Extremism

Ministry of Interior of the Czech Republic
Security Policy Section

Report on the Issue of Extremism in the Czech Republic in 1999

»contents

Footnotes:

1 Miroslav Mareš M.A., the Faculty of Social Science, Masaryk University, Brno, Ph.D. Zdeněk Zbořil, the Faculty of Arts, Charles University

2 The Czech Government used the same procedure in preparing Resolution No. 1225 from 15th November 1999 relating to the Report on meeting the obligations of the international agreement on the elimination of all forms of racial discrimination. The Report names the civic associations which, in the Czech Intelligence Service’s opinion, are suspicious of anti-establishment activities. Most of their attitudes can be proven from open sources, internal documents, etc. The Ministry of Interior, of course, does not suppose that every member of such associations pursues anti-establishment aims.

3 The aforementioned facts prove that it is required to permanently pay attention to current as well as emerging organisations in terms of their respective illegal activities since such activities can create a background for very dangerous offences committed by individuals.

4 The Report devotes attention to extremism abroad, particularly in the Central European geopolitical region. The analysis of the situation in the neighbouring countries clearly reveals that the Czech extremist scene is similar to the German extremist scene. The attitudes of the German Ministry of Interior towards extremism and extremists are unambiguous and they demonstrate political determination. The security units are open towards civil society and provide perfected services by publishing a range of books, brochures and other print-outs issued on the federal or provincial Ministries of Interior level. This way, the citizens are well informed through the following publications, which were published in 1999 of: Right-wing extremist political parties in Germany; Right-wing extremism in Germany; Right-wing extremism development in new provinces; Right-wing extremist skinheads; Skinheads – groups and concerts; Extremist efforts on the Internet; Monitoring Islamic efforts as a task for constitution protection; Extremist Islamic efforts in Germany; Militant left-wing extremism, or Militant autonomists.

5 This is a summarising term for anarchist, trockist, and autonomous attitudes. Such attitudes have some common features, however there are differences sometimes showing real discrepancies (the level of organisation and centralisation, relation to politics, willingness to co-operate with extremist organisations of a different type, etc.).

6 See Report on proceeding of the state authorities in prosecuting crimes motivated by racism and xenophobia or crimes committed by supporters of extremist groups. Prague, March 1998. 2. Definition of Terms, p. 2-4. See Report on proceeding of the state authorities in prosecuting crimes motivated by racism and xenophobia or crimes committed by supporters of extremist groups and on activities of extremist groups in the Czech Republic, Prague, September 1999, 2.1.2 Description of Terms, p. 7-8.

7 The terms ”extremist crime” or ”crime with an extremist subtext” is also used in ”Report on the Public Order and Internal Security Situation in the Czech Republic” which is annually submitted to the Czech Government and Parliament (the Chamber of Deputies) for their approval.

8 The Czech Intelligence Service constantly fulfilled the task contained in item 5 of the Annex to Government Resolution No. 720/1999 (”To create an updated list of individual extremist organisations operating in the Czech Republic, including the estimations of numbers of their members and supporters, and to monitor their co-operation with foreign extremist groups”). This is an ongoing task. The information gathered by the CIS while meeting this task, was used e.g. in Ministry of Interior’s administrative proceedings and prosecution proceedings, which are described below.

9 It is a CIS working term, see also footnote 36.

10 “All-Slav” term is, in an extremist context, only a blanket term for the effort to restore Russian hegemony in Central Europe.

11 See Report on proceedings of the state authorities …..in 1998, p.12-14.

12 See Annex No.1: Right-wing Extremist Events (demonstrations, meetings, and concerts) Monitored by the Czech Police in 1999. Map.

13 See Annex No. 2: The Districts Where the Czech Police Record the Seats of Right-wing Extremist Organisations. Map.

14 In the past (essentially since the concert held in pub U Zábranských) the majority of meetings and concerts took place outside Prague.

15 In the framework of skinhead subculture, there are-apart from an apolitical right-wing extremist group of skinheads, also left-wing extremists, and anti-fascist skinheads. If the skinhead movement is mentioned in this report, it is always a right-wing skinhead movement if it is not stated otherwise.

16 See Chapter 7 – Application of state power over the freedom of assembly – punishment for of associations registered with the Ministry of Interior.

17 The last victim of World War Two was war criminal Rudolf Hess. During the assembly, however, there was not any sign of such a motive allowing for the dismissal of the assembly. Only several flags with crosses turned up. According to an expert’s opinion, they were not symbols promoting movements aimed at suppressing citizens’ rights and freedoms (Sections 260, 261 of the Criminal Code). The symbols displayed were those of the German army from World War One, which are signs of militarism and nationalism. Only two participants of the assembly showed unlawful conduct (they raised their arms in a fascist greeting). They were apprehended and prosecuted under the Section 261 of the Criminal Code.

