HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE STARTS CONSIDERATION OF REPORT OF CZECH REPUBLIC ON COMPLIANCE WITH THE COVENANT

Human Rights Committee
72nd session
11 July 2001
Morning






Special Schools for Roma Children Should Be Abolished
as a Sign of Non-Discrimination, Experts Say



The Human Rights Committee this morning started its examination of an initial report from the Government of the Czech Republic with several Committee Experts expressing concern about the situation of the Roma community in that country.

A number of Committee Experts said that the manner in which the Roma community was being treated in the Czech Republic was not acceptable and that the Government had to undertake actions in order to improve the situation of the Roma who were subjected to harassment by skinheads and police. Some Experts suggested that the first stage in non-discrimination measures should be the abolition of the special schools designed solely for Roma children.

Experts also said that the investigation into allegations of the use of excessive force by police during the demonstration against the International Monetary Fund meeting in September 2000 in Prague did not identify the culprits. The ineffectiveness of the investigation was an alarming sign that complaints were not adequately heeded to, they said.

Introducing his country's report, Jan Jarab, Government Representative for Human Rights of the Czech Republic, said that the Government had become increasingly aware of specific problems of the Roma community, which was recognized as a national minority for the first time in the 1991 census. Although the Government had taken action in various fields, the pattern of social exclusion of the Roma, who had been marginalized in society for generations, was difficult to overcome in a short period of time.

Mr. Jarab said that many of the unskilled Roma could only afford to live in cheaper housing, though the law offered significant protection to tenants even to those who did not pay their rent. Neighbourhoods where many unemployed Roma resided were troubled by phenomenon such as petty crime, prostitution, and drug and alcohol dependence, which in turn heightened the animosity of the Czech majority against those Roma communities, he said.

The Czech delegation was also made up of Alexander Slaby, Director-General at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Milan Hovorka, Ambassador, Charge d'affaires, Permanent Mission of the Czech Republic in Geneva; Radim Bures, Deputy Director, Department of Crime Prevention at the Ministry of Interior; Simona Drahonovska, from the Human Rights Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Veronika Pastrnakova, Secretary, Section of Civil and Political Rights of the Council for Human Rights; Zdenek Sovak, President of the Penal Senate of the Supreme Court; and Ivana Schellongova, Second Secretary at the Permanent Mission of the Czech Republic in Geneva.

As one of the 148 States parties to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Czech Republic is obligated to file periodic reports to the Committee on how it is implementing the provisions of the treaty.

The Committee will reconvene at 3 p.m. to continue its consideration of the report of the Czech Republic.


Report of the Czech Republic

The initial report (document CCPR/C/CZE/2000/1) enumerates the various legal and administrative measures undertaken by the State in order to meet its obligations under the Covenant. It says that the rights and freedoms set forth in the Covenant constitute a significant part of the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms which the Presidium of the Czech National Council proclaimed as part of constitutional order. However, certain articles of the Charter have not been sufficiently elaborated into specific legal acts, even in cases where the Charter expressly refers to the exercise of rights within limits set by law.

The report says that while performing their duties, judges are independent; they are appointed by the President of the Republic for an indefinite period of time; and when making decisions, they are bound by law. In addition, a constitutional court was set up in 1993, composed of 15 judges, appointed for a term of ten years. The protection of human rights and the fulfilment of commitments and obligations arising from the Covenant fall into the purview of committees of both chambers of the parliament.

The report notes that the Czech legal system grants the same status to foreigners with a permanent residence permit as to Czech citizens, except that they had not voting rights. Refugees are guaranteed the same status as citizens, except that they do not participate in elections. The number of applicants for refugee status has been gradually growing. From the viewpoint of the protection of human rights, the most problematic group of foreigners is that of illegal immigrants. Their number is increasing. There are organized groups involved in illegal smuggling of people across the border, with smugglers frequently abusing the difficult position of illegal immigrants.


Presentation of Report

JAN JARAB, Government Commissioner for Human Rights of the Czech Republic, recalled that since the democratic change in 1989, the Czech legal system had been undergoing an extremely dynamic reform, based on universal values in order to safeguard fundamental human rights. The effort to rebuild the democratic legal order had been accompanied by institutional changes, which were directly linked to the protection and promotion of human rights. In 1998, the Government had created the position of a Government Commissioner for Human Rights and the Council for Human Rights. In addition, the Government's proposal of a law on the creation of a new and independent institution -- the Public Defender of Rights or Ombudsman -- was adopted by parliament in 1999.

Legislative changes were also under way in order to specify rights of persons belonging to national minorities, Mr. Jarab continued to say. The Law on National Minorities had been adopted by parliament last month; it provided a definition of a national minority, defined the rights of members of a national minority concerning education in their language, and elaborated on the employment of the language in official use.

Mr. Jarab said that the Government had become increasingly aware of specific problems of the Roma community, who were recognized as a national minority for the first time in the 1991 census. The Government had responded to the problems faced by the Roma community, particularly in the areas of education and employment, by a concerted effort on the part of the ministries concerned. Although the Government had taken action in various fields, the pattern of social exclusion of Roma, who had been marginalized in society for generations, was difficult to overcome in a short period of time.

Though the social problems of Roma were certainly not going to be overcome in the near future, modest progress was being made in a number of areas, Mr. Jarab said. The Government had introduced Roma advisors, about half of whom were themselves members of the Roma community, in all of the 81 district offices. Moreover, recognizing the key value of education, the Government had launched programmes of preparatory classes for Roma children and had established Roma pedagogical assistants at a number of schools.

