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P 240733Z JUN 09
FM AMEMBASSY PRAGUE
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INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PRAGUE 000354 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/RPM: JFISHER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OSCE PGOV PREL PHUM KDEM EZ
SUBJECT:  CZECH REPUBLIC: INPUT FOR HUMAN DIMENSION MEETING 
 
Ref:  A. STATE 59944, B. PRAGUE 310 
 
¶1. (SBU) Per Ref A, Post is providing input for a demarche prior to 
the Human Dimension Implementation Meeting (HDIM) in Warsaw from 
September 28 - October 9, 2009. 
 
---------------------- 
The Interim Government 
---------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU)  The government of the Czech Republic (GOC) is currently an 
interim one, following the no-confidence vote in March that toppled 
the government of Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek.  The current 
government is led by Prime Minister Jan Fischer and will be in power 
until early parliamentary elections are held on October 9, 2009. 
Fischer's government has a limited political mandate but has listed 
fighting extremism as one of the issues it wants to address.  It 
will only be in power until October and will not undertake any 
divisive issues.  Extremism has been on the radar screen of the GOC 
lately given the heightened visibility of right-wing extremist 
groups and Roma issues (Ref B).  Fischer's interim government is 
taking the problem seriously and has taken a number of steps to 
address the extremist and/or Roma issues. 
 
---------------- 
Areas of Concern 
---------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU)  The broadest area of concern relating to the Roma issue in 
the Czech Republic is education reform.  A World Bank-funded study 
(October 2008) done by the GOC said that education reform is 
critical to solving the long-term employment and social exclusion 
problems facing the Roma.  It said that the GOC will need to focus 
on Roma youth in order to tackle these issues.  A study commissioned 
by the previous Education Minister completed in January 2009 
highlighted targeted assistance as the way to integrate Roma 
children into the mainstream education process.  Country-specific 
suggestion for positive action: Reference the October 2008 World 
Bank-funded study and ask the GOC to move forward on the specific 
education reforms mentioned in the January 2009 study commissioned 
by the Education Minister, including targeted assistance in areas 
such as preparatory classes and teachers' assistants. 
 
¶4. (SBU)  Housing continues to be a significant challenge for the 
Roma.  Over time, the Roma were driven out of city centers into 
ghettos known as "socially excluded areas."  A 2008 study entitled 
"Social Exclusion of Roma and Czech Society," by the Gabal 
Analytical and Consulting Agency (GAC), noted that the key to 
solving the Roma problem is to gain broad public support for a Roma 
integration policy.  The report recommended that the GOC issue a 
declaration which would be agreed to by all public bodies stating 
that social exclusion is a serious issue confronting Czech society. 
Country-specific suggestion for positive action: Reference this 
study and ask the GOC to move forward with such a declaration. 
 
¶5. (SBU)  There was a serious firebomb attack on a house in northern 
Moravia in April, in which a two-year old girl was seriously burned. 
 In addition, another firebomb attack occurred in May in a small 
town outside of Prague; fortunately, no one was hurt.  The police 
are investigating but thus far there have been no arrests. 
Country-specific suggestion for positive action: Urge the GOC to 
continue investigating these incidents and pursuing the culprits. 
 
---------------- 
Notable Progress 
---------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU)  The Czech Chamber of Deputies overrode President Klaus' 
veto and passed an anti-discrimination bill, making it law.  The law 
bans discrimination in employment, business, education and health 
care.  Although the Czech Republic is the last country in the EU to 
pass such legislation, it should be noted as a positive step in a 
demarche made to the GOC. 
 
¶7. (SBU)  The current Minister for Human Rights, Michael Kocab, 
started his position in January 2009 and was the only Minister to 
survive the fall of Topolanek's government.  After taking up his 
position, he quickly established the Agency for Social Exclusion of 
Roma Communities to combat the problems of exclusion encountered by 
the Roma.  Kocab has also called for a fund to purchase the site of 
a Nazi-era Roma concentration camp as a memorial to the Roma 
Holocaust.  These should be mentioned as progress steps. 
 
¶8. (SBU)  The Minister of Interior in the interim government, Martin 
Pecina, established a Special Anti-Extremism Task Force in late May, 
with the specific goal of eliminating extremism in the Czech 
Republic.  The task force is headed by a former police official and 
head of the National Anti-Drug Squad, Jiri Komorous, and differs 
from the terrorism and extremist section of the Organized Crime Unit 
of the police, which only focuses on confronting extremists during 
 
PRAGUE 00000354  002 OF 002 
 
 
rallies and marches.  The task force is taking a holistic approach 
to extremism and has laid out specific plans for fighting extremism, 
focusing on law enforcement and judicial aspects of the extremist 
problem.  This included publishing an on-line manual for town halls 
and municipalities that contains specific information on banning or 
dissolving marches and demonstrations by extremist groups.  The 
manual was put together by lawyers and experts on extremism at the 
request of town mayors who say they need help to counter growing 
extremism in the country.  These efforts by the Ministry of the 
Interior to fight extremism are encouraging and should be noted in a 
demarche. 
 
Thompson-Jones