Czech Govt adopts definition of antigypsyism, says there is no place in the Czech Republic for anti-Roma attitudes
The Czech Government has adopted a definition of the term "antigypsyism", or anti-Roma attitudes. According to Czech Government Commissioner for Roma Minority Affairs Lucie Fuková, the gesture indicates that in the Czech Republic, discrimination is unwelcome.
Fuková made her remarks at the press conference after the cabinet session. Czech Government Commissioner for Human Rights Klára Šimáčková Laurenčíková also said this is a step in the right direction of rejecting any and all biased and/or stereotyping treatment of the Romani minority.
In late March, the definition was supported by lawmakers in three subcommittees of the Chamber of Deputies. According to them, antigypsyism is understood to be the kinds of behavior and speech which lead to the exclusion or marginalization of Romani people and to physical violence against them.
Politicians have been spending time on this subject in association with International Romani Day, which falls on 8 April. The agenda item, jointly submitted by Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala (Civic Democratic Party – ODS) and Fuková, was supported unanimously by the cabinet.
PRESS CONFERENCE VIDEO
“Palikerav, thank you, Czech Government. This is really a big gift for International Romani Day, which we celebrated on Monday, 8 April. It is an honor to be here for this moment and I thank everybody who has supported the idea of adopting a definition of antigypsyism. This is not just about fulfilling an obligation in the Roma Integration Strategy, or about international pressure, but is a strong gesture to the Romani community first and foremost that anti-Romani attitudes have no place here,” Fuková said.
“The definition includes a list of the phenomena Romani men and women live with every day in shops, on public transport, at school, and when looking for housing or jobs. The list aids us with comprehending the obstacles such people constantly face in our society,” explained Fuková.
She also pointed out that Romani people’s social position is still far from ideal, mentioning excluded localities, segregated classes and schools, and segregated wards in hospitals including maternity hospitals. In its press release on the issue, the cabinet said that although the definition is not legally binding, it is intended to aid the authorities with getting a better grasp of this specific form of the discrimination, hate, prejudice and racism against Roma and Sinti so they can better respond to it.
“I consider this adoption of the definition of antigypsyism to be a necessary step toward settling a debt that has existed for years, and not just at the level of symbolism, but also with regard to fulfilling one of the aims of the Roma Integration Strategy 2021-2030. As chair of the Czech Government Council for Roma Minority Affairs I thank all of my female and male colleagues for supporting the adoption of this definition and mainly for engaging in dialogue without prejudice,” Fiala said.
“Recognizing the existence of antigypsyism/anti-Romani attitudes is quite an important move. Unfortunately, still too many Romani children in the Czech Republic hear a number of very stereotyping, even humiliating statements about themselves or about the entire Roma community during their childhoods and adolescence. Just like their parents, Romani children also encounter stereotypical attitudes about them and experience biased violence against them,” said Czech Government Commissioner for Human Rights Laurenčíková.
“The adoption of this definition unequivocally sets the boundaries of courteous, correct behavior and unambiguously states what is not acceptable in our society with regard to Romani individuals and the Romani minority. Thanks to Commissioner Fuková’s initiative, I am enormously glad about the decision the Government has taken today,” Laurenčíková said.
“Thank you for making it possible to stand here today and to have been working with several of you for years now on reaching a time when nobody will be discriminated against in our country. I am glad that one outcome of our collaboration is that the memorial at Lety u Písku will open this April. Our society, for quite a long time, suppressed the memory of that history, and we ourselves may have even allowed that to happen. We have cases of discrimination here that are systemic as well. We must redress that, because racism has gone nowhere after all these years. Today’s resolution significantly aids Romani people with becoming part of our society,” said Czech Vice Prime Minister and Regional Development Minister Ivan Bartoš (Pirates).
The definition of antigypsyism as a form of racism toward Romani people was established in 2020 by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance. That organization called on the Czech Republic, as one of its members, to adopt the definition and use it in practice.
The formulation of the definition is not legally binding. The non-binding, working definition was supported in February by the Czech Senate’s Committee on Human Rights.
The Czech Government Council for Roma Minority Affairs had adopted the definition prior to that.
Wording of the non-binding definition of antigypsyism
“Antigypsism, i.e., discrimination against Romani people, is the actions and speech of individuals as well as the practices and strategies of institutions which lead to the exclusion or marginalization of Romani people, to the devaluing of the culture and lifestyle of the Roma, to physical violence against the Roma or to displays of hate targeting Roma and other groups and individuals considered ‘Gypsies’. For this reason, such persons are stigmatized and have been, both during the Nazi era and today, targeted for persecution. As a consequence of this discrimination, Romani people are subsequently treated as an allegedly foreign, different group and are associated with many insulting stereotypes and biased ideas which in and of themselves represent a specific form of racism.”
The current displays of antigypsyism include the following, depending on context:
- Denying or distorting the genocide of the Roma or their persecution.
- Approving of the genocide of the Roma.
- Belittling, excusing or perpetrating violence committed against Romani communities and individuals of Romani origin, or belittling, excusing, or perpetrating the destruction of property belonging to the Romani community or individuals.
- Coerced or forced sterilization and mental or physical violence against Romani people.
- Maintaining and supporting biased stereotypes about Romani people.
- Accusing Romani people of causing actual or fictitious problems of a cultural, economic, political, public health or societal nature and displaying hate for them on that basis.
- Disseminating the stereotype that Romani people have a tendency to commit crime.
- Using the term “Gypsy” as a term of abuse.
- Approving or supporting mechanisms excluding Romani people on the basis of racially discriminatory assumptions, such as excluding them from the mainstream schools or implementing institutional procedures and policy measures which lead to the segregation of Romani communities.
- Implementing policy measures to arbitrarily or discriminatorily displace Romani communities and their individual members with no legal basis, or to create conditions facilitating such displacement.
- Ascribing collective responsibility for the actual or fictional behavior of individual Romani people to all Roma.
- Disseminating hate against Romani communities in any form, such as through the media, including the Internet and social media.
