ECRI: five "second reports" published

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Date: Tue, 21 Mar 2000 09:07:45 +0200 (EET)
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Subject: ECRI: five "second reports" published

From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>

Original sender: Isobelle Jaques <[email protected]>

ECRI: five "second reports" published


International Day Against Racism: 
ECRI publishes new reports on Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic,
Hungary and Switzerland

STRASBOURG, 21.03.2000 - On the International Day for the Elimination
of Racial Discrimination, the Council of Europe's European Commission
against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) released detailed new reports
examining racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, antisemitism and
intolerance in five member States.

The reports mark the commencement of publication of a second four-year
cycle of monitoring member States' laws, policies and practices to
combat racism.  ECRI's country-specific reports cover all 41 members
of the Organisation, on an equal footing, in the perspective of the
protection of human rights.  They examine the implementation of the
proposals ECRI made to the government concerned in its earlier report,
provide a general up-date and contain a deeper analysis of selected
issues of particular concern in the country in question.  They are
complied following a contact visit to the country.

ECRI recognises that in all five countries positive developments have
occurred.  At the same time, the reports detail continuing grounds for
concern.  These include:

In Belgium anti-racist laws are still very rarely applied.  The
incidence of discrimination on the basis of ethnic origin in
employment is very important.  Of deep concern is the widespread
exploitation of racism in politics by extreme right-wing political
parities.  The occurrence of manifestations of racism and intolerance
on the part of some law enforcement officials is also of especial
concern.

ECRI's concerns in Bulgaria relate particularly to the Roma/Gypsy
population, which has been the target of police ill-treatment and
discrimination in many fields of life, including education and
employment.  Levels of tolerance in the general public are perhaps
lower than is commonly portrayed and there is a need to raise public
awareness concerning problems of discrimination in Bulgaria.

In the Czech Republic, of special concern is the continuation of
racist violence, mainly - but not exclusively - directed towards
members of the Roma/Gypsy community.  The incidence of discrimination
towards members of this community in many fields of life, including
the administration of justice and access to equal opportunities in
areas such as education and employment is also of concern.  The
widespread lack of communication between, on the one side, the
authorities and the majority population, and, on the other, members of
the Roma/Gypsy community is another important issue of concern.

Hungary's Roma/Gypsy community also suffers discrimination in many
fields of life and police ill-treatment of members of this group
continues to occur.  Furthermore, although the membership of neo-Nazi
and extreme right-wing parties is at present relatively limited, ECRI
considers care needs to be taken to counter any expressions of
intolerance or antisemitism in political discourse and public debate.

Although violent expressions of racism and intolerance remain sporadic
in Switzerland, and a rise in antisemitism appears to have peaked,
feelings of xenophobia and related intolerance remain present.  Swiss
society often fails to recognise that the concept of multiculturalism
needs to embrace more than the traditional linguistic plurality of the
country; this may compound some feelings of unease in the population
around issues such as the presence of asylum-seekers or the position
of the large non-citizen population (almost 20% of the population),
many of whom have lived in Switzerland for very many years.

ECRI's new reports are available on the internet site
http://www.ecri.coe.int in English and French.  They can be obtained
in the national language of the country concerned on request:
[email protected]

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