Mr. Jabar continued to say that despite the efforts of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs to provide employment for the unskilled, the number of employed Roma remained low. That was due to the fact that in the relatively generous welfare system, unskilled labour did not necessarily produce any higher income than welfare benefits. Consequently, many of the unskilled Roma could only afford to live in cheaper housing, though the law offered significant protection to tenants even to those who did not pay their rent. Neighbourhoods where many unemployed Roma resided were troubled by phenomenon such as petty crime, prostitution, and drug and alcohol dependence, which in turn heightened the animosity of the Czech majority against those Roma communities.

Discussion of Report

In response to written queries prepared by Committee Experts in advance, the members of the Czech delegation said that the newly established Ombudsman’s office dealt with individual complaints while the role of the Commissioner for Human Rights was mainly to render advisory services in matters of policy in human rights and law drafting.

Asked about the measures taken to overcome the problems with regard to protection against racial discrimination, the delegation said that the Government had submitted proposals to the country's parliament to revise all anti-discrimination legislation. It had also taken measures to fully implement the European convention on equal treatment of persons.

The 1990s had been marked by the phenomenon of racist activities by skinheads, the delegation said. However, there was a hopeful sign now in that those activities were decreasing. Some of the skinheads involved in disseminating Nazi emblems and racist insignias had been brought before courts. It was true that there was a widespread prejudice against the Roma population by the skinheads. However, police harassment against Roma was exaggerated. The Government had, in any way, started to provide training to police officers and was offering sensitization programmes.

The Roma integration was a long-term programme followed by the Czech Republic, the delegation said. Nevertheless, it would be premature now to enumerate the achievements made by the Government. An inter-ministerial commission was taking measures to integrate the Roma population and posts would be created to coordinate activities aimed at benefiting the Roma population; although affirmative action was taken to give chairs to Roma in elected boards, it had incited opposition from local electors; and measures were taken in the field of education for the Roma children, who graduated only from special schools, which gave them less prospect for employment.

The delegation said that the number and proportion of persons belonging to minorities, particularly the Roma, Slovak, German, Polish, Hungarian and Ukrainian minorities, participating in political and public affairs was not known. The employment system did not allow the identification of individuals by their origins. Employees were not required to identify themselves during their recruitment or their employment.

A question was asked about the measures envisaged to enhance the participation of women in public life, to which the delegation said that the Government had taken a series of measures in line with the Beijing Plan of Action to upgrade the position of women in the society. At present, higher posts, including legislative and executive ones, were held by women. They were equally represented in regional councils and boards. In addition, article 3 of the Charter prohibited discrimination on the ground of sex.

The delegation was asked to indicate measures to combat and eliminate violence against women, including domestic violence. The delegation said that domestic violence against women did not receive adequate attention from the Government. There was a need for the recodification of the criminal code in order to address the issue properly. In the meantime, the Government had continued to finance non-governmental organizations working in the area of domestic violence and in handling victims. In addition, a special programme of sensitization and training was provided for police officers on how to deal with domestic violence and to handle victims of violence, who were mainly women.

Asked if the Government was prepared to accede to the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the delegation said the Government would be ready to do that very soon.

Concerning the investigation undertaken into allegations of the use of excessive force by law enforcement officials during demonstrations, particularly during the events during the International Monetary Fund (IMF)/World Bank meeting in September 2000 in Prague, the delegation said investigations had been carried out. The investigations had proved that the use of excessive use of force and police action had amounted to an offence against the law. However, the investigation did not identify individuals officers who were involved in the use of excessive force or in ill-treatment.

Following the response by the delegation, Committee members raised a number of questions. An Expert said that racial harassment in the Czech Republic had been observed and the problem had been recognized by the Government itself. In addition, the ineffective implementation of anti-discrimination legislation had allowed racial harassment against the Roma population. There were an estimated 300,000 Roma in the Czech Republic. The number of Roma integrated in the society was minor compared to the whole Czech population. Measures such as affirmative action should be implemented to allow Roma individuals to be integrated in elected functions. Something had to be done to the alarming situation of Roma education and the access of Roma to other social benefits.

Other Experts also asked the delegation about the external monitoring of prison conditions; violence against women and the protection of victims; rape cases and the measures taken by the Government to avert such crimes; and trafficking in women and the State's attitude against such offences. An Expert stressed that police brutality was a major problem which should be dealt with rigorously. The report itself had admitted that bullying had been inflicting injuries in schools and in the military; what measures were taken in the case of bullying?

Another Expert said that the pattern of police brutality and its degrading treatment had at times resulted in torture. In addition there were reports affirming that police humiliation and ill-treatment were not only confined to foreigners and Roma population, but also against the other Czech citizens.

An Expert recalled the incident that took place in the Czech Republic where a wall was built to separate Roma inhabitants from the rest of the neighbourhood. He said the Government had done the right thing in dismantling the wall that had prompted international outcry. The Expert said that the special schools designed for Roma children did not allow them to have access to higher education. There was reluctance and cultural resistance against the Roma population. What were the criteria for national minorities? What was the distinction between the national and ethnic minority? Was the Roma minority national or ethnic? Turning to the right of detainees, the Expert asked about the measures taken against police raids and arrests against the Roma community. Was there any initiative for a national dialogue between the Roma and the rest of the population to break the culture of rejection?

An Expert said that several non-governmental organizations had raised serious concerns about discrimination against Roma people. The Government should make a commitment to engage itself to combat the problem. The first measure against discrimination was to abolish the special schools system solely designed to admit Roma children. What measures were being taken to secure citizenship to Roma children born in the country? The delegation said that the investigation of complaints against police brutality during the demonstration against the meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) did not identify the culprits among the police officers; and such conclusions left doubts concerning the effectiveness of the investigation carried out, and could be an alarming sign.



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