Czech Government Human Rights Commissioner: Roma people faced unprecedented pressure from extremists in Krupka

Press release on the events that occurred during the assembly of the Workers’ Social Justice Party in Krupka on Saturday, 9 April 2011

On Saturday, 9 April, a public assembly and march took place in Krupka which were organized by the ultra-right Workers’ Social Justice Party (Dělnická strana sociální spravedlnosti – DSSS). The illegal, extreme-nationalist National Resistance (Národní odpor – NO) organization also invited its supporters to the event through its website.

Those who convened this assembly are continuing the tactics previously used by the Workers’ Party (Dělnická strana – DS), which was eventually dissolved by court order. Two years ago the DS also convened two such public assemblies in rapid succession. Coming on the heels of the recent public assembly in Nový Bydžov, the latest DSSS gathering in Krupka is the second such action by this party to be obviously aimed at inciting hatred against the Roma minority.

I am deeply disturbed by the fact that the residents of the housing estate that was targeted in Krupka on Saturday faced unprecedented pressure from the promoters of extreme nationalism. The Police of the Czech Republic, in accordance with the law, protected the announced assembly and ensured that the march took place along its route into the housing estate and out of it.

During this march, Roma people were confronted with vulgar insults and threats and were forced to leave the area near their homes to make way for the aggressive promoters of the DSSS. This situation primarily has a devastating influence on children and can impact their further development and their sense of security.

In this context I very much welcome the recent decision of the District Court in Teplice to issue a criminal injunction against a citizen from Slovakia who made a racist speech at the DSSS assembly in Krupka. He was given a six-month suspended sentence for inciting racial hatred.

I consider this an exceptionally important precedent and I call on the Police of the Czech Republic to qualify, without delay, all of the speeches given by those who addressed the crowd in Nový Bydžov on 12 March 2011 as inciting racial hatred. From the publicly available audio recordings (available, for example, at www.romea.cz) it is obvious that the speeches made at the DSSS gathering in Nový Bydžov also incited racial hatred. For example, the man who has been sentenced for his public speech in Krupka gave an almost identical speech in Nový Bydžov, and other very radical speeches were also made there.

As Czech Government Human Rights Commissioner I am doing all I can to make sure the state institutions collaborate with one another to the greatest possible extent on the next essential steps to be taken in this matter. I am also doing all I can to help coordinate activities against rising right-wing extremism in the Czech Republic.