MUSLIM PRISONERS 'AT RISK OF ATTACK' IN YOUTH JAILS(uk)
30/9/2005- Muslim prisoners may need extra protection from reprisals inflicted by other inmates following the London bombings, an inquiry into the murder of a teenager by his cellmate is expected to hear today. The chairman of the Zahid Mubarek inquiry, Mr Justice Keith, said in a note to inquiry delegates that Muslim prisoners are now more at risk of attack. "The position of Muslims in prison is now high on the agenda - not simply because Zahid Mubarek was a Muslim, but also because of the significant increase in Muslim prisoners in recent years, and the possibility of reprisals against them by other prisoners in the wake of recent terrorist outrages," he said. "What steps, if any, are being taken to afford Muslim prisoners adequate protection from other inmates?" Mr Justice Keith was addressing delegates ahead of an inquiry seminar, the fifth in a series of six, looking at racism and religious tolerance in prisons. The inquiry is examining the circumstances of the murder of 19-year-old Zahid Mubarek at the hands of his racist cellmate, Robert Stewart, at Feltham young offenders institution, west London, in 2000. Mr Justice Keith asks whether race relations liaison officers in prisons should no longer be prison officers and should be brought in from outside the service. He said specialist professionals from outside the prison service may be able to "get under the skin" of ethnic minority prisoners more effectively and find out what their concerns are. He also asked whether imams who operate in prisons should take on a more pastoral role, as chaplains often do. The seminar will hear evidence from the Prison Service's director general, Phil Wheatley, and Muslim adviser to the Prison Service, Ahtsham Ali. Mr Justice Keith hopes to publish his final report in February.
©The Guardian

TURKS PROTEST AT ARMENIAN FORUM
Hundreds of Turkish nationalists have been protesting outside a controversial conference on the mass killings of Armenians under Ottoman rule.

24/9/2005- They chanted slogans and booed delegates entering Istanbul's Bilgi University for the two-day event. The conference had been due to open on Friday, at another venue, but was stopped from doing so by a court order. Debate of the killings has been taboo in Turkey but there is outside pressure for greater freedom of speech. "Treason will not go unpunished" and "This is Turkey, love it or leave it," shouted the demonstrators. "The Armenian genocide is an international lie," read a huge banner carried by members of the minor left-wing Workers' Party. Armenians worldwide have been campaigning for decades for the deaths - thought to have been more than a million, around the time of WWI - to be recognised universally as genocide. The conference discussing the issue was due to be held at Istanbul's Bosphorus University, but it was banned by an Istanbul court after complaints by nationalists that the historians behind it were "traitors". The historians challenge official Turkish accounts of the killings, which give a much smaller death toll and link Armenian losses to civil strife in which many Turks also died. The court ruling brought emotionally charged scenes on the Bosphorus campus on Friday, said the BBC's Sarah Rainsford in Istanbul. Students, angry that the conference was cancelled, taped their mouths while small groups of nationalists gathered to condemn plans for the forum. Bilgi University stepped in "in the name of freedom of expression and thought", said its president, Aydin Ugur. Government leaders regretted the court ruling which "cast a shadow on the process of democratisation and freedoms", according to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. "If we have confidence in our own beliefs, we should not fear freedom of thought," he told separate gathering of academics on Saturday. EU enlargement commissioner Krisztina Nagy said Brussels strongly deplored the court's "attempt to prevent the Turkish society from discussing its history". Turkey begins talks on joining the EU in two weeks' time.
©BBC News

SLOVAK ROMA CONTINUE TO DEMAND ASYLUM IN CZECH REPUBLIC
28/9/2005- Czech Television (CT), the public service television in the Czech Republic has broadcasted a report on the increasing number of Roma from Slovakia demanding asylum in the Czech Republic. According to Czech Television, 500 Slovak Roma demanded asylum in the Czech Republic due to their poor economic situation within last three months. Similar news already appeared in the beginning of Summer 2005, when the Czech newspaper Hospodarske Noviny (HN) published information that the majority of asylum seekers in the Czech Republic are from the Slovak Republic, explaining that since the beginning of 2005, 150 Slovak citizens demanded asylum in the Vysne Lhoty Camp, 64 in June alone. The Czech Republic has been an increasingly popular destination for Slovak Roma, especially since the Slovak government instituted social reforms last year drastically cutting welfare benefits to Slovak Roma. With Roma unemployment above 80% in some communities, the cuts resulted in food shortages, and spurred riots in many Slovak cities. The situation has not greatly improved since that time, and the appeal in a neighboring country with a similar language and similar customs is growing. Roma asylum seekers from Slovakia started appearing in the Czech Republic about five years ago. The largest number of asylum petitions was in 2003, with 990 cases. In 2004, the number dropped to 129 cases. As demonstrated by these figures, most Slovak Roma seem to be unaware that as EU citizens they can now move to the Czech Republic without going through the asylum process, although the Czech government estimates that around 1,000 Roma now move to the Czech Republic each year as EU citizens, not through the asylum process.
©Dzeno Association

