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COMMITTEE ON ELIMINATION OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION CONSIDERS REPORT OF THE CZECH REPUBLIC
02 March 2007
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Committee on Elimination of Racial Discrimination
2 March 2007
The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has considered the sixth and seventh periodic reports of the Czech Republic on its implementation of the provisions of the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination.
Presenting the report, Andrea Baršová, Deputy-Minister without portfolio of the Czech Republic, said that the Czech Republic was convinced that equality in dignity, equality in rights and equality in opportunities were cornerstones of liberal and democratic societies. While basic protection against racism and discrimination affected all persons, the Czech Republic was aware of the fact that, as a result of complex historical and social contexts, there were minorities whose members were exposed to a greater risk of discrimination. One such minority in the Czech Republic was the Roma. In April 2006, the Government had approved the "Principles of the Long-term Strategy of Roma Integration up to 2025", in which the Government set the target of achieving an improvement in the social status of Roma up to 2025 to the extent that, especially in the field of education and labour, there was no longer any need for affirmative action measures. Measures to tackle poverty and social exclusion of vulnerable groups, including Roma, were also included in the "National Action Plan on Social Inclusion 2006-2008". Moreover, in 2005 and 2006, the Czech Republic had continued the regional international initiative, Decade of Roma Inclusion, 2005-2015.
In preliminary concluding remarks, Mario Jorge Yutzis, the Committee Expert who served as country Rapporteur for the report of the Czech Republic, thanked the delegation, which had been willing to answer the majority of the Committee's questions, such as the relationship between racism and extremism, sterilization and compensation, and the issue of housing. Major issues of concern still remaining were the approval of the Anti-discrimination Act, the establishment of an independent monitoring mechanism for the police, the completion of the investigation into cases of forced sterilization, and new legislation on sterilization. In addition, he observed that the real integration of the Roma population in the Czech Republic remained to be done. He wished to recall that perhaps 2 million Roma had died in the Holocaust. The Nazis had established a systematic policy, which categorized the Roma as a "sick" people and for that reason sterilized Roma women. He was not making a direct comparison here, but was demonstrating the context of this question in Europe. Therefore, sincerely appreciating the Czech Republic 's will to combat those manifestations of racial discrimination – which were manifold and positive – he wished to underscore that integration meant those taking part in society had to have a special sensitivity towards those minorities making up their population and their history.
Other Committee Experts raised questions and asked for further information on subjects pertaining to, among other things, protection of the political rights of non-citizens; mechanisms to combat racial discrimination; expansion of the mandate of the Ombudsman to cover the private sphere; results of measures undertaken to promote and protect the rights of the Roma; additional measures to prevent extremism, including monitoring of skinhead groups; and the Roma migration monitoring programme. Many Experts expressed their concern regarding forced sterilizations of Roma women. An Expert noted that, when the Czech Republic had presented its last report, it had been asserted that all the cases involved had all occurred in the past, and that there had been no new cases. However, in the Ombudsman's report, he had noted a case of forced sterilization from 2001.
The delegation of the Czech Republic also included Tomáš Husák, Permanent Representative of the Czech Republic to the United Nations Office at Geneva, and other representatives from the Permanent Mission in Geneva, as well as representatives of the Ministry of Justice of the Czech Republic, the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, the Office for Roma Community Affairs, the Government Council for Human Rights, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Committee will present its written observations and recommendations on the sixth and seventh periodic reports of the Czech Republic, which were presented in one document, at the end of its session, which concludes on 9 March.
When the Committee reconvenes at 3 p.m. it is scheduled, first, to review the implementation of the Convention in Ethiopia under the review procedure for States parties whose reports are seriously overdue, and thereafter will hear an update from members on the activities of the working group on reservations and the Working Group on People of African Descent.
Report of the Czech Republic
The sixth and seventh periodic reports of the Czech Republic, submitted in one document (CERD/C/CZE/7), says that, according to the 2001 census, out of a total population of 10,204,000 in the Czech Republic, 9.9 per cent were of other than Czech nationality. The majority of these registered as of Moravian nationality (373,294), followed by Slovak (183,749), Polish (50,971), German (38,321) and Silesian (11,248). Only 11,716 people registered as of Roma nationality. Qualified estimates, however, suggest that approximately 200,000 Roma, who are generally regarded as Roma and who consider themselves part of this community, live in the Czech Republic. Traditional national minorities long-term resident in the Czech Republic include Bulgarians, Croatians, Hungarians, Germans, Poles, Roma, Ruthenians, Russians, Greeks, Slovaks, Serbs and Ukrainians, and these minorities have representatives in the Government Council for National Minorities, the permanent advisory and initiative-taking body for questions concerning national minorities and their members.
With regard to the Roma community, every year the Working Group for Roma Affairs – made up of 14 Roma coordinators from regional authorities; 8 employees from the Ministry of the Interior and the Police, and 3 representatives from the Government Council for Roma Community Affairs – prepares a report on extremism in the Czech Republic; initiates discussions at a regional level with the aim of improving coexistence between the majority and minorities; and addresses the problems in the Roma community, including individual cases of complaints about police procedure. During the monitored period this concerned tardy police procedure in qualifying crimes with a racial motive or complaints about inadequate police procedure and its behaviour. In the past three years, three research projects have been conducted which focus on the socio-economic situation of Roma in the Czech Republic. The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs is also preparing a project to institute an effective system of field social work in excluded Roma communities, chiefly with a view to ensuring specialised education and supervising field social workers. Concerning complaints brought by the Roma, in September 2004, 10 Roma women submitted a complaint to the Ombudsman via a non-governmental non-profit organisation for an investigation to be held into the procedure of some medical establishments in which women had been sterilised during the 1990s. The women alleged that the operations were conducted without their informed consent. In 2005, the number of complainants rose to 78. The Ombudsman passed these complaints on to the Ministry of Health, which set up an advisory body to analyse and give an opinion on the medical aspects of the operations. So far, the body has looked at 77 cases of forced sterilisation. At the time of preparing this report, the advisory body’s findings were not available, and the Ombudsman’s investigation therefore remains open.
In 2004, a new Education Act was adopted, which came into effect 1 January 2005. It provides that every Czech citizen shall have equal access to education without any form of discrimination and also states the principle taking into account the educational needs of individuals. In municipalities that have set up a committee for national minorities, the Education Act provides for education in the language of the national minorities in nursery, elementary and middle schools. In accordance with the conditions of the Education Act, a class or school can be set up in these municipalities in order to teach the language of the national minority, as long as the number of pupils stipulated by the Act belong to the relevant nationality. This opportunity is used by the Polish national minority in pre-school, elementary and middle schools. Schools that teach the language of the national minority issue bilingual diplomas – in Czech and the language of the national minority.
Presentation of Report
ANDREA BARŠOVÁ, Deputy-Minister without portfolio of the Czech Republic, said that the Czech Republic was convinced that equality in dignity, equality in rights and equality in opportunities were cornerstones of liberal and democratic societies. Discrimination on grounds of race or ethnicity disturbed those foundations. In that respect, the Czech Republic had always considered the combating of racial discrimination in all its forms to be a political priority. Basic protection against racism and discrimination affected all persons, regardless of whether they were members of national or ethnic minorities, foreign nationals, refugees, homeless persons, or members of the majority population. However, the Czech Republic was aware of the fact that, as a result of complex historical and social contexts, there were minorities whose members were exposed to a greater risk of discrimination. One such minority in the Czech Republic was the Roma.
