The Czech Republic: Human Rights Defender, Yet No R2P Champion

Abstract

ABSTRACT The Czech Republic has a strong tradition of promoting human rights; starting in the 1990s it established itself as an active human rights defender, particularly in relation to priority countries such as North Korea, Belarus, Burma/Myanmar, and Cuba. Human rights and their advancement are significant focal points in Czech foreign policy, both bilaterally and within multilateral organizations like the UN Human Rights Council and the Council of Europe with its Venice Commission. It is therefore interesting to examine the Czech position towards the responsibility to protect (R2P) and whether relevant policymakers actively promote R2P norms. Does the Czech Republic rank among R2P champions, which include small states like Costa Rica, Ghana, Rwanda, Denmark, and Slovenia? While the R2P concept may be considered a complement to traditional human rights norms, I argue that a narrow and selective human rights agenda clearly takes precedence among the Czech political elites. This was evident in the Czech response to the crisis in Myanmar. In 2017, despite international calls for a stronger response to the ongoing genocidal violence against the Rohingya, Czech foreign policy focused on the positive prospects of the democratization process and its policy of human rights promotion.