Czech NGOs disconcerted by official report on extremism

Yesterday the Government of the Czech Republic took note of the official “Report on the Fight against Extremism on the Territory of the Czech Republic for 2010” and simultaneously evaluated and updated its “Concept for the Fight against Extremism”. Three NGOs participating in a Czech Interior Ministry Working Group on this issue are hereby publishing a joint statement on both the Concept and the Report in an effort to draw attention to problematic claims made by the documents and to emphasize positive steps being taken by the state.

The Report, which is of the usual length and structure, presents information on developments in the extreme-right political scene and an overview of crimes committed with extremist subtexts. It includes the terms “hate crime” and “hate violence” (“násilí/trestná činnost z nenávisti”) for the first time since such reports began to be regularly issued. In future, these terms could replace the less precise term “extremist violence” (“extremistické násilí”). Hate violence is violence committed against a person because of his or her membership in a social group defined by a shared characteristic, such as age, ethnicity, faith, health status, nationality, or sexual orientation.

“While this change in the Report primarily concerns the level of terminology, it is an important step forward,” commented Klára Kalibová, director of the NGO In IUSTITIA, which assists the victims of hate violence. In her view, this hints at a change in the public administration’s approach to such incidents. “For the past two years we have contributed to trainings of police commanders on this issue. We are convinced that the role of the police in detecting hate crime is key and that the nonprofit sector can collaborate with them on this issue as a partner,” Kalibová said, adding that there is a need for “massive steps forward in the area of prevention and in police approach toward the victims of hate crimes.”

The Concept and the Report each have problematic areas. Zdeněk Ryšavý, director of the ROMEA nonprofit organization, was struck by the fact that the Report submitted by the Czech Interior Ministry to the Government states that the perpetrators of extremist crimes are left-wing and right-wing extremists – and in some cases, Roma people. “The Report gives the impression that the Czech state is tracking the ethnicity of perpetrators. That contravenes constitutional norms and our international obligations and could negatively impact coexistence between the majority and the minority,” Ryšavý said.

When asked about the information on perpetrators, Kalibová said: “The Report says nothing about the motivation of the individual perpetrators even though their motives are on file as part of police statistics. It is not clear why data were only published on attacks motivated by anti-Semitism and not on attacks motivated by hatred of Muslim people, Roma people, or Vietnamese people.” Kalibová says that in her view such information is key to establishing effective preventive and repressive mechanisms, as well as for awareness as to who is most threatened by hate violence in the Czech Republic.

Dáša van der Horst, director of the Czech branch of Amnesty International, also sees deficiencies in the Government’s approach on questions of extremism. “When this government took office, we saw that the area of extremism and the situation of persons threatened by this pathological phenomenon was not a priority for them, even though the fight against all forms of class-based, racial, and social hatred and intolerance was one of the priorities of the Government’s Policy Statement,” she says. She also recalls recent events in Brno, Krupka, and Nový Bydžov, where promoters of the extreme right were able to march through Roma-inhabited localities shouting racist slogans without an adequate response from the state. The Report’s flaws may also be related to the fact that, unlike last year, the document was not submitted to the Working Group for comment prior to being finalized.

One group of people at risk of hate violence that the Report completely ignores are those attacked because of their gender identification or sexual orientation. “The Czech Republic does not specifically investigate crimes for homophobic motivation, even though the results of such attacks can be fatal for the victim. If you are attacked because you are gay or lesbian, your right to family and private life can be irreversibly violated. Victimization on this basis can be much more intense than other hate incidents,” Kalibová says.

According to research conducted recently by Olga Pechová at Palacký University in Olomouc, as many as 14 % of gay men have experienced physical assault because of their sexual orientation. Proposals aimed at changing the approach taken by the public administration toward homophobia and at amending legislation have been repeatedly presented to the Interior Ministry Working Group, so far without effect.

Klára Kalibová, director and lawyer, In IUSTITIA, o.s.

Dáša van der Horst, director, Amnesty International Czech Republic

Zdeněk Ryšavý, Executive Director, ROMEA, o.s.