RIGHTS-CZECH REPUBLIC: Infamous Wall Down, Intolerance Up

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Otakar van Gemund

USTI NAD LABEM, Czech Republic, Dec 4 1999 (IPS) - It was the promise of money – and not the embarrassing charges of racism – that finally convinced local authorities here to destroy the wall separating ‘white’ and gypsy Czech citizens

The infamous barrier that separated mostly Romany (Gypsy) council flat dwellers from their ‘white’ neighbours finally came down on Nov 23, only once the state promised to buy out the homes of three non-Roma families living on the opposite side of Maticni Street.

“I think it is not a victory for the Roma, but a victory for all [Czech] citizens. I am afraid, however, that the whites will hate us even more than in the past, now that they had to tear [the wall] down”, said Josef Lacko, a Romany community activist who lives in the controversial housing project.

“I may be a Gypsy, but I am also a Czech citizen… I was always against this wall because it would isolate me from my fellow citizens,” he said.

The white homeowners will receive about 103,000 US dollars, so that they may move out Nestemice, a rundown quarter of Usti nad Labem.

The municipality, which had turned a deaf ear to Prague and the world – has been granted twice that amount in “targeted assistance” to address the underlying problems of the council residents.

Yet Nestemice quarter Mayor Pavel Tosovsky, like most of Czechs in his industrial town, today remains openly scornful of the lofty attention the two-metre high drew abroad.

“Our intention to build a wall made us racists in their eyes. When we finally built it the European Union (EU) even accused us of erecting a ‘new Berlin wall’. And now, when we have done away with it, we have suddenly stopped being ‘racists’ and everything is all right, ” he said.

The wall had been hastily erected under the protection of some 80 armed guards in the early hours of 13 October – ironically on the same day that the European Union released a report listing the Czechs’ treatment of its Romany population as a major barrier to EU membership.

“I must say I was completely taken aback by the reaction of the European Union. They stubbornly keep thinking in symbols,” said Tosovsky, adding that he had hoped “it would be clear to everyone that it greatly improved the look of the street. Anyone could see it was just a low concrete fence and not a wall.”

Chamber of Deputies Chairman Vaclav Klaus – a former Prime Minister – said the Czech Republic was not building any walls: “It was built by one town hall as a solution to a terribly difficult interpersonal problem, and if someone wants to make this into an international incident, I am very disappointed.”

The construction of the wall was first proposed 18 months ago following complaints of noise and rubbish against the Roma from the white homeowners. Several times it was partially built, only to be taken apart by local Romanies. Soon it grew into a symbol of the host of ills besetting the country’s Romany minority, which makes up about four percent of the total population.

Since 1990, Roma have become the targets of racially motivated violence in several post-Communist European countries, prompting thousands to abandon their homes and try to seek asylum in the West.

In many countries, the absence of legislation to protect Roma from discrimination in the workplace, public places, education, housing, and the military often leaves this minority group without legal recourse.

In the Czech case, while much legislation towards eliminating discrimination has been adopted, prejudices remain firmly entrenched. Signs saying “No Gypsies” can still be found outside restaurants and pubs.

According to the Budapest-based European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC), the Maticni Street wall was built in violation of the Czech Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms. The local town council, however, filed a suit with the Czech constitutional court against the government, claiming that the government had no jurisdiction to interfere in municipal affairs.

Despite Prime Minister Milos Zeman lamentation last month that “the wall in Usti divides the Czech Republic from the EU,” his government failed to prevent it’s construction, although legally able to do so. Under international law, municipalities are defined as state organs for which the government is ultimately responsible.

The wall effectively contravened prohibitions on racial discrimination, racial segregation and degrading treatment set down in the European Convention of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

EU Commissioner for Enlargement Günter Verheugen, welcomed the dismantling of the wall, saying it “would enhance the image of the Czech Republic and its human rights record.”

President Vaclav Havel, himself a celebrated human rights activist and an outspoken critic of the wall’s construction, hailed its demolition as a “great success for both sides”.

Nonetheless, he said that much hard work still lay ahead: “Expressions of intolerance in our society are not rare and it is necessary to deal with them seriously and conceptually.”

“Now it is crucial to concentrate attention on the resolution of the social problems which led to the building of the wall… ”

The majority of people living in the Maticni street housing estate were sent there by municipal authorities for having failed to pay back rent. Others, who were not in debt but had been forced out of their previous homes due to claims of restitution following the end of Communism or for a host of other reasons, had agreed to be “temporarily” housed there until an alternative could be found.

Most of the flats in the Maticni Street housing project consist of just a single room and have no hot water, yet are home to entire families. At 35 crowns (one dollar), a trip to one of the communal bathrooms in the freezing cellars is beyond the means of most residents, who are scraping by on welfare payments.

Although Usti nad Labem has promised to spend the money it received from the state on solving the social problems in the area, Iva Pellarova, deputy chairwoman of the Czech government’s Commission for Roma Affairs, is skeptical.

“I am curious how they will do it,” she said, noting that the unemployment rate amongst the Roma is 80 to 90 percent.

“This is partly due to the fact that 70 to 80 percent of Romany children, who often speak the Czech language poorly, are sent to ‘special schools’ designated for retarded children, from which they cannot be accepted to secondary schools,” said Pellarova. “This makes clear that it is a deep-rooted long-term issue.”

EC Commissioner for Enlargement Günter Verheugen has promised that the EU will now “reinforce its efforts to overcome the difficulties of the Roma communities in Central and Eastern Europe” by reinforcing its dialogue with the governments of the candidate countries in the region and with representatives of the Roma communities.