EUobserver.com: Neo-Nazis mobilise against minorities in Czech Republic

Ultra-right parties and their neo-Nazi supporters have unleashed an
unprecedented level of coordinated anti-Roma demonstrations throughout the Czech
Republic this year, aiming to tip the balance at the polls and increase their
access to power in the country’s upcoming elections.

The Czech Republic faces a series of four nationwide elections between now
and the end of next year – to the lower house, one-third of the Senate, the
European Parliament and local governments. The country faces a threat similar to
the one in Greece and Hungary that has already cost the lives of their citizens.

There have been 30 anti-Roma marches organized since the beginning of the
year and at least 10 more are planned. The Romani minority is the target of
these hateful attacks because of deeply entrenched anti-Romani sentiment in
Czech society that is easily mobilized.

In recent years, ultra-right actions there are no longer confined to
extremists, but have been joined by ordinary citizens of all ages and both
genders. Even the Czech Intelligence Service (BIS) has pointed out the danger of
this widespread anti-Roma atmosphere. This year, it is only thanks to the so-far
successful performance of law enforcement that the violence has not cost lives,
although it has resulted in at least a dozen police sustaining injuries, as well
as damage to property.

The police have so far managed to control these rallies and prevent violence,
but this has been done by restricting the freedoms of those opposing the anti-Roma
gatherings.

“Gypsies to the gas chambers”

On 27 September the country’s third-largest city, Ostrava faced its second
major riot and attempted pogrom on Romani neighbourhoods this year. A handful of
nonviolent counter-protesters were not given any support by local authorities,
who instead dispersed their legal assembly on the grounds that it was they, not
the neo-Nazis, who were disturbing the peace. A neo-Nazi mob then engaged police
in street fighting long into the night. While physical injury has not yet been
perpetrated against anyone Romani during these demonstrations, the psychological
war against them is currently being won by the ultra-right in Ostrava.

The anti-Romani rallies this year have been organized by members of the
Workers’ Social Justice Party (in Czech “DSSS”) and a breakaway faction called
the “Czech Lions.” (Their political platforms are explicitly racist include and
place a heavy emphasis on repressing what they call “inadaptables”, which
everyone understands as a code word for Roma.; during their rallies and
especially the mob violence that follows them, the pretense of coded language is
dropped and it is normal to hear them calling to send “gypsies to the gas
chambers”.

The predecessor to the DSSS, the Workers’ Party was dissolved by the courts
in 2010 because its neo-Nazi ideology contravened Czech law. Unfortunately, this
did not prevent the party from simply regrouping under a new name.

When ordinary people join the neo-Nazis in not only shouting such messages
but throwing rocks at police, this emboldens more mainstream politicians to show
their constituents that they too are “tough on Roma.”

In places where these anti-Romani demonstrations have occurred, local
governments have enacted “zero tolerance” policies, ordinances restricting
personal liberty that apply only to Roma neighborhoods and a ban on behavior
perceived as “Roma”, such as sitting outdoors in public. Municipal social
workers and police have conducted disruptive (probably illegal) visits to Roma
households and involved local journalists who have published video footage of
these “raids” online.

International network of hate groups

The rise of anti-Roma extremists in the Czech Republic is not merely a
national phenomenon; it is fueled by an international network of hate groups.

A few days after the 27 September demonstrations, human rights defenders
across the Czech Republic were hacked by a white power group whose website is
registered in California that posted racist content to websites, generated
racist emails from address books, and published the correspondence of the email
accounts that were hacked online.

Polish, German and Slovak ultra-right supporters have also been coming to the
Czech Republic to participate in these marches. These cross-border alliances
should be of particular concern to all of Europe and require a concerted
European response: EU recognition of anti-Gypsyism as a particular phenomenon
that must be combated in all member states; EU monitoring and condemnation of
hate crimes and hate speech directed against Roma; and strong enforcement of
existing legal tools, such as the Race Equality Directive and the Convention on
Cybercrime.

The next neo-Nazi demonstration in Ostrava and other Czech cities will be
held on 28 October, a day which celebrates the founding of independent
Czechoslovakia and which has long been a traditional time for nationalists and
the ultra-right to call for a country free of all non-Czechs.

It is imperative that law enforcement nip any potential for violence in the
bud and keep those assembling as far away from the targets of their wrath as
possible. However, this should not be done by restricting or prematurely
dissolving the peaceful protest gatherings of Roma and non-Roma who decide to
publicly to denounce these neo-Nazi marches.

If any of the political parties affiliated with the promoters of hatred and
genocide were to win even 1.5 % of the vote, in the Czech political system they
would be entitled to taxpayer money. An infusion of resources into this movement
is the last the thing Czech Republic needs.

The government must do everything it can to address the psychological warfare
being waged by the ultra-right at the expense of the members of Europe’s largest,
and most ill-treated, minority.

Dezideru Gergely is Executive Director at the European Roma Rights Centre
(ERRC) and Gwen Albert is an independent Human Rights Activist and Researcher

Publised on
Euobserver.com