Ms. Baršová observed the need to obtain relevant information, including statistics to improve the status of the Roma minority. In that respect, she recalled that the European Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms expressly stipulated that everyone had the right to decide freely on his or her nationality (ethnicity). Therefore, any classification of persons in terms of their race or ethnicity conducted by public authorities had tended to be highly problematic. Hence, also, the discrepancy between the results of the 2001 census and qualified estimates of Roma living in the Czech Republic, as set out in the report.
The Czech Republic had not given up hope of identifying the actual situation, however, Ms. Baršová emphasized. In terms of the development of procedures and methods to do so, the involvement of the Czech Statistical Office and the Human Rights Department in the international project "Towards Common Measures Against Discrimination" had been of major assistance. That project had been implemented under the management of the Norwegian Equality and Anti-Discrimination Ombudsman in 2005 and 2006. It involved countries with different traditions and approaches to data collection, and the project's conclusions contained recommendations concerning collection of data about inequality and discrimination which would be applied in practice.
Ms. Baršová highlighted that another significant step aimed at improving knowledge of the situation had been the "Analysis of Socially Excluded Roma Localities and Communities and the Absorption Capacity of Subjects Operating in the Field" in 2006. A combination of subjective and objective determination of the Roma population was used in that research, which centred on localities where the groups or communities showed signs of social exclusion.
The Government was responding to the particular difficulties faced by many Roma conceptually and practically. In April 2006, the Government had approved another programming document, "Principles of the Long-term Strategy of Roma Integration up to 2025", in which the Government set the target of achieving an improvement in the social status of Roma up to 2025 to the extent that, especially in the field of education and labour, there was no longer any need for affirmative action measures. Measures to tackle poverty and social exclusion of vulnerable groups, including Roma, were also included in the "National Action Plan on Social Inclusion 2006-2008". Moreover, in 2005 and 2006, the Czech Republic had continued the regional international initiative, Decade of Roma Inclusion, 2005-2015.
Turning to an update on other action by the Czech Republic, Ms. Baršová noted that the European Charter for Regional Minority would enter into force in March this year. Based on the Charter, the Czech Republic considered Slovak, Polish, German and Romani to be minority languages. In practice, the Charter would facilitate the use of Polish as an official language in north Moravia, where there was a Polish minority, and would also encourage the development of Romani and other minority languages.
The Czech Republic was increasingly becoming a new home for immigrants, and in 2005, the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs had drawn up a comprehensive update of the Concept for the Integration of Foreign Nationals. That strategy viewed integration as a mutual process of adaptation and considered the cultivation of good relations between the majority and immigrants, through the support of multicultural activities, to be a guiding principle. Of the many projects funded, Ms. Baršová wished to mention "The Family Next Door", implemented between 2004 and 2006, which encouraged Czech families and immigrant families to meet over a shared diner.
With respect to crimes perpetrated on racial or ethnic grounds, that situation was monitored by the Ministry of the Interior, which since 1997 had presented the Government with annual reports on extremism. In addition, four interim reports were published every year that mapped out current activities in the field of extremism. Statistics concerning crimes with an extremist undertone in the past 10 years showed that the racist crime rate in the Czech Republic was relatively stable, and if anything indicated a moderate downward trend. For example, in 2006, 248 such crimes were recorded, which was the lowest figure in eight years. The issue of anti-Semitism was a priority on the agenda of the Interdepartmental Commission to Fight Extremism, Racism and Xenophobia and also of the Working Group to Combat Extremism of the Visegrad Countries. According to police statistics, 23 crimes with an anti-Semitic undertone had been recorded in 2005. Of those, 13 crimes had been motivated by racial intolerance or hatred against Jews and 10 crimes had been motivated by religious intolerance.
With respect to relations between the police and minorities, Ms. Baršová said that in 2006 the first part of a publicity campaign had been held to encourage members of minorities to join the Czech police force. That campaign was interlinked with the 2006 campaign against racism, and the Ministry of the Interior had arranged a preparatory course at the Secondary Police School in Brno for Roma candidates who had met the criteria for admission to the Czech police force. The Government had also adopted measures to ensure independent inspections of the police, and the Ministry of the Interior was currently taking the necessary legislative steps for the reform of the police force as a whole. That included a proposal for a new system to investigate unlawful conduct by members of the police force.
Turning to the issue of training, Ms. Baršová said that numerous training programmes on human rights and protection against racism were organized for those employed in the police, the army, education, the judiciary, and social work. Secondary police schools ran special courses covering extremism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism, and the Police Academy addressed extremist issues in all of its degree programmes. Last year racial discrimination had also been covered in training for judges and public prosecutors. Numerous educational programmes were also prepared for teachers, including a 2005 project to train teaching assistants of socially disadvantaged students. In 2006, that project was followed up by training for social workers and Roma advisers.
Finally, Ms. Baršová observed that the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs supported numerous projects focusing on specific groups of the population at risk of social exclusion. In 2006, two projects focusing directly on the Roma minority were supported which offered retraining courses for those interested to increase their chance of finding a job.
Response by the Delegation to Written Questions Submitted in Advance
Responding to the list of issues submitted by the Committee in advance, another member of the delegation said that the draft Anti-discrimination Bill, which regulated the right to equal treatment and protection against discrimination on the grounds of race and ethnic origin, had been adopted by the Government, but had not found support in Parliament. However, a new bill on the protection against discrimination had been drafted and it should be presented to the government before the end of March 2007.
In terms of concrete efforts to combat racially motivated crimes, the delegation noted that racist speech, and other non-violent crimes made up the bulk of crimes with a racist motivation committed in the Czech Republic. Therefore the Ministry of the Interior had focused mainly on the investigation and prosecution of those non-violent hate crimes. Those included the use of racist or neo-Nazi symbols. A special training manual for police officers on this issue had therefore been issued, which, among other things, contained a guide to racist symbols, so that the police would be able to recognize them.
With respect to activities to improve the relations between the Roma community and the police, a number of seminars and training sessions for police officers had taken place in areas with large Roma populations. Roma themselves often participated as lecturers in those seminars. In the northern Moravian region, summer camps were being run for handicapped or socially excluded groups, mainly the Roma. Those camps had proved to be an important way to break down the barriers between the police and the Roma community.
Turning to the issue of the removal of children from their families and to institutional care in general, the delegation stressed that such removals were only undertaken in the best interests of the child. The removal of children from their families was only undertaken when the life, health or development of a child was at serious risk. Such cases could include removal of children who were subject to physical abuse or who were under threat because of lack of material conditions for their well being. Given the proportionately higher number of Roma families in the Czech Republic who were at risk of social exclusion and poverty it would be logical that a higher number of Roma children could be affected by those conditions as well as subject to removal into institutional care. However, even if that could be proven, it could in no way be seen as proof of any discriminatory practice on the part of the State authorities, but was a foreseeable statistical correlation of two interrelated factors. In 2006 the Government had approved a new policy on children under institutional care. The policy called for a justification of the use of that procedure, individual plans for each child, and the elaboration of best practices. An evaluation of the impact of that policy was scheduled to be undertaken in 2009.
