Czech Republic: Information on skinheads and other extremist groups

CTK reports that Czech skinhead ideology is "rooted in pre-war and wartime Czech fascism, but also borrows ideas from similar groups in Germany, France, the U.S. and South Africa" (13 Nov. 1997a). Furthermore, Czech skinheads

advocate the nationalist-patriotic ideology of "The Czech Republic for the Czech people," and vow to destroy all those who threaten the purity of the Czech nation, as well as the superiority of the white race. Skinheads have a distinctive image that sets them apart from the rest of society. Shaved heads or very short haircuts are the norm, and they wear bomber jackets with T-shirts and sweatshirts with a hood. ... They arm themselves with baseball bats, nung-chucks ..., wooden or iron bars and knives, which they use in fights with anarchists or for beating up Romanies. ... They are very clearly organised into different groups, and many of them are skilled in martial arts (ibid.).

According to a representative of the Czech Human Rights Documentation Centre, an organization that monitors extremist groups in the Czech Republic, there are some 5,000 active skinheads in the Czech Republic, most of whom belong to one of approximately 4 international and 20 Czech extreme right-wing organizations (CTK 13 Nov. 1997a; Lidove Noviny 27 Aug. 1997). Citing Czech police statistics, The Anti-Defamation League's (ADL) report, The Skinhead International: A Worldwide Survey of Neo-Nazi Skinheads, states that there are 3-4,000 skinheads in the Czech Republic, the largest concentration found in the industrial centres of northern Bohemia (1995). The Czech Republic section of this report states that the skinheads in the Czech Republic are of a "neo-Nazi variety" and  indicates further that "although Czech Skins spew anti-Semitic rhetoric, the Roma are their chief targets. Other [targets] have been 'guest workers' (mainly from Vietnam), Arab and African students, and foreign tourists" (ibid.).

A 1995 report prepared by then Czech Interior Minister Jan Ruml estimates that there were approximately 7,000 individuals in the Czech Republic

who publicly claim membership in extremist groups. Of this number, which does not include the followers of the republican parties, approximately 1,500 people are among the followers of neo-Nazism, approximately 4,000 are affiliated with so-called patriotic organizations, and, 1,500 are among the followers of the Skinhead Movement (Lidove Noviny 12 June 1995; see also Respekt 15-21 May 1995).

The far-right Republican Party (SPR-RSC) was labelled an extremist party by the European Centre for Research and Action on Racism and Anti-Semitism in its publication entitled Extremism from the Atlantic to the Urals (1996, 71; CTK 16 May 1997).  Founded in 1990 and led by Miroslav Sladek, the SPR-RSC won 18 out of 200 seats in the Czech Parliament in 1996, garnering 8.01 per cent of the popular vote (RFE/RL 3 June 1996; Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States 1997 1996, 310; Political Handbook of the World 1997 1997, 219). Among other things the SPR-RSC advocates "measures against 'inadaptable' minorities such as the Gypsies" (ibid.). In response to allegedly having uttered anti-German remarks in January 1997, Sladek and two other Republican party deputies were stripped of their parliamentary immunity in February 1997 (OMRI Daily Digest 3 Mar. 1997; ibid. 28 Feb. 1997; Central Europe Online 28 Feb. 1997; ibid. 7 Jan. 1998). Sladek was arrested in February 1997 and charged with spreading racial hatred; he was arrested again in January 1998 for failing to appear in court to face previous charges (ibid.).

According to CTK, the Patriotic Front, founded in Brno, is considered a branch of the skinhead movement and reportedly espouses an "extreme form of Czech national socialism, anti-Semitism and neo-Nazism" (CTK 30 Oct. 1997). The Front was legally registered as a civic organization in June 1993, and has, according to CTK, some 5,000 members and ten branches across the Czech Republic (ibid.). Minister Ruml's 1995 report on extremist groups referred to the Patriotic Front as the most significant neo-Nazi organization in the country and estimated, that at that time, it had 300 members (Respekt 15-21 May 1995).

