Government Decision Regarding the Maticní Street Wall
27-05-1999
Radio Prague, May 27th - On Wednesday the Czech government made a decision to prevent the building of a
controversial wall in the north Bohemian city of Ustí nad Labem. The planned wall which
was to separate inhabitants on Maticní Street has attracted international attention. Linda
Mastalir has the details.
The Czech government on Wednesday decided to block the construction of the
planned 2 meter ceramic wall in Maticní Street, Ustí nad Labem. The wall was supposed to
separate tax-paying house owner's on one side of the street, from a subsidized housing estate
inhabited primarily by Romas on the other. I spoke to Andrea Varsová from the Office of the
Commissioner for Human Rights about the decision:
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Government spokesman, Libor Roucek, stated that the government refuses to negotiate
on any point that incorporates, or can evoke, racial discrimination or segregation. Cultural
Minister, Pavel Dostál, added that the government is against the construction of any sort of
wall. The government in its decision agreed with the opinion that the construction of the wall
is illegal and has the character of segregation.
Pavel Tosovský, councilman for the Ustí district Nestemice, said that the government
decision indicates a concern for the human rights of only one group - the non-paying Roma
dwellers - and ignores the rights of the neighbouring house owners. Tosovský added that
there were a series of mistakes leading to the government decision, above all that the
government did not have the courage to stand against the pressure being exerted upon it in
recent days:
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Tosovský also complained that no one from the Ustí region was invited to participate in the
government meetings.
It is the hope of the Czech government that the inhabitants of Maticní Street will come
to a reasonable agreement and not proceed with the wall's construction. International
organizations such as the UN Commission for Human Rights have been following the
developments in Ustí nad Labem, and have been encouraging the Czech Republic to deal with
the issue promptly.
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