Czech Republic: Treatment of Roma and state protection available (2004-2005)

General Information

Close to 12,000 people, or 0.1 per cent of the population in the Czech Republic, self-identified as Roma in the 2001 census (UN 2 Feb. 2005, 27; see also CTK Daily News 1 Dec. 2005). However, the actual number of Roma in the Czech Republic may be as high as 200,000 (UN 2 Feb. 2005) or 300,000 (CTK Daily News 1 Dec. 2005; Open Society News Summer-Fall 2005, 6). According to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), which conducted a survey of Roma communities in central and eastern Europe, many Roma choose to "conceal their identity due to the negative stereotypes of the Roma and the social discomfort in which they live" (UN 2 Feb. 2005, 27).

Country Reports 2004 stated that Roma in the Czech Republic suffered "disproportionately from poverty, unemployment, interethnic violence [and] discrimination" (28 Feb. 2005, Sec. 5). The UNDP survey, released in February 2005, found that the unemployment rate among the Roma population in the Czech Republic was between 40 and 45 per cent (UN 2 Feb. 2005, 27). The survey also revealed that seventeen per cent of the Roma population did not have access to secure housing, compared with four per cent of the "majority population [living] in close proximity to Roma" (ibid.). Roma were also susceptible to racial violence, often perpetrated by skinhead organizations, and experienced discrimination in access to housing as well as to public establishments such as restaurants and bars (Country Reports 2004 28 Feb. 2005, Sec. 5). Sources cited evictions of Roma from subsidized housing by municipal authorities as an additional issue faced by the community in the Czech Republic (COE 8 June 2004; ERRC 9 Feb. 2004; ibid. 30 June 2005). A survey conducted by a government-sponsored polling agency showed that 75 per cent of Czechs considered Roma to be undesirable neighbours (AP 27 Apr. 2005).

Nevertheless, the UNDP concluded in its survey that Roma in the Czech Republic were better off than Roma in other parts of central and eastern Europe, and had a comparably lower rate of unemployment and "better social and health status" (UN 2 Feb. 2005).

Government Policy

The Czech central government created a policy for the integration of Roma in 2000, and proceeded to update the policy yearly between 2002 and 2005 in an effort to continually find "new ways" for its implementation (Czech Rep. 4 May 2005, 7). The main goal of the policy was "to improve the status of the Roma in all spheres of life" through six priority areas, which include ending all forms of discrimination against Roma, removing barriers to education, improving the employment rate and access to housing and health care, and preventing the social exclusion or ghettoization of Roma communities (ibid., 6). The policy has entailed giving government support to existing effective programs for Roma integration as well as launching new initiatives under various ministries (ibid. 33). In 2004, the government adopted a National Action Plan for Social Inclusion for the period 2004 to 2006, with the aim of "mitigat[ing] ... social exclusion in Roma communities" by providing "maximum support" to members of Roma communities and their activities (ibid., 6, 33). Advisory bodies established by the government that assist in Romani integration include the Government Council for Roma Community Affairs (Czech Rep. n.d.a; ibid. 4 May 2005, 7) and the Government Council for National Minorities (ibid.). According to the Czech government, "combating social exclusion is an urgent [policy] priority" (ibid., 5).

In its third report on the Czech Republic, the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), a human rights monitoring body established by the Council of Europe (COE), pointed out that ensuring local implementation of the integration policy had become increasingly difficult as a result of public administration reforms (COE 8 June 2004, 17). ECRI stated that initiatives set out in the policy were being implemented "in an inconsistent fashion, depending on the willingness of the local authorities to carry them out" (ibid.). ECRI explained that "the majority of local authorities seem not to be motivated to take actions to improve the situation of Roma as such actions are reportedly not popular with local communities and can be politically costly" (ibid., 23). According to ECRI, local officials are responsible for Roma integration and have jurisdiction over housing, education, health care and social services, all of which affect the daily lives of Roma (ibid.). The central government acknowledged in its 2005 update of the Roma integration policy that, as an advisory body, the Government Council for Roma Community Affairs did not supervise the implementation of integration initiatives by regional and municipal authorities, nor could it "draw any conclusions from their failure to fulfill such tasks" (Czech Rep. 4 May 2005, 8). In the same 2005 policy update, the Czech government concluded that it was necessary to establish a central structure to support local authorities in their integration activities (ibid.).