NORWAY CRITICIZED FOR CHRISTIAN QUOTA
30/9/2005- Norway's Constitution requires that over half of the government cabinet are members of the state church - the Norwegian Helsinki Committee says this provision is a violation of human rights. "It cannot be so that one has to join a certain religious community in order to be a cabinet minister. Not if there is to be true religious freedom," NHC assistant secretary general Gunnar M. Karlsen told newspaper Dagsavisen. Karlsen believes it is time to revise Norway's Constitution. Lawyer Njål Høstmælingen at the Center for Human Rights at the University of Oslo agrees with this interpretation. "The Constitution's paragraph 12 is in conflict with both the United Nations convention on civil and political rights and the European Council's human rights convention," Høstmælingen said. The new 'red-green' coalition government of the Labor, Socialist Left and Center parties is currently hammering out their common policy platform, but are likely to favor such a change. Incoming prime minister Jens Stoltenberg (Labor) told Dagsavisen that he would await the conclusion of the state-church committee before making a final stance. Stoltenberg is not a member of the state church, but Socialist Left Party leader Kristin Halvorsen and Center Party leader Åslaug Haga both are.
©Aftenpost

CULTURE MINISTER APOLOGISES FOR MUSLIM COMMENTS(Denmark)
Culture Minister Brian Mikkelsen retracts his statements on war against Muslims, after causing a stir in his cultural canon committee

30/9/2005- Culture Minister Brian Mikkelsen has apologised for his statements that a canon of the country's cultural heritage would serve as a tool to fight the influence of Muslim culture. The statement upset the work of the canon committee and several members threatened to resign, national broadcaster DR reported. Mikkelsen wrote on his ministry's website, that the cultural canon had no ties to any political party. 'I would also like to reject any attempt to link the cultural canon together with the right-of-centre cultural struggle, which deals with fundamentalism versus democracy. I see the non-political element as one of the cultural canon's finest qualities and have no intention of placing it inside a fixed political frame,' Mikkelsen said. Despite a crisis meeting on Thursday to resolve differences, tensions remained high between Mikkelsen and the canon committee, appointed to create a canon of 84 Danish cultural works in areas such as architecture, film, and literature. Several members of the committee threatened to abandon the project after Mikkelsen's statements at the Conservative Party's national congress. 'In the middle of our country a parallel society is developing in which minorities practice their Middle Age norms and undemocratic mindset. We cannot and will not accept this,' Mikkelsen said in his speech over the weekend, adding that the canon should be used to promote Danish values, 'because not all values are equally good'. One of the committee members who threatened to leave, professor Erik A. Nielsen, said he had decided to stay on after learning of the minister's statement. 'I have put down my gun,' he said. 'Brian Mikkelsen's statement is something as rare as a retraction from a minister. I think this is as far as a minister can be expected to retreat.'
©The Copenhagen Post

MAYOR CANDIDATE ACCUSED OF RACISM(Denmark)
The Danish People's Party's mayoral candidate in Copenhagen has been reported to the police for posting a number of derogatory comments on Muslims on her website.

30/9/2005- The Danish People's Party's (DF) mayoral candidate in Copenhagen, Louise Frevert, has been reported to the police for posting derogatory comments on Muslims on her website. Frevert removed the article from her website and apologised after criticism hailed down over her from media, her own political party, and other politicians, one of whom reported her to the police for breaching the anti-racism law. Frevert wrote about young Muslim men that, even if they were born in Denmark and spoke Danish, their fundamental attitudes were incompatible with Danish society. 'Whatever happens, they feel it's their right to rape Danish girls and stamp out Danish citizens,' she wrote. 'Our laws forbid us to kill our enemies in public, so our only remedy is to fill our prisons with these criminals.' Frevert went on to say that it was an expensive solution, and that the most efficient method would probably be to send Muslims to Russian prisons for a fee of DKK 25 per day. 'Even that solution is short-sighted, since when they return home, they would be even more determined to kill Danes,' she said. In another article, Frevert compared Muslims with cancer cells, which could only be treated with chemotherapy or surgically removed. The comments prompted Social Democratic councillor candidate Lars Rasmussen to report Frevert to the police for violating the country's anti-racism law. 'Her comments sound like something she heard from the Nazi Party,' Rasmussen said. 'But they are running for office too, so the People's Party might be on its way to form an election coalition with Jonni Hansen and the Nazis.' The Danish People's Party's leadership did not seem to like the connotation. 'This is not the party's policy, and it never will be,' DF vice chairman Peter Skaarup said. 'We have told Louise Frevert that this isn't the party's policy, and to eliminate any doubt, we think she should confirm that. She understands that.' Frevert seemed to have gotten the message. 'I can understand that these articles have caused a stir. It was not my intention, and I apologise,' she said in a press release on DF's website. 'I will make sure that the comments will be removed from the website.'
©The Copenhagen Post

NEO-NAZI DEATH TOLL SINCE 1990 IS 41: OFFICIAL(Germany)
30/9/2005- Right-wing extremists have killed 41 people in Germany since the country's 1990 reunification, according to an official quoted in a report to be published Friday. The number of neo-Nazi victims has been raised by five after several recent killings were deemed to have had a rightist motive, said the Tagesspiegel newspaper quoting a spokeswoman from the Federal Crime Bureau (BKA). In the latest confirmed killing, a skinhead stabbed a leftist to death in a Dortmund subway last March, said the report. Independent research by the Tagesspiegel and the Frankfurter Rundschau newspaper arrive at a far higher death toll. Alone for the period 1990 to 2003 the papers say that 99 people were killed by neo-Nazis in Germany. The difference between the official figure and that reached by the newspapers is partly due to the BKA's demand for convictions or court evidence of rightist motives before adding victims to the list.
©Expatica News