In response to whether Roma children attended special schools, the delegation noted that under the Enrolment Act, children had the right to be enrolled at all mainstream schools within their particular school district. It was also possible for parents to seek to have their children enrolled in schools outside their district. Special education was provided for children with physical or mental handicaps.
Oral Questions Raised by the Rapporteur and Experts
MARIO JORGE YUTZIS, the Committee Expert serving as country Rapporteur for the report of the Czech Republic, said he wished to acknowledge the work done by the Czech Republic to combat discrimination since 2003 onwards, including the signing of the European Convention on Nationality; the signature of the European Convention on Stateless Persons; the adoption of a New Labour Code, which included a prohibition against discrimination; the elaboration of a National Plan for Social Inclusion; the adoption of a new Education Act; and the setting up of a pilot project for the prevention of and compensation for social debt of the most vulnerable. Above all, the title of that last project was very moving and showed how the Czech Republic was working to comply with the Committee's proposals.
On the negative side, there had been a postponement of the ratification of Protocol 12 to the European Convention on the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, which broadened the prohibition of discrimination to include all cases of discrimination, Mr. Yutzis observed.
Mr. Yutzis likewise regretted the Czech Parliament's failure to adopt the draft Anti-Discrimination Act, which had no doubt been intended to harmonize and to fill in the gaps in legislation in this field. He did not understand the reasons for which Parliament had rejected that legislation, although he had listened to the delegation's explanation, which had included a broadening of the powers of the ombudsman.
With regard to minorities and the police, Mr. Yutzis wondered how many Roma members of the police force there were.
Mr. Yutzis also highlighted findings that, against a widespread background of mutual respect and tolerance, there were pockets of intolerance against Roma and foreigners in the Czech Republic. Moreover, despite measures taken, the situation of the Roma remained particularly worrying: they were discriminated against in housing, employment, and services, and were confronted with attitudes of hostility by the population as a whole. A survey had shown that 76 per cent of Czech society distrusted the Roma. What was at the root of those existing prejudices, he wondered, and what had the Government done to look into them?
The movement of Roma communities to special settlements or ghettos should not be promoted by the Government, Mr. Yutzis commented. If one looked at the suburbs of Paris, one could see ghettoization was not something to encourage. In that regard, the Government's decision to impose on the municipalities the obligation of how to proceed with social housing was not the right choice. In fact, it actually promoted housing speculation.
On the issue of forced sterilizations of Roma women in the Czech Republic in the 1990s, Mr. Yutzis said that the Government needed to put an end to that problem and that question needed to be resolved for once and all.
Other Committee Experts raised questions and asked for further information on subjects pertaining to, among other things, protection of the political rights of non-citizens, including the right to vote in local elections; mechanisms to combat racial discrimination; expansion of the mandate of the Ombudsman to cover the private sphere; results of measures undertaken to promote and protect the rights of the Roma; additional measures to prevent extremism, including monitoring of skinhead groups; whether the police were competent to effectively address hate crimes; what was meant in the report by calling the Roma socio-culturally disadvantaged; and whether it was really true, as stated in the report, that there were no human rights study programmes at university level.
Many Experts expressed their concern regarding allegations of forced sterilizations of Roma women. An Expert noted that, when the Czech Republic had presented its last report, it had been asserted that all the allegations related to cases that had occurred in the past, and that there had been no new cases. However, in the Ombudsman's report, he had noted a case of force sterilization from 2001.
Noting that it was common for Roma individuals in the Czech Republic to be subjected to derogatory and racist speech, an Expert wondered what was being done to prosecute or otherwise deal with that situation.
An Expert had difficulty with the characterization of Vietnamese as a nationality in the Czech Republic. That was confusing, because it was unclear if that meant ethnicity or national belonging. Were these 17,000 persons Vietnamese nationals or Czech nationals with Vietnamese origins? Was there a clearly visible ethnic identity for Vietnamese living in the Czech Republic?
Response by Delegation to Oral Questions
Addressing concerns expressed that the fight against terrorism had been linked with police activities to combat racism and extremist crime, the delegation explained that the Czech Penal Code criminalized, among others, the support and promotion of movements aimed at suppressing a person's rights and freedoms, or those who supported national hate or race hate, as well as class or political hate. The Czech Republic also provided for monitoring and investigation of those phenomena, which could involve studies on international movements, linked to extremist groups in the country. For that reason, the Special Unit of the police had been established, under the organized crime department, which was also responsible for monitoring terrorist activities.
Regarding skinhead concerts, that was one of the main manifestations of racial discrimination and Nazi propaganda in the Czech Republic. The number was declining, but it was still high: in 2004, about 30 such skinhead concerts took place that the police were aware of; in 2005, 22; and in 2006, 18. The delegation said that efforts at the local level had not been coordinated to address this issue, with some local police taking more effective action than others. In one particular instance, the lack of police action at a concert had been criticized both by the press and by the Czech Police Presidium. Thereafter, guidelines for police action at such events had been issued.
All police action was monitored by the Inspection of the Minister of the Interior, independent investigators with police training who were not members of the police force. Moreover, at all stages of criminal procedure the Public Prosecutor had the right and, indeed, the duty to monitor the investigation. However, to provide even greater independence for investigations of police activities, a totally independent body, not under the Ministry of the Interior, was now under discussion, including the possibility of expanding the scope of such a body to include customs officers, prison guards and municipal police.
Concerning what was being done to combat hate speech, the delegation noted that those who participated in groups that actively promoted religious violence or racial hate were now punishable under the criminal law. All forms of hate speech or discriminatory speech had also been criminalized in the Penal Law. Thus, the legislation of the Czech Republic was in conformity with Article 4 of the Convention. Of course, the delegation recalled, there was a wide range of speech that might be nasty, ugly or politically intolerant, but the content of which did not attain the level of a crime. An example of that were racially motivated jokes. They could be and were declared to be socially unacceptable, but they were not crimes.
In education, regional authorities developed their own objectives, which had to reflect the specific conditions in the region, including the unemployment level and so on. The language of instruction was Czech, but the regional authorities had to ensure education for national minorities in their mother language at all levels for those communities where a commission of national minorities had been established. In general, if there were 8 children of national minorities wishing to be educated in their mother tongue, the regional school had to ensure pre-school education, if there were 10 such children, primary education would be ensured, and if there were 12 children, secondary education would be provided in their mother tongue.
Explaining what was meant by the term "socio-culturally disadvantaged", the delegation said, with regard to the Education Act, it meant a family environment with a low social and cultural status and a threat of pathological phenomena. In evaluating pupils' special education needs, their specific needs had to be considered. That could include extending the period of their education. The Roma were never specifically mentioned in this context. That analysis process involved distinguishing between a learning difficulty caused by the low social status of the family, as opposed to a genuine mental handicap, so that the placement of a child into a special education regime was truly necessary.