ECRI further commented in its 2004 report that Roma advisors, who had previously been appointed at the district level to assist in the implementation of anti-discrimination and integration policies, had not been replaced following public administration reforms that led to the elimination of district-level offices (COE 8 June 2004). The Czech government stated in the 2005 integration policy update that, since the appointing of Roma advisors at the local level was not prescribed by law, the government could not force local authorities to hire them (Czech Rep. 4 May 2005, 11).

The Czech Republic is participating in the Decade for Roma Inclusion, 2005 - 2015, "an initiative adopted by eight countries in Central and Southeast Europe" and financially supported by the World Bank and the Open Society Institute, among other organizations (Decade of Roma Inclusion n.d.). A commitment to the Decade, which was officially launched in February 2005 (IPS 4 Feb. 2005; RFE/FL 3 Feb. 2005), involves identifying a set of national goals for improving the lives of Roma and implementing reforms and programs to reduce significant economic and development disparities (ibid.). The Czech Republic national action plan for the Decade of Inclusion lays out specific objectives divided into priority areas of education, housing, employment and health, along with indicators, monitoring mechanisms, budgets and deadlines for fulfilling the objectives (Czech Rep. n.d.b). The Open Society Institute remarked in the introduction to a 2005 assessment of the prospects for change through the Decade of Inclusion that it was too early to comment on the impact of the initiative (3 Aug. 2005). The assessment stated, however, that in eastern and central Europe generally, "[t]he data and research needed to advance ... Decade of Roma Inclusion commitments remain sparse to nonexistent" (Open Society News Summer – Fall 2005). Information on the progress made by the Czech Republic in achieving the objectives set out in its national action plan could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

Anti-discrimination legislation

In December 2005, the Czech Chamber of Deputies approved new anti-discrimination legislation designed to fulfill European Union (EU) requirements on equal treatment (CTK Daily News 7 Dec. 2005; Global Insight 8 Dec. 2005; see also AFP 7 Dec. 2005). The new act aims to ensure equal treatment under Czech law regardless of race, gender or age, as well as equal access to education, employment, health care and other social benefits (AFP 7 Dec. 2005; Global Insight 8 Dec. 2005). If approved by the senate, the law would come into effect in July 2006 (ibid.; AFP 7 Dec. 2005; CTK Daily News 7 Dec. 2005). Agence France-Presse (AFP) noted that the Czech Republic had in the past "often been taken to task for not doing enough to protect its Roma gypsy minority against discrimination" (AFP 7 Dec. 2005), while ECRI recommended in its third report that anti-discrimination legislation be passed as a means of combating Roma exclusion (COE 8 June 2004).

Housing

The European Commission Against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) of the Council of Europe (COE) commented in its 2004 report on the Czech Republic that the marginalization of Roma in the country is evidenced by the discrimination faced by Roma when accessing both public and private housing (COE 8 June 2004). According to sources consulted by ECRI, municipalities denied adequate public housing to Roma in a number of ways: by allocating substandard housing to applicants with Romani last names; by disqualifying Romani applicants unable to meet requirements of employment and permanent residence in the locality; and by failing to provide assistance to Romani families who are unable to meet the rent, resulting in their eviction (ibid.). In addition, landlords in the private sector denied rental of flats to Roma or evicted them with the help of local authorities (ibid.). The European Roma Rights Center (ERRC) pointed out in a 30 June 2005 report on the issue of housing that municipalities usually provide to evicted tenants "extremely substandard [housing] located in racially segregated areas." This type of housing, called "bare flats" or holobyty, are characterized by poor living conditions, including cramped quarters and sometimes a lack of basic sanitation facilities, which put the health of tenants at risk (COE 8 June 2004).