Other extremist organizations active in the Czech Republic include the Bohemia Hammer Skinheads, Blood and Honour, the National Fascist Community, White Aryan Resistance, the National Socialist Movement of Europe, Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, White Defense-Ostrava, Fraternal Patriotic Movement, the Patriotic League, the National Front of Castists, the National Assembly of Fascists and Red Skinheads and the Association for the Defence of the Nation (CTK 13 Nov. 1997a; Lidove Noviny 27 Aug. 1997; Respekt 15-21 May 1995). Please see the 27 August 1997 Lidove Noviny attachment and the 13 November 1997 CTK attachment for details on specific towns and regions where individual organizations are active.

These organizations publish over 50 newspapers and magazines in the Czech Republic (CTK 13 Nov. 1997b). The Patriotic Front publishes the Fenix (Respekt 15-21 May 1995) and the magazine Nation (CTK 13 Nov. 1997a). The Patriotic League intermittently publishes Cesky Stit and Pure Shield (Respekt 15-21 May 1995; CTK 13 Nov. 1997a). Patriot, Skinhead Patriot and White Warriors are publications of the Bohemia Hammer Skinheads; the Hronov-based National Socialist Movement of Europe publishes the magazine Arijsky Boj (Respekt 15-21 May 1995; Lidove Noviny 27 Aug. 1997). The National Fascist Community disseminates information through a publication entitled Strax Rise (Lidove Noviny 27 Aug. 1997).  The Fraternal Patriotic Movement publishes Cesky Krev (ibid.) and the National Front of Castists, a civic movement registered since 1994, publishes a magazine entitled National Struggle (CTK 13 Nov. 1997a).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

References

Anti-Defamation League (ADL). 1995. The Skinhead International: A Worldwide Survey of Neo-Nazi Skinheads. New York: ADL. [Internet]  [Accessed 24 Dec. 1997]

Central Europe Online [Prague]. 7 January 1998. "Czech Republican Arrested for Evading Court." [Internet]  [Accessed 7 Jan. 1998]

_____. 28 February 1997. "Czech Parliament Lifts Republican Chief's Immunity." [Internet]  [Accessed 28 Feb. 1997]

CTK National News Wire. 13 November 1997a. "Profile of the Growth of Czech Skinhead Movements since 1989." (NEXIS)

_____. 13 November 1997b. "Racists Publish 50 Magazines in Czech Republic-Daily." (BBC Summary 14 Nov. 1997/NEXIS)

_____. 28 October 1997. "Skinheads Demonstrate at Anti-government Rally." (BBC Summary 30 Oct. 1997/NEXIS)

_____. 11 August 1997. "Slovak Press Survey." (NEXIS)

_____. 16 May 1997. "CERA Labels Republicans Extremist Party." (NEXIS)

Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States 1997. 1996. 3rd ed. London: Europa Publications. 

Extremism from the Atlantic to the Urals. 1996. Co-ordinated by Jean-Yves Camus. Paris: èditions de l'aube/CERA.

Lidove Noviny [Prague, in Czech]. 27 August 1997. "Czech Republic: Daily Lists Illegally Operating 'Neo-Nazi' Groups." (FBIS-EEU-97-240 28 Aug. 1997/WNC)

_____. 12 June 1995. "Information on Extremist Groups Published." (FBIS-EEU-95-145 12 June 1995/WNC) 

Open Media Research Institute (OMRI) Daily Digest [Prague]. 3 March 1997. Jiri Pehe. "Czech Police's Arrest of Extremist Leader Causes Controversy." [Internet]  [Accessed 3 Mar. 1997]

     _____. 28 February 1997. Victor Gomez. "Czech Deputies Stripped of Parliamentary Immunity." [Internet]  [Accessed 28 Feb. 1997]

     Political Handbook of the World: 1997. 1997. Edited by Arthur S. Banks et al. Binghamton, NY: CSA Publications.

Respekt [Prague, in Czech]. 15-21 May 1995. No. 20. Jaroslav Spurny. "Ministry Report Lists Extremist Organizations." (FBIS-EEU-95-096 18 May 1995/WNC)

Attachments

CTK National News Wire. 13 November 1997. "Profile of the Growth of Czech Skinhead Movements since 1989." (NEXIS)

Lidove Noviny [Prague, in Czech]. 27 August 1997. "Czech Republic: Daily Lists Illegally Operating 'Neo-Nazi' Groups." (FBIS-EEU-97-240 28 Aug. 1997/WNC)