friday afternoon and this morning, said the country was undertaking an enormous task to change the political and legal system. This took time, as did the change of mentalities and behaviour of citizens.

ZDENEK SOVAK, Judge of the Supreme Court of the Czech Republic, said the basic legal norms were enshrined in the Constitution and the Charter in Fundamental Rights and Freedoms. International norms were binding and superior to domestic laws. Steps were adopted to ensure full application of these legal norms, including the Penal Code. Seminars were established to train young judges on issues of human rights.

MILAN POSPISIL, Secretary for the Council for Minorities, Office of the Government, said no seats were reserved in Parliament for representatives of the national minorities. The Council for National Minorities, however, included 12 persons from nationality minorities. It was more important for national minorities to be highly represented in Governmental rather than Parliamentary institutions. The Inter-Ministerial Commission for Roma affairs played an important part in representing this community and influencing policy affairs that concerned them. At the local level, the Roma assistant and advisor held an important role in district offices. To date, there was one Roma State prosecutor and one judge.

Mr. Pospisil said 53 civil associations had been established by national minorities and received financial grants from the Ministry of Culture. The Ministry of Education also financially supported programmes supporting youngsters of national minorities. He explained that the Slovak minority was a non-traditional minority group as it had a similar language and common history with the majority Czech population. To date, 12 Slovak associations had been created.

RADIM BURES, Deputy Director of the Department of Crime Prevention, Ministry of the Interior, said following Law No. 40 of 1993 on Naturalisation, 382,500 Slovaks acquired Czech citizenship. The restrictive non-criminal record provision, criticized by the Council of Europe, was amended by Act No. 139 and widely published. Following this amendment, 744 applications for waiver of this non-criminal condition were approved.

Only 6 cases were considered for expulsion and these would be shortly considered for State amnesty.

The Ministry of Interior supported non-governmental organizations which provided assistance to persons requesting citizenship, Mr. Bures continued. Citizenship remained a problem for certain prisoners and children in State care institutions (there were approximately 300-400 children of unknown father and foreign mother in such institutions). Agreements between the Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Justice were adopted to deal with this problem, he added.

Mr. Pospisil said persons were not required to declare their nationality except in the field of education and during the census carried out every 10 years. The Moravian could be better defined as a national regional group as it had the same language and culture as the majority Czech population. Moravians were highly represented in the 1991 census as it was the first time they had the opportunity to distinguish themselves as such. The Romas, on the other hand, were poorly represented in the 1991 census as they traditionally did not recognize themselves as a separate national group. Moreover, the immediate needs of Roma were not political but social.

MONICA HORAKOVA, Executive Vice-President of the Inter-Ministerial Commission for the Roma Affairs, said the Commission initiated Governmental policy on the status of Roma in the society. Its activities included: evaluation of the effects of Governmental measures concerning the Roma community, allocation of additional funds to associations assisting Romas, evaluation of the efficiency of such funds, and collection of data. Moreover, it informed Romas of the assistance available and cooperated with Roma organisations. The Inter-Ministerial Commission had only started its work since 1998 so it was difficult at this stage to evaluate its effectiveness.

PAVEL CINK, Department for International Relations, Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, said the Polish minority, which consisted of 60,000 persons, was the only minority having requested separate schools in its national language. The Ministry of Education paid for in-service teacher training and for provision of text books in Polish. There was only one school for the Slovak minority due to the limited parental interest in placing children in such schools.

Concerning the education of Romany children, Mr. Cink said they found it very difficult to enter primary schools due to language and cultural impediments. They were only transferred to special schools according to a standard procedure which required a psychological evaluation and parental agreement. Measures were undertaken to ensure that Romany children remained in the standard school system to facilitate their participation in secondary and higher education establishments. To date, 800 Romany children attended preparatory classes to facilitate their integration in primary school. Moreover, measures were adopted to raise the level of consciousness of the majority population on the culture of national minorities. Mrs. Horakova added that 60 per cent of Romany children understood the Romany language but did not speak it.

Mr. Sovak said increasing attention was being given by the Czech Government to racially motivated crimes. The Ministry of Interior established a standardized method of recording racially motivated crimes. In 1995, 181 cases were recorded, and 452 persons were prosecuted, and in 1997, 187 cases were recorded, and 375 persons were prosecuted. Among other steps carried out, the Ministry of the Interior established a special investigatory unit to coordinate the work of police officers responsible for investigation of such crimes. It also created a special riot police squad to handle public order violations committed by groups motivated by racial and national intolerance.

Authorities had no record of wide-spread racist behaviour by the police, Mr. Sovak continued. Police officers who neglected their duties when handling the cases of racially-motivated violence faced strict sanctions. In the training of police officers, much attention was given to human rights and problems arising in a multi-cultural society. Police education and training included the following subjects: ethic of police work, socialisation and culture patterns, legal and culture aspects of minorities, procedures dealing with racial hatred and xenophobic behaviour.

MIROSLAV FUCHS, Head of the Department for the European Integration and International Relations, Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, said statistics on employment in the Czech Republic were not established according to ethnic origin. Unemployment in the Roma community was estimated to be higher than that encountered by the majority of the population and Romas were more affected by long-term unemployment. Approximately 6 to 7 per cent of Romas were unemployed. Moreover, 95 per cent of Romas were without any qualifications and only 6 per cent of jobs on the labour market were available for non-qualified persons.

Mr. FUCHS said the Government and Employment Ministries were taking every possible step to improve the employment situation of the Romas. Retraining of persons from the Roma community proved to be successful and effective support and advice was provided by labour offices. Persons who were victims of discrimination in the work place could lay a claim before employment authorities and subsequently employers were fined if sufficient proof was available.

Committee expert ION DIACONU welcomed the frank and open discussion. He thanked the delegation for the extensive information provided that helped clarify a number of aspects regarding implementation of the Convention in the country.

Mr. Diaconu recognized that the Czech society went through a considerable upheaval and welcomed the current trends to resolve past and present problems. It was felt that the Czech authorities were committed to the implementation of the Convention and the resolution of the problems faced by the Roma minority.

The training of all persons in human rights was essential, Mr. Diaconu continued. In particular, police officers should react more quickly and in a more decisive manner on cases of racial hatred, in particular with regard to the Roma minority. The Czech delegation will have the occasion to respond to all outstanding problems and questions in its next report, he added.