WHITE PAPER ON CZECHOSLOVAKIA Published by the INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE FOR THE SUPPORT OF CHARTER 77 IN CZECHOSLOVAKIA René Allio José-Luis Aranguren Louis Astre Saul Bellow Claude de Boisanger Heinrich B611 Pierre Daix Jean Marie Doménách A. den Doolard Friedrich Dllrrenmatt Pierre Emmanuel Pedro Lain Entralgo Max Frisch GUnter Grass Graham Greene André Henry Alfred Kastler Edmond Maire Gilles Martinet Mary McCarthy Arthur Miller Yves Montand Iris Murdoch Denis de Rougemont Carlo Schmidt Laurent Schwartz Pierre Seghers Simone Signoret Stephen Spender Tom Stoppard Vercors Johan Vogt Per Wastberg WHITE PAPER ON CZECHOSLOVAKIA Q International Committee for the Support of Charter 77 in Czechoslovakia. Published in June, 1977 in English and French.Copies can be ordered from the Committee's Secretary, Mrs. France de Nicolaý, 3, rue des Lions, 75004 Paris, France. Price of one volume, postage inclu­ ded: £12.-, U.S.02O.-, FF100.-, SF50.-, DM50.-. Cheques to be made out to: "F.de Nicolaý-White Book". CZECHOSLOVAKIA ( CSSR) IN OUTLINE The Czechoslovak Republic came into existence in 1918 and was dismembered to the advantage of Germany in 1938. In Ma.rch 1939 a German client state of Slovakia was created and the Czech lands were incorporated into the Reich as the 'Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia' . At the end of the Second World War the Republic was restored and a part of it, Sub Carpathian Ruthenia, transferred to the USSR. A coalition government of four Czech and two Slovak parties remained in power until February 19^8 when a predominant!y communist system was introduced. The first years of one-party rule in Czechoslovakia saw mass persecution and mass imprisonment, often without trial and under fa.lse pretences, of alleged and real opponents of the new regime. In 1968, under the leadership of Alexander Dubcek, the Czechoslovak Communist Party launched a far-reaching programme of political and economic reforms which became known as the Prague Spring. On 21st August 1968 the armed forces of five Warsaw Pact states invaded and occupied the country. A policy of 'normalization' was then imposed on the Czechoslovak government, that is the abandonment of most of the reforms and the stationing of Soviet forces on Czechoslovak soil. Czechoslovakia has a total area of nearly 130,000 square kilometres and her population now exceeds 19 million. In addition to the Czechs and the Slovaks, there is a substantial Hungarian minority as well as communities of Germans, Poles and Ukrainians. The Roman Catholic Church has the largest following, but there are also several Protestant Churches, all under state control and with the salaries of the clergy paid by the government. Czechoslovakia has a well developed industry and next to the German .Democratic Republic the highest standard of living in Eastern Europe. Its single most important trading partner is the USSR (32.5 per cent in 1975) and the other Comecon countries (33.5 per cent). Some 22.3 per cent of trade is exchanged with industrially developed Western countries, 7 per cent with developing countries, and k .6 per cent with non-Comecon communist countries. Czechoslovak foreign policy is closely linked to that of the USSR; the CSSR has been a Warsaw Pact member since its inception. Czechoslovakia is also a member of the United Nations and a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Covenants on Civil and Political Rights and on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the Helsinki Final Act. LIST OF CONTENTS Chapter One INTRODUCTION 11 Chapter Two OBLIGATIONS 17 Relevant Articles of Czechoslovak Constitution "All citizens _____________________ 19 Some Articles of the Penal Code Relating to Political Offences "Who e v e r _____________________________ 21 Some Articles of the Penal Code on Illegality of Persecution "Abusing the a u t h o r i t y __________________________ 24 Ordinance Promulgating International Covenants on Human Rights in Czechoslovakia "120 O r d i n a n c e 28 Chapter Three HUMAN RIGHTS: STATE OF THE COUNTRY 29 Amnesty International Briefing Paper No.9 on Czechoslovakia "The 1960 c o n s t i t u t i o n _________________________________ _ 31 Václav Havel”s Open Letter to Dr. Husák "Dear Dr. I-Iusák_________________________ __ _ _ 41 Karel Kaplan 's Letter to the Federal Assembly "To the Praesidium of the Federal 45 Chapter Four CHARTER 77 AND ITS AFTERMATH 51 Full text of Charter 77 Manifesto "In the Czechoslovak Register _____________________________ 53 A Query on Czechoslovak Government 's A d h e s i o n to Human Rights Agreements "In accordance with _________________________________________ 57 Full text of Charter Document No .3 on the Persecution of Signatories "To the P r a e s i d i u m ___________________________________________ 59 Juridical Analysis of Charter 77 and Related A c t i v i t i e s "As spokesmen _________________________________________ 61 3 Full Text of Charter Document No .6 on the Persecution of Signatories "Despite the fact__________________________________ 65 A Letter to European Communist Parties on the Persecution of Human Rights Activists "Letter to_______________________________________________ 71 Appeal by Zdeněk Mlynář to West European Communist and Socialist Parties "In Czechoslovakia _____________________________________ 74 Full Text of Charter Document No. 10 Summing up the Effect of the Charter and Suggesting Measures to Relieve Tension "Nearly four months ____________________________________ 7 6 Summary of Western Reports on A Statement Issued by Several Signatories of the Charter in Early June 1977 "The document _______________________________________ 8 2 Václav Havel "s Release from Detention "I have given _________________________________________ 8 3 Chapter Five WORK, EMPLOYMENT, PROFESSIONS 85 Full Text of Charter Document No. 7 on Violations of Social and Economic Rights "Since the Emergence___________________________________ 87 Protest by Zdeněk Jičínský against Extensive Infractions of Norms of Labour Legislation "Federal Assembly of the Č S S R ________________________ 93 Zdeněk Mlynář "s Letter to the World Federation of Trade Unions on Job Victimization "To the World___________________________________________ 94 Dismissal from Work of Zdeněk Mlynář "National Museum________________________________________ 9 6 Outcome of Mlynář "s Suit for Unlawful Dismissal "Two months after______________________________________ 98 Dismissal from Work of Jindra Kadlecová "Research Institute____________________________________ 100 Dismissal from Work of Zuzana Dienstbierová "Prague Building Enterprise__________________________ 102 Dismissal from Work of Radim Palouš "According to____________________________________ _ 103 A Survey of Further Cases of Dismissal from Work "Museum of____ 10 6 4 The Case of Jan Mlynářík, Professor and S t a g e - H a n d "Dear Mr. Husák______________________________ Ill The Predicaments of Journalists Dismissed from Work after 1968 "Some were arrested_________________ ______ 114 A List of Scholar's Who Had to Leave the Faculty of Philosophy "University Professors_ _____ _________ __ ___ 117 Change in the Fate of Some Historians Banned from Practising Their Profession "Karel Bartošek __________ __________ ______ ____ 118 Political Conditions of Employment in the Academy of Sciences "Work D o s s i e r s _____________________________ _ _ .1.20 Relatives Abroad as a Political Handicap in the Academy of Sciences ______ _ _ _______ 121 Officers of the Armed Forces Dismissed for Political Views "According to _____ ________ ___ _____ 123 Chapter Six EDUCATION .1.27 Full Text of Charter Document No. 4 on Discrimination in Education against Children of Non-Conformists "For many y e a r s _____________________ _______________ 129 Věnek Šilhán 's Analysis of Political Discrimi­ nation in the Field of Education "Federal Assembly _________ _________ _______________ ___ 13 5 An Educationalist 's Appeal against Political Bias in University Admissions "UNESCO, H e l p ! ______________ _ _____________________ 13 7 Letter by a Prague Teacher on Political Atmosphe­ re in Secondary Schools "Twenty years ______________________________________________ 141 A Parent Describes How and Why His Son Was Not Admitted to an Agricultural College "My decision ________________________________________ 144 A Round-up of Several Cases of Educational Discrimination "Kateřina 148 Chapter Seven EXPRESSION, BELIEF, RESEARCH, ARTS AND CULTURE 151 Extracts from the Lav/ on Publishing Activities "Article 4 153 5 Extracts from the Press Lav/ of 1968 "Fundamental Principles_________________ 154 Lav/ on the Abolition of Censorship of June 1968 "Lav/ of 26th____________________________________________ 158 Law on the Restoration of Censorship of September 1968 "Law___________________________________________________ _ 160 Charles University Directives for External Examiners "Circular from________________________________ 162 František Janouch's Letter of Curtailment of Publication at Charles University "Mr. Josef Havlin____________________________ 165 Text of Hana Ponická 's Speech Which She Could Not Deliver at Slovak Writers' Congress "Colleagues________________________________ _____________ 167 An Appeal to Western Intellectuals by Actress Vlasta Chramostová "In spite of______________________________ ____________ 170 Karel Kosík "s Letter to Jean-Paul Sartre "Am I guilty?___________________________________ _ 171 Pavel Kohout "s Letter to Heinrich Boll and Arthur Miller "I have concentrated __________________________ 17 3 Ludvík Vaculík