The ERRC stated that the Czech government had long been aware of the problems faced by Roma in securing adequate housing, but had yet to rectify them (30 June 2005). In its 2005 update of the Roma integration policy, the government acknowledged that many in the Roma communities faced discrimination in accessing housing, leading to a rise in the segregation and ghettoization of these communities (Czech Rep. 4 May 2005, 24). However, because of the absence of a national plan for the provision of social housing, the allocation of public housing remained in the hands of municipalities, many of which, the government conceded, held a "shortsighted" approach to the issue (ibid., 25).

ECRI reported in 2004 that some municipalities were seeking redress to the problems of housing among Roma by improving conditions in the "bare flats" and providing alternative low-cost housing (COE 8 June 2004). In addition, the Council for Roma Community Affairs was to launch a program in 2004 to work with non-governmental organizations in helping families retain their current flats (ibid.). The Czech government reported in the 2005 update to the integration policy that the Ministry for Regional Development had developed a Programme of Building of Supported Flats (Czech Rep. 4 May 2005). Through its national action plan for the Decade of Inclusion, the Czech government committed to activate a number of other initiatives aimed at improving access to adequate housing by Roma (Czech Rep. n.d.b).

Police Response

Police in the Czech Republic responded to a number of attacks against Roma in 2004 (Country Reports 2004 28 Feb. 2005, Sec. 5; Radio Prague 20 May 2004; ERRC 29 July 2004). In 2005, one incident was reported by the CTK Daily News, which said that four youths under the age of 19 were arrested by police on charges of attacking three Roma in Plzen (22 Aug. 2005). Police were treating the assault as being racially motivated (ibid.). Similarly, police saw attacks by youths on a Romani family in the Moravian town of Krnov in 2004 as being racially motivated (Radio Prague 20 May 2004). Country Reports 2004 stated that there was increased recognition on the part of police and prosecutors that many crimes had racial motives, and police were recruiting Romani police officers and assistants to better serve the Roma community (28 Feb. 2005, Sec. 5).

However, the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF) remarked that police "often failed to act adequately" in cases of violent attacks against Roma in 2004 (27 June 2005) and, according to the United States (US) Department of State, there remained some "judicial inconsistency in dealing firmly with racially and ethnically motivated crimes" (Country Reports 2004 28 Feb. 2005, Sec. 5). Roma Rights Quarterly reported that an April 2004 attack by three men on two Romani women in the eastern city of Ostrava was being investigated as "rioting, battery and ... the criminal act of 'suppression of civic rights and freedoms'" (ERRC 29 July 2004). Racially motivated crimes can carry sentences of up to ten years, twice the maximum sentence for regular assault (The Prague Post 8 Jan. 2004). In an 8 January 2004 article, The Prague Post stated that some Roma in the Moravian town of Jesenik felt police "[did] not take racially motivated crimes seriously."

In its third report on the Czech Republic, made public on 8 June 2004, ECRI reported that Roma children were sometimes harassed by law enforcement officials, who placed them in detention facilities or coerced them into confessing to petty crimes (COE 8 June 2004). According to ECRI, "ill treatment at the hands of police officers" also occurred among Roma children on the street and in detention (ibid.). In cases of domestic violence, the United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on violence against women commented in her 2003 report to the UN Commission on Human Rights, Roma women were particularly unwilling, among all affected women in the Czech Republic, to approach police for assistance as a result of "systemic police discrimination" against Roma communities (UN 27 Feb. 2003, 309, 310). The IHF pointed out in its 2005 report on the Czech Republic that no independent body to investigate allegations of police misconduct existed (27 June 2005).

Access to Justice

A court in Ostrava indicated in November 2005 that it would issue findings of legal violations in the first civil case concerning coercive sterilization of Romani women (ERRC 11 Nov. 2005; ibid. 28 July 2005). Meanwhile, the Czech ombudsman, also known as the Czech Public Defender of Rights, who had received a total of 76 complaints of coercive sterilization – mostly from Romani women – by April 2005 (ibid.), concluded from his investigations that at least 50 women had been sterilized in contravention of legal requirements for the procedure to be undertaken (CTK Daily News 29 Dec. 2005). The ombudsman did not find that racial discrimination was involved, though the non-governmental organization Human Rights League was of the opinion that coercive sterilization of Romani women was "planned and systematic" (ibid.).

