[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 45 (Wednesday, April 16, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E680]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         DOGS HAVE MORE FREEDOM

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 16, 1997

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, ``Dogs have more freedom than 
us; at least they are not afraid to go outside.'' Mr. Speaker, this is 
the conclusion of a young Romani father in Slovakia who recounted his 
experience with growing skinhead violence in his country. His story is, 
regrettably, just one of the many documented in a January 1997 report 
prepared by the European Roma Rights Center [ERRC] entitled ``Time of 
the Skinheads: Denial and Exclusion of Roma in Slovakia.'' This study 
describes a grim pattern of violent assaults against Roma perpetrated 
by skinhead extremists; it also suggests that local police forces have 
been, at best, unwilling to fulfill their obligation to protect their 
citizens and, at worst, have themselves actually engaged in violence 
against Roma. Descriptions of a 1995 organized attack on the entire 
Romani community in the town of Jarovnice--something that reads like a 
pogrom from a bygone era--were especially chilling.
  Since Slovakia became an independent state in 1993, a great deal of 
international attention has, rightly, focused on the status of the 
Hungarian minority in that country, a community that makes up 
approximately 10 percent of the population. Slovakia also has another 
large minority population which is less well known abroad. While the 
exact number of Roma in Slovakia is contested, it is estimated to be in 
the hundreds of thousands. These people--the survivors of Nazi efforts 
to eradicate the Roma altogether--now face increasing violent attacks 
against their homes, their villages, and their lives.
  The problems of Roma in post-Communist European countries are many, 
and often defy easy answers. But at least three of the problems 
described in ``Time of the Skinheads'' do have obvious solutions. 
First, the Slovak Government has failed to demonstrate any serious 
effort to acknowledge and address the widespread problem of violent 
skinhead attacks on Roma. On the contrary, some public officials--
members of the ruling coalition--have repeatedly made crude racist 
remarks about the Roma. As long as such remarks stand uncontested or 
unchallenged by Prime Minister Meciar, skinheads will believe that they 
can attack Roma with impunity. Clearly, local police officials take 
their cues from the top. Accordingly, any improvement in the situation 
of Roma in Slovakia must begin with the leadership of that country 
stating that racism and bigotry will not be tolerated.
  Second, the ERRC report described a pattern of excessive use of force 
by the police against Roma. When the victims seek to bring a complaint 
against the police, the charges are, in effect, reversed and the Rom is 
charged with assaulting the police. Significantly, the Council of 
Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture released a report on 
April 3, which also documented a problem of police brutality in 
Slovakia.
  That report, like the report of the ERRC, noted that the failure to 
ensure that those charged with a criminal offense have adequate legal 
representation has significantly contributed to this miscarriage of 
justice. One of the purposes of providing such representation is to 
guarantee a fair trial, consistent with the due process of law, and to 
ensure that those accused of crimes do not have confessions extracted 
from them by force.
  The failure to provide the accused with defense counsel violates one 
of the most important provisions of the international human rights 
system--the right to an attorney, a right articulated in article 14 of 
the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights as well as 
para. 5.16 of the OSCE Copenhagen Document. I hope the Slovak 
Government will take immediate measures to redress this problem.
  Finally, the ERRC report on Slovakia indicates that Slovak localities 
continue to use a system of tightly controlled residency permits to 
restrict the freedom of movement of Roma. Not only does this practice 
offend the nondiscrimination provisions of the Helsinki process, this 
system also harkens back to the rigid controls of the Communist days. 
If people are not permitted to move where the jobs are, how can a free 
market system flourish?
  Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, this pattern of violence against Roma is 
not unique to Slovakia. The ERRC, which was founded to defend the human 
rights of Roma, has also issued major reports on Austria and Romania. 
In addition, its most recent newsletter reported on problems Roma face 
in several other European countries. Clearly, there is much more that 
many governments in Central Europe can and should do to address these 
problems.
  I realize that Slovakia is in the midst of grappling with a very 
broad range of fundamental questions regarding its development and 
future. The basic human rights of Roma should be a part of that agenda. 
I see no better time. Will Slovakia enter the 21st century as a country 
which seeks to unite its citizens in achieving common goals, or will it 
lag behind with those countries which have permitted nationalism and 
racism to divide their people and weaken the very state they worked so 
hard to create?

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