by Gwendolyn Albert
Nov. 28 2008
If the media is anything to go by, the neo-Nazi violence in Litvínov Nov. 17 has largely achieved the organizers’ aims of promoting nationalist hatred in the Czech Republic. Headlines referring to rasové nepokoje (“ethnic troubles”) have largely oversimplified what is actually going on: namely, the international neo-Nazi movement is targeting a hate campaign against this particular Roma community. The commitment of these neo-Nazis, the energy of the attack on the Roma community at the Janov housing estate and the neo-Nazis’ aggression toward the police are new and very dangerous developments.
Cyril Koky, a member of the Czech Government Council for Roma Community Affairs, said Czech Human Rights and Minorities Minister Džamila Stehlíková should consider resigning over the failure of her efforts to avert Nov. 17’s violence. As everyone following the developments in Litvínov predicted to the authorities, the Janov housing estate was turned into something resembling a warzone for several hours on a national holiday. The “troubles” were not between “ethnic groups” at all, but between members of the international neo-Nazi movement and the Czech police. Worse still, many non-Roma locals in Litvínov have made it clear in media interviews that they believe the neo-Nazis should be allowed to carry out their violent intentions without police interference.
Koky is correct that Stehlíková and other authorities are to blame. At a meeting last month at the Interior Ministry — which included various NGOs and government officials — to discuss security in Roma neighborhoods after October’s riot in Litvínov, the authorities’ responses bordered on the surreal. Czech Government Commissioner for Human Rights Jan Litomiský, as usual, sat through the meeting without opening his mouth during the free-ranging “discussion.” While the vast majority of those present complained about neo-Nazi violence and the lack of official action against it, officials kept reiterating how much money had been spent on “preventing crime” within the Roma community — a different issue entirely and totally unrelated to suppressing neo-Nazi violence. An Interior Ministry spokesperson even went so far as to say the ministry could not take steps to dissolve the National Party’s paramilitary National Guard “because it is not an officially registered organization.” I could hardly believe my ears — organized crime doesn’t “officially register” with the Interior Ministry either, but we still expect the police to try to stop it.
The Litvínov situation raises serious questions about the rule of law in the Czech Republic.