The delegation wished to stress that special schools had never had a discriminating character. They had provided optimal conditions for the education of children with special needs. They were not low-standard schools, they presented an alternative education more focused on activities and skills. There were also more space, a lower teacher-student ratio, and more oversight for children. Those special schools actually cost about twice as much as education in regular schools. Now, that system had largely replaced by developing individual student plans within the regular schools.
On human rights education, the delegation affirmed that there was no degree programme in higher education in human rights, but human rights were an integral part of higher education, and in particular degree programmes in social studies, teacher training and law.
Further Oral Questions Posed by Experts
MARIO JORGE YUTZIS, the Committee Expert serving as country Rapporteur for the report of the Czech Republic, said he had received a positive impression from the delegation's explanation of the distinction between activities undertaken to combat extremist crime as compared to terrorism.
Mr. Yutzis was not sure, however, that Article 4 (b) of the Convention was really being complied with, as it did not just talk about punishing individuals who belonged to organizations that propagated racial hatred, but required the criminalization of the organizations themselves.
On education, he was confused by the idea of being culturally disadvantaged. He understood the idea of being disadvantaged by poverty. But that was not the same.
Regarding the delegation's assertion that special schools had never been discriminatory, he said the Committee's concern was the scale of the problem – the large number of Roma children in those special schools. Perhaps it was not a question of deliberate discrimination. However, there were a very large number of children that could not break out of a vicious cycle, which was a problem that had to be addressed.
Another Expert then asked about what was taught in history books in schools about the Roma community. Did school textbooks encourage intercultural understanding through the teaching of history?
Replies by the Delegation
Responding to those questions and others, the delegation clarified the position of the Czech Republic with regard to racist organizations. If the legal documents of the organization contained a racist motivation, such organizations were indeed prohibited and would be dissolved. For those organizations that were not overtly based on a racist foundation, but which pursued racist actions, the individual members could be punished.
On the special schools, the delegation observed that the issue of whether special schools were discriminatory or not was currently under consideration by the European Court of Human Rights, and they would await that determination.
Clarifying its terminology, the delegation said that "socially disadvantaged" meant a very low social status, or a lack of money, in the family. "Culturally disadvantaged" meant that the child received no motivation or support from the family to develop his or her own special talents.
With respect to the Ombudsman, the delegation noted that the Anti-discrimination Bill would expand the powers the Ombudsman to provide assistance to victims of discrimination. In terms of the failure of Parliament to adopt that bill, there had been a number of issues. The upper house had felt that there was no need to adopt new legislation, and that existing instruments should be strengthened, as well as anti-discrimination clauses introduced into relevant legislation, such as in the sphere of employment. Others felt that the draft bill created over-vague categories that would be hard to prosecute, and required more precise definitions.
In terms of monitoring of Roma migration from Slovakia to the Czech Republic, that had taken place under specific circumstances. Because of changes in the internal law, there had been an increased flow of immigrants from Slovakia in 2003-2004, including members of the Slovakian Roma population who were migrating to the Czech Republic for economic reasons. The primary reason for the monitoring programme was the possible social impacts such Roma migrations could have in Czech municipalities and the tensions it could cause at the local level. Most of the Roma living in the country had come after 1945 from Slovakia, and thus the Roma in the Czech Republic had close ties with Roma communities in Slovakia. The delegation wished to stress that that monitoring operation had not hampered the freedom of movement of individuals from Slovakia into the country.
Concerning the issue of forced sterilizations of Roma women, the delegation said that, according to the Ombudsman's report, it was a sad matter of fact that Roma women, as well as persons other than Roma, had been subject to forced sterilizations, although the Roma were the majority. However, it was found that the sterilizations had not been racially motivated. The relationship between doctors and patients also had to be looked at, in particular the lack of communication between them. On the issue of reparations, one woman's case had been adjudicated before Czech courts, which showed that the path to individual reparations was not closed to victims. However, the victim had only been awarded an apology and no monetary compensation, as the statute of limitations had run out. The Supreme Court had since held, however, that despite the running out of the statute of limitations, there could be a possibility of awarding monetary damages.
Following the Ombudsman's recommendations, the Ministry of Health set up an advisory body to investigate the 76 cases of forced sterilizations. That body had found errors in the performance of those sterilizations, but had held that it was not a nationwide problem, but one of specific health care facilities. Five cases were forwarded for special investigations; in those cases, the Ministry of Health had admitted there had been violations of the law with regard to the operations. Among recommendations issued by the advisory body were a draft consent form to ensure informed consent to sterilization; that physicians be taught about patients' rights in general, and specifically about the issue of informed consent; and that the health authorities be informed of the existing legislation in force regarding sterilization. A new standard was also being defined for the sterilization procedure. The need for public apologies to be issued and some kind of compensation paid to victims by the State was under consideration by two advisory bodies. Another recommendation was the launching of a public awareness campaign on the topic.
Further Remarks by Experts
An Expert said that simply establishing a law that prohibited forced sterilization could not prevent the phenomenon. How many non-Roma women were sterilized without their consent? And had this issue stirred debate among civil society in the country? An Expert asked whether the forced sterilizations of the Roma women were the result of the policy of a particular hospital or municipality. Another Expert noted that where the consequences of an action fell disproportionately on a particular group, the Convention was engaged, as it dealt not just with intentional discrimination, but with discrimination in effect.
On the issue of migration of Roma to the Czech Republic, the country Rapporteur had understood that the monitoring programme had been linked to specific circumstances and events. Therefore, he wondered if that monitoring was ongoing, and if the flows of Roma migrants had decreased. As far as he could make out, the basis of the monitoring was that the Roma were a troublesome population and that the Czech Republic wished to prevent an increase of that troublesome population.
Preliminary Concluding Remarks
In preliminary concluding remarks, MARIO JORGE YUTZIS, the Committee Expert who served as country Rapporteur for the report of the Czech Republic, noted with appreciation that the report of the Czech Republic had followed the Committee's guidelines and that they had sent a large delegation, which had been willing to answer the majority of the Committee's questions, such as the relationship between racism and extremism, sterilization and compensation, and the issue of housing.
Mr. Yutzis said that the major issues of concern still remaining were the approval of the Anti-discrimination Act, the establishment of an independent monitoring mechanism for the police, the completion of the investigation into cases of forced sterilization, and new legislation on sterilization. The Committee would appreciate information on those issues in the next report.
In addition, Mr. Yutzis observed that the real integration of the Roma population in the Czech Republic remained to be done. He wished to recall that perhaps 2 million Roma had died in the Holocaust. The Nazis had established a systematic policy, which categorized the Roma as a "sick" people and for that reason sterilized Roma women. He was not making a direct comparison here, but was demonstrating the context of this question in Europe. Therefore, sincerely appreciating the Czech Republic 's will to combat those manifestations of racial discrimination – which were manifold and positive – he wished to underscore that integration meant those taking part in society had to have a special sensitivity towards those minorities making up their population and their history. The children and grandchildren of those minorities were a part of that society. They were not a problem for society. Society was the one who had a problem. If the Czech Republic were to construct democracy they could not do so without equality, and that was true for all of Europe.