18 Combat 18 – British extreme right-wing organisation supporting terrorism was established in 1992 and has approximately 50 to 200 members. In April 1999, there was suspicion that they participated in bomb attacks in London mullet-cultural quarter Brixton and near Brick Lane in East London.

19 International Third Position (ITS) is an international organisation, which operates in Western Europe and which was founded in the 80s in Great Britain. Th British nationalists supposed that it was impossible to use a political way and decided therefore for an idea of slow transfer to the economy with the aim to achieve independence from the state. ITP, which considers itself an alternative to the European Union, endeavours to establish a range of corporations – farms, country estates, publishing houses, accommodation facilities, training and translating centres, etc. The staff of such facilities would only be people from nationalistic and fascist organisations, and those seeking asylum.

20 In 2000, the aforementioned journals have not been published since the Patriotic Front merged the both journals under one political monthly journal, Národní politika. According to the editor-in-chief, this monthly journal is supported by editors of the former ”Týdeník Politika”; authors around the self-published journal, ”Národní myšlenka”, are also involved in writing the articles published.

21 This explains the fact that the Patriotic Front, which considers itself anti-Communist, sent a greeting letter to the All-Slav Congress held in Prague in 1998.

22 The nation-wide Patriotic Front Congress was held in Pardubice on 15th April 2000. Jan Skácel M.A. was elected as the new Chairman of the Patriotic Front. A new board was elected as well. Jan Skácel M.A. (born 1934) was, after 1948, imprisoned for subversion. Later, he studied law. He is a speaker and strategy-maker for the Patriotic Front. He has a good knowledge of law and history. He is retired.

23 The Patriotic Front wants to initiate the establishment of their own political party but the civic association Patriotic Front should be preserved.

24 The police checked 217 persons. Neither incident nor unlawful conduct happened. The vice-mayor of Prague 3 was present as well. The similar assembly planned for Prague 5 was banned by the Prague 5 District Office.

25 See Chapter 7 – Measures Adopted to Eliminate Extremist Crimes - punishment of the associations registered with the Ministry of Interior.

26 The foundation of a political party – the National Social Alliance – was advised also in ”Vlajka” – Journal for Contemporary Patriotism (Volume I. no. 4, 14th July 1999). There was also a signature sheet requiring the establishment of this party and showing all necessary details required by the Ministry of Interior for validation of a relevant signature. The preparatory committee collected a required number of signatures and applied for registration of the political party under the name of the National Social Alliance (NSA). The Ministry of Interior rejected the registration (in 2000) because the application was not in compliance with the relevant law.

27 See Chapter 7 – Activities of the Ministry of Interior and the Czech Police

28 For example on 17th April 1999 Vl. Skoupý organised under the sponsorship of NA a march in Rakovník in which supporters of the former B&H DB and PF members also participated; on 25th September 1999 NA held in Rakovník a demonstration ”For the freedom of speech and against the amnesty granted by the President of the Czech Republic to the district police director – Mr. Bindík”; on 18th December 1999 NA arranged in Rakovník district a concert of right-wing extremist with about 250 participants.

29 This text is based on the open information sources and information of the Czech police.

30 Apart from other common proclamation by the Republican Youth, National Alliance and Patriotic Front published in Republika newspaper, No. 50/1999 read under the heading 10 years were enough – we do not thank you, get out of here.

31 See Chapter 5.2 Modern Technology and Extremists.

32 People Global Action (PGA) is an international anarcho-autonomous, anti-capitalistic, and anti-global movement, which was officially established in 1998. It fights against institutions like the WTO, IMF or EU persuading a ”confrontational attitude”. It is not organised and does not have any headquarters, operating only through a co-ordinated Gonvenors Committee. That Committee consists of twelve activists from the countries determined in advance. There is no Czech representative on it. The PGA is the author of the ”street party” idea.

33 These groups have, in some cases, close links to neo-Bolshevik groups, to the Communist Union of Youth and the Communist Youth of Czechoslovakia.

34 The Ministry of Interior received notification of the termination of the Initiative against Racism as of 10th September 1999. This initiative turned up just once on 28th October 1999. It was rather an attempt by the Socialist Organization of Workers (SOW) to use the name of IAR which is not identical with IAR.

35 Local Street Parties were held in the whole Czech Republic (e.g. in Brno or in Pilsen where there was a fight between three skinhead movement supporters and eight left-wing extremists. The three skinhead were injured.

36 The expression ”neo -Bolshevik” is, in this context, used as a working term derived from the CIS documents. It is a term adequately describing all negative features of the Lenin-like interpretation of communism. At the same time, the prefix ”neo” describes the changed situation in which this sort of ideology is used. Essentially, it is a parallel to an understandable and generally acceptable term ”neo-nazism” without making these two movements identical. (Bolshevism is understood as the organisational form, strategy and tactics of Leninism; a generally used expression for the Soviet communist model, mainly before the World War Two. It is also considered to be a process to make an originally European communism more Russian; i.e. it is a Russian form of the Marxism, Governmental system and ideologies of socialist countries.).