MINISTER WANTS TO EXPEL 'NEWCOMER CRIMINALS'(Netherlands)
30/9/2005- Underlining her assertion that she runs a "restrictive immigration policy", Minister Rita Verdonk has proposed expelling all newcomers who are convicted of any crime. Under the current law, an immigrant can be stripped of his or her residence permit after conviction for a very serious offence. Verdonk wants to extend the law to cover all crimes, including theft. Verdonk was to bring her proposal to the Cabinet on Friday, informed sources in the Hague told the media. The Liberal Party minister's plan will not apply to people granted asylum or newcomers who become Dutch citizens. Liberal Party MP Arno Visser said the idea was a good one. He has called for such measures in the past, saying it is important that foreigners, or vreemdelingen, adhere to Dutch law at all times. According to him, the immigration service (IND) operates a sliding scale under which the chance of a foreigner being expelled declines the longer the person is in the Netherlands. Labour Party (MP) Jeroen Dijsselbloem said the proposal is too extreme.
©Expatica News

RIGHT-WINGERS TARGET GAYS(Portugal)
24/9/2005- Approximately two hundred extreme right wingers took to the streets of Lisbon last weekend to join forces in a protest against homosexuality and homosexual ideology ­ namely regarding the topic of child adoption by gay couples. Protesters also focussed action on paedophilia. The demonstration, organised by the National Renovating Party (PNR), also targeted criticism at the national press for the way earlier reports had portrayed the upcoming demonstration, as well as at other political parties who had reportedly given their approval to the protest, but failed to appear on the day. Young men, women, and even children, mainly dressed in black and with shaven heads, paraded throughout the Marquês de Pombal Square waving banners and shouting phrases including `homosexual, immoral, never, never in Portugal', and '80 per cent of paedophiles are gay'. Even so, José Pinto Coelho, president of the PNR Party, claims that the protest, which registered no serious incidents, "wasn't against homosexuals", but against `ideological homosexuality'.
©The Portugal News

EU AGAIN ASKS PORTUGAL TO LIFT IMMIGRATION CONTROLS
24/9/2005- The European Commission has repeated its calls for Portugal to end restrictions on workers from the 25-nation bloc's newcomer states, saying fears of a huge invasion of cheap labour were unfounded. The Commission said that data on labour movement trends since the bloc's May 2004 expansion into central Europe showed that there was no reason for Portugal's curbs to be kept in place. "Free movement of workers is one of the four freedoms of the European Union and should be enjoyed by all", said EU Employment Commissioner Vladimir Spidla while addressing an employment seminar in Brussels. Portugal is the latest in a line of 12 member states to be targeted by the Commission regarding restrictions on the movement of labour between central and western European nations. When the 10 new EU states joined in May last year, only three of the 15 older member states - Britain, Ireland and Sweden ­ opened their labour markets to workers from central and eastern Europe. The other 12 states, including Portugal, imposed restrictions, initially for a two-year transitional period. "Fears of workers from the new member states proving a drain on the welfare benefits systems have been allayed", Spidla said. "Those predicting an `invasion of Polish plumbers' were also off the mark", he added. The "Polish plumber" was used as a bogeyman in the successful campaign by opponents of the planned new European Constitution before the May 29th referendum in France. At the time of the EU's enlargement, three new member states ­ Hungary, Poland and Slovenia ­ imposed reciprocal restrictions on labour flows in the opposite direction. Under rules agreed with the EU newcomers when they joined the Union the labour restriction arrangements are to be reviewed next May. However, much to the chagrin of Spidla, all 12 states that have imposed restrictions will have the right to extend them by a further three years. Spidla said that any nation looking to implement such extensions would be rigorously opposed by the European Commission.
©The Portugal News

SWISS GIVE NEW EU CITIZENS WORK RIGHTS
26/9/2005- A showdown with the European Union has been averted after Switzerland voted to give citizens of the ten new EU member states the right to work there. The EU had threatened the Swiss with "serious repercussions" — possibly including scrapping trade deals — if they did not extend the right to work to the citizens of the eight former communist countries that joined the EU last May with Malta and Cyprus. After a national debate inflamed by warnings of an influx of cheap Eastern European labour, 56 per cent of those who voted backed the Government in a referendum, giving an equal right to live and work to all EU citizens. More than 1.45 million voters out of a population of about 7½ million were in favour of the proposal, while about 1.15 million voted "no". Switzerland and the old 15 member states of the EU agreed in 1999 to open their labour markets to each other's citizens, but Switzerland had not extended that right to the new member states. The EU had given warning that Switzerland's agreements with the EU — on trade, customers and work rights — could unravel if it did not treat all EU countries equally. Switzerland is now committed to opening up its labour market to Eastern Europeans by 2011, but will be able to keep some protection for its work force until then, just as old EU member states such as France and Germany are doing. Because of Brussels's threats, the referendum debate became a proxy for the debate on Switzerland's relationship with the EU.
©Swissinfo

ANALYSIS: EU VIEWS ON TURKISH BID
30/9/2005- Most EU countries officially welcome the prospect of Turkish membership: albeit at least a decade from now and subject to consistent evidence of Turkey's commitment to democratic values. In contrast, public opinion in most EU countries appears, with varying degrees of intensity, to oppose Turkish membership. Reasons cited for opposition include: Turkey's large population (70 million and rising fast); its relative poverty and doubts about its cultural compatibility with Europe. The French, Germans and Austrians seem especially unhappy with the idea.

Here is a breakdown of attitudes in some of the EU member states:
Germany: Opinion polls say up to three-quarters of the population oppose Turkish membership. Of the two largest political parties, the Social Democrats (SPD) say they want a "modern Turkey in the EU"; the Christian Democrats (CDU) oppose membership - proposing instead a "privileged partnership". Angela Merkel - the CDU candidate for chancellor - has appealed to EU leaders not to "encourage" Turkey.