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For use of the information media; not an official record
2 March 2007
The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has considered the sixth and seventh periodic reports of the Czech Republic on its implementation of the provisions of the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination.
Presenting the report, Andrea Baršová, Deputy-Minister without portfolio of the Czech Republic, said that the Czech Republic was convinced that equality in dignity, equality in rights and equality in opportunities were cornerstones of liberal and democratic societies. While basic protection against racism and discrimination affected all persons, the Czech Republic was aware of the fact that, as a result of complex historical and social contexts, there were minorities whose members were exposed to a greater risk of discrimination. One such minority in the Czech Republic was the Roma. In April 2006, the Government had approved the "Principles of the Long-term Strategy of Roma Integration up to 2025", in which the Government set the target of achieving an improvement in the social status of Roma up to 2025 to the extent that, especially in the field of education and labour, there was no longer any need for affirmative action measures. Measures to tackle poverty and social exclusion of vulnerable groups, including Roma, were also included in the "National Action Plan on Social Inclusion 2006-2008". Moreover, in 2005 and 2006, the Czech Republic had continued the regional international initiative, Decade of Roma Inclusion, 2005-2015.
In preliminary concluding remarks, Mario Jorge Yutzis, the Committee Expert who served as country Rapporteur for the report of the Czech Republic, thanked the delegation, which had been willing to answer the majority of the Committee's questions, such as the relationship between racism and extremism, sterilization and compensation, and the issue of housing. Major issues of concern still remaining were the approval of the Anti-discrimination Act, the establishment of an independent monitoring mechanism for the police, the completion of the investigation into cases of forced sterilization, and new legislation on sterilization. In addition, he observed that the real integration of the Roma population in the Czech Republic remained to be done. He wished to recall that perhaps 2 million Roma had died in the Holocaust. The Nazis had established a systematic policy, which categorized the Roma as a "sick" people and for that reason sterilized Roma women. He was not making a direct comparison here, but was demonstrating the context of this question in Europe. Therefore, sincerely appreciating the Czech Republic 's will to combat those manifestations of racial discrimination – which were manifold and positive – he wished to underscore that integration meant those taking part in society had to have a special sensitivity towards those minorities making up their population and their history.
Other Committee Experts raised questions and asked for further information on subjects pertaining to, among other things, protection of the political rights of non-citizens; mechanisms to combat racial discrimination; expansion of the mandate of the Ombudsman to cover the private sphere; results of measures undertaken to promote and protect the rights of the Roma; additional measures to prevent extremism, including monitoring of skinhead groups; and the Roma migration monitoring programme. Many Experts expressed their concern regarding forced sterilizations of Roma women. An Expert noted that, when the Czech Republic had presented its last report, it had been asserted that all the cases involved had all occurred in the past, and that there had been no new cases. However, in the Ombudsman's report, he had noted a case of forced sterilization from 2001.
The delegation of the Czech Republic also included Tomáš Husák, Permanent Representative of the Czech Republic to the United Nations Office at Geneva, and other representatives from the Permanent Mission in Geneva, as well as representatives of the Ministry of Justice of the Czech Republic, the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, the Office for Roma Community Affairs, the Government Council for Human Rights, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Committee will present its written observations and recommendations on the sixth and seventh periodic reports of the Czech Republic, which were presented in one document, at the end of its session, which concludes on 9 March.
When the Committee reconvenes at 3 p.m. it is scheduled, first, to review the implementation of the Convention in Ethiopia under the review procedure for States parties whose reports are seriously overdue, and thereafter will hear an update from members on the activities of the working group on reservations and the Working Group on People of African Descent.
Report of the Czech Republic
The sixth and seventh periodic reports of the Czech Republic, submitted in one document (CERD/C/CZE/7), says that, according to the 2001 census, out of a total population of 10,204,000 in the Czech Republic, 9.9 per cent were of other than Czech nationality. The majority of these registered as of Moravian nationality (373,294), followed by Slovak (183,749), Polish (50,971), German (38,321) and Silesian (11,248). Only 11,716 people registered as of Roma nationality. Qualified estimates, however, suggest that approximately 200,000 Roma, who are generally regarded as Roma and who consider themselves part of this community, live in the Czech Republic. Traditional national minorities long-term resident in the Czech Republic include Bulgarians, Croatians, Hungarians, Germans, Poles, Roma, Ruthenians, Russians, Greeks, Slovaks, Serbs and Ukrainians, and these minorities have representatives in the Government Council for National Minorities, the permanent advisory and initiative-taking body for questions concerning national minorities and their members.
With regard to the Roma community, every year the Working Group for Roma Affairs – made up of 14 Roma coordinators from regional authorities; 8 employees from the Ministry of the Interior and the Police, and 3 representatives from the Government Council for Roma Community Affairs – prepares a report on extremism in the Czech Republic; initiates discussions at a regional level with the aim of improving coexistence between the majority and minorities; and addresses the problems in the Roma community, including individual cases of complaints about police procedure. During the monitored period this concerned tardy police procedure in qualifying crimes with a racial motive or complaints about inadequate police procedure and its behaviour. In the past three years, three research projects have been conducted which focus on the socio-economic situation of Roma in the Czech Republic. The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs is also preparing a project to institute an effective system of field social work in excluded Roma communities, chiefly with a view to ensuring specialised education and supervising field social workers. Concerning complaints brought by the Roma, in September 2004, 10 Roma women submitted a complaint to the Ombudsman via a non-governmental non-profit organisation for an investigation to be held into the procedure of some medical establishments in which women had been sterilised during the 1990s. The women alleged that the operations were conducted without their informed consent. In 2005, the number of complainants rose to 78. The Ombudsman passed these complaints on to the Ministry of Health, which set up an advisory body to analyse and give an opinion on the medical aspects of the operations. So far, the body has looked at 77 cases of forced sterilisation. At the time of preparing this report, the advisory body’s findings were not available, and the Ombudsman’s investigation therefore remains open.
In 2004, a new Education Act was adopted, which came into effect 1 January 2005. It provides that every Czech citizen shall have equal access to education without any form of discrimination and also states the principle taking into account the educational needs of individuals. In municipalities that have set up a committee for national minorities, the Education Act provides for education in the language of the national minorities in nursery, elementary and middle schools. In accordance with the conditions of the Education Act, a class or school can be set up in these municipalities in order to teach the language of the national minority, as long as the number of pupils stipulated by the Act belong to the relevant nationality. This opportunity is used by the Polish national minority in pre-school, elementary and middle schools. Schools that teach the language of the national minority issue bilingual diplomas – in Czech and the language of the national minority.
Presentation of Report
ANDREA BARŠOVÁ, Deputy-Minister without portfolio of the Czech Republic, said that the Czech Republic was convinced that equality in dignity, equality in rights and equality in opportunities were cornerstones of liberal and democratic societies. Discrimination on grounds of race or ethnicity disturbed those foundations. In that respect, the Czech Republic had always considered the combating of racial discrimination in all its forms to be a political priority. Basic protection against racism and discrimination affected all persons, regardless of whether they were members of national or ethnic minorities, foreign nationals, refugees, homeless persons, or members of the majority population. However, the Czech Republic was aware of the fact that, as a result of complex historical and social contexts, there were minorities whose members were exposed to a greater risk of discrimination. One such minority in the Czech Republic was the Roma.
