Czechoslovakia: 1) Treatment of Jews by the Czechoslovak authorities; 2) Treatment of Dubcek supporters by the Czechoslovak authorities
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 July 1989 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | CSK1332 |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Czechoslovakia: 1) Treatment of Jews by the Czechoslovak authorities; 2) Treatment of Dubcek supporters by the Czechoslovak authorities, 1 July 1989, CSK1332, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6ac738c.html [accessed 2 June 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
1) No information is available to the IRBDC regarding the possible ill-treatment of Jews by the Czechoslovak authorities. The U.S. Department of State (DOS) Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1988 states that there are only two Jewish community councils in the entire country and that these are financially supported and controlled by the government. For more details on the status of the Jewish faith in Czechoslovakia, please consult the attached copy of the DOS report. A Czechoslovak government statement before the UN Human Rights Committee in 1986 claims that anti-semitism is unknown in Czechoslovakia and that Jews were free to practise their religion. It further notes that there are 500,000 Jews, 21 synagogues and 11 rabbis.
2) The attached excerpt from Henry Degenhardt's Revolutionary and Dissident Movements provides key details of the reform program of 1968 and the backlash against its supporters after the Soviet invasion. An article in the Globe and Mail, dated 20 August 1988, reports that a half-million people lost their positions after 1968 and that many who had been members of the country's elite were forced to work as labourers. Furthermore, their children have been barred from universities or hampered in obtaining their degrees. ["Czechoslovakia dreams on " Globe and Mail, 20 August 1988, p. D3.] As the DOS report illustrates, Czechoslovakia continues its ill treatment of political dissidents.
ATTACHMENTS
U.S. Department of State. Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1988. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1989. 1017-1030.
Degenhardt, Henry. ed. Revolutionary and Dissident Movements. Essex: Longmans UK Ltd, 1988. 70-73.
"Czechoslovakia dreams on", Globe and Mail. 20 August 1988. D3.
United Nations. Human Rights Committee. Summary Record of the 683rd Meeting. 11 July 1986. p. 4.