France: Has the largest percentage of Muslims (7%) in the EU. Officially backs Turkey's membership bid. But Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin says Turkey must first recognise Cyprus. However, Nicolas Sarkozy - leader of the ruling UMP party and likely future presidential candidate - is opposed. Only 20% of public opinion says Yes to Turkey joining. A leading political pundit, Guillaume Parmentier, says: "The Turkish elite has been European for centuries; but the vast democratic expansion of Turkey involves Anatolian peasants, who are not European by culture, tradition or habit". The French have been promised a referendum after the conclusion of negotiations.

Austria: Opinion polls show 75% of 15-24 year-olds opposed to Turkish membership; rising to 82% among people over 55. This is the highest No rating in the EU.

Netherlands: Has the EU's second largest Muslim population in terms of percentage (6%) after France - and is struggling to cope with the issues of religion, immigration and integration - particularly after the murder of film-maker Theo van Gogh. Remains strongly divided over Turkey.

Britain: An enthusiastic supporter of Turkish membership. Foreign Secretary Jack Straw says Turkey in the EU would become "a beacon of democracy and modernity"; and a Muslim country providing "a shining example across the whole of its neighbouring region" - ie the Arab world. Turkish membership would disprove the "clash of civilisations" theory.

Italy: Another strong supporter of Turkish membership. The government stresses historical links between Italy and the "Near East"; the need to "anchor" Turkey in the West; and the commercial opportunities offered by the Turkish market. Public opinion, while not particularly hostile, appears less enthusiastic - actual support for Turkish membership standing at below 40%.

Poland: The largest of the 10 "new" EU members, who joined in May 2004 - with more than half of their combined population. 54% of the public support Turkish membership. Officials say Turkey would strengthen pro-American attitudes within the EU and consolidate Western influence on the approaches to the Middle East and the Caucasus. Poles also cite a history of close bilateral relations going back several hundred years.

Spain: A poll showed 33% opposing Turkish membership, but 42% in favour - as is the government. Back in June, following the French and Dutch rejection of the EU draft constitution, Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos suggested postponing the Turkish accession talks until a more advantageous time.

Greece: was under Ottoman occupation for more than 400 years. Some Greeks still regard Istanbul as a "Greek" city. Another country where politicians and public opinion diverge. Opinion polls suggest only 25% of Greeks believe Turkey has a place in the European Union. The government, meanwhile, is keen to resolve bilateral tensions through Turkish integration. But it says the fate of Turkey's EU application depends, primarily, on the Turks themselves - especially where recognition of Cyprus in concerned.

Hungary: was under Ottoman occupation for 150 years, in the 16th and 17th centuries. But there is little anti-Turkish feeling - around half the population supporting Turkish membership. However, like Austria, Hungary is also pressing the case of neighbouring Croatia: which, according to Foreign Minister Ferenc Somogyi, is "spectacularly further ahead" than Turkey on most accession criteria.

Denmark: Strong public resistance to Turkish membership. Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen - until recently supportive - has been heard talking of "special partnerships" as well.

Sweden: Strong popular resistance. However, the government sees Turkish membership in terms of "supporting Turkey's reform process and increasing contacts with Turkish society" - as well as Swedish business opportunities.
©BBC News

MEPs CALL FOR COMMON STANDARDS ON ASYLUM SEEKERS
28/9/2005- The European Parliament on Tuesday (27 September) voted in favour of a draft law setting a minimum standard for asylum-seekers across the EU - but agreed several changes in favour of the asylum seeker. With over 100 amendments to a proposed EU law on granting refugee status, MEPs sent a message to national governments that the rules should be tightened up to protect the rights of refugees. Referring to the current situation, UK liberal MEP Sarah Ludford said "The requirement of unanimity among EU governments, and the scapegoating of refugees, have converged to produce shabby 'lowest common denominator' legislation where each state has effectively exported its worst asylum practices". Some of the areas where MEPs called for change include rejecting the concept of "super-safe countries" put forward by governments. Under this idea, member states would be allowed to draw up a list of third countries considered definitely safe so refugee status to all applicants from these countries would not be granted. But MEPs felt this goes against the international Geneva Convention because it would not give the asylum seekers the right to have their cases heard. They also agreed an amendment calling on member states to use detention centres, such as the controversial centre on the Italian island of Lampedusa, only as a very last resort. MEPs called for the rights of potential refugees to be fully respected - so that they have the right of appeal if refused and must be allowed to stay in the member state until any appeal procedure ends. The law, known as the Common Asylum Standard Directive, is one part of an overall programme agreed by governments to tighten up their external borders and stop people trying to claim asylum in several countries. But the House was not as united as appears. The amendments were only agreed very narrowly by 305 votes to 302. Members of the centre-right EPP and the nationalist UEN generally voted against the changes fearing they would leave the system open to abuse. On top of this, the MEPs' view is not binding as they are only entitled to be consulted for their view. Member states, who will now consider the law again, are unlikely to accept these changes. Last year, as part of the same package, the EU agreed a common definition of a refugee and also agreed that asylum seekers' fingerprints can be checked across the 25 countries to see if they have applied more than once.
©EUobserver