In June 2004, the regional court in Ostrava found in favour of a Romani woman who claimed to have been discriminated against on the basis of her ethnicity when she was refused a flat rental by a private firm (ERRC 17 Dec. 2004). The firm was ordered to issue an apology and to pay the Romani woman 50,000 Czech crowns [CDN $2,449.50 (Bank of Canada 6 Jan. 2006)] in damages (ibid.). In another case of discrimination in Ostrava, a court ordered a hotel to pay damages in the amount of 50,000 crowns to a Romani woman who was allegedly refused a room (AP 4 June 2004). The Counselling Center for Citizenship, Civil and Human Rights, a non-profit organization which helped the Romani woman with her case, pointed out that the hotel in question had on previous occasions refused accommodation to Roma (ibid.).

In its 2003 concluding observations on the Czech Republic, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination expressed concern at reports that criminal prosecutors were "'reluctant to issue findings that crimes are racially motivated'" (ERRC 3 Sept. 2003). Likewise, the IHF concluded in its report on the Czech Republic that "courts were slow to hand down appropriate sentences to perpetrators of violent attacks on Roma" (27 June 2005). On 4 November 2005, Associated Press (AP) reported that a court in the town of Jesenik sentenced three men to prison terms of between three and four years for an attack deemed racially motivated on a Roma couple two years earlier. However, a different court case arising out of the 2003 beating of a Romani couple in Jesenik resulted in three-year suspended sentences for the perpetrators, after the judge found insufficient evidence to conclude the attack was racially motivated (Country Reports 2004 28 Feb. 2005, Sec. 5; IHF 27 June 2005). In a commentary on the case, The Prague Post pointed out that one of the attackers was the son of a local police officer, and at least two of the perpetrators had expressed sympathy for skinhead groups known for harassing Roma in Jesenik (8 Jan. 2004). The sentence was criticized by Romani activists as well as by the Czech human rights commissioner (Country Reports 2004 28 Feb. 2005, Sec. 5).

In another court case, a Romani man was handed a two-year suspended sentence after getting into an altercation with three men who he claimed provoked the incident by verbally abusing him and his partner (ERRC 17 Dec. 2004). According to Roma Rights Quarterly, two of the men allegedly behind the assault were known to have perpetrated previous attacks against Roma in Jesenik and had been convicted in an earlier, separate attack (ibid.). In 2004, a regional court in Plzen increased to between 14 and 16 months the suspended sentences of three police officers convicted of dragging a Romani man into a wooded area and assaulting him in 2001 (Radio Prague 4 June 2004). Earlier, the three officers had been given suspended terms of ten months each for abuse of power (ibid.; ibid. 28 June 2003).

Please consult CZE100729 of 26 January 2006 for information on education opportunities for Roma children.

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 for refugee protection. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Agence France-Presse (AFP). 7 December 2005. "Czech MPs Vote for Anti-Discrimination Law." (Factiva)

Associated Press (AP). 4 November 2005. "Three Men Convicted of Attacking Gypsies in Czech Republic." (Factiva)
_____. 27 April 2005. "Survey: 75 Percent of Czechs Do Not Want Gypsies for Neighbors." (Factiva)
_____. 4 June 2004. "Hotel Ordered to Pay Damages to Gypsy Woman Who Was Denied a Room." (Factiva)

Bank of Canada. 6 January 2006. "Currency Conversion Results." [Accessed 6 Jan. 2006]

Ceska Tiskova Kancelar (CTK) Daily News [Prague]. 29 December 2005. "At Least 50 Women Sterilised at Variance with Law – Ombudsman." (Factiva)
_____. 7 December 2005. "Chamber of Deputies Approves Anti-Discrimination Bill." (Factiva)
_____. 1 December 2005. "Brno Roma Museum Presents Post-War Life of Czech Romanies." (Factiva)
_____. 22 August 2005. "Police Detain Racially Motivated Attack Suspects." (BBC Monitoring/Factiva)

