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Czechs divided on human rights

Minority issues rank low in Amnesty International poll

By Curtis M. Wong
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
December 17th, 2008 issue

MICHAEL HEITMANN/The Prague Post
David Pazdera, spokesman for the Czech Young Communist Union, was one of few participants at a protest on Palackého náměstí Dec. 10.
MICHAEL HEITMANN/The Prague Post
Jiří Vancl of Dům Agapé says more help for the homeless is needed.
Despite overwhelming support of human rights overall, local nongovernmental organizations say a new public opinion poll and response to area protests marking the 60th anniversary of the signing of the International Human Rights Agreement indicate minority issues rank low on the Czech Republic’s list of national concerns.
Prepared by the local chapter of Amnesty International in conjunction with local NGO Člověk v tísni (People in Need), the results of the poll, which surveyed 500 Czechs aged 15 and up chosen at random from throughout the country on a series of human rights concerns in November, were curiously fractured.
Unveiled on the Dec. 10 anniversary, the report showed that, while 95 percent of the participants felt human rights should be a national priority, 64 percent felt that government officials — who traditionally prioritize international human rights efforts — should be interested and active in violations committed abroad. Although a solid 50 percent of those polled believed that human rights conditions are maintained at a suitable level within the country, a mere 8 percent felt the Czech Republic should do more to maintain the human rights of minorities, including immigrants and refugees.
Many involved with the survey said they were distressed by the particularly low number of people supporting minority rights. Some felt the opinion of the survey’s participants was representative of what they perceive as the country’s overall apathy toward minority issues, particularly those pertaining to the Roma.
“It’s a negative trend, and it’s worrying,” said Amnesty International spokeswoman Eva Dobrovolná. Noting recent waves of verbal and physical violence against Roma, such as those in Litvínov, north Bohemia, the site of a recent racially motivated clash between police and right-wing extremists, she added: “This is one of the most urgent human rights issues in our country, and there is only silence on the part of Czech officials. There’s room to do a lot more in this area.”   
The poll’s results came as little surprise to local minority rights experts, who said the statistics were likely influenced by ongoing tensions between native Czechs and the Roma community.
Gwendolyn Albert, a local human rights activist, defended the results as simply being reflective of the nation’s larger, more deep-rooted problems.  
“You have to recall that, for most Czechs, most associations with a multicultural society are aligned with some of the darkest periods in their history,” she said. “It’s often seen as being [anti-nationalist] … it’s very hard for many Czechs to understand that sticking up for the most vulnerable members of society means sticking up for themselves.”
Though acknowledging room for improvement in minority rights, others said they were mostly pleased with the overall results.
“I think we can now see [human rights] as one of the country’s declared priorities,” said Daša van der Horst of Amnesty International Czech Republic, who presented the findings at a press conference that day.
She noted the results are especially important as the country prepares to take on the European Union presidency next month. “It’s a good opportunity for the Czech Republic, now that government officials can see we support this initiative. We believe the government should see this as a citizens’ appeal.”
Overcoming history
The anniversary was marked by citywide protests and fanfare, but reaction to those events was also mixed. In the evening, a well-publicized protest for homeless citizens’ rights at Palackého náměstí drew a mere handful of attendants, many of them local journalists.
According to Jiří Vancl, secretary of Dům Agapé, a local NGO specializing in homeless citizens’ issues, turnout for the annual event, now in its fourth year, has consistently been sparse.
“It’s been like this every year, but I don’t want to give it up,” Vancl said. “My motto is that if you save one person, you can save the world. If you promise to help one person or five, you’re still helping.”
Among the event’s few attendants was Jaromír Kohlíček, MEP, who criticized the government’s treatment of homeless citizens’ issues, saying they paled in comparison to welfare efforts in the United States and the United Kingdom, as well as in neighboring countries.
“It’s very upsetting to know that we have legislature for animal welfare but nothing in place that deals with the care of homeless citizens,” Kohlíček said. “We have to do something, whether we are in Prague or in north Bohemia. It’s contrary to our otherwise civilized European traditions.”
Vancl echoed Kohlíček’s sentiments. “The approach that Prague officials have is based on repression, and the homeless are a totally excluded group. In the Czech Republic, they can’t expect much assistance from the state. … There should be projects that strive to help homeless citizens to return to a normal life.”
Lack of government and civil support has done little to dampen Dům Agapé’s efforts, the latest of which is a new campaign that will allow city residents to “adopt” a homeless citizen, Vancl added.
While calling local acknowledgment of Human Rights Day a step in the right direction, Albert noted that, for many Czechs, any kind of civic involvement was still seen as foreign.
“It’s hard to imagine the gap between democracy and a totalitarian state where civil involvement was discredited and nonexistent,” she said. “The past 15 years has been a process of people learning how to negotiate these types of ideas in a democratic state.”

Curtis M. Wong can be reached at cwong@praguepost.com


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