37Among traitors and felons, they mainly include all representatives of the development in the Czech Republic after the 1989 revolution. The PCC is striving to gather evidence, which would prove this theory.

38 In 1999, there was no apparent dramatic development in the strengthening of the CPP membership base on account of the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia. The attempts to unify the orthodox supporters of the regime prior November 1989 were related to so-called Communist Convents organised by the PCC.

39 The party representatives usually interchange the number of signatures gathered for PCC registration – about 20,000 – for the number of actual members.

40 The name of the Party of Czechoslovak Communists was changed to the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia on 16th March 2000. See Chapter 7 Activities of the Ministry of Interior and the Czech Police.

41 It was founded by the former members of the Communist Union of Youth, who were dissatisfied with an apparently low radical attitude in the organisation.

42 Several times in 1999, usuccessfully tried to organise a demonstration in front of the private villa of the President of the Czech Republic. They tried to penetrate TV NOVA and in TV news to read their proclamation (the security guards prevented them from entering the building). In Přerov, where the press conference with the Czech Prime Minister was held, they wanted to demonstrate their disagreement with the Czech Republic’s accession into NATO by throwing eggs (they were prevented from doing it by the Czech police).

43 The Foundation of the International Slavonic Committee was initiated in a Russian environment. The application of the preparatory committed for establishment of the International Slavonic Committee with a registered seat in Prague was rejected by the Ministry of Interior. This decision was confirmed by the decision of the Minister of Interior on 2nd March 2000. The Slavonic Committee of the Czech Republic was registered with the Ministry of Interior on 24th April 1998.

44 This Chapter is processed on the basis of open sources. See Miloslav Žán, Sects – an actual problem, Kriminalistický sborník, No. 2, 1999, p. 34-38; Ladislava Kulíková - Lenka Šimková, Sects or new religious movements?, Kriminalistický sborník, No. 1, 1999, p. 30-36 and the cited literature.

45 See Chapter 5.1 The extremist Scene in the Central European Geopolitical Area

46 The Society for Sect and New Religious Movement Studies with a seat in Prague and Brno which co-operates also with the Czech police monitors and watches apparent sects and so-called new religious movements on a long-term basis.

47 The Ministry of Interior is preparing some measures to increase efficiency combating domestic and international terrorism.

48 This Chapter was processed with the help of information provided by Criminal Police Headquarters of the Police Presidium of the Czech Republic. The information provided contained an assessment of the situation on the extremist scene and information of regional experts dealing with extremist issues.

49 See Annex 3: Numbers of Crimes of Extremist Nature and Their Proportion in Nation-wide Crimes of this Kind.

50 See Annex No. 4: Estimated Numbers of Skinhead and Anarcho-autonomous Movement Supporters in Individual Regions in the Czech Republic as of 31st December 1999 (in comparison with 1998) The figures presented are approximations. Estimated numbers of extremist movement supporters resulted from operative police specialists working in the field of extremism. To determine the reasons for the stated decline is very complex because it can be influenced by a number of factors. One of the many factors affecting the police estimations is, to a certain extent, a subjective view.

51 See Annex No. 5: The Districts with the Highest Concentrations of Skinhead Movement Supporters. Map
See Annex No. 6: The Districts with the Highest Concentrations of Anarcho-autonomous Supporters.

52 During the largest events the Czech police tried to separate the ”antagonists” and not to allow physical contact. The Czech police have a very complicated position during such interventions; they were criticised by the public for favouring the right-wing extremists and only intervening against left-wing anarcho-autonomous movement supporters. However the fact is, that individuals from the anarcho-autonomous scene tend to seek out clashes with their ”ideological opponents” while the right-wing extremist try to build up an image of order and discipline. The legal criterion for police intervention is the breach of peace or a crime commitment.

53 According to the information provided by the Organised Crime Investigation Office of the Czech Criminal Police – Terrorism Department – no crimes of organised nature related to extremism were detected in 1999. The same applies to information on persons, groups and other facts indicating the prepared misuse of extremist groups. No actual links to extreme Islamic groups were detected, despite the fact that some members of the Arab community in Prague participated in some events held by left-wing extremist organisations.

54 See Annex No. 7: The Most Serious Cases in the Czech Republic in 1999 from the Point of View of the Czech Police. Map. There are cases important from the point of view of the whole Czech Republic. In each region, the police indicated the most serious cases-mostly physical assaults. The attacks against policemen were perceived in the same way.

55 Proving such crimes is more demanding and complicated, it requires expert’s opinions – political, historical, sociological and other opinions from other scientific branches.