Council of Europe (COE). 8 June 2004. European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI). "Third Report on the Czech Republic." [Accessed 4 Jan. 2006]

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2004. 28 February 2005. "Czech Republic." [Accessed 4 Jan. 2006]

Czech Republic. 4 May 2005. The Roma Integration Policy Concept. [Accessed 5 Jan. 2006]
_____. N.d.a "Council of the Government of the Czech Republic for Roma Community Affairs." [Accessed 4 Jan. 2006]
_____. N.d.b "Decade of Roma Inclusion 2005 - 2015: National Action Plan." [Accessed 4 Jan. 2006]

Decade of Roma Inclusion. N.d. "What is the Decade?" [Accessed 4 Jan. 2006]

European Roma Rights Center (ERRC). 11 November 2005. "First Court Victory in Central Europe on Coercive Sterilisation of Romani Women; Ostrava Court Finds Violations of Dignity as a Result of Abuse by Czech Doctors." [Accessed 11 Nov. 2005]
_____. 28 July 2005. No. 2. Roma Rights Quarterly. "First Civil Complaint Filed Regarding Coercive Sterilisations of Romani Women." [Accessed 24 Aug. 2004]
_____. 30 June 2005. "Forced Eviction Crisis in the Czech Republic." [Accessed 30 June 2005]
_____. 17 December 2004. No. 2. Roma Rights Quarterly. "Rulings of Uneven Quality in Roma Rights Abuse Cases in the Czech Republic." [Accessed 21 Dec. 2004]
_____. 29 July 2004. No. 2. Roma Rights Quarterly. "Racist Attacks against Roma in Czech Republic." [Accessed 6 Aug. 2004]
_____. 9 February 2004. No. 2. Roma Rights Quarterly. "Romani Families Evicted in Slany, Czech Republic." [Accessed 24 Feb. 2004]
_____. 3 September 2003. "Minelres: UN Critical of Czech Efforts on Roma." [Accessed 13 Dec. 2005]

Global Insight. 8 December 2005. Mandy Kirby. "Anti-Discrimination Bill Passed in Czech Parliament." (Factiva)

International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF). 27 June 2005. "Czech Republic." Human Rights in the OSCE Region: Europe, Central Asia and North America, Report 2005 (Events of 2004). [Accessed 11 Jan. 2006]

Inter Press Service (IPS). 4 February 2005. Stefania Bianchi. "Rights: Eight Nations Sign a Ten-Year Plan to Help the Roma." (Factiva)

Open Society Institute. 3 August 2005. "Overcoming Exclusion: The Roma Decade, Part I; Learning From the Past: A Critical Look at Policy Experience and the Prospects for the Roma Decade." [Accessed 5 Jan. 2006]

Open Society News. Summer – Fall 2005. Soros Foundations Network. "The Decade of Roma Inclusion: Challenging Centuries of Discrimination." [Accessed 4 Jan. 2006]

The Prague Post. 8 January 2004. "In Roma Attack, Punishment Doesn't Fit Crime." [Accessed 5 Jan. 2006]

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL). 3 February 2005. Vol. 9, No. 22. "East-Central European States Launch 'Decade of Roma Inclusion." (RFE/RL)

Radio Prague. 4 June 2004. "Suspended Sentences of Police Officers Who Beat Up Romany Increased." [Accessed 5 Jan. 2006]
_____. 20 May 2004. "Police Treating Attack on Romany Family as Racially Motivated." [Accessed 5 Jan. 2006]
_____. 28 June 2003. "Policemen Given Light Sentences for Attack on Roma Man." <United Nations (UN). 2 February 2005. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Faces of Poverty, Faces of Hope: Vulnerability Profiles of Roma Population in Decade of Roma Inclusion Countries. [Accessed 4 Jan. 2006]
_____. 27 February 2003. Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, Commission on Human Rights. Integration of the Human Rights of Women and the Gender Perspective: Violence Against Women.

Additional Sources Consulted

Internet sites, including: Amnesty International, Czech Government Council for Roma Community Affairs, Human Rights Watch, United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.