Charter 77
Encyclopedia
Charter 77 was an informal civic initiative in communist Czechoslovakia from 1976 to 1992, named after the document Charter 77 from January 1977. Founding members and architects were Václav Havel
, Jan Patočka
, Zdeněk Mlynář
, Jiří Hájek
, and Pavel Kohout
. Spreading the text of the document was considered a political crime
. After the 1989 Velvet Revolution
, many of its members played important roles in Czech and Slovak politics.
and Pavel Landovský
were detained
while trying to bring the charter to the Federal Assembly
and the Czechoslovak government and the original document was confiscated, copies circulated as samizdat
and on 7 January were published in several western newspapers (including Le Monde
, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
, The Times
or New York Times) and transmitted to Czechoslovakia by Czechoslovak-banned radio broadcasters like Radio Free Europe
or Voice of America
.
Charter 77 criticized the government for failing to implement human rights
provisions of a number of documents it had signed, including the 1960 Constitution of Czechoslovakia
, the Final Act of the 1975 Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (Basket III of the Helsinki Accords
), and United Nations
covenants on political, civil, economic, and cultural rights. The document also described the signatories as a "loose, informal, and open association of people . . . united by the will to strive individually and collectively for respect for human and civil rights in our country and throughout the world." It emphasized that Charter 77 is not an organization, has no statutes or permanent organs, and "does not form the basis for any oppositional political activity." This final stipulation was a careful effort to stay within the bounds of Czechoslovak law, which made organized opposition illegal.
After 30 years, many of those from both Czechoslovakia and the UK who were personally involved in the Charter 77 movement and helped to gain international support and to draw attention to the petition gathered on 29 March 2007 at the Orange Tree Theatre
in Richmond, London, to look back and share their experience and memories of one of the little known but most significant events of modern European history.
as well as prominent comedic writer Jan Werich
who later claimed he had no idea of what he was doing whilst signing the anti-charter.
Several means of retaliation were used against the signers, including dismissal from work, denial of educational opportunities for their children, suspension of drivers' licenses, forced exile, loss of citizenship, and detention, trial, and imprisonment. Many members were forced to collaborate with the communist secret service (the StB, czech: Státní bezpečnost
).
The treatment of Charter 77 signatories prompted the creation in April 1978 of a support group, the Committee for the Defense of the Unjustly Persecuted
(Výbor na obranu nespravedlivě stíhaných - VONS), to publicize the fate of those associated with the charter. In October 1979 six leaders of this support group, including Václav Havel, were tried for subversion and sentenced to prison terms of up to five years.
Repression of Charter 77 and VONS members continued during the 1980s. Despite unrelenting harassment and arrests, however, the groups continued to issue reports on the government's violations of human rights. Until the Velvet revolution, Charter 77 had approximately 1,900 signatories.
In the late 1980s, as the Eastern Bloc
regimes weakened, members of Charter 77 saw their opportunity and became more involved in organizing opposition against the regime in power. During the days of the Velvet Revolution
, members of the group negotiated the smooth transfer of political power from dictatorship to democracy. Many were elevated into high positions in the government (e.g. Václav Havel became the President of Czechoslovakia) but since most had no experience in active politics (such as skills in diplomacy or knowledge of capitalism
) they met with mixed success.
Charter 77 included people who had a wide range of opinions and, after reaching their common goal, the group's presence faded. An attempt to make the group the focal point of an all-encompassing political party (the Civic Forum
) failed and in 1992 the organization was officially dissolved.
Václav Havel
Václav Havel is a Czech playwright, essayist, poet, dissident and politician. He was the tenth and last President of Czechoslovakia and the first President of the Czech Republic . He has written over twenty plays and numerous non-fiction works, translated internationally...
, Jan Patočka
Jan Patocka
Jan Patočka is considered one of the most important contributors to Czech philosophical phenomenology, as well as one of the most influential central European philosophers of the 20th century...
, Zdeněk Mlynář
Zdenek Mlynár
Zdeněk Mlynář was a Czech intellectual who went against the grain during a critical time in the development of Eastern European political history. Mlynář wrote the noteworthy political manifesto “Towards a Democratic Political Organization of Society” which was released on May 5, 1968, at the...
, Jiří Hájek
Jirí Hájek
Jiří Hájek was a Czech politician and diplomat. Together with Václav Havel, Zdeněk Mlynář, and Pavel Kohout, Hájek was one of the founding members and architects of Charta 77.-Early political career:...
, and Pavel Kohout
Pavel Kohout
Pavel Kohout is a Czech and Austrian novelist, playwright, and poet. He was a member of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, a Prague Spring exponent and dissident in 1970s until he was expelled to Austria...
