By Kenneth F. Hunt
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

PRAGUE, Czech Republic – The highest court in the Czech Republic banned a right-wing political party this week, allegedly to protect Czech democracy. This is the first time that a party has been banned in the country for reasons other than financial irregularities since the country broke away from Slovakia in 1993.

The Czech Republic’s Supreme Administrative Court (NSS) outlawed the Workers’ Party on Wednesday February 17 based on factual findings that indicated a history of using racist and xenophobic language and related violence.

The Court felt that, specifically, homophobic and anti-Semitic language and a checkered history of violence towards gypsy groups constituted a were indicative  threat to Czech democracy.  The Court also linked the Workers’ Party to neo-Nazi and other white supremacy groups. Judge Vojtech Simicek rationalized the decision “as a preventive one”, necessary “to maintain the constitutional and democratic order in the future.”

In 2008, the government unsuccessfully attempted to ban the Worker’s Party, but a trial court dismissed the government’s petition.

For sure, the Workers’ Party has a history of “overzealous” protesting. In particular,  the Workers’ Party has often been involved with organizing and staging anti-gypsy communities in close proximity to Roma communities. These events, according to various press accounts, “typically” end in violence.

For example, in November 2008, 500 or more Worker’s Party members protested in the town of Litvinov. When the group attempted to march on a Roma suburb, some 1,000 riot police were called to diffuse the situation. Seven police and seven demonstrators were injured as a result.

The Workers’ Party has already launched an effort to appeal the decision. Workers’ Party leader Tomas Vandas says that the result was entirely political and designed to exclude the Party from national elections in May, calling the timing “highly suspicious”.

Mr. Vandas also disputed links to neo-Naziism or white supremacy, claiming there is “absolutely nothing” in the Party’s manifesto that indicates these extreme views.

Workers’ Party officials said that even if an appeal does not succeed, the Party will dissolve and regroup under a different name. Mr. Vandas suggested that the Party may now be called the Affiliated Workers’ Social Justice Party.

The Workers’ Party is normally unsuccessful in gaining a significant share of votes in Czech elections. For example, in 2008, only 1% of the electorate voted for Worker’s Party.

Nonetheless, political commentators and human rights group are worried that the NSS ruling will give the government precedent to dismantle other anti-establishment political parties, like the Communist Party which won 14 percent of the vote in 2009 elections.

For more information, please see:

EU OBSERVER – Czech court bans far-right Workers Party – 19 February 2010

BBC – Far-right Czech Workers’ Party to challenge court ban – 18 February 2010

NEW YORK TIMES – Czech Court Bans Far-Right Party – 18 February 2010

PRAGUE POST – Despite ban, Workers Party vows to go on – 17 February 2010

By David Sophrin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

WARSAW, Poland – Facing growing public outcry, Poland’s Prime Minister announced on Thursday that he would be withdrawing the internship censorship legislation currently before the parliament.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s decision came amidst growing doubt regarding the constitutionality of the proposed internet restriction ban.  The legislation had already been sent to Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal, a court designed to resolve issues of constitutionality.  Prior to the decision to withdrawal the legislation, the Prime Minister held had an online discussion with some of the leaders of the legislation’s opposition.

The proposed internet censorship legislation was part of the government’s larger anti-gambling campaign.  Under the proposed legislation, every internet provider in Poland would have been required to block certain websites selected by the government.  The Office of Electronic Communication and the Office of the Finance Ministry, as well as a number of the nation’s law enforcement agencies, were to be in charge of regulating the website ‘blacklist’.

Public protests to the internet legislation were almost immediate.  A petition of 77,000 signatures was submitted to Polish President Lech Kaczynski, requesting that he veto the legislation.  Some in the opposition have been fearful that giving the government the authority to ban gambling websites may lead in the future to the banning of other websites that the government disagrees with.  “Government [censorship] can be compared to gagging citizens even before they start to speak.  It’s  something that even George Orwell could not predict in his famous novel, 1984.”

For more information, please see:

WALL STREET JOURNAL – Poland Abandons Internet Censorship Plans – 18 February 2010

POLSKIE RADIO – Government abandons internet “black list” idea – 17 February 2010

WALL STREET JOURNAL – Polish PM Takes Censorship Debate Offline – 5 February 2010

POLSKIE RADIO – Protest against internet censorship in Poland grows – 29 January 2010

By Kenneth F. Hunt
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

MOSCOW, Russia – A human rights watchdog and Kremlin-friendly ombudsman blamed Russian federal officials with the deaths of four civilians killed in Ingushetia on February 11 and 12. Moreover, evidence is mounting that officials covered up the identities of the casualties and the cause of their death.

On Tuesday February 16, Nurdi Nukhadjiyev, the human rights ombudsman in Chechnya, said that federal forces were to blame for the deaths of four innocent civilians who were killed during an effort by the Kremlin to root out Islamic militants in the Ingushetia region.

This comes just one day after Memorial, a Moscow-based human rights watchdog group, similarly accused the Kremlin of a direct role in the death of the civilians.

The four civilians were killed along with 18 suspected Islamic insurgents during the two-day operation. Memorial, and now Mr. Nukhazhiyev, claims the civilians were caught in cross-fire while gathering wild garlic in the forest during the aerial and artillery bombardment in the Sunza district of Ingushetia over the weekend.

Initially, local and federal officials claimed that 22 Islamic militants were killed. But these new revelations indicate that four of the deaths were civilians. These reports directly contradict the information provided by Russian counter-terrorism officials after the weekend operations.

In addition to the death count revelation, Memorial claims that the cause of death is different than reported by Russian officials. Memorial claims that three civilians were killed by gunfire while one was knifed in the back. Russian officials still maintain that all deaths can be attributed to air bombardment.

