MINELRES: UN Critical of Czech Efforts on Roma

[European Roma Rights Center]

United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination Issues 
Concluding Observations on Czech Republic

The European Roma Rights Center (ERRC) welcomes the Concluding Observations 
of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination 
(CERD) on the compliance of the Czech Republic with the International 
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD).

In its Concluding Observations released at the conclusion of its 63rd 
Session in August 2003, the Committee stated that it "remains concerned at 
the continuance of acts of racially motivated violence and incitement to 
hatred, and the persistence of intolerance and de facto discrimination, in 
particular with regard to the Roma minority". The Committee recommended 
that the Czech government "pursue and intensify its efforts towards more 
effective application of existing legislation".

The Committee also expressed concerns about "allegations of racially 
motivated ill-treatment, ineffective protection, and discrimination against 
the Roma by law enforcement officials, especially the Police". Furthermore, 
the Committee noted that it has been "suggested that allegations of abuse 
by law enforcement officials are not always promptly and impartially 
investigated". The Committee stressed that "prompt and impartial 
investigations are paramount in countering discriminatory attitudes and 
practices". The Committee recommended that the Czech government "intensify 
its efforts to end such discriminatory practices". It also requested that 
the Czech government "include in its next periodic report statistical 
information on the number and nature of complaints of racial discrimination 
received prosecutions launched and penalties imposed".

As regards anti-discrimination legislation, in spite of "efforts of the 
Government to elaborate a comprehensive anti discrimination law", the 
Committee is concerned about "the difficulties faced during this process". 
The Committee encouraged the State party to "complete its efforts with 
regard to the comprehensive anti-discrimination law promptly and to 
subsequently ensure its effective enforcement".

As regards access to justice, the Committee stated that it is concerned at 
"continued reports that judges in criminal proceedings are reluctant to 
issue findings that crimes are racially motivated". The Committee expressed 
its regret about "the lack of information on specific cases where victims 
of discrimination have been afforded adequate reparation". The Committee 
also encouraged the Czech government to "promptly establish a legal aid 
system for alleged victims of racism". It further requested the government 
to "include in its next periodic report information on the number of 
persons that have benefited from legal aid and information on cases where 
victims have been provided adequate reparation".

As regards employment, an issue of concern for the Committee continues to 
be "the unemployment rate among the Roma", which "remains 
disproportionately high". This concern "is compounded by the information 
related to the practice of usury and its negative economic and social 
consequences for the Roma". The Committee urged the State party to 
"continue and intensify poverty reduction and employment programmes for the 
Roma, and also to consider establishing a functional loan system for 
socially weak sections of the population, including the Roma, as an 
alternative to usury".

As regards the right to housing, the Committee noted that in the short term 
"construction of housing units which are predominantly occupied by Roma may 
be successful", but stressed that in the long term, "such solutions may 
perpetuate segregation". The Committee further expressed its concern at 
"the evictions from flats or threats to evict reportedly faced by many Roma 
families".

The Committee encouraged the Czech government to "continue its activities 
in the area of research related to the problem of housing and to seek 
solutions promoting social integration of the Roma". As to evictions, the 
Committee recommended that the State party "devise measures to prevent 
evictions or mitigate their negative effects, in particular on the most 
vulnerable groups".

On education, The Committee "remains concerned, as does the Committee on 
the Rights of the Child (CRC/C/15/Add.201 para.54), at the continued 
placement of a disproportionately high number of Roma children in special 
schools". Drawing attention upon its General Recommendation No. XXVII, the 
Committee urged the Czech Government to "continue and intensify the efforts 
to ameliorate the educational situation of the Roma through, inter alia, 
enrolment in mainstream schools, recruitment of school personnel from among 
members of Roma communities, and sensitization of teachers and other 
education professionals to the social fabric and world views of Roma 
children and those with apparent learning difficulties".

In spite of initiatives by the Czech government to combat discriminatory 
attitudes and practices, a matter of concern for the Committee is the 
"persistence of negative attitudes towards minorities and refugees, among 
public officials, in the media and among the general public". Furthermore, 
the Committee is concerned that "the judiciary, unlike the police, does not 
seem to benefit from sensitization and educational activities". The 
Committee recommended that "the State party continue and intensify its 
anti-racism campaigns and other efforts aimed at combating racial and 
ethnic stereotyping". It also recommended that the State party, "while 
pursuing public education campaigns, continue and diversify targeted 
training programs for professionals, such as the police, judges and other 
public officials working with the Roma and other vulnerable groups".

The full text of the United Nations Committees Concluding Observations on 
Czech Republic is available at:

http://www.ohchr.org/tbry/cerd/Czech_Republic.pdf

The ERRC submitted written comments to the Committee for consideration 
during its review of the Czech Republic's compliance with the ICERD on July 
28, 2003, aimed at providing the Committee with information related to the 
segregation of Romani children in the Czech educational system. The full 
text of the ERRC letter of concern, as well as other ERRC publications on 
Roma rights in the Czech Republic, is available at:

http://errc.org/publications/indices/czechrepublic.shtml


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The European Roma Rights Center is an international public interest law
organisation which monitors the rights of Roma and provides legal defence
in cases of human rights abuse. For more information about the European
Roma Rights Center, visit the ERRC on the web at http://www.errc.org.

European Roma Rights Center
1386 Budapest 62
P.O. Box 906/93
Hungary


Phone: +36 1 4132200
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