56 See Chapter 3: Trends for and Nature of the Extremist Scene in 1999.

57 The aforementioned articles repeatedly used the greeting ”Sieg Heil” in a Czech translation. Furthermore in the article ”Nice Journey” he wrote that he would offer Jews a free of charge ”lease” of cattle carriages strewn with straw for their transport. In the article ”Two Different Standards” he gave a vote of sympathy for the offenders who dishonoured a memorial to Jewish girls in Triton and casted doubts about the holocaust. In another text, he again casted doubts about the holocaust. He wrote: In the near future the truth of the reputed gas chambers in the concentration camp in Polish Auswitz will come to light because the whole Jewish sci-fi of 6 million victims now stands and falls with the fabricated holocaust.”

58 See Annex No.8: Crimes of Racial or Other Extremist Nature Recorded in the Czech Republic in 1999 (according to the official criminal statistics). Map

59 See Annex No.9: Proportion of Individual Regions in Crimes of Extremist Nature in the Czech Republic in 1999 In the Czech Republic in 1999, Prague’s and both the Moravian regions’ proportion of crimes with extremist motivation accounted for 57%.

60 The evaluation is compiled from the official criminal statistics, which include only the cases with a final criminal-law qualification; they do not describe all potential offences. There are only districts/areas where 5 or more crimes were committed.

61 According to police information, skinheads were the principal offenders of verbal and physical attacks on Roma. Generally, those offender can be described from the point of age and education as follows: persons with primary education, pupils of apprenticeship centres and those who have passed apprenticeship examinations. Yet, there are also secondary school students and the rare college graduate. The age of those offenders is 17 – 25 years. However, offenders who are 14 or 15 are not exceptional.

62 See Information of the Supreme Prosecutor’s Office, U.S. State Department Report on observation of human rights in the Czech Republic.

63 By item No. 2 in the Annex to Resolution No. 720/1999 the Government instructed the Minister of Interior in co-operation with the first Vice- Prime Minister and the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs ”to prepare and submit to the Government an analysis of the regions (areas) most affected by extremist crimes and also to incorporate the factors and circumstances influencing this unfavourable state.” This task has been already met. On 19th April 2000, the Czech Government took cognisance of the document, ”Analysis of the regions (areas) most affected by extremist crimes.” This sub-chapter takes account of the analysis results.

64 See Annex No. 10: The District/Areas Affected on a Long-term Basis with Extremist Activities (divided into three zones accoridng to the risks). Map.

65 This Chapter was compiled using factsheets of the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The Office for Foreign relations and Information and 1999 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, U.S. Department of State, February 25, 2000.

66 The view that globalisation is a contemporary expression for colonialism is widely spread in the third world.

67 During the World Economic Forum Meeting held in Swiss Davos (January 2000) the demonstrators from Switzerland, France and Italy arrived. They were carrying banners mainly against the economic hegemony of the USA. Approximately 2,000 persons, despite the official ban, gathered in the centre, where they chanted slogans against globalisation, damaging the environment, genetically modified food, etc.

68 In comparison with 1998, the number of crimes against foreigners decreased. However in the East Germany provinces, a higher number of attacks against foreigners was observed.

69 For example, at the end of November 1999, they placed more than 300 right-wing extremist under arrest directly at the forbidden skinhead concert. During the raid the police seized many nazi symbols, video cassettes and CDs containing Nazi topics.

70 In the elections to the Federal Assembly the Republicans got the largest portion of the total number of votes for the extreme parties (3.3%).

71 In July 1999, this part of the extremists openly claimed their agreement with the article published in the forbidden journal - Hamburger Sturmand proclaimed a terrorist strategy formerly used by the left-wing terrorist organisation, Red Army Fraction (RAF). It is probably the first time a right-extremist campaigned for terrorism.

72 See 1999 the USA Report 1999.

73 Austrian neo-nazi Schimanek, who provided para-military excretes for juvenile boys in Lower Austria, was sentenced to 15 years (this sentenced was later reduced to 8 years). In October 1999, 69 suspicious neo-nazis from Upper Austria were imprisonment. This group maintained contact with neo-nazis from several countries. They were said to establish a centre for para-military exercises in the Bohemian borderland.

74 This success was preceded by a crushing victory of the FPO in election is Corinthia, where this Party got 42.1% and thus became the strongest local party. The FPO is usually described as a right-wing, populist party using both right-wing and left-wing rhetoric.

75 According to the information published by the Minister responsible for intelligence services, Gabor Szabó, the domestic (i.e. Hungarian) political extremist groups represent a rising risk to the security situation of the country.

76 Hungary’s Skinhead Movement e.g. in Homgrogd sent a letter to the Roma Community Committee through which they threatened its members with death.
On 15th February 1999, during the demonstration of neo-nazis who commemorated the killed German and Hungarian soldiers in one of the battles of World War Two a conflict with the police occurred and 26 foreign participants (Germans, Austrians and Slovaks) were expelled from Hungary.

