RFE/RL Watchlist Vol. 1, No. 38, 21 October 1999
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RFE/RL Watchlist Vol. 1, No. 38, 21 October 1999
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Prague, Czech Republic
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RFE/RL Watchlist
Vol. 1, No. 38, 21 October 1999
A Weekly Checklist of Events Affecting Civil Societies in Eastern
Europe and the Post-Soviet States
Walling off Roma in the Czech Republic
Two racist incidents have stained the reputation of the Czech Republic
as it celebrates the 10th anniversary of its Velvet Revolution--which
ended five decades of communist rule.
The first is the construction last week of a 2-meter-tall concrete
wall, designed to separate Roma from "white" Czechs in the town of
Usti nad Labem. After the wall was built, despite a cabinet vote of
disapproval, Premier Milos Zeman called it "a shame." He and other
politicians expressed apprehension that the wall will prove a serious
obstacle for Czech entry to the European Union. Czech President Vaclav
Havel and human rights activists worldwide have long condemned the
fence as an outrage.
During the same year and a half that the wall project in Usti divided
Czech public opinion and the cabinet in Prague and the Usti government
debated its legality, the state-owned Czech Airlines quietly kept a
record of passengers who looked like Roma and added to the ticket the
letter "G," for Gypsy. According to the Czech weekly "Respekt," the
mark of "G" was part of a deal struck by the airline and British
immigration officers so as to avoid reimposing visa requirements for
Czech citizens. This way the Czechs tipped off the British as to the
ethnic affiliation of potential asylum seekers. Britain has been the
country of preference for Roma trying to escape what they say is
rampant discrimination against them in the Czech Republic, even though
London authorities have declined the asylum requests of all but a
handful of applicants.
Observers predict that sooner or later the Usti wall will be levelled,
probably by sledgehammer-wielding human rights protesters. One
question is whether Usti authorities will prosecute the person or
persons for destruction of property. Another question is whether at
least some of the police force of 80--which local accounts say
protected the workers erecting the wall--will stay around and keep a
watch.
As for the mark of "G," airline officials say that they stopped using
it once the press exposed its existence.
Russian army wipes out Chechen villages
Russian bombs and artillery are wiping out peaceful Chechen villages,
killing hundreds of civilians and stoking fury against Russia, human
rights activists told AP on 18 October. Russian officials deny killing
civilians, saying the attacks target Islamic militants who twice
invaded Daghestan this summer and who, they claim without proof, are
responsible for bombings in Russia that killed 300 people. But several
Chechen villages that appear to have no connection with the militants
have been bombed by Russia, AP adds, and scores of civilians
reportedly have been killed. "Our military has never said what it
considers a rebel base,'' said Andrei Mironov, a member of the human
rights group Memorial, who visited Chechnya earlier this month. "This
vague term can cover just about anything.''
Russia fights an invisible war...
Five years ago much of the Russian public turned against the first
Chechen war because of the gruesome film footage carried by a young
independent station, NTV. But in the current war, Russian news
organizations send no reporters or cameramen to the front because they
are not prepared to pay ransom, as much as $2 million, demanded by
Chechens who turn a profit kidnapping people, according to Igor
Malashenko of Media Most, a Russian media conglomerate that includes
what is now NTV-Plus satellite television. Speaking on 13 October at
the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, the
former aide to former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev warned that this
war, too, could turn out to be "disastrous" because "there is no such
thing as a miracle" which is what victory would require. On 9 October,
"The Washington Post" noted that the Russian military has launched an
"information war," set up a new "information center" headed by Valerii
Manilov, senior deputy army chief of staff, and clamped a tight lid on
information about casualties. Last week Prime Minister Vladimir Putin
met with the leaders of all major TV channels and asked for their
help. "Once dovish new media are now all hawks, hammering home
Moscow's message that its fight is with 'terrorists,' not a national
liberation movement," Reuters reported on 20 October.
.But news of Chechen refugee plight is getting through
However, NTV was the first to report that the Russian government has
been turning back ethnic Chechens who flee the fighting and try to
enter Russia's North Ossetia. On 14 October, Human Rights Watch (HRW)
condemned the Russian government for closing down one stretch of its
border with Chechnya to ethnic Chechen civilians. At the same time,
ethnic Russians were allowed to cross the border. HRW called the
Russian policy "a gross violation of Russian and international law." A
Dutch journalist who visited a border town reported that the police at
Russian checkpoints solicit a bribe of $40 for each male and $20 for
each female refugee they would allow to sneak across.
'Illegals of Moscow' unite
As Moscow Mayor Yurii Luzhkov again defended his policy of expelling
non-Muscovites against charges of violating the Russian Constitution
and international treaties, a new association called the Organization
of the Illegals in Moscow announced its formation last week. In an
open letter in the "Weekly Bulletin" of the Agency for Social
Information in Moscow, the illegals identified themselves as "people
who are compelled, for different reasons, to live unregistered in
Moscow through no fault of their own. We are therefore deprived of our
human rights." The letter claimed that as many as 3 million illegals
now live in the Russian capital, including "doctors of science and
simple workers, painters and poets." Luzhkov defended his residential
permit system as something that "any civilized country" could adopt.
Azerbaijan government shuts down independent TV station.
Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF) has protested the Azerbaijan
government's decision to close Sara TV, one of the country's three
independent channels. The shutdown is in violation of the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Right, which was
ratified by Azerbaijan, RSF said. The Justice Ministry justified its
action by claiming that the channel deviated from its schedule of
entertainment and culture. Sara TV has recently criticized President
Heidar Aliev's son, Ilham, and made mention of opposition calls for
anti-government rallies. The shutdown was assured by 15 policemen with
Kalashnikov rifles who burst into the channel's offices.
Nobel Peace Prize for humanitarian group
Doctors Sans Frontieres received the 1999 Nobel Peace Prize in
recognition for its humanitarian work. Since its foundation in the
early 1970s, the organization has upheld the principle that whether
the disasters are caused by nature or humans, all disaster victims
have a right to professional help, given as quickly as possible. The
speed with which doctors have arrived has helped focus world attention
on a catastrophe. The organization was also formed out of frustration
at the rules of the game, which do not allow humanitarian aid groups
to discuss broader political or other reasons for such disasters.
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Copyright (c) 1999. RFE/RL, Inc. All rights reserved.
RFE/RL Watchlist is prepared by Charles Fenyvesi on the basis of a
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