Ms. Baršová observed the need to obtain relevant information, including statistics to improve the status of the Roma minority. In that respect, she recalled that the European Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms expressly stipulated that everyone had the right to decide freely on his or her nationality (ethnicity). Therefore, any classification of persons in terms of their race or ethnicity conducted by public authorities had tended to be highly problematic. Hence, also, the discrepancy between the results of the 2001 census and qualified estimates of Roma living in the Czech Republic, as set out in the report.
The Czech Republic had not given up hope of identifying the actual situation, however, Ms. Baršová emphasized. In terms of the development of procedures and methods to do so, the involvement of the Czech Statistical Office and the Human Rights Department in the international project "Towards Common Measures Against Discrimination" had been of major assistance. That project had been implemented under the management of the Norwegian Equality and Anti-Discrimination Ombudsman in 2005 and 2006. It involved countries with different traditions and approaches to data collection, and the project's conclusions contained recommendations concerning collection of data about inequality and discrimination which would be applied in practice.
Ms. Baršová highlighted that another significant step aimed at improving knowledge of the situation had been the "Analysis of Socially Excluded Roma Localities and Communities and the Absorption Capacity of Subjects Operating in the Field" in 2006. A combination of subjective and objective determination of the Roma population was used in that research, which centred on localities where the groups or communities showed signs of social exclusion.
The Government was responding to the particular difficulties faced by many Roma conceptually and practically. In April 2006, the Government had approved another programming document, "Principles of the Long-term Strategy of Roma Integration up to 2025", in which the Government set the target of achieving an improvement in the social status of Roma up to 2025 to the extent that, especially in the field of education and labour, there was no longer any need for affirmative action measures. Measures to tackle poverty and social exclusion of vulnerable groups, including Roma, were also included in the "National Action Plan on Social Inclusion 2006-2008". Moreover, in 2005 and 2006, the Czech Republic had continued the regional international initiative, Decade of Roma Inclusion, 2005-2015.
Turning to an update on other action by the Czech Republic, Ms. Baršová noted that the European Charter for Regional Minority would enter into force in March this year. Based on the Charter, the Czech Republic considered Slovak, Polish, German and Romani to be minority languages. In practice, the Charter would facilitate the use of Polish as an official language in north Moravia, where there was a Polish minority, and would also encourage the development of Romani and other minority languages.
The Czech Republic was increasingly becoming a new home for immigrants, and in 2005, the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs had drawn up a comprehensive update of the Concept for the Integration of Foreign Nationals. That strategy viewed integration as a mutual process of adaptation and considered the cultivation of good relations between the majority and immigrants, through the support of multicultural activities, to be a guiding principle. Of the many projects funded, Ms. Baršová wished to mention "The Family Next Door", implemented between 2004 and 2006, which encouraged Czech families and immigrant families to meet over a shared diner.
With respect to crimes perpetrated on racial or ethnic grounds, that situation was monitored by the Ministry of the Interior, which since 1997 had presented the Government with annual reports on extremism. In addition, four interim reports were published every year that mapped out current activities in the field of extremism. Statistics concerning crimes with an extremist undertone in the past 10 years showed that the racist crime rate in the Czech Republic was relatively stable, and if anything indicated a moderate downward trend. For example, in 2006, 248 such crimes were recorded, which was the lowest figure in eight years. The issue of anti-Semitism was a priority on the agenda of the Interdepartmental Commission to Fight Extremism, Racism and Xenophobia and also of the Working Group to Combat Extremism of the Visegrad Countries. According to police statistics, 23 crimes with an anti-Semitic undertone had been recorded in 2005. Of those, 13 crimes had been motivated by racial intolerance or hatred against Jews and 10 crimes had been motivated by religious intolerance.
With respect to relations between the police and minorities, Ms. Baršová said that in 2006 the first part of a publicity campaign had been held to encourage members of minorities to join the Czech police force. That campaign was interlinked with the 2006 campaign against racism, and the Ministry of the Interior had arranged a preparatory course at the Secondary Police School in Brno for Roma candidates who had met the criteria for admission to the Czech police force. The Government had also adopted measures to ensure independent inspections of the police, and the Ministry of the Interior was currently taking the necessary legislative steps for the reform of the police force as a whole. That included a proposal for a new system to investigate unlawful conduct by members of the police force.
Turning to the issue of training, Ms. Baršová said that numerous training programmes on human rights and protection against racism were organized for those employed in the police, the army, education, the judiciary, and social work. Secondary police schools ran special courses covering extremism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism, and the Police Academy addressed extremist issues in all of its degree programmes. Last year racial discrimination had also been covered in training for judges and public prosecutors. Numerous educational programmes were also prepared for teachers, including a 2005 project to train teaching assistants of socially disadvantaged students. In 2006, that project was followed up by training for social workers and Roma advisers.
Finally, Ms. Baršová observed that the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs supported numerous projects focusing on specific groups of the population at risk of social exclusion. In 2006, two projects focusing directly on the Roma minority were supported which offered retraining courses for those interested to increase their chance of finding a job.
Response by the Delegation to Written Questions Submitted in Advance
Responding to the list of issues submitted by the Committee in advance, another member of the delegation said that the draft Anti-discrimination Bill, which regulated the right to equal treatment and protection against discrimination on the grounds of race and ethnic origin, had been adopted by the Government, but had not found support in Parliament. However, a new bill on the protection against discrimination had been drafted and it should be presented to the government before the end of March 2007.
In terms of concrete efforts to combat racially motivated crimes, the delegation noted that racist speech, and other non-violent crimes made up the bulk of crimes with a racist motivation committed in the Czech Republic. Therefore the Ministry of the Interior had focused mainly on the investigation and prosecution of those non-violent hate crimes. Those included the use of racist or neo-Nazi symbols. A special training manual for police officers on this issue had therefore been issued, which, among other things, contained a guide to racist symbols, so that the police would be able to recognize them.
With respect to activities to improve the relations between the Roma community and the police, a number of seminars and training sessions for police officers had taken place in areas with large Roma populations. Roma themselves often participated as lecturers in those seminars. In the northern Moravian region, summer camps were being run for handicapped or socially excluded groups, mainly the Roma. Those camps had proved to be an important way to break down the barriers between the police and the Roma community.
Turning to the issue of the removal of children from their families and to institutional care in general, the delegation stressed that such removals were only undertaken in the best interests of the child. The removal of children from their families was only undertaken when the life, health or development of a child was at serious risk. Such cases could include removal of children who were subject to physical abuse or who were under threat because of lack of material conditions for their well being. Given the proportionately higher number of Roma families in the Czech Republic who were at risk of social exclusion and poverty it would be logical that a higher number of Roma children could be affected by those conditions as well as subject to removal into institutional care. However, even if that could be proven, it could in no way be seen as proof of any discriminatory practice on the part of the State authorities, but was a foreseeable statistical correlation of two interrelated factors. In 2006 the Government had approved a new policy on children under institutional care. The policy called for a justification of the use of that procedure, individual plans for each child, and the elaboration of best practices. An evaluation of the impact of that policy was scheduled to be undertaken in 2009.