77 The Slovak National Party considerably strengthened its anti-Hungarian attitudes. In February 1999, the vice-chairwoman of this Party, in her speech, claimed the Party to be heirs to the heritage of Andrej Hlinka and Tiso’s fascist Slovak State. The Slovak skinheads have considered themselves for a long time to be heirs to the radical Mach’s wing of Hlinka’s Slovak People’s Party.

78 In terms of prejudices and racial attacks, the situation of the Roma ethnic groups was considered to be the best in Central and Eastern Europe. Despite this fact, in 1999 there were attempts by the Polish Roma to be granted asylum, particularly in Great Britain. At the end of 1999 Poland faced the threat of visa introduction by Great Britain.

79 The main skinhead centres remained large cities such as Warsaw, Krakow, Lodz, Katowice, Wratislaw, Gdansk, Poznan, Sopot, and Szczecin).

80 This information was mentioned in the Annex to the Report produced for the European Union. In the text about Poland, prepared by politologist Jean Yves Camus from European Centre for Research and Counteracting Racism and Anti-Semitism, he pointed out the spreading anti-Jewish attitudes among believers by the representatives of the Catholic hierarchy.

81 An example of such conduct can be the fire attack against the car of Hamburg Ministry of Interior, H. Wrocklage (14th February). Left-wing extremists declared that they were the offenders. They said it had been in protest to the police anti-drug intervention and the policy aimed against migration.

82 See U.S. State Department Report on Observation of Human Rights in the World in 1999. Germany.

83 The standing conference of the Ministers of Interior and Senator of German federal provinces together with the Federal Minister of Interior held on 5th and 6th June 1997 in Bonn decided in compliance with the Bureau of Constitution Protection report that the Church of Scientology works against the democratic order, and thus this organisation can be monitored by the Bureau. The bureau was asked to inform annually on the investigation results the Minister of Interior. The meeting held on 19th – 20th November 1998 made the decision to continue monitoring the Scientology organisation since there were no reasons to cease it. See Verfassungsschutzbericht 1999. Bundesministerium des Innern, Berlin 2000. ”Scientology - Organisation (SO), p.221-222.

84 The White Lotus continued in operations of the French centre called the World of Energy that was closed by the French authorities in 1996, as there was suspicion of tax evasion.

85 In September 1999 a really weird case happened in Hungary. The computer hacker tried to blackmail Hungarian scientologists. He created a web site called Dianetics - scientological psychological method – but he offered through it pornography. He asked USD 30,000 to delete the site. He was caught by the police through the bank account number to which the amount should have been wire transferred. In Slovakia, as a consequence of higher influence of the Catholic Church, the activities of the Church of Unification were restricted. In Poland, scientologists, moonists and other similar organisations did not enjoy strong support. Western experts studying sects and pseudo-religious movement assessed the situation in Poland to be very good.

86 PGP programme uses a ciphering key of 128 bits, which means that using the best current technology the time required to decode any text coded with the help of PGP can be several months.

87 This method copies the practices of some companies involved in Internet business. Such companies massively send offers of their services and other promotion materials.

88 In terms of described issues the Czech police units were criticised for frequently used violence, inadequate interventions against anarchist and for ”providing protection” to neo-nazis, for them being incapable to efficiently intervene in some cases when Roma are threatened or attacked. The statements talking about passive behaviour of the police did not miss – ”the police are quietly watching an increase in extremism”, there are skinhead movement supporters among the police or even some policemen are members of right-wing extremist organisations, etc. In this context we can mention e.g. BBC 5 – live programme (James Procter programme broadcast on 16th April 2000 in the main broadcasting time) or ZDF television programme ”Kennzeichen D”, broadcast at night on 27th April 2000. In terms of the data available to the Czech bodies involved in criminal investigation the information provided in the both programmes is not true. The aforementioned programmes broadcast within two weeks dealt with the links of Czech skinheads to the local extremist scene. The ZDF TV programme was by a number of its statements debatable (”violence against foreigners is in the Czech Republic is a daily routine”, ”extremely right-wing and neo-nazi organisations have nowadays 6,000 members and the number of supports, apart from other including policemen, is estimated to tenfold ”, ”exercises (of neo-nazis) are led by professionals from police and military organisations”. BBC 5 – live programme also contained some statements which were not proven by facts such as ”Skinheads in the Czech Republic are a fast growing and the most violent extreme right-wing movement in Europe ”, ”to be a neo-nazi in the Czech Republic is very easy ” etc.

89 See U.S. State Department Report on the Observation of Human Rights in the World in 1999. The Czech Republic.

90 See .the opinion of the Human Rights Department of the Czech Government Office – the answer to the UN extraordinary reporter relating to his question about 32 racial murders of Roma. The criminal investigation bodies however did not assess some of the aforementioned 11 cases as racist.