MBEKI SLAMS EUROPEAN COUNTRIES FOR RACISM
28/9/2005- President Thabo Mbeki has slammed some European countries for their racist view of the African continent. He was speaking at a fundraising gala dinner, held in Tshwane last night, in support of the preservation of the ancient Timbuktu Manuscripts, discovered in Mali, West Africa. The Timbuktu Manuscripts discovered in the city of Timbuktu and date as far back as the thirteenth century. They cover diverse subjects, including mathematics, chemistry, physics, medicine, Islamic sciences and astronomy. The manuscripts are regarded as priceless documents that hold the key to some of the secrets of the continent's history and cultural heritage and dispel the view that Africa was an oral continent. Addressing the fundraising dinner, Mbeki took a swipe at European countries for not recognising Africa's ancient civilisation. "It may well be because of the fact that much of the African history has been hidden from outsiders, as well as from many other Africans that there developed an idea of Timbuktu as an outlandish place in an unknown location. But of course, this derogatory reference to Timbuktu is consistent with racist view of Africa that has prevailed in Europe for many centuries." The manuscripts are under threat as many were not well protected. A number of them have deteriorate and become illegible. Hence the joint venture between Mali and South Africa to preserve them. President Mbeki revealed that South Africa has trained a team of Malian heritage professionals and conservators, and preparations to erect a new library building and other facilities in Timbuktu are well on course. He said he and his delegation that visited Mali in 2001, felt obliged to ensure that these documents were not lost to the continent. Business people who attended last night pledged a donation of R3 million toward the course. Mbeki was also presented with the Patrice Lumumba Award for African Leadership and a painting of the building where the manuscripts are kept, in Timbuktu.
©South African Broadcasting Corporation

RIGHT-WINGERS GET APPROVAL FOR ANTI GAY, PAEDOPHILE MARCH(Portugal)
17/9/2005- The Portuguese authorities have given the go ahead for a protest this weekend by an extreme right-wing group against "the adoption of children by gay couples, paedophiles and the gay lobby", the Lusa News Agency reported this week. Geraldo Ayala, spokesman for the Lisbon Civil Government, which vetoes public protests, told Lusa that permission has been given for the National Renewal Party (PNR) to demonstrate on Saturday at the Parque Eduardo XII in the centre of the capital. The PNR, without seats in parliament, says it is will protest at adoption of children by homosexual couples - despite this being illegal in Portugal. The "gay lobby" and "paedophiles" will also come under fire during the far-right demonstration, the PNR says. An upcoming Portuguese television series based on the US programme "A Queer Eye for the Straight Guy", has recently incurred the wrath of PNR supporters for "encouraging homosexual behaviour". Members of the National Front party are expected to join the PNR-organised march. Five people were injured in clashes with police and counter-demonstrators when the two far-right groups protested against immigration in Lisbon three months ago.
©The Portugal News

TAPPING IMMIGRANTS' EDUCATIONAL POTENTIAL(Germany)
Based on the principle that lack of money should never stand in the way of education, a German foundation offers children from struggling immigrant families financial aid to help them make the academic grade.

17/9/2005- Germany's federal commissioner for integration, Marie-Luise Beck, never wastes an opportunity to lament the disappointing educational performance of young people from immigrant backgrounds. It's a problem numerous studies can attest to. According to a survey commissioned by the Confederation of German Trade Unions (DGB), some 15 percent of immigrant teenagers leave school without qualifications, compared to a drop-out rate of just 7 percent among mother-tongue Germans. Meanwhile, another survey -- conducted by the Center for Political Education -- reveals that while over 30 percent of children with German parents graduate from high school, only a mere 15 percent of immigrant teenagers do so with them. The discrepancy frequently boils down to money. Language courses and private tuition don't come cheap, and in 2002, the non-profit Hertie Foundation set up a bursary program co-funded by local authorities, businesses and associations designed to help out families who'd like to see their children performing better in school but who lack the funds to pay for some support. First launched in Hesse, "START" is now available to 14-19-year-old pupils in 13 states, and there's certainly no shortage of applicants.

Helping pupils help themselves
Vera Grebe is only 18-years old, but her life's been far from sheltered. After a childhood in Kazakhstan, her family moved to Germany when she was 10. "My father died four years after we moved here," she said. "My mother has also had a lot of health problems, and hasn't always been able to work. They both had cancer. It was hard. And neither of them spoke German, so I always had to go with them whenever they needed to fill out forms at city hall." As a child, Vera herself learned German with relative ease. As she's grown older, she's done well in school, and attributes much of her success to the START program. Today, a total of 130 pupils per year across the country get to benefit from the grant scheme, and the figure is set to rise to 350.

High standards
The program's stated aim is to encourage more immigrant children to attain a high school diploma. The sole conditions are that the applicants hail from immigrant families with proven financial difficulties, have a sturdy academic record, and a demonstrated awareness of social issues. Claudia Schlingermann, who coordinates the program in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia, said she's well aware how stringent the application criteria can seem. "But enough pupils can meet these criteria," she said. "Germany's long been home to young immigrants just waiting for a chance to tap their potential. All we have to do is identify who they are and encourage them to apply to the program." The scheme isn't restricted to pupils at high schools, known in Germany as "Gymnasium." Pupils at the lower-level secondary schools that are known as "Hauptschule" and attended by those who didn't make the Gymnasium cut, are also eligible for the funds.