In response to whether Roma children attended special schools, the delegation noted that under the Enrolment Act, children had the right to be enrolled at all mainstream schools within their particular school district. It was also possible for parents to seek to have their children enrolled in schools outside their district. Special education was provided for children with physical or mental handicaps.
Oral Questions Raised by the Rapporteur and Experts
MARIO JORGE YUTZIS, the Committee Expert serving as country Rapporteur for the report of the Czech Republic, said he wished to acknowledge the work done by the Czech Republic to combat discrimination since 2003 onwards, including the signing of the European Convention on Nationality; the signature of the European Convention on Stateless Persons; the adoption of a New Labour Code, which included a prohibition against discrimination; the elaboration of a National Plan for Social Inclusion; the adoption of a new Education Act; and the setting up of a pilot project for the prevention of and compensation for social debt of the most vulnerable. Above all, the title of that last project was very moving and showed how the Czech Republic was working to comply with the Committee's proposals.
On the negative side, there had been a postponement of the ratification of Protocol 12 to the European Convention on the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, which broadened the prohibition of discrimination to include all cases of discrimination, Mr. Yutzis observed.
Mr. Yutzis likewise regretted the Czech Parliament's failure to adopt the draft Anti-Discrimination Act, which had no doubt been intended to harmonize and to fill in the gaps in legislation in this field. He did not understand the reasons for which Parliament had rejected that legislation, although he had listened to the delegation's explanation, which had included a broadening of the powers of the ombudsman.
With regard to minorities and the police, Mr. Yutzis wondered how many Roma members of the police force there were.
Mr. Yutzis also highlighted findings that, against a widespread background of mutual respect and tolerance, there were pockets of intolerance against Roma and foreigners in the Czech Republic. Moreover, despite measures taken, the situation of the Roma remained particularly worrying: they were discriminated against in housing, employment, and services, and were confronted with attitudes of hostility by the population as a whole. A survey had shown that 76 per cent of Czech society distrusted the Roma. What was at the root of those existing prejudices, he wondered, and what had the Government done to look into them?
The movement of Roma communities to special settlements or ghettos should not be promoted by the Government, Mr. Yutzis commented. If one looked at the suburbs of Paris, one could see ghettoization was not something to encourage. In that regard, the Government's decision to impose on the municipalities the obligation of how to proceed with social housing was not the right choice. In fact, it actually promoted housing speculation.
On the issue of forced sterilizations of Roma women in the Czech Republic in the 1990s, Mr. Yutzis said that the Government needed to put an end to that problem and that question needed to be resolved for once and all.
Other Committee Experts raised questions and asked for further information on subjects pertaining to, among other things, protection of the political rights of non-citizens, including the right to vote in local elections; mechanisms to combat racial discrimination; expansion of the mandate of the Ombudsman to cover the private sphere; results of measures undertaken to promote and protect the rights of the Roma; additional measures to prevent extremism, including monitoring of skinhead groups; whether the police were competent to effectively address hate crimes; what was meant in the report by calling the Roma socio-culturally disadvantaged; and whether it was really true, as stated in the report, that there were no human rights study programmes at university level.
Many Experts expressed their concern regarding allegations of forced sterilizations of Roma women. An Expert noted that, when the Czech Republic had presented its last report, it had been asserted that all the allegations related to cases that had occurred in the past, and that there had been no new cases. However, in the Ombudsman's report, he had noted a case of force sterilization from 2001.
Noting that it was common for Roma individuals in the Czech Republic to be subjected to derogatory and racist speech, an Expert wondered what was being done to prosecute or otherwise deal with that situation.
An Expert had difficulty with the characterization of Vietnamese as a nationality in the Czech Republic. That was confusing, because it was unclear if that meant ethnicity or national belonging. Were these 17,000 persons Vietnamese nationals or Czech nationals with Vietnamese origins? Was there a clearly visible ethnic identity for Vietnamese living in the Czech Republic?
Response by Delegation to Oral Questions
Addressing concerns expressed that the fight against terrorism had been linked with police activities to combat racism and extremist crime, the delegation explained that the Czech Penal Code criminalized, among others, the support and promotion of movements aimed at suppressing a person's rights and freedoms, or those who supported national hate or race hate, as well as class or political hate. The Czech Republic also provided for monitoring and investigation of those phenomena, which could involve studies on international movements, linked to extremist groups in the country. For that reason, the Special Unit of the police had been established, under the organized crime department, which was also responsible for monitoring terrorist activities.
Regarding skinhead concerts, that was one of the main manifestations of racial discrimination and Nazi propaganda in the Czech Republic. The number was declining, but it was still high: in 2004, about 30 such skinhead concerts took place that the police were aware of; in 2005, 22; and in 2006, 18. The delegation said that efforts at the local level had not been coordinated to address this issue, with some local police taking more effective action than others. In one particular instance, the lack of police action at a concert had been criticized both by the press and by the Czech Police Presidium. Thereafter, guidelines for police action at such events had been issued.
All police action was monitored by the Inspection of the Minister of the Interior, independent investigators with police training who were not members of the police force. Moreover, at all stages of criminal procedure the Public Prosecutor had the right and, indeed, the duty to monitor the investigation. However, to provide even greater independence for investigations of police activities, a totally independent body, not under the Ministry of the Interior, was now under discussion, including the possibility of expanding the scope of such a body to include customs officers, prison guards and municipal police.
Concerning what was being done to combat hate speech, the delegation noted that those who participated in groups that actively promoted religious violence or racial hate were now punishable under the criminal law. All forms of hate speech or discriminatory speech had also been criminalized in the Penal Law. Thus, the legislation of the Czech Republic was in conformity with Article 4 of the Convention. Of course, the delegation recalled, there was a wide range of speech that might be nasty, ugly or politically intolerant, but the content of which did not attain the level of a crime. An example of that were racially motivated jokes. They could be and were declared to be socially unacceptable, but they were not crimes.
In education, regional authorities developed their own objectives, which had to reflect the specific conditions in the region, including the unemployment level and so on. The language of instruction was Czech, but the regional authorities had to ensure education for national minorities in their mother language at all levels for those communities where a commission of national minorities had been established. In general, if there were 8 children of national minorities wishing to be educated in their mother tongue, the regional school had to ensure pre-school education, if there were 10 such children, primary education would be ensured, and if there were 12 children, secondary education would be provided in their mother tongue.
Explaining what was meant by the term "socio-culturally disadvantaged", the delegation said, with regard to the Education Act, it meant a family environment with a low social and cultural status and a threat of pathological phenomena. In evaluating pupils' special education needs, their specific needs had to be considered. That could include extending the period of their education. The Roma were never specifically mentioned in this context. That analysis process involved distinguishing between a learning difficulty caused by the low social status of the family, as opposed to a genuine mental handicap, so that the placement of a child into a special education regime was truly necessary.