91 See the US State Department report on the Observation of the Human Rights in the World. The Czech Republic.

92 During his visit the extraordinary reporter met a number of non-Governmental representatives, representatives of municipal bodies (Ústí nad Labem, Brno), justice and academic representatives and Czech Government representatives. In the course of his visit he studied the issues of racism and intolerance in full detail. He devoted special attention to the position of the Roma minority being informed on the actual measures taken by the Czech Government to eliminate racism and intolerance and to integrate Roma with the majority society. The institution of an extraordinary reporter is one of the monitoring tools of the Committee. The reporter is authorised, with approval of a relevant country, to visit such a country and monitor the issues falling under his/her power. In 1999 this reporter showed interest to visit the Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania.

93 This case is described in full detail, including activities and attitudes of the Czech Government, in The Country Report on the Status of the Human Rights in the Czech Republic in 1999 approved by the Government Resolution No. 385 from 19th April 2000.

94 See U.S. State Department Report on the Observation of Human Rights in the World in 1999. The Czech Republic. The situation of the Roma community is characterised by poverty, unemployment, interethnic violence, illiteracy and a high disease rate. It emphasises generally spread prejudices against Roma. It also notes that about 200 – 205,000 Roma are integrated to the political life of the country. It presents incorrect numbers of deadly attacks racially motivated (during the last 8 years). It also discloses some actual cases, which happened in 1999, or reminds some previous cases, including the attack to M. Lacko with a subsequent death in 1998. In the light of this information it is necessary to stress that the international organisation evaluation the observation of the human rights, uses special non-Governmental sources, which might sometimes misinterpret the facts.

95 The Ministry of Foreign Affairs met in this way on an ongoing basis task No. 6 contained in the Annex to Government Resolution No. 720/1999. The Minister of Foreign Affairs together with the Minister of Interior were responsible for meeting this task. (”To ensure at the international level negotiations that the foreign counterparts are provided sufficient information on measures adopted by the Czech Government, the Ministry of Interior and the Czech police to punish racially and nationally motivated crimes or other kinds of extremist offences and to eliminate all racial discrimination manifestations”).

96 The document explicitly listed information on the content of government Resolution No.720 from 14th July 1999 on ”Report on the proceedings of the state authorities in the prosecuting crimes motivated by racism and xenophobia or committed by supporters of extremist groups and on the activities of extremist groups in the Czech Republic in 1998 and on the content of Government Resolution No. 789 from 28th July 1999 on measures adopted against movements directed to suppress human rights and freedoms.

97 The Ministry of Foreign Affairs met in this way on an ongoing basis task No. 4 contained in the Annex to Government Resolution No. 720/1999. The Minister of Interior and the Czech Intelligence Service Director together with the Minister of Foreign Affairs are responsible for meeting this task. (”To monitor on an ongoing basis the situation and trends in extremism development in the Czech Republic and in the world with emphasis to the neighbouring states of the Czech Republic”).

98 See Chapter 7 Activities of the Ministry of Interior and the Czech Police

99 The Czech Government took cognisance of this document on 6th October 1999.

100 This report was produced on the basis of the Czech Government Resolution No. 809 from 9th December 1998 and No. 132 from 17th February 1999 by the Human Right Department of the Czech Government Office and a Czech Government Human Rights commissioner alongside the Minister of Foreign Affairs. The Government took cognisance of this document on its meeting on 15th November 1999.

101 The Czech Republic supported in 1999 activities of the Contact Place for Roma and Sinti Issues by a financial subsidy at the amount of USD 10,000.

102 In compliance with the Article 14 of the Convention the Committed for Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), operating as a control body for meeting the Convention receives and discusses complaints of individuals or groups of persons on breaching the rights contained in the Convention. Under the Article 14, paragraph 2 it is possible to lodge a complaint after all options available within the domestic legal remedies were used, or under the Article 14, paragraph 5 in case a claimant has not been satisfied by any domestic control bodies, the complaint may be lodged within the 6 months after the decision of the domestic body was delivered. The Czech Government approved the declaration under Article 14 by its Resolution No. 796 from 28th July 1999.

103 The proposal is currently in consultation with the Ministry of Foreign affairs.

104 The Czech Republic is participating in preparation as a member of the Technical Group for the Preparation of the Conference, whose third meeting was held in May 2000.

105 The text pays attention only to the most essential activities of the Czech Government relating to the issues monitored. The summary of the Czech Government activities in terms of the observation of the human rights and freedoms in legislation field and in meeting obligations resulting from the international treaties is contained in the 1999 Report on the Status of the Human Rights in the Czech Republic prepared by the Czech Government commissioner for the Human Rights. The report was submitted by the Vice-Prime Minister and the Chairman of the Czech Government Legislation Board.

