[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 67 (Friday, May 22, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E968]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                RACIAL INTOLERANCE IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                          Friday, May 22, 1998

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my 
profound alarm at the future deterioration of the situation for 
minorities in the Czech Republic. Since the Velvet Revolution, that 
country has witnessed violent and sometimes deadly attacks against 
minorities--a pattern of violence which is not being addressed by the 
Czech Government.
  Let me describe the most recent examples of this unchecked wave of 
brutality. On May 7, an Algerian in a Prague subway station was stabbed 
by skinheads; the next day, two Indians were also attacked by skinheads 
in a subway station in Prague. On the night of May 16-17, a Rom was 
beaten by skinheads and left on a road, where he was subsequently hit 
and killed by a truck. And last week, local officials in two different 
Czech cities--Pilsen and Usti nad Labem--announced plans to build 
ghettos. In Usti nad Labem, authorities stated outright that they plan 
to build a 15-foot-high wall around Roma apartment buildings. Pilsen 
officials described their walled-off area as a place for putting 
``undesirables,'' using terminology reminiscent of that used by the 
Nazis. Former Czech Minister of Interior Jan Ruml has described these 
plans as ``inadmissible in a democratic society.''
  Unfortunately, these were not isolated events. Last November, 
Sudanese student Hassan Elamin Aldelradi was killed by a skinhead in 
Prague. In January, a Romani woman was seriously injured in Krnov when 
her home was fire bombed. In February, another Romani woman, Helena 
Bihariova was attacked, beaten, forced into the Elbe River and drowned. 
In early March, two Romani men in Decin were assaulted by a man with a 
pistol; a Congolese doctor was subsequently beaten in the town of 
Prostejov. In late March, skinheads in Trutnov attacked a Jewish 
couple. Each and every one of these has been widely described as a 
racially motivated attack.
  Apparently, skinheads are not convinced they will be held accountable 
for their acts and the Czech Government has failed to persuade Roma 
that authorities will do all in their power to protect them. Roma have 
increasingly shown their unwillingness to simply stand aside while 
their family members are attacked or murdered, one by one. A number of 
recent attacks against Roma have been followed by revenge attacks by 
Roma. The rule of law appears to be degenerating into the rule of the 
mob. Official statements like that made March 17 by the current 
Minister of Interior, Cyril Svoboda, exacerbate the charged atmosphere. 
Mr. Svoboda minimized the significance of racially motivated violence, 
claimed it is not destabilizing and then blamed non-governmental 
organizations for distorting the Czech Republic's image through their 
reporting on this problem.
  The most recent revenge attack by Roma occurred in the town of Novy 
Bor two weeks ago, when two Roma attacked Miroslav Sladek, a member of 
parliament campaigning for re-election. Sladek is the notorious head of 
the Czech ``Republican Party'' who has called for making one's ethnic 
identity as a Rom a criminal act.
  A fair amount of media attention has been given to the fact that the 
two Roma arrested in that case were immediately pardoned by President 
Havel. Understandably, President Havel's decision has been 
controversial. What I think is most interesting is his reasoning: 
according to the President's spokesperson, the President did not 
believe that the local police could conduct an impartial investigation 
into the matter. She noted, in particular, that the police have given 
an account of events which match that of Mr. Sladek's, but which is 
contradicted by other eyewitnesses. She also observed that human rights 
groups have reported a consistent failure of the police in that area to 
investigate and prosecute successfully racially motivated attacks 
against Roma.
  On May 14, the Czech Chamber of Deputies weighed in on this serious 
matter and expressed concern about the attack on Sladek. They even 
called for the Ministry of Interior to investigate the attack further 
to determine if it was a planned attack. Certainly, violence should not 
have been used against Sladek. As repugnant and disgusting as Sladek's 
views might be, he is entitled to them. What I do not understand is why 
the Czech Chamber of Deputies--which has remained silent when Roma have 
been attacked and even murdered--has chosen to express its concern in 
this manner. The bulk of the Czech cabinet has remained conspicuously 
silent regarding the most recent racially motivated skinhead attacks; 
certainly, the Prime Minister appears to have said nothing. Instead, 
Monika Horakova, a Romani representative on the recently created Inter-
Ministerial Commission for Romani Affairs, has been dispatched to 
dissuade Roma from taking matters into their own hands. In the end, 
however, Ms. Horakova is unlikely to be successful unless she has the 
full backing of the full cabinet.
  Mr. Speaker, the Czech Government should not wait until after the 
June elections to reach to racially motivated violence. With time, more 
innocent life could be lost. Every member of the Cabinet should condemn 
in decisive terms the acts of these repugnant skinheads; the Ministry 
of Interior, in particular, should unequivocally signal its commitment 
to ensure that the perpetrators of these acts are caught, prosecuted 
and convicted. And the discriminatory Czech citizenship law, which 
continues to telegraph the message that Roma are not wanted in that 
country, must be amended.

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