. Spreading the text of the document was considered a political crime
Political crime
In criminology, a political crime is an offence involving overt acts or omissions , which prejudice the interests of the state, its government or the political system...
. After the 1989 Velvet Revolution
Velvet Revolution
The Velvet Revolution or Gentle Revolution was a non-violent revolution in Czechoslovakia that took place from November 17 – December 29, 1989...
, many of its members played important roles in Czech and Slovak politics.
Founding and political aims
Motivated in part by the arrest of members of the psychedelic band Plastic People of the Universe, the text of Charter 77 was prepared in 1976. In December 1976, the first signatures were collected. The charter was published on 6 January 1977, along with the names of the first 242 signatories, which represented various occupations, political viewpoints, and religions. Although Václav Havel, Ludvík VaculíkLudvík Vaculík
Ludvík Vaculík is a Czech writer and journalist. A prominent samizdat writer, he is most famous as the author of the "Two Thousand Words" manifesto of June 1968.-Pre-1968:...
and Pavel Landovský
Pavel Landovský
Pavel Landovský is a Czech actor, playwright and director.Landovský studied at the Faculty of Theatre in Prague and then played in regional theaters in Teplice, Šumperk, Klatovy and Pardubice. He wrote his first play Hodinový hoteliér premiered at the Činoherní theater on 11 May 1969.In 1971 he...
were detained
Detention of suspects
The detention of suspects is the process of keeping a person who has been arrested in a police-cell, remand prison or other detention centre before trial or sentencing. One criticism of pretrial detention is that eventual acquittal can be a somewhat hollow victory, in that there is no way to...
while trying to bring the charter to the Federal Assembly
Federal Assembly of Czechoslovakia
The Federal Assembly was the name of Czechoslovakia's federal parliament from January 1, 1969 to the dissolution of Czechoslovakia on December 31, 1992...
and the Czechoslovak government and the original document was confiscated, copies circulated as samizdat
Samizdat
Samizdat was a key form of dissident activity across the Soviet bloc in which individuals reproduced censored publications by hand and passed the documents from reader to reader...
and on 7 January were published in several western newspapers (including Le Monde
Le Monde
Le Monde is a French daily evening newspaper owned by La Vie-Le Monde Group and edited in Paris. It is one of two French newspapers of record, and has generally been well respected since its first edition under founder Hubert Beuve-Méry on 19 December 1944...
, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , short F.A.Z., also known as the FAZ, is a national German newspaper, founded in 1949. It is published daily in Frankfurt am Main. The Sunday edition is the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung .F.A.Z...
, The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
or New York Times) and transmitted to Czechoslovakia by Czechoslovak-banned radio broadcasters like Radio Free Europe
Radio Free Europe
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is a broadcaster funded by the U.S. Congress that provides news, information, and analysis to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and the Middle East "where the free flow of information is either banned by government authorities or not fully developed"...
or Voice of America
Voice of America
Voice of America is the official external broadcast institution of the United States federal government. It is one of five civilian U.S. international broadcasters working under the umbrella of the Broadcasting Board of Governors . VOA provides a wide range of programming for broadcast on radio...
.
Charter 77 criticized the government for failing to implement human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
provisions of a number of documents it had signed, including the 1960 Constitution of Czechoslovakia
1960 Constitution of Czechoslovakia
The Constitution of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic , promulgated on 11 July 1960 as the constitutional law 100/1960 Sb., codified the Communist regime in Czechoslovakia...
, the Final Act of the 1975 Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (Basket III of the Helsinki Accords
Helsinki Accords
thumb|300px|[[Erich Honecker]] and [[Helmut Schmidt]] in Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe held in Helsinki 1975....
), and United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
covenants on political, civil, economic, and cultural rights. The document also described the signatories as a "loose, informal, and open association of people . . . united by the will to strive individually and collectively for respect for human and civil rights in our country and throughout the world." It emphasized that Charter 77 is not an organization, has no statutes or permanent organs, and "does not form the basis for any oppositional political activity." This final stipulation was a careful effort to stay within the bounds of Czechoslovak law, which made organized opposition illegal.
After 30 years, many of those from both Czechoslovakia and the UK who were personally involved in the Charter 77 movement and helped to gain international support and to draw attention to the petition gathered on 29 March 2007 at the Orange Tree Theatre
Orange Tree Theatre
The Orange Tree Theatre is a 172-seat theatre at 1 Clarence Street, Richmond in south west London, built specifically as a theatre in the round....
in Richmond, London, to look back and share their experience and memories of one of the little known but most significant events of modern European history.