107 The Czech Government Council for the Human Rights projected the proposal of the Section Against Manifestations of Racism and asked the Minister of Interior on 20th March 2000 to put out for a grant to process an expert study dealing with the activities of the political party –Association for the Republic – the Republican Party of Czechoslovakia (SPR-RSC). The study should answer the following questions: 1. Are the propositions propagated by SPR-RSC against the constitutional order? 2. Does the ideology spread by SPR-RSC and its offshoot the Republican Youth bear the features of fascism, if it does, what kind of fascism? 3. Does the ideology spread by SPR-RSC contain features of fascism, and if it does, what kind of fascism? 4. What role does the SPR-RSC and it offshoot, the Republic Youth, play in the current extreme right scene (not solely) in the Czech Republic? This instigation was supplemented by the extracts from the articles published in the Republika weekly in 1999. See Annex No. 11: Extracts from the Articles Published in REPUBLIKA Weekly in 1999.

108 See the Government Resolution No. 34/1999 and No. 549/1999. The campaign preparation was incorporated in the Government’s schedule of non-legislative work in 1999 and the Government earmarked the required funds. The preparatory work was done in the course of 1999. The campaign is implemented by the Czech Government Office using service organisation, which won the commercial tender – Previa CR Agency. The Tolerance Projects uses experiences of EU countries, especially of those of Great Britain, with preparation of anti-racist campaigns.

109 See for example the Government Resolution No. 505 from 26th May 1999 dealing with the Report on the Municipal Board of the City Quarter Neštěnice in Ústí nad Labem resolution; the Government resolution No. 1054 from the 6th October 1999 relating to the wall construction in Matiční Street in Ústí n/Labem.

110 Under this Act the content of the periodical press is prohibited against the use threats of violence against an individual or a group of persons or to incite such violence, to spread hate or hatred of individuals or groups of persons on the basis of their race, skin colour, national or ethnical origin or sexual orientation, to instigate intolerance against the individuals or groups of persons of certain faith or religion or to support, display such intolerance…. The protection in such cases is under the court jurisdiction. The court is authorised to penalise the publisher who allows the content of his/her newspaper/journal not to comply with the relevant Act. The court may also grant a temporary injunction of publishing a relevant periodical or injunction of spreading such a periodical in the Czech Republic.

111 A special attention is paid to those three activities of the Ministry of Interior, as they are very important, in the text below

112 The Secondary Police School in Brno commenced this first preparatory course on 14th February 2000. The former Minister of Interior – Mr. Václav Grulich – approved the project. The course is financed by the funds provided to the Ministry of Interior by the Embassy of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

113 The proposal was developed in the first quarter of 2000. By establishment of the above mentioned Centre the Secondary Police School would join the Czech-Holland Project aimed at establishing the Centre for Human Rights Education.

114 The international symposium took place on 18th – 22nd October 1999 in the rooms of the Conference Centre in Štiřín, and was held under the auspices of the Minister of Interior of the Czech Republic, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic and the British Ambassador in Prague. The principal organiser is the Ministry of Interior of the Czech Republic. The British counterparts participated in arranging the event financially and by providing the lecturers.

115 Representatives from the following countries took part: Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Macedonia, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, the Russian Federation, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden and also Canada and the USA. The principal lecturers who also conducted panel discussions were the British experts.

116 This instigation related to the role of the police in the society, life-long education of policemen, the role of intelligence services, on which the success of an overall police approach towards extremism and its manifestations depends, the relation of the police to ethnic communities, etc. The information related to management philosophy in the field of “extremism expertise” was also important.

117 See Annex No. 12: The Final Communiqué from the International Conference the ”Role of the Police Forces in the Suppression of Racism and Xenophobia (the so-called Štiřín Initiative) from 22nd October 1999.

118 By organising the above-mentioned symposium the task No. 3 contained in the Annex to the Government Resolution No. 720/1999 was fulfilled. In this task the Government instructed the Minister of Foreign Affairs in co-operation with the Minister of Interior to prepare an initiative, which would become grounds for seeking the common procedures focused on extremism at the international level “ A country to organise subsequent symposium has not been ensured yet. The Slovak Minister of Interior has not responded to the offer so far.

119 The Government instructed in item 1 of the Annex to the Resolution No. 720/1999 the Director of the Czech Intelligence Service and the Minister of Interior to process ”summary information on entities officially registered with the Ministry of Interior the activities of which do not comply with the Acts under which they were registered ”. The Government Resolution No.720/1999 was respectful of the fact that intelligence means are needed especially to gather information on respective unconstitutional activities of civic associations. Thus nobody else than the Czech Intelligence Service can in compliance with the relevant laws gather such information. This goal was met. The Government took cognisance of the summary information in its Resolution No. 384 from 19th April 2000.

