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P 041438Z AUG 09
FM AMEMBASSY PRAGUE
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INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 PRAGUE 000454 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
EUR/CE FOR JBERGEMANN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM ECON HU LO EZ
SUBJECT:  EXTREMISM IN CZECH REPUBLIC GAINS VISIBILITY AND 
GOVERNMENT RESPONDS 
 
REF: A) Prague 386, B) Prague 332, C) Prague 310, D) Czech Republic 
2008 Human Rights Report 
 
¶1. (SBU)  Summary:  In the Czech Republic, extremists have been 
involved in several notable public events over the last year 
targeting the Czech Roma population.  These events, such as the two 
recent arson attacks against Roma houses, generated public outrage 
across the country.  Right-wing extremist political parties have 
fared poorly, receiving only around one percent of the national 
vote.  The Czech government has taken positive and concrete steps to 
address extremism, approving a new anti-extremism strategy and 
forming an anti-extremism task force to counteract any efforts by 
extremists to expand their base.  End Summary. 
 
---------- 
Recent Extremist Activities - A March and 
an Arson Attack 
---------- 
¶2. (SBU) Litvinov March: An anti-Roma march in Litvinov organized by 
the Workers Party on November 17, 2008, resulted in violent clashes 
between 600 to 700 extremists (some of whom traveled from other 
countries) and the police, resulting in 16 injuries (Ref D).  Also 
present were several hundred local citizens who did not hide their 
aversion to Roma.  The Litvinov march has since been followed by 
other much smaller marches and rallies, many of which have met with 
peaceful but firm resistance from the Roma community. (Note: The 
riots in Litvinov were the largest police action in the country 
since the anti-IMF/World Bank demonstrations in Prague in 2000, 
involving some 1,000 police.  End Note.) 
¶3. (U) In the aftermath of the Litvinov clashes the Association of 
Roma in Northern Moravia called on the Prime Minister, the Interior 
Minister, and the Minister for Human Rights to outlaw the Workers 
Party and also the National Resistance.  "The events in Litvinov and 
other demonstrations organized by extremist groups clearly show that 
these parties try to provoke Roma to violence," said Milan Ferenc, 
Chairman of the association, in a newspaper interview. 
¶4. (SBU)  Arson Attacks Against Roma Families:  In the early morning 
hours of April 19, unknown perpetrators threw three Molotov 
cocktails into the home of a Roma family in the village of Vitkov, 
Northern Moravia.  The ensuing blaze injured three people, including 
a two-year-old girl who is still being treated for second and 
third-degree burns over 80 percent of her body.  The water mains to 
the house had been shut off prior to the attack and the house was 
destroyed.  The town, which was outraged by this attack, collected 
almost eight hundred thousand Czech crowns (around USD 47,000) in 
donations for the purchase of a new home for the family.  This arson 
attack was followed by another on a Roma family, fortunately 
unsuccessful, during May in the village of Zdiby, not far from 
Prague.  Police are still investigating both cases. 
---------- 
Roma Asylum Requests Rise Significantly in Canada 
---------- 
 
¶5. (SBU)  In the first half of 2009 there has been a significant 
rise in Czech Roma fleeing to Canada, mirroring a similar exodus 
during the mid-1990s that caused Canada to institute a visa 
requirement for all Czech citizens that was only lifted in 2007. 
(Note: Czech citizens filed 1,720 requests for asylum in Canada 
during the first half of this year, second only to Mexican requests 
in Canada. End Note.)  Czech asylum seekers frequently cite in their 
asylum petitions a rise in extremism, the two arson attacks, and the 
failure of the police to arrest anyone for these attacks.  A recent 
report by the Czech Ministry of Human Rights points to the weakening 
Czech economy, the inability of Czech Roma to obtain employment due 
to discrimination, and family ties as other factors motivating Roma 
to request asylum. 
 
---------- 
Government Anti-Extremism Initiatives 
---------- 
¶6. (SBU)  The government has responded to the rise in extremist 
incidents with  both public comments and actions.  According to 
President Vaclav Klaus, government actions against extremists should 
be much tougher.  "Politicians and mayors are often afraid that if 
they take action against extremists they will lose popularity.  I am 
very much against such an attitude," said Klaus at a commemorative 
rally marking the 67th anniversary of the Nazi destruction of the 
town of Lidice.  According to Klaus, existing legislation offers the 
possibility to act clearly and vigorously. 
¶7. (SBU)  The interim government of Jan Fischer, which was installed 
after Mirek Topolanek's coalition government was toppled in March, 
has pledged to fight rising extremism in the country. "In one point 
the government will not, and cannot, be reconciliatory.  It is the 
fight against extremism.  Racially or politically motivated violence 
is a cancer of democratic society, and it will be the task of the 
government to face it clearly, effectively, and with visible 
results," Prime Minister Fischer stressed upon taking office.  The 
interim government also appointed Jiri Komorous as the Deputy 
Interior Minister in charge of fighting extremism.  Komorous quickly 
 
PRAGUE 00000454  002 OF 003 
 
 
formed an anti-extremism task force (Ref B) after his appointment. 
According to Komorous, he intends to evaluate how best to address 
the extremist Workers Party, with an eye to its possible 
abolishment.  On July 29, the Interior Ministry announced that it 
will once again seek to ban the Workers Party. 
 