Simple, but effective
Roland Kaehlbrandt, who manages the Hertie Foundation, said he is confident the program can change lives. "This is a very simple and modest bursary but it can have major effects," he said. "It improves pupils' confidence and it shows German society just how much potential the immigrant community is harboring. It also proves to the immigrant community itself that it's possible to be successful here in Germany." The bursary is worth 5000 euros ($6000), paid to the recipients in installments of 100 euros a month. The pupils can spend the money on learning aids such as language courses, books and newspaper subscriptions -- all they have to do is submit regular evidence that it's being invested in educational purposes. Vera was also given a new computer, complete with Internet access -- luxuries she could never have otherwise afforded. Even so, she doesn't describe them as the best part of the bursary. "The best thing is the intellectual stimulation," she said. "I can attend seminars, and there's an annual meeting we all get to go to. There's a nationwide network of grant-holders and we couldn't be more different. But that's what makes it so special -- everyone has something special to add. We're like a big family."
©Deutsche Welle

NEO-NAZIS CRUSHED IN GERMAN GENERAL ELECTIONS
19/9/2005- The far-right parties that scored gains in two regional elections last year were beaten into insignificance in polling Sunday in German federal elections, but still have one card left to play with a delayed vote to be held in an eastern city. The National Democratic Party (NPD), the main rightist group, did not qualify for any seats in the new federal parliament. Under a rule that excludes parties unable to win at least 5 per cent of the vote nationwide, neither the NPD, the allied German People's Party (DVU) nor any other German rightists have ever managed to enter the Bundestag during the post-World War II era. On Sunday, the NPD gained less than 2 per cent of the vote in most western states. In a few eastern states, its support ranged higher, between 3 and 4 per cent. The party has been strongest in the eastern state of Saxony. Some of Saxony's votes have yet to be cast. In its capital city, Dresden, about half the voters will cast their ballots on October 2, due to a two-week postponement for one of Dresden's two Bundestag seats after the death, as it happens, of an NPD candidate. Her name must be replaced on the ballots. The NPD has nominated in her place a nationally-known rightist, Franz Schoenhuber, 82, whose books glowingly describe his wartime service in the Nazi regime's Waffen SS military force. While either a Social Democrat or Christian Democrat is expected to win the Dresden seat, the right is hoping that it will have optimal conditions to achieve perhaps a fourth place, and by doing so win nationwide attention. Over the last year, Dresden has emerged as the NPD's main centre. It is the only capital among Germany's 16 states with NPD members in the state assembly, though they were mainly elected from rural areas of Saxony, not by urban voters.

While agitation by neo-Nazis in Germany often wins worldwide attention, rightist parties have never progressed over the last half century beyond the status of a small minority in German politics. Professor Juergen Falter of the University of Mainz has surveyed rightist views in Germany's population. The political scientist said before the general election that German far-right parties can at best win between 5 and 10 per cent of votes nationwide. The "optimal conditions" for the rightists to achieve that mark at the federal level had never occurred so far, underlined Falter. Europe's far-right is generally seen as having a potential of up to 15 per cent. But unlike rightist movements in Austria, Italy, France and the Netherlands, the German far-right has mainly lacked a single charismatic leader since 1945. The right is also prone to feuds and splits. Strains are already evident in a one-year-old alliance between the NPD - which is known for its anti-Semitism and links with neo-Nazi youth groups - and the DVU, which is bankrolled by newspaper publisher Gerhard Frey. The rightists scored two high-profile victories in last year in the former East Germany. In September 2004, the NPD won 9.2 per cent of the vote in Saxony, and the DVU won 6.1 per cent in Brandenburg, after agreeing that each would be the sole standard-bearer in those states. This followed a series of rightist wins in regional votes since the late 1980s. The extremists have usually only lasted one term in assemblies, with their deputies often proving to be incompetent. The strong rightist showing in Saxony and Brandenburg states may have had more to do with anger over German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's cuts in jobless benefits than with anti-foreigner sentiment. "They won votes from a wave of protest against social-welfare cuts," said political scientist Werner Patzelt of the Technical University of Dresden. Both states are in former communist eastern Germany, where unemployment is high. "But this year there is a new alternative: the Left Party, which advocates a bigger welfare state," Patzelt said. Analysts say the Left Party scooped up most of those protest votes on Sunday, leaving the rightists with far fewer hard-core supporters.

The DVU is not on federal ballots this year. Instead, the better organized NPD included DVU activists in its candidate slate. The NPD houses a range of right-wing views, including young neo- Nazis and skinheads who make no secret of their admiration for Adolf Hitler. But increasingly the rightists are eschewing the clothes and symbols that make them stand out. The party is united, according to Patzelt, by old-fashioned chauvinism, hostility to democracy and an economic system based on market principles, and a rejection of the pluralist idea that a modern society must be tolerant of political and racial differences. Falter says the NPD follows a two-pronged strategy, both running in elections and seeking "extra-parliamentary" power on the streets. One element of rightist street power has been the creation of what neo- Nazis term "liberated zones", which they claim are "purged" of foreigners. "(The NPD) is willing to go into alliance with skinheads who intimidate the police and make life unpleasant for foreigners," says Falter. Thanks to Germany's public financing of political parties, the NPD can count on substantial government funding in line with the number of votes it receives. With the coffers refilled after the election, the party, which only has 5,000 to 6,000 members, will continue to seek support in its most promising terrain, the former communist east, Falter predicts. Grumbling has already been heard from the DVU at the way the NPD ran the 'joint' campaign. Gerhard Besier, who heads Dresden's Hannah Arendt Institute for the Study of Totalitarianism, says things will not stay muted much longer. "After the setback, there'll be friction," said Besier, adding that the DVU and NPD only managed to bury their rivalry and ally in the hope of success. "Powerful ruptures" are likely to follow failure, he predicted.
©Expatica News

