Return to Europe? The Czech Republic and the EU's influence on its treatment of Roma.

• Author: Marden, Matthew D.

ABSTRACT

The Czech Republic has faced much criticism in the past fifteen years for the treatment of its Romani minority community. The European Union has successfully applied informal, non-legal means of pressuring the Czech Republic into making some changes necessary to improve living conditions for Roma. With the Czech Republic's recent accession to the European Union, legal human rights institutions will likely play a larger role in ensuring that the Czech Republic continues to improve conditions for Czech Roma. The Author uses a case brought by a group of Roma at the European Court of Human Rights to demonstrate the potential that European legal institutions have for bettering the treatment of Czech Roma. The Author concludes that the EU must apply both non-legal pressure and use its own as well as affiliated human rights institutions to promote the improvement of living standards and conditions for Roma in the Czech Republic.

TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION: THE ISSUE OF THE TREATMENT OF ROMA II. ROMA IN EUROPE: A HISTORY OF DISTRUST AND PERSECUTION III. ROMA IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC POST-1989: THE ISSUES A. Initial Developments and the Velvet Revolution B. The Czech Citizenship Law C. Discrimination by Czech Governmental Actors Against Roma 1. The Wall in Usti nad Labem 2. Discrimination with Regard to Usage of Municipal Facilities 3. The Czech School System 4. Czech Criminal Justice System i. Unequal Treatment of Roma by Czech Police ii. Unequal Treatment of Roma Within the Czech Judicial System IV. EUROPEAN UNION HUMAN RIGHTS INSTITUTIONS V. THE APPLICATION OF EU HUMAN RIGHTS INSTITUTIONS: MARGITA CERVENAKOVA AND OTHERS V. THE CZECH REPUBLIC A. Case Background B. Procedural History of the Case in Czech Courts C. Taking the Case to the ECHR D. Analysis of Cervenakova VI. THE EU'S INFLUENCE: HAS THE EU IMPROVED THE SITUATION FOR ROMA IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC? VII. RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS I. INTRODUCTION: THE ISSUE OF THE TREATMENT OF ROMA

East Central European countries have experienced great economic, political, and social change since the collapse of their Communist governments in the late 1980s and early 1990s. (1) Every country in the region has established a free market economic system and a democratic form of government in the past fifteen years. (2) Six countries in the region have become member states of NATO in the past five years. (3) On May 1, 2004, the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary became members of the European Union (EU). (4) In spite of these accomplishments, one blemish exists on the record of every East Central European country in the region in the post-Communist era: the treatment of the region's Roma. (5) The status of the region's Roma has remained poor at the governmental and societal level despite the transition to democratic governance, with its attendant emphasis on equal treatment. Despite pressure from both the EU and human rights organizations to improve conditions for Roma in East Central Europe, some question remains whether the status of Roma in the region has actually improved during this period of time. (6)

The treatment of Roma in the Czech Republic in the past fifteen years can be described as especially disappointing; yet it is nonetheless typical for East Central Europe. The Czech Republic, like other countries in the region, has received much criticism for the treatment of its Romani population. Some have even argued that the level of Romani integration in the Czech Republic is the lowest of any East Central European country. (7) Meanwhile, it is especially disappointing because, as the EU has noted, "[t]he Czech Republic presents the characteristics of a democracy, with stable institutions guaranteeing the rule of law, human rights, and respect for and protection of minorities." (8) The poor standard of living for most of the country's Romani population emerged as one of the most contentious issues during the Czech Republic's EU accession negotiations. (9) The EU called for the Czech Republic to "step[] up" its efforts to improve the status of Roma. (10)

On May 1, 2004, the Czech Republic became an EU member state. (11) The EU might be the institution most capable of improving the situation for Roma in the Czech Republic because it has a well-integrated human rights regime and makes policy at a supra-national level. The accession of the Czech Republic to the EU presents an important opportunity to examine what influence the EU has had on Czech policy toward Roma and the potential future influence of the EU and affiliated legal institutions following Czech accession. This Note will assume that the EU has the means of effecting change in the status of Roma in the Czech Republic. Thus, this Note will try to answer two broad questions. First, through an analysis of various problems that have faced Roma in the Czech Republic, it will attempt to discern the influence that the EU has had on the status of Roma in the Czech Republic during the accession process. Second, this Note will analyze the institutional framework of the EU, including its human rights regime and affiliated human rights institutions, and demonstrate how the EU could use this framework to improve the status of Roma in the Czech Republic.

