US embassy cable - 05PRAGUE731

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PRAGUE 000731 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, EZ 
SUBJECT: EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT PANS PIG FARM AT FORMER ROMA 
CAMP; ODS AND PRESIDENT PROTEST 
 
 
1.  (SBU) Summary:  The Czech government's long-standing 
failure to remove a pig farm from the site of a WWII Roma 
concentration camp has resurfaced as a political issue 
following a critical European Parliament resolution and the 
allegation of President Klaus that the site was not a real 
"concentration camp."  The stumbling block to clearing the 
site has been the cost, combined with the lack of effective 
lobbying by Roma groups.  While the debate has prompted the 
new government to promise to take the issue seriously, with 
elections looming next year we expect little action on this, 
as in many other areas. 
 
2.  (U)  Passage of a European Parliament (EP) resolution on 
April 28 calling for an end to discrimination of Romanies in 
member countries, perceived by some Czechs as unfairly 
singling out the Czech Republic, has reignited the dispute 
in the country over the site of a Nazi-era Roma 
concentration camp at Lety.  The resolution calls for the 
removal of a pig farm on the site, and the erection of a 
suitable memorial.  The pig farm was built over part of the 
former camp site by the Communist regime in the 1970s, and 
is currently home to some 15,000 pigs. 
 
3.  (U)  The Czech opposition Civil Democrat Party (ODS), 
while not disagreeing that a solution should be found for 
Lety, has protested that the Czech Republic is the only 
country specifically named in the EP resolution, and 
declares that solving the Lety issue should be an internal 
Czech, not a European, matter.  The ODS position on Lety is 
backed by their honorary chairman, Czech President Vaclav 
Klaus.  Klaus, a firm opponent of the adoption of the 
European Constitution, appears to have seized the 
opportunity to spin the Lety issue into his own plans, 
claiming that the EP should not be interfering in Czech 
domestic politics.  But in addition to bristling at the EP 
resolution, Klaus stated in a May 14 press interview that 
the camp was never a "concentration" camp per se, and rather 
a place where people were sent who "didn't want to work." 
 
4.  (U)  Klaus is not alone in his revisionist view of 
history:  a Czech Communist MEP, Miloslav Ransdorf, also 
stated to the media that there was never a "genuine" 
concentration camp in Lety.  Klaus and Ransdorf's comments 
have caused widespread outcry, and former Human Rights 
Commissioner and journalist Petr Uhl has lodged a formal 
complaint against Ransdorf for his remarks.  Uhl's complaint 
is based upon the Czech law which sets a prison sentence of 
up to three years upon those who publicly deny or question 
Nazi- and Communist-committed genocide.  In addition to Uhl, 
new Czech Prime Minister Paroubek, Senate Vice-President 
Pithart, Interior Minister Bublan, Defense Minister Kuehnl 
and current Human Rights Commissioner Karasek have all also 
come out in favor of the removal of the pig farm at Lety. 
 
5.  (SBU)  At a yearly memorial service held at Lety on May 
13, Deputy Minister for European Integration of the Ministry 
of Regional Development, Vera Jourova, commented to Poloff 
that although Paroubek told her he sincerely feels the Lety 
issue should be solved by his new government, she was not 
optimistic he would succeed.  Jourova, who was formerly 
General Director under Paroubek when he was Minister for 
Regional Development, noted that she maintains a close 
relationship with the new PM.  Even if Lety is a government 
goal, the new leadership would have but a few months to act 
in autumn (after summer break) before focusing on pre- 
election campaigns at the beginning of 2006.  The main 
stumbling block to removing the pig farm is the expense, 
further complicated because the farm was sold to a private 
owner ten years ago.  Jourova commented that though the 
Czechs could probably secure EU funds for Lety, and the 
German government has also offered funding, she feels it is 
the Czech government's duty to move the camp.  Vladimir 
Spidla, former PM and current European Commissioner, has 
also commented that although he agrees with the cause, given 
the cost of moving the camp (estimated at 600 to 800 million 
CZK, or 25-34 million USD), the funds might better be spent 
on improving the situation of existing Roma in the country 
before restoring the site. 
 
6.  (U)  Although the Czech Roma community has called for 
removal of the pig farm for over ten years, the community's 
voice suffers from a lack of cohesion that would give it 
strength.  The Czech Republic has several Roma NGOs, a "Roma 
Parliament" created last year, and a Roma Democratic Party 
established some two weeks ago.  However, none of these 
organizations seem to have anything good to say about any of 
their counterparts, and they do not work together.  The Roma 
Parliament Deputy Speaker, who is also a member of the 
advisory body to the Government Council for Roma Affairs, 
has been sentenced for tax fraud and must therefore 
relinquish his position on the Council.  Regional Roma 
Coordinators, hired by the government, bickered amongst each 
other at a recent meeting hosted by the Deputy Minister of 
Interior.  This lack of coordination and cooperation amongst 
the Roma community hampers their ability to effectively 
lobby the government on issues like Lety, and also 
education, discrimination, and chronic Roma unemployment. 
 
CABANISS