MINISTER SPARKS ANGER OVER FRENCH BIRTHRIGHT LAWS
18/9/2005- France's minister for overseas affairs provoked outrage this weekend by saying illegal immigrants were giving birth on French territory to ensure their children had French nationality. Francois Baroin called for a debate on France's birthright laws, challenging a taboo at the heart of France's near-sacred republican values. It was a fresh sign mainstream politicians are jumping on France's right-wing anti-immigration bandwagon. A child born on French ground is French, irrespective of parentage. Baroin said on Saturday that parents expecting children were immigrating illegally to France's overseas territories to give birth to French children. "I have seen things that have shocked me and on the basis of these truths on the ground I want to reopen the debate. The law permits it," he told Radio France Outre-mer (RFO) in a rare outspoken interview by a usually low-profile minister. He said that on the island of Mayotte, a French territory in the Indian Ocean Comoros archipelago, "more than 30 percent of the inhabitants are of illegal origin". Some 1.7 million people live in France's overseas territories and departments. The former include French Polynesia, New Caledonia and Mayotte and enjoy more autonomy than departments while retaining certain French rights and obligations. Baroin, whose ministry governs France's relations with those regions, said he did not exclude a review of the right by birthplace that determines who can become French.

Breaking a taboo
In the weekly Figaro magazine, Baroin went a step further and said discussing the law of birthright even on mainland France "should no longer be a taboo". Similar laws apply in other countries, the United States for example. In Germany, children of foreign parentage must decide as young adults whether to take their parents' nationality instead of the German. Baroin's remarks provoked condemnation by the opposition Socialist Party (PS) and the SOS Racism association. Former Socialist Culture Minister and presidential hopeful Jack Lang said it called into question basic republican values. PS National Secretary Malek Boutih said in a statement: "Francois Baroin opens a debate that is dangerous for the future of the republic." He added the discussion would open the door to a change in the French nationality system "clearly aimed at all foreigners and their children, undermining the French republican model". SOS Racism's chairman, Dominique Sopo, said he would mobilise broad French opposition if the goverment attempted to review the birthright law. Christiane Taubira, a left-wing parliamentarian from Guyane, said Baroin's words "endangered France's interests in its relations with the rest of the world". Anti-immigration issues have long been the preserve of the extreme right, such as the National Front (FN), whose leader made it to the runoff of the 2002 presidential elections. Some moderate, right-of-centre politicians are talking tough on immigration to boost their standing as they jockey for position ahead of the next elections. Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, the centre-right government's number two, has made tackling illegal immigration a plank of his campaign to become France's next president in 2007. And the cabinet is drawing up laws to reorient French immigration policy at Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin's behest.
©Reuters

SWISS URGE UN TO MAKE HUMAN RIGHTS A PRIORITY
Switzerland has told a United Nations summit that the creation of a new Human Rights Council must be a priority and that it should be based in Geneva.

17/9/2005- Addressing world leaders in New York, Swiss President Samuel Schmid also insisted that the UN Security Council should become more representative and its working methods reformed. In his speech on Thursday, Schmid covered a wide range of themes from human rights and respect for international humanitarian law through to UN reform and the need to enhance development. The president told the world summit that Switzerland was satisfied with progress towards setting up a Human Rights Council – which stems from a Swiss proposal – and was determined to pursue efforts in order to achieve it. Key decisions on the council's mandate, size and work have been deferred to the 60th General Assembly. "By establishing this council, we should succeed in adapting the UN's architecture in order to make human rights as much a priority as development, peace and security," said Schmid. "In Switzerland's view, this new body will have to be both more legitimate and more efficient, hold a higher place in the United Nations' hierarchy than the current Human Rights Commission, and should hold its sessions in Geneva."

UN reform
Schmid said further reform of the world body was needed in order to bring "more effectiveness, more transparency and more solidarity", and enable the UN to rise to today's challenges. "We also feel that it is necessary that the Security Council become more representative and that its working methods be reformed with a view to increased transparency, in order to allow improved interaction with non-members," he said. Nations are sharply divided over proposals to enlarge the Security Council from the current 15 members – five permanent members (China, France, Russia, Britain and the United States) and ten non-permanent members. Schmid twice referred in his speech to the need to respect international law – both in the context of resolving conflicts and in the fight against terrorism. Switzerland is the depositary state of the Geneva Conventions. He said the use of force should remain the exception in settling disputes and welcomed the creation of a UN Peacebuilding Commission. He also reaffirmed Swiss support for peacekeeping operations as well as the fight against terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, particularly nuclear weapons. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan was highly critical on Wednesday of the failure by member countries to reach an agreement on how to tackle nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament.

Development aid
On the issue of development, Schmid said increased and coordinated efforts from all partners were needed if the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were to be attained. The MDGs include targets to cut extreme poverty and child mortality by half and to reverse the spread of HIV/Aids by 2015. Ahead of the summit, the Swiss government came under fire from non-governmental organisations for refusing to match the UN target of earmarking 0.7 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) for official development aid by 2015. Switzerland currently designates 0.41 per cent of GDP. Schmid told the summit that Switzerland planned to increase development aid by 8.0 per cent over the period 2005-2008. He added that the government would consider increasing its aid commitment beyond 2008. "For nearly 30 years Switzerland has made a priority of giving aid to the poorest countries," he said. "Today we devote nearly half of that aid to Africa, and we will resolutely stay the course in the future."
©Swissinfo

THE CANCELLATION OF THE NAZI FEST IN GREECE(Newsletter)
18/9/2005- The notorious euro-fest organized in Greece by the nazis of “Golden Dawn” never happened! The Greek government banned the euro-fest. This ban consists a great antifascist victory for Greece and for Europe. This is also the first time that the Greek nazis faced ban after almost 20 years of unbelievable immunity and non-punishment by the Greek political regime.

