Former dissident quits in protest

A leading dissident from the communist era resigned in protest from the government's human rights council Nov. 3.

Anna Šabatová, one of the key signatories of the anti-communist Charter 77 petition and a former deputy ombudsman, says she is leaving in protest of Prime Minister Petr Nečas' government's neglect of human rights issues.

"The council does not have a chairperson, and it has not worked for a few months. That is my main reason," Šabatová told The Prague Post. "I seriously doubt the government considers human rights an important issue."

The 17-member council is an advisory body to the government and is supposed to convene a minimum of four times a year. Since its former chairman, Michal Kocáb, was controversially dismissed as commissioner for human rights by Nečas (Civic Democrats, ODS) in September, the council has not met once.

Nečas, who heads a three-party right-of-center coalition government, has come under fire for failing to appoint a replacement nearly two months after Kocáb's dismissal, one of several critiques of his government's handling of human rights policy.

Kocáb says the government is losing a valuable expert in Šabatová, a council member since 2007. "This is exactly why I wanted Nečas to name a successor before my leaving office, so that I would have had someone to hand my portfolio over to," Kocáb told the news server ParlamentníListy.cz. "What I feared would happen has happened, and I understand Mrs. Šabatová's decision."

Nečas also raised eyebrows with his endorsement of Liana Janáčková in October's Senate elections. Janáčková is the mayor of the Ostrava districts of Mariánské hory and Hulváky, and is known for her controversial stance toward the Roma minority. In a 2006 Czech Television interview she said, "I don't support any form of integration. Unfortunately, I am a racist, and I don't agree that Gypsies should be integrated."

Janáčková failed in her Senate bid.

"On a symbolic level, there were a few factors, for example Nečas' open and enthusiastic support of Janáčková in the Senate elections," Šabatová said of her reasons for resignation.

Human rights groups have also criticized Nečas for appointing the ultra-conservative Roman Joch as an adviser on human rights issues.

"I don't have a personal vendetta against Joch, but what I do think is problematic is that our prime minister would appoint someone to this office who doesn't remotely understand how the human rights sector works and who has very bizarre opinions about it," Šabatová said. "From what he has said publicly, it's also clear he doesn't even understand the basic concepts of protecting human rights."

Amid the growing criticism, Nečas said he had already picked a candidate to fill Kocáb's former post.

"The coalition is currently discussing my proposal, and the person I picked has yet to accept my offer," Nečas told the Czech News Agency.

Josef Šmída, chairman of the Green Party's human rights committee, however, says no one in the human rights field knows who that candidate is.

"If Nečas tells the media he has a candidate in mind, then he should tell the people who work for his government who that candidate is, which he has not done," Šmída said. "The situation in the human rights area is critical at the moment, because the current government under Nečas is marginalizing the human rights portfolio."

Sarah Borufka can be reached at
sborufka@praguepost.com