MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION
7.6.2006
pursuant to Rule 103(2) of the Rules of Procedure
by Martine Roure, Lissy Gröner, Michael Cashman and Claude Moraes
on behalf of the PSE Group
on the increase in racist and homophobic rhetoric and violence in Europe
European Parliament resolution on the increase in racist and homophobic rhetoric and violence in Europe
The European Parliament,
– having regard to European Union activities and legal instruments to fight racism and xenophobia, in particular Directive 2000/43/EC implementing the principle of equal treatment between persons irrespective of racial or ethnic origin and the draft Council Framework Decision on combating racism and xenophobia,
– having regard to international human rights instruments which prohibit discrimination based on racial and ethnic origin, and notably the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and the European Convention on the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, both signed by all EU Member States and a large number of non-EU member countries,
– having regard to Articles 2, 6, 7 and 29 of the Treaty on European Union and Article 13 of the EC Treaty, which commit the EU and its Member States to uphold human rights and fundamental freedoms and which provide European means to fight racism, xenophobia and discrimination, and to the European Charter of Fundamental Rights, especially Article 21 thereof,
– having regard to its previous resolutions on racism, xenophobia, anti-Semitism, homophobia, protection of minorities, anti-discrimination policies and the situation of Roma in the EU,
– having regard to Rule 103(2) of its Rules of Procedure,
A. whereas racism and xenophobia are sometimes motivated by irrational reasons and are linked to social marginalisation and exclusion, poverty and unemployment, as well as by a refusal to conceive our societies as multicultural and to perceive difference as a form of richness,
B. whereas homophobic bias is based on prejudice similar to racism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism,
C. whereas several European countries, among them Belgium, France, Germany, Poland and Russia, have experienced in recent months violent events and killings motivated by racist, xenophobic, homophobic and anti-Semitic hatred, while other direct and indirect forms of racism, xenophobia, homophobia and anti-Semitism persist inside and outside the EU,
D. whereas some political parties, including those in power in a number of countries or well represented at local level, have deliberately placed issues of racial, ethnic, national, religious and gay intolerance at the heart of their agenda, allowing political leaders to use language that incites racial and other forms of hatred and stokes extremism in society,
E. whereas calls for open violence of a homophobic nature have come from a member of a Polish governing party in relation to the plans to hold a gay rights march in Warsaw,
F. whereas Member States have foreseen various measures against political parties that promote racism and xenophobia, including the withdrawal of public funding,
G. whereas disgraceful and serious racist incidents have taken place during football matches, and whereas there are concerns that similar events could take place during the forthcoming World Cup tournament,
H. whereas education, especially at primary level, is a critical 'upstream policy' area in fighting racist attitudes and prejudice in later life, and whereas policy makers ought to pay due regard to the benefit of a good social and ethnic mix in state primary education,
I. whereas the media constitute a critical non-legislative tool in the fight against racism and xenophobia and have the power to fight prejudice which legislation alone cannot,
J. whereas the police and the judicial system in Member States play a crucial role in the prosecution and prevention of racist-related violence; whereas, however, they sometimes fail to protect citizens against racist-related violence and to discourage extremists from committing such crimes, and in this respect Member States should consider whether their police forces and judicial systems suffer from 'institutional racism',
K. whereas, in some countries, police violence specifically targets ethnic, racial and sexual minorities and directly violates their right to freedom of assembly,
L. whereas there is a lack of statistical data on racism, xenophobia and homophobia in the Member States, and notably on racist, xenophobic and homophobic violence and discrimination,
M. whereas, after five years of negotiations, the Council has still not adopted the Commission proposal for a Framework Decision on combating racism and xenophobia, leading the Commission to threaten to withdraw it, and whereas this instrument would have been a pertinent tool to address and punish perpetrators of race hate crime,
1. Deplores the fact that the Council has been unable to adopt the 2001 Council Framework Decision on combating racism and xenophobia, and urgently calls on the future Finnish Presidency of the Council to the restart the work on it and on the Council to reach an agreement on explicitly extending it to homophobic, anti-Semitic, islamophobic and other types of offences motivated by phobia or hatred based on ethnicity, race, sexual orientation, religion or other irrational grounds; calls on the Members States to reinforce criminal law measures aimed at the approximation of the penalties for such offences throughout the EU;