Reaction of the government
The government's reaction to the appearance of Charter 77 was harsh. The official press described the manifesto as "an antistate, antisocialist, and demagogic, abusive piece of writing," and individual signers were variously described as "traitors and renegades," "a loyal servant and agent of imperialism," "a bankrupt politician," and "an international adventurer." However official press never published full text, as it was considered as illegal print and its spreading was considered as a political crime. However an official group of artists and writers was mobilized to into an "anti-charter" movement which included Czechoslvoakia's foremost singer Karel GottKarel Gott
Karel Gott is a Czech Schlager singer, and an amateur painter. He is considered as the most successful male singer in former Czechoslovakia and currently in the Czech Republic; he has being voted the Most Favorite Male Singer in the annual national pool Český slavík in total thirty-six times...
as well as prominent comedic writer Jan Werich
Jan Werich
Jan Werich was a Czech actor, playwright and writer.-Life:Between 1916 to 1924 he attended "reálné gymnasium" in Křemencová Street in Prague...
who later claimed he had no idea of what he was doing whilst signing the anti-charter.
Several means of retaliation were used against the signers, including dismissal from work, denial of educational opportunities for their children, suspension of drivers' licenses, forced exile, loss of citizenship, and detention, trial, and imprisonment. Many members were forced to collaborate with the communist secret service (the StB, czech: Státní bezpečnost
STB
STB is an acronym that can mean:* Sacrae Theologiae Baccalaureus – Bachelor of Sacred Theology* Set-top box – a television device that converts signals to viewable images* Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP -- a law firm...
).
The treatment of Charter 77 signatories prompted the creation in April 1978 of a support group, the Committee for the Defense of the Unjustly Persecuted
Committee for the Defense of the Unjustly Persecuted
The Committee for the Defense of the Unjustly Persecuted was a Czechoslovak dissident organization founded largely by Charter 77 signatories. VONS was founded on April 27, 1978.-Founding and Political Aims:...
(Výbor na obranu nespravedlivě stíhaných - VONS), to publicize the fate of those associated with the charter. In October 1979 six leaders of this support group, including Václav Havel, were tried for subversion and sentenced to prison terms of up to five years.
Repression of Charter 77 and VONS members continued during the 1980s. Despite unrelenting harassment and arrests, however, the groups continued to issue reports on the government's violations of human rights. Until the Velvet revolution, Charter 77 had approximately 1,900 signatories.
Influence
Under the dictatorship, the influence of Charter 77 remained limited. It didn't reach wide groups of people and most of its members were from Prague. The majority of Czechoslovak citizens knew of the organization only because of the government's campaign against it.In the late 1980s, as the Eastern Bloc
Eastern bloc
The term Eastern Bloc or Communist Bloc refers to the former communist states of Eastern and Central Europe, generally the Soviet Union and the countries of the Warsaw Pact...
regimes weakened, members of Charter 77 saw their opportunity and became more involved in organizing opposition against the regime in power. During the days of the Velvet Revolution
Velvet Revolution
The Velvet Revolution or Gentle Revolution was a non-violent revolution in Czechoslovakia that took place from November 17 – December 29, 1989...
, members of the group negotiated the smooth transfer of political power from dictatorship to democracy. Many were elevated into high positions in the government (e.g. Václav Havel became the President of Czechoslovakia) but since most had no experience in active politics (such as skills in diplomacy or knowledge of capitalism
Capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
) they met with mixed success.
Charter 77 included people who had a wide range of opinions and, after reaching their common goal, the group's presence faded. An attempt to make the group the focal point of an all-encompassing political party (the Civic Forum
Civic Forum
The Civic Forum was a political movement in the Czech part of Czechoslovakia, established during the Velvet Revolution in 1989...
) failed and in 1992 the organization was officially dissolved.
Signatories (selection)
- Petr Chudožilov
- Gábor DemszkyGábor DemszkyGábor Demszky is a Hungarian politician, lawyer and sociologist by qualification. Demszky was the Mayor of Budapest from 1990 to 2010.- Biography :...
- Jiří DienstbierJiří DienstbierJiří Dienstbier was a Czech politician and journalist. He was one of Czechoslovakia's most respected foreign correspondent before being fired after the Prague Spring. Unable to have a livelihood as a journalist, he worked as a janitor for the next two decades...
- Jiří Hanzelka
- Jiří GrušaJirí GrušaJiří Gruša was a Czech poet, novelist, translator, diplomat and politician.-Biography:...
- Jiří HájekJirí HájekJiří Hájek was a Czech politician and diplomat. Together with Václav Havel, Zdeněk Mlynář, and Pavel Kohout, Hájek was one of the founding members and architects of Charta 77.-Early political career:...
- Václav HavelVáclav HavelVáclav Havel is a Czech playwright, essayist, poet, dissident and politician. He was the tenth and last President of Czechoslovakia and the first President of the Czech Republic . He has written over twenty plays and numerous non-fiction works, translated internationally...