The delegation wished to stress that special schools had never had a discriminating character. They had provided optimal conditions for the education of children with special needs. They were not low-standard schools, they presented an alternative education more focused on activities and skills. There were also more space, a lower teacher-student ratio, and more oversight for children. Those special schools actually cost about twice as much as education in regular schools. Now, that system had largely replaced by developing individual student plans within the regular schools.
On human rights education, the delegation affirmed that there was no degree programme in higher education in human rights, but human rights were an integral part of higher education, and in particular degree programmes in social studies, teacher training and law.
Further Oral Questions Posed by Experts
MARIO JORGE YUTZIS, the Committee Expert serving as country Rapporteur for the report of the Czech Republic, said he had received a positive impression from the delegation's explanation of the distinction between activities undertaken to combat extremist crime as compared to terrorism.
Mr. Yutzis was not sure, however, that Article 4 (b) of the Convention was really being complied with, as it did not just talk about punishing individuals who belonged to organizations that propagated racial hatred, but required the criminalization of the organizations themselves.
On education, he was confused by the idea of being culturally disadvantaged. He understood the idea of being disadvantaged by poverty. But that was not the same.
Regarding the delegation's assertion that special schools had never been discriminatory, he said the Committee's concern was the scale of the problem – the large number of Roma children in those special schools. Perhaps it was not a question of deliberate discrimination. However, there were a very large number of children that could not break out of a vicious cycle, which was a problem that had to be addressed.
Another Expert then asked about what was taught in history books in schools about the Roma community. Did school textbooks encourage intercultural understanding through the teaching of history?
Replies by the Delegation
Responding to those questions and others, the delegation clarified the position of the Czech Republic with regard to racist organizations. If the legal documents of the organization contained a racist motivation, such organizations were indeed prohibited and would be dissolved. For those organizations that were not overtly based on a racist foundation, but which pursued racist actions, the individual members could be punished.
On the special schools, the delegation observed that the issue of whether special schools were discriminatory or not was currently under consideration by the European Court of Human Rights, and they would await that determination.
Clarifying its terminology, the delegation said that "socially disadvantaged" meant a very low social status, or a lack of money, in the family. "Culturally disadvantaged" meant that the child received no motivation or support from the family to develop his or her own special talents.
With respect to the Ombudsman, the delegation noted that the Anti-discrimination Bill would expand the powers the Ombudsman to provide assistance to victims of discrimination. In terms of the failure of Parliament to adopt that bill, there had been a number of issues. The upper house had felt that there was no need to adopt new legislation, and that existing instruments should be strengthened, as well as anti-discrimination clauses introduced into relevant legislation, such as in the sphere of employment. Others felt that the draft bill created over-vague categories that would be hard to prosecute, and required more precise definitions.
In terms of monitoring of Roma migration from Slovakia to the Czech Republic, that had taken place under specific circumstances. Because of changes in the internal law, there had been an increased flow of immigrants from Slovakia in 2003-2004, including members of the Slovakian Roma population who were migrating to the Czech Republic for economic reasons. The primary reason for the monitoring programme was the possible social impacts such Roma migrations could have in Czech municipalities and the tensions it could cause at the local level. Most of the Roma living in the country had come after 1945 from Slovakia, and thus the Roma in the Czech Republic had close ties with Roma communities in Slovakia. The delegation wished to stress that that monitoring operation had not hampered the freedom of movement of individuals from Slovakia into the country.
Concerning the issue of forced sterilizations of Roma women, the delegation said that, according to the Ombudsman's report, it was a sad matter of fact that Roma women, as well as persons other than Roma, had been subject to forced sterilizations, although the Roma were the majority. However, it was found that the sterilizations had not been racially motivated. The relationship between doctors and patients also had to be looked at, in particular the lack of communication between them. On the issue of reparations, one woman's case had been adjudicated before Czech courts, which showed that the path to individual reparations was not closed to victims. However, the victim had only been awarded an apology and no monetary compensation, as the statute of limitations had run out. The Supreme Court had since held, however, that despite the running out of the statute of limitations, there could be a possibility of awarding monetary damages.
Following the Ombudsman's recommendations, the Ministry of Health set up an advisory body to investigate the 76 cases of forced sterilizations. That body had found errors in the performance of those sterilizations, but had held that it was not a nationwide problem, but one of specific health care facilities. Five cases were forwarded for special investigations; in those cases, the Ministry of Health had admitted there had been violations of the law with regard to the operations. Among recommendations issued by the advisory body were a draft consent form to ensure informed consent to sterilization; that physicians be taught about patients' rights in general, and specifically about the issue of informed consent; and that the health authorities be informed of the existing legislation in force regarding sterilization. A new standard was also being defined for the sterilization procedure. The need for public apologies to be issued and some kind of compensation paid to victims by the State was under consideration by two advisory bodies. Another recommendation was the launching of a public awareness campaign on the topic.
Further Remarks by Experts
An Expert said that simply establishing a law that prohibited forced sterilization could not prevent the phenomenon. How many non-Roma women were sterilized without their consent? And had this issue stirred debate among civil society in the country? An Expert asked whether the forced sterilizations of the Roma women were the result of the policy of a particular hospital or municipality. Another Expert noted that where the consequences of an action fell disproportionately on a particular group, the Convention was engaged, as it dealt not just with intentional discrimination, but with discrimination in effect.
On the issue of migration of Roma to the Czech Republic, the country Rapporteur had understood that the monitoring programme had been linked to specific circumstances and events. Therefore, he wondered if that monitoring was ongoing, and if the flows of Roma migrants had decreased. As far as he could make out, the basis of the monitoring was that the Roma were a troublesome population and that the Czech Republic wished to prevent an increase of that troublesome population.
Preliminary Concluding Remarks
In preliminary concluding remarks, MARIO JORGE YUTZIS, the Committee Expert who served as country Rapporteur for the report of the Czech Republic, noted with appreciation that the report of the Czech Republic had followed the Committee's guidelines and that they had sent a large delegation, which had been willing to answer the majority of the Committee's questions, such as the relationship between racism and extremism, sterilization and compensation, and the issue of housing.
Mr. Yutzis said that the major issues of concern still remaining were the approval of the Anti-discrimination Act, the establishment of an independent monitoring mechanism for the police, the completion of the investigation into cases of forced sterilization, and new legislation on sterilization. The Committee would appreciate information on those issues in the next report.
In addition, Mr. Yutzis observed that the real integration of the Roma population in the Czech Republic remained to be done. He wished to recall that perhaps 2 million Roma had died in the Holocaust. The Nazis had established a systematic policy, which categorized the Roma as a "sick" people and for that reason sterilized Roma women. He was not making a direct comparison here, but was demonstrating the context of this question in Europe. Therefore, sincerely appreciating the Czech Republic 's will to combat those manifestations of racial discrimination – which were manifold and positive – he wished to underscore that integration meant those taking part in society had to have a special sensitivity towards those minorities making up their population and their history. The children and grandchildren of those minorities were a part of that society. They were not a problem for society. Society was the one who had a problem. If the Czech Republic were to construct democracy they could not do so without equality, and that was true for all of Europe.
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