[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 69 (Thursday, May 16, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E835-E836]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               CZECH CITIZENSHIP LAW UNAIDED BY AMENDMENT

                                 ______


                       HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 16, 1996

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my 
disappointment regarding the progress of the Czech Republic in its on-
going transition from Communist dictatorship to democracy. Overall, the 
Czech record is quite good. And the Czech Republic has made, possibly, 
the greatest strides of any countries in the region in its efforts to 
establishing a functioning free market. But in one particular area, the 
Czech record has been abysmal. Since the breakup of the Czechoslovak 
Federation at the end of 1992, the Czech Republic has imposed a 
citizenship law that discriminates against the Czech Republic's

[[Page E836]]

largest minority group, the Roma, and violates international law.
  The Helsinki Commission, which I now chair, flagged this problem in a 
report in 1994. More recently, in early April, the Council of Europe 
and the UNHCR each released reports on the Czech Republic. Although the 
reports differ in their specific mandate and analysis, their final 
conclusions are consistent: The current Czech citizenship law, both as 
drafted and applied, violates international standards. In particular, 
both reports found that--contrary to the previous assertions of the 
Czech Government--the Czech law has created both de jure and de facto 
statelessness. The Council of Europe report used particularly pointed 
language, noting that while some of the practices associated with the 
implementation of the law ``might have been lawful under the Czech law 
of 1967. * * * [they] clearly do not meet European legal standards.'' 
Moreover, according to the recently released State Department country 
report, some who are affected by this law have been deported, contrary 
to the assurances I had previously received from Czech officials.
  I appreciate that efforts have been made to improve the citizenship 
law and strengthen its association with international human rights 
norms. In particular, I understand an amendment to the law was passed 
on April 26. That amendment, however, fails to address the fundamental 
shortcomings of the law.
  For example, it appears that former Czechoslovaks who were long-term 
residents of the Czech Republic must still make cumbersome applications 
and pay so-called administrative fees in order to be considered for 
citizenship in the only homeland they have ever known. In addition, it 
has been reported that the amended law gives the Ministry of Interior 
complete discretion to require those applicants to have a clean 
criminal record. It seems to me that this would be like telling charter 
77 dissidents that of course they have a right to free speech--provided 
they got a waiver from the Ministry of Interior before exercising it. 
In short, even as amended, the Czech citizenship law still stands in 
violation of the Czech Republic's international commitments.
  In a few weeks, Czechs will return to the polls to elect a new 
parliament. In that context, the significance of the citizenship law is 
all the more poignant: those wrongly denied citizenship are also 
wrongly denied the right to vote.
  Mr. Speaker, I do not understand what benefit the Czech Government 
sees in maintaining provisions of this law that have generated 
international criticism. Those who have criticized this law, including 
the Helsinki Commission, are not proposing that the Czech Republic 
adopt dual citizenship; we are not proposing that former Czechoslovaks 
who were or are permanent residents in Slovakia be given citizenship; 
and we are not saying that the Czech Republic does not have a right to 
protect its borders. Instead, a finite number of people, all of whom 
are, by definition, permanent residents in the Czech Republic anyway, 
must have their citizenship restored if the Czech Republic is to bring 
its law into conformity with the international standards it has 
adopted.

                          ____________________