120 Articles 1 and 4 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms (hereinafter ”the Charter”) guarantees the freedom and equality of people and according to those Articles the legal restrictions of the fundamental rights and freedoms have to apply to all cases meeting the determined conditions. Under the Article 3 of the Charter the fundamental rights and freedoms are guaranteed to all people irrespective their sex, skin colour, language, faith, religion, political or other conviction, national or country origin, national or ethnic group membership, property, family or other position. These fundamental principles are made particular in Article 21, paragraph 4 of the Charter under which the citizens have access to the public and other offices under equal conditions, and in Article 24 of the Charter that specifies prohibition of any discrimination of national or ethnic minority members. The Czech republic is also bound by The Framework Convention on Protection of National and Ethnic Minorities (published in the Collection of Laws under the No. 96/1998). According to Article 3 paragraph 1 of this Convention, every member of the national minority has the right to freely decide whether he/she wants to be or does not want to be considered a member of such a national minority, and no disadvantage or right restriction may come of this decision.

121 For more details see Chapters 3 and 4 of this Report.

122 The Ministry of Interior dealt also with the application of registering a civic association under the name the Communist Movement of Czechoslovakia, which was delivered on 11th February 2000. On 27th March 2000 the registration was rejected since the aim of this association was to participate in the political life of the society while its Article of Association declared the fundamentals of Marxism-Leninism as a base for the Communist Movement of Czechoslovakia.

123 This project was established under the Government Resolution No. 720/1999 in the framework of the measures adopted by the Ministry of Interior. (The task No. 7: ”To ensure providing information to the public on the danger and forms of the extremist manifestations and the options to co-operate with the Czech police in this field ”) This task is being met on an ongoing basis. This task is of a constant nature.

124 The Centre was established in Ostrava under the Government Resolution No. 1032 from 6th October 1999. This resolution related to the document ”Proposal to a System Approach to the Care for juvenile and child delinquents.”

125 The policemen working in the field of extremism were also appraised according to the number of crimes cleared up. This approach however does not reflect the specific features of this type of criminal work.

126 Not only the policemen who just finished their on-job training resign, but also the experienced policemen who had been involved in extremist issues for a long time.

127 Internal task No. 8 (”To increase qualification of the Czech police forces especially in terms of detection racially motivated crimes and misdemeanours with the aim to decrease underestimation of such crimes during the first contact with a victim. To organise special seminars and instructive training courses) was met on an ongoing basis.

128 Jan Chmelík, Extremismus. Prague, The Ministry of Interior, 1997. This book has been updated and will be published in the course of Publikace 2000. The latest book of Jan Chmelík ”Symbolika extremistických hnutí” (The Symbols of Extremist Movements), Trivis, Prague 2000 is of considerable importance for police practice.

129 The internal task of the Ministry of Interior No. 4 was met on an ongoing basis. (”To observe the lessons at secondary police schools of the Ministry of Interior with the emphasis given on extremist issues and updating of textbooks in terms of the current situation in the extremism.” it is a standing task.

130 In 1999, the crime committed by policemen reached its peak since the foundation of the Czech Republic in 1993. The increase in the number of offenders in comparison with 1998 was 13% and increase in the number of crimes detected accounted for 17%. For more detail information see ”The Report on the Public Order Situation and Internal Security in the Czech Republic in 1999”.

131 The task contained in the item 7 of the Annex to the Government Resolution No. 720/1999 was met on an ongoing basis. The Government ordered the Minister of Justice to ”constantly monitor the speed and smoothness of court proceedings related to the crimes of extremist nature, and provided the inspection finds more serious failure to take into account the option of use an extraordinary remedy – a complaint for violation the law”. This is a standing task.

132 The inspection of human rights observation at selected regiments is implemented annually according to the schedule approved by the Ministry of Defence. Its aim is to check at selected army regiments not only observation of human rights but also conditions created for human rights observation. If there are Roma or other nationality members serving in the regiments the team members always, in the cases where possible, talk to them.

133 The military police fulfilled the tasks stipulated in the provisions of the Act No. 124/1992 Coll., on Military Police, as amended. The authorised military police bodies worked in compliance with the relevant provisions of the Criminal Code and Code of Criminal Procedures.

134 The military police usually finish their work on investigating a certain case by submitting the files to the relevant investigator of the Czech police.

135 On the Minister of Culture’s recommendation it will be gradually opened in the course of 2000 in Pilsen, Ústí nad Labem and Ostrava.

136 The Act came into force on 1st October 1999.

137 For the year 2000 three-year specialist course in the range of 100 hours a year is prepared for curators for youth in Ostrava. The curators participate in this project.

138 These programmes are generally called ”Probationary Re-socialisation Programmes” (PRS)

139 Doing this, the Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sports were meeting the task No. 10 based on the Government Resolution No.192/1998: ”To determine by 31st March 1998 the department that will systematically cover the issues of racism and other intolerance prevention”.