¶8. (SBU)  In May, the Czech government approved a new Anti-Extremism 
Strategy in reaction to the recent attacks and hostility toward the 
Roma.  The strategy aims to counteract extremism and xenophobia in 
the country.  It introduces more effective penalties for 
extremist-related crimes and emphasizes prevention, particularly 
through education.  It also stresses the need to improve 
professionalism of specialists on extremism, education of judges, 
and an effective joint inter-ministerial approach to the extremism 
issue.  The Czech government admitted in the New Anti-Extremism 
Strategy that 2008 witnessed a significant radicalization of the far 
right and increased sophistication in the techniques extremists use 
to disseminate their propaganda.  According to the New 
Anti-Extremism Strategy paper, "Compared to 2007, 2008 witnessed an 
increase of far right public activities...with increased number of 
participants and their growing radicalization and readiness for 
confrontation..."  The document also cites four major possible 
security risks: "continuing radicalization of extremist groups; 
possible transformation of virtual paramilitary organizations (such 
as National Guards of the Workers' Party) into real paramilitary 
organizations; efforts to infiltrate the Police of the Czech 
Republic; and acceptance of extremist ideas by the general public." 
 
¶9. (SBU)  In June, the Interior Ministry published a manual for 
municipalities on how to tackle extremism.  The manual advises on 
how to ban or dissolve marches and demonstrations by far-right 
groups, if justified.  The manual also contains a list of banned 
symbols and dates relating to Nazi anniversaries. 
 
¶10. (SBU)  In July, the Senate  passed an amendment to the assembly 
law to help town halls fight extremism.  The amendment extends the 
deadline by which towns and villages  may act on a proposed rally or 
march from three calendar to three working days.  The change was 
initially proposed by Human Rights Minister Michael Kocab and 
Interior Minister Martin Pecina because some organizations 
deliberately submitted march or rally requests on a Friday, which 
only gave local authorities one working day to decide on the ban. 
The legislation needs to be signed by President Vaclav Klaus to take 
effect.  Further, Minister Pecina announced in July that police 
patrols will be stepped up in "risky" neighborhoods occupied 
primarily by Roma. 
 
---------- 
A Brief History of Czech Extremism 
---------- 
¶11. (SBU)  Right-wing extremism, although nothing new in the Czech 
Republic, has never played a big role in Czech politics.  Before 
World War II, Fascist groups, mainly composed of students, were in 
Czechoslovakia with aims  similar to the ultra-right movements of 
today: dissolution of the parliament, restriction of the rights of 
minorities (especially Jews and the Roma), and simple solutions to 
complex problems.  However, these groups  never succeeded in 
mainstream politics.  After 1989, a right-wing political party, 
Miroslav Sladek's Republicans, was established.  The party made it 
to the Lower House of the Czech Parliament in 1992 and remained 
until 1998 when it then fell into oblivion.  Other small ultra-right 
groups were formed in the 1990s, such as the National Front, 
National Alliance, National Party, National Home Guard, National 
Resistance, Autonomous Nationalists, and Free Nationalists.  Their 
impact, however, was negligible. 
¶12. (SBU)  Today the most vocal and the most significant ultra-right 
group is the Workers Party (DS), which in February 2009 had 600 
registered members.  The Workers Party was established mostly by 
former Sladek's Republicans and registered as a political party in 
January 2003.  It releases its own newspaper, "Delnicke listy" 
(Workers Paper) and in January 2009 it launched its own Internet TV 
channel.  In the 2004 European Parliamentary elections the Workers 
Party received 4,289 votes (0.18 percent), followed by 0.15 percent 
of the vote in subsequent regional Czech elections.  After this, the 
Workers Party established close links with the German NPD National 
Democratic Party.  In 2007, DS cooperated with other nationalistic 
groups and organized demonstrations against communism, drugs, 
positive discrimination, NATO, and the planned Missile Defense 
facility in the Czech Republic.  In the 2008 fall regional 
elections, the Workers Party ran together with the Democratic Party 
of Social Justice under the motto "The Workers Party - For Abolition 
of Health Charges."  The DS received 1.02 percent of the vote.  In 
the European Parliament elections in June 2009, the Workers Party 
won 1.07 percent of the vote, making it eligible for a state 
financial contribution worth 750,000 Czech crowns (about USD 
41,000).  (Comment: The Workers Party won no seats in the European 
Parliament based on this result.  In comparison, the right-wing 
Jobbik party in Hungary won 14.8 percent of the popular vote in the 
European Parliament elections, gaining 3 seats, while the Slovak 
 
PRAGUE 00000454  003 OF 003 
 
 
National Party won 5.6 percent of the vote and will send one member 
to parliament.  End comment.) 
---------- 
Conclusion 
---------- 
 
¶13. (SBU) Comment:  While extremist views represent a very small 
minority of the Czech voting public, this is an issue that the GOCR 
continues to contend with.  The interim government has taken several 
steps, including increased penalties for extremist acts, expanded 
education, training, and interagency coordination, and giving local 
communities better guidance and authority.  The upcoming 
parliamentary elections in October, however, mean that the interim 
government has limited time to make further progress on law 
enforcement and legislative actions before it steps down.  Whether, 
and how, the next government deals with extremism will not be clear 
until after the October elections. 
 
Thompson-Jones