Usti Nad Labem

   In October 1999, a wall measuring 2 meters (6 feet) high and 65 meters (213 feet) long was erected on Maticni Street in the northern Czech town of Usti Nad Labem to separate Gypsies from their non-Gypsy neighbors. Romany activists from around the Czech Republic went there to try to prevent the wall's construction, but it was finally completed under police guard. Dubbed the "wall of shame," it was erected at the request of non-Gypsy homeowners who complained of noise and disorder from nearby Gypsy flats. Although legally empowered to do so, central Czech authorities failed to prevent the wall's construction, and only annulled the municipal resolution to build the wall after it had been completed. The wall has since been removed.