To accomplish these goals, Part I of the Note will provide a brief history of Roma in Europe. Part II will examine specific problems that Roma in the Czech Republic have faced since 1989, and it will attempt to describe the influence that the EU has had in shaping Czech policy toward Roma. Part III will describe pertinent EU human rights institutions and EU-affiliated human rights institutions to which the Czech Republic belongs or will belong. Part IV will analyze a recent case brought by a Romani family against the Czech government at the European Court of Human Rights as a means of examining how EU institutions might provide Czech Roma a new forum in which to air grievances about their treatment. Part V will analyze how the European human rights regime might improve the status of Roma in the Czech Republic in light of the case above. Finally, Part VI will offer suggestions for what should be done at the EU level to improve the treatment of Roma in the Czech Republic.

2. ROMA IN EUROPE: A HISTORY OF DISTRUST AND PERSECUTION

   A brief history of Roma in Europe is essential to understand why Roma, perhaps more than any other ethnic group, have faced incessant discrimination and persecution throughout Europe for as long as they have resided there. This history provides a context in which to analyze the current economic and social problems of Roma in the Czech Republic. Moreover, the historical treatment of Roma by EU member states might have an effect on the overall ability of the EU to improve conditions for Roma in the Czech Republic.

   The origins of Roma in Europe remain unclear. (12) Most historians believe that ancestors of the Roma migrated from northwest India toward Europe around 1000 A.D. (13) This migration proceeded across the European continent, arriving first in Persia, continuing to Armenia and Eastern Europe, and finally arriving in Western Europe by the 1400s. (14)

   The treatment afforded these newly arrived Roma varied across Europe, but native populations generally treated Roma with contempt or worse. By the 1350s, Rumania had enslaved its Romani population, a condition that would persist until 1856. (15) In other areas, Roma faced persecution ranging from expulsion from the Holy Roman Empire in 1500 to a general condemnation of death in Saxony in 1648. (16) Generally, Roma received somewhat better treatment in locales where they could fill a specific economic niche, usually serving as needed temporary labor. (17) The situation of Roma in Europe did not improve over time: Nazi Germany (18) killed at least a half million Roma in the Holocaust, (19) Switzerland enacted a policy of taking Romani children from their parents' care and giving them to non-Roma to raise, and Sweden barred Roma from entering the country. (20) This list is not exhaustive, but it provides a general sense of the level of persecution faced by Roma throughout Europe.

   In the European societies in which Roma have lived, Roma have existed and continue to exist on the fringes of dominant national societies. (21) The majority nationality's discriminatory attitudes and policies are usually responsible for this outcome. (22) However, this Note would be remiss not to state that Romani culture has contributed to this marginalization to some extent. (28) Most notably, every Romani society possesses a similar concept of gaje, or non-Romani individuals. (24) All Romani societies hold gaje to be unclean and untrustworthy and encourage Roma to avoid unnecessary contact with gaje. (25) Moreover, because Romanes, the Romani language, is primarily a spoken language, non-Roma find it quite difficult to learn. (26) Compounding the linguistic divide, many Roma actively discourage allowing gaje to learn their language. (27) Moreover, many Romani customs differ substantially from the gaje's customs. (28) For example, Romani girls often marry and give birth at younger ages than girls of other nationalities, which can cause Roma legal difficulties in many European systems. (29)

   Even a cursory overview of Romani history in Europe demonstrates the mutual lack of trust and understanding between Roma and dominant European nationalities. This is not an attempt to rationalize the discrimination and persecution that Roma have experienced; instead, it reflects the reality that most European societies do not understand Romani culture and that most Roma are indifferent to whether Europeans understand their culture and customs. This mutual lack of trust and understanding likely serves as one of the foundations of discrimination and persecution in the Czech Republic. (30)

3. ROMA IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC POST-1989: (31) THE ISSUES

   Roma in the Czech Republic have faced hostility and...