2. Strongly condemns the premeditated murder of a black woman of Malian nationality and the Belgian child of whom she was the nurse, perpetrated in Antwerp on 12 May 2006 by a Belgian young right-wing extremist, this same person having a few moments earlier seriously wounded a woman of Turkish origin while trying to kill her;
3. Is horrified at the murder of a 16-year-old boy in January 2006 and of a 17-year old boy in April 2006 in Brussels and expresses its indignation at some of the media coverage of these murders, which at times led to unfounded criminalisation of whole communities in the eyes of the general public;
4. Is shocked at the rape, torture and assassination of Ilan Halimi last February in France by a gang of 22 persons of different origins, and is particularly worried about the anti-Semitic dimension of this crime;
5. Condemns the assassination of Chaïb Zehaf last March in France due to his ethnic origin;
6. Deplores the horrific torture and murder of Gisberta, a transsexual living in the Portuguese city of Oporto, in February 2006, by a group of adolescent and pre-adolescent minors, and urges the Portuguese authorities to do everything in their power to punish those responsible and fight the climate of impunity with respect to this and other hate crimes;
7. Welcomes the fact that the mass demonstrations which have taken place in Antwerp, Brussels and Paris to express public horror at these events and lend public support to the fight against racism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism were attended by thousands of people; expresses its deep condolences to the families and friends of the victims and its solidarity with the demonstrators;
8. Expresses its indignation at the calls for open violence against gays emanating from a member of a Polish governing party in relation to the plans to hold a gay rights march in Warsaw in June 2006;
9. Strongly condemns the ban on the first Gay Pride parade in Moscow and the violent dispersion of the peaceful demonstration held in support of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights on 27 May 2006; expresses its solidarity with all those who suffered the consequences of the violent riots and arrests and supports them, their families and friends in further peaceful actions to promote and defend LGBT rights in Russia;
10. Expresses its deep concern about the role which Russian politicians and faith organisations have played in inciting violence and hatred against LGBT people and reminds the Russian authorities that freedom of assembly is a basic human right guaranteed by Article 31 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation; expresses its hope that similar events will not occur in the future and encourages the Russian authorities to allow the Gay Pride parade in 2007 and to ensure the safety of its participants;
11. Regrets that several Member States are experiencing rising support for right-wing parties and groups with a clear xenophobic, racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic agenda, some of which are represented in the European Parliament, have recently acceded to government in Poland, or have enjoyed success in national, regional and local elections in countries such as Belgium, Germany and the United Kingdom; stresses the need, therefore, to address the roots of this phenomenon, such as social marginalisation and exclusion, poverty and unemployment;
12. Urgently requests all Member States to at least foresee the possibility of withdrawing public funding from political parties that do not abide by human rights and fundamental freedoms, democracy and the rule of law as set out in the European Convention on Human Rights and the European Charter of Fundamental Rights, and calls on those that already have this possibility, like Belgium, to apply it without delay;
13. Asks Member States to launch campaigns and projects at all levels and sectors, in particular in the media and in schools, in order to promote multiculturalism, difference as a form of richness and economic dynamism, gender equality, the fight against discrimination, tolerance, dialogue and integration, for instance in the context of the European Years of Equal Opportunities for All (2007) and of Intercultural Dialogue (2008);
14. Calls on the Member States to give proper attention to the fight against racism, sexism, xenophobia and homophobia both in their relations with each other and in their bilateral relations with third countries;
15. Calls on the Commission to continue developing an anti-discrimination policy alongside its emerging policy on integration; considers that, for equality to be achieved, due regard needs to be paid to integration and other non-legislative measures, such as promoting interaction and participation;
16. Stresses the need to support anti-racist and anti-xenophobic initiatives in relation to the forthcoming World Cup tournament in Germany, and asks the authorities to closely monitor, prosecute and condemn those who are responsible for racist acts;
17. Recalls the need for sound and clear definitions and statistics on racism and xenophobia, in particular on racist, xenophobic gender-based and homophobic violence, as a means of effectively combating these phenomena, as already highlighted in the EUMC's 2005 annual report, stressing the lack of statistical registration of racist violence i.e. in Italy, Portugal and Greece;
18. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Member States and the Government of the Russian Federation.