- Zbyněk HejdaZbynek HejdaZbyněk Hejda is a Czech poet, essayist and translator , generally recognised as one of the most important Czech writers after the Second World War. He studied philosophy and history at the Charles University...
- Josef HiršalJosef HiršalJosef Hiršal was a Czech author, poet and novelist.Hiršal was widely regarded as one of the most important Czech authors of experimental poetry; after early surrealistic writings, he made his literary debut with a collection of poems...
- Jaroslav HutkaJaroslav HutkaJaroslav Hutka is a Czech musician, composer, songwriter, and democracy and human rights activist. He is a signatory of the Charter 77 and the 2008 Prague Declaration on European Conscience and Communism....
- Vladimír Kadlec
- Eva Kantůrková
- Svatopluk Karásek
- Alexandr Kliment
- Vladimír KlokočkaVladimír KlokočkaVladimír Klokočka was a Czech lawyer, legal expert and politician. Klokocka was a signatory to the Charter 77 manifesto, which criticized the Czechoslovakian Communist government for not implementing basic human rights provisions.Born in Prague in 1929, Klokocka graduated from the Faculty of Law...
- Pavel KohoutPavel KohoutPavel Kohout is a Czech and Austrian novelist, playwright, and poet. He was a member of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, a Prague Spring exponent and dissident in 1970s until he was expelled to Austria...
- Jiří KolářJirí KolárJiří Kolář was a Czech poet, writer, painter and translator. His work was divided between literary and visual art.- Life :Kolář came from a poor family of a baker and a seamstress...
- Marta KubišováMarta KubišováMarta Kubišová is a Czech singer of iconic significance. By the time of the Prague Spring of 1968, with her song "Modlitba pro Martu" , she was one of the most popular female singers in Czechoslovakia.In 1967 she won Zlatý slavík award...
- Rudolf Kučera
- Vaclav Lamser
- Milan Machovec
- Václav Malý
- Zdeněk MlynářZdenek MlynárZdeněk Mlynář was a Czech intellectual who went against the grain during a critical time in the development of Eastern European political history. Mlynář wrote the noteworthy political manifesto “Towards a Democratic Political Organization of Society” which was released on May 5, 1968, at the...
- Jan PatočkaJan PatockaJan Patočka is considered one of the most important contributors to Czech philosophical phenomenology, as well as one of the most influential central European philosophers of the 20th century...
- Petr PithartPetr PithartPetr Pithart is a Czech politician, lawyer and political scientist.He served as Prime Minister of the Czech Republic from February 6, 1990 to July 2, 1992...
- Anna Šabatová
- Jaroslav SeifertJaroslav SeifertJaroslav Seifert was a Nobel Prize winning Czech writer, poet and journalist.Born in Žižkov, a suburb of Prague in what was then part of Austria-Hungary, his first collection of poems was published in 1921...
- Jiřina Šiklová
- Milan UhdeMilan UhdeMilan Uhde is a Czech playwright and politician. He is a member of the Civic Democratic Party.Uhde previously worked at a literary journal, but the publication was banned in 1972...
- Petr Uhl
- Ludvík VaculíkLudvík VaculíkLudvík Vaculík is a Czech writer and journalist. A prominent samizdat writer, he is most famous as the author of the "Two Thousand Words" manifesto of June 1968.-Pre-1968:...
- Dominik Tatarka
- Anna FárováAnna FárováAnna Fárová was a Czech art historian who specialized and catalogued Czech and Czechoslovakian photographers, including Frantisek Drtikol and Josef Sudek. She was one of the pioneers of writing on history of photography...
- Ladislav HejdánekLadislav HejdánekLadislav Hejdánek is a Czech philosopher and a proponent of Charter 77. He was born in Prague and graduated from the Charles University in Prague. In 1952 he attained a degree in philosophy for a dissertation “Truth and its ontological premisses”. During the period of 1956-68 he worked at Prague...
- Tomas Laslo
- Florin Kovach
- Vincent Cheremi
See also
- Charter 88 – a British movement inspired in part by Charter 77.
- Charter 97Charter 97Charter 97 is a declaration calling for democracy in Belarus and a human rights group taking its inspiration from the declaration.The document - whose title deliberately echoes the Czechoslovak human rights declaration Charter 77 twenty years earlier - was created on the anniversary of a referendum...
– a Belarus movement inspired in part by Charter 77. - Charter 08Charter 08Charter 08 is a manifesto initially signed by over 350 Chinese intellectuals and human rights activists. It was published on 10 December 2008, the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopting name and style from the anti-Soviet Charter 77 issued by dissidents in...
– a Chinese movement inspired in part by Charter 77.