But despite denial of these allegations, Ingushetian leader Yunus-Bek Yevkurov apologized for the “unfortunate deaths” of the civilians and compensated their families. But in doing so, Mr. Yevkurov emphasized that the civilians were only victims of cross-fire, and denied allegations of intentional killings of the civilians.

Despite these gestures, Mr. Nukhadjiyev claims that the ongoing investigations of the killings will not be objective because of the interests of the Kremlin to cover up the truth. Mr. Nukhadjiyev wants a formal investigation into the civilian deaths by independent prosecutors.

For more information, please see:

E TAIWAN NEWS – Russian rights advocate blames police for deaths – 16 February 2010

RADIO FREE EUROPE – Rights Activists Dispute Russian Account Of Chechen Killings – 16 February 2010

NEW YORK TIMES – Russia’s Version of Four Deaths Disputed – 15 February 2010

By Elizabeth A. Conger
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

HRODNA, Belarus –  On Sunday, police in Belarus arrested approximately forty members of a banned Polish cultural group, the Union of Poles (ZPB).  Members of the ZPB were arrested as they travelled to a court hearing in the  northwestern town of Volozhyn.

The ZPB, a nonpolitical organization with approximately 20,000 members, promotes Polish language and culture among ethnic Poles living in Belarus. It has been banned for the past five years, ever since it elected Anzhelika Borys as it’s leader in 2005.  The ZPB is currently the largest NGO in Belarus.

A protest was held on February 10, 2010, after police seized a building owned by ZPB, which housed the ZPB’s headquarters. Members of the ZPB were travelling to the court in Volzhyn on Sunday in order to attend the court hearing regarding the confiscation of the house when they were arrested by Belarusian police. 

The Polish government  has condemned the actions of Belarusian authorities, and recalled the its ambassador from Belarus.

Three ZPB members were sentenced to jail today by a court in the western Belarusian city of Hrodna, while dozens of others remain in detention. The court fined Anzhelika Borys, ZPB Chairwoman, one million Belarusian rubles ($360), while ZPB Deputy Chairman Meczislaw Jaskiewicz, spokesman Igor Bancer, and Council Chairman Andrzej Poczobut were sentenced to five days in jail.  Borys has gone into hiding to avoid being taken into militia custody, and she has reportedly given her mobile phone to Bancer to avoid being traced.

Poland’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Andrzej Kremer, told the AFP news agency that the Polish government was:  “deeply worried by the operations being pursued against the representatives of the Polish minority in Belarus.”

Polish media reported that Polish Foreign Minister, Radoslaw Sikorski, has given the Belarusian Foreign Minister, Syarhey Martynau, a letter for President Lukashenko warning him that if Minsk continued to violate the rights of its Polish minority, the Polish government would ban Belarusian government officials from entering Poland and would recommend that Belarus be blocked from entering the EU.

Roughly 400,000 ethnic Poles currently live in Belarus. Human rights groups have accused the Belarusian government of repressing the rights of ethnic Poles living in Belarus. The Belarusian government only recognizes a breakaway faction of the Union of Poles which has declared its loyalty to Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. 

Lukashenko has ruled Belarus since 1994, and human rights activists have criticized his authoritarian tactics, which he has used to stifle dissent.

For more information, please see:

BBC – Belarus arrests members of ethnic Polish group – 15 February 2010

RFE – Belarus Fines, Gives Jail Terms to Ethnic Poles – 15 February 2010

thenews.pl – Militia arrests more Poles in Belarus – 15 February 2010

By David Sophrin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

LONDON, United Kingdom – A British far-right political party that until how has limited its membership to whites has decided, facing legal potential legal action, to allow non-white citizens the opportunity to apply for membership.

On Saturday the British National Party (BNP) met in Essex, England to met regarding the proposed change in membership rules.  Following the meet, party leader Nick Griffin declared that “anyone can be a member of this party.  We are happy to accept anyone as a member providing they agree with us that this country should remain fundamentally British.”

The BNP change comes when the party has faced recent legal challenges to their long standing rule banning any non-white British citizen from gaining membership.  A recent Central London County Court decision ordered the BNP to alter its bylaws or face potential legal action by the United Kingdom’s Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC).  Opponents to the policies of the BNP declared that the party’s shift in membership rules does not reflect any moderation in the long-standing reactionary policies of the BNP.  Weyman Bennett, of United Against Fascism, noted that “regardless of the vote, the changes are cosmetic and have only happened because the courts forced them to stop racist practices.”

Following the membership rules change, the anti-fascist group Searchlight declared that “[the change] was a meaningless gesture by the BNP.  No one seriously believes that thousands of black and Asian Britons will now be queuing up to join Nick Griffin’s party.  The BNP are as racist and extremist as ever.”

While the BNP has never garnered more than a faction of a percentage of support among the British citizenry, in recent elections the BNP won its first seat in the European parliament, the legislative body of the European Union.  Rising national unemployment rates and frustration with the larger national political parties has also led to BNP candidates being elected to a handful of local councils.  One of BNP’s signature policies has been its opposition to the current immigration policies of the United Kingdom.  BNP still has not gained a seat in the United Kingdom’s parliament.

A British court is scheduled to rule in March on whether this BNP membership change goes far enough to comply with EHRC’s race relation laws.

For more information, please see:

IRISH TIMES – BNP votes to accept black members – 15 February 2010

AFP – Far-right party votes to drop white-only rule – 14 February 2010

REUTERS – Britain’s far-right party to ditch whites-only membership rule – 14 February 2010