The Antinazi Initiative at first put up posters in Athens inviting the government to ban the nazi fest and the political parties to take a stand. Then we addressed an appeal to Greek and European antifascists to sign a protest letter to the prime minister. The response to this appeal was great especially at international level. The Central Jewish Council of Greece, had also requested the ban of the festival ever since the organization of the event became known.

The matter gained publicity day by day and protests were made from the Jewish organizations of abroad like CRIF, Wiesenthal Center, and also from European antiracist organizations and networks. It was made known lately that a representation of OSCE would come to Athens to assure that the government has taken all necessary measures against nazi fest. Furthermore, protests from many sides reached the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Under these very strong international pressures the Greek government shifted its initial position that the nazi fest cannot be banned. On September 6, 2005, a few days before the announced dates for the festival (16-18 September), the governmental spokesman stated that the government bans it. Immediately afterwards, the Minister of Public Order stated that the police will take all appropriate measures to prevent it. The outcome was that the nazis could not find any place in Greece to accept their gathering as there were local reactions. In the meantime on September 13, 2005, as a result of their first great political and moral defeat, their leading member Antonis Androutsopoulos, better known as “Periandros”, wanted and curiously not arrested for seven years now, gave himself up to the authorities and was sent to prison to serve a four years sentence.

On September 15, 2005, the “Golden Dawn” announced at its weekly newspaper that on September 17, 2005 (supposedly 2nd day of the festival) an event would take place at its offices, the subject of which would be: “The bans do not intimidate ideologists!”.

On September 16, 2005 there was no sign of the festival in Greece. At the same night the nazis distributed handouts at the center of Athens informing that the next day, September 17, in the afternoon, they would organize a protest gathering in Athens, a few meters far from their offices.

In the morning of September 17, at their newspaper «Eleftheros Kosmos» (Free World), they announced that actually the festival had already taken place in a town of Italy – Latina and that it was cancelled in Greece due to the ban.

At the same day, in the afternoon, around 18.30, not more than 100 nazis gathered at the announced spot. It was obvious that the government, in order to lessen the defeat of “Golden Dawn”, allowed them this gathering outside their offices. Nevertheless such gatherings were always allowed to them by the governments so far, something that was virtually accepted by the whole official political world.

At the same time, near the location of the nazi gathering, two anti-gatherings took place: one was held by the organizations of non – parliamentary left at Omonoia square and the second by groups of anarchists nearer to the offices of “Golden Dawn”.

Strong police forces closed the roads leading to the nazi gathering preventing those who participated to the anti-gatherings to reach it. About one hour later the nazis went back to their offices and the anti-gathering at Omonoia Square dispersed. It was at that moment that a squad of so-called anarchists, for no reason, dropped petrol bombs and stones against policemen, burnt cars and broke store windows, after having first burnt a Greek flag. Unfortunately, for one more time, the nazi gathering was facilitated morally and politically by the violent acts of the so-called anarchists that, as usually, were tolerated by the police and remained unpunished.

ANI believes that any anti-gathering against the nazis in order to be effective and not to contribute to the vilification of antifascism in front of people, should in the first place denounce those systematic provocateurs, whose activity the whole political regime virtually tolerates and covers.

ANI welcomes the wide international solidarity and thanks all the antifascists that responded to its action alert. A good start has already been made. The next objective is to have “Golden Dawn”, a cancerous nazi tumour within European Union, outlawed.
AntiNazi Initiative

NEO-NAZI CONCERT ENDS WITHOUT POLICE INTERVENTION(Czech Rep)
19/9/2005- Roughly 500 people attended a concert of neo-Nazi bands in this South Bohemian town Saturday. Activists say the concert was the largest meeting of supporters of extremist groups in the Czech Republic this year. Hundreds of policemen monitored the event, which was organised by two neo-Nazi organisations, National Resistance and Blood and Honour Division Bohemia Combat 18. "We have not found that the law was violated, so there was no reason for our policemen to intervene on the spot," police spokesman Dusan Klicha said. The concert, officially held as a private celebration of a wedding, ended earlier than planned as only three of the five invited bands played. The last participants left the venue after 1:00 a.m. under the supervision of some 80 armoured policemen. "The organisers must have been warned that if they did not end it, police would intervene. I cannot explain it otherwise," Ondrej Cakl from the Tolerance and Civic Society association told CTK. Cakl added that the participants chanted racist slogans and the name of Nazi boss Rudolf Hess, one of the closest aides to Adolf Hitler. Some journalists even heard the "Sieg Heil" Nazi greeting shouted. Police patrols checked all arriving cars. Further police reinforcements arrived in the village at about 11:00 p.m. Klicha said that the police monitored the concert inside as well and would assess the surveillance next week. Organisers allowed only the invited guests to enter the venue and covered the windows with sheets. After the concert, skinheads left the without incident. Five bands were to play at the concert, including Czech bands Conflict 88 and Blizzard, Oidoxie from Germany, Hungarian group Titkolt Ellenallasa and British cult band Razors Edge. The Blood and Honour Division Bohemia Neo-Nazi organisation is a branch of an international organisation founded in Britain in 1987. The Czech division was set up in 1996. The name Combat 18 is used for an armed branch of the Blood and Honour, operating all over Europe and in the USA. The number 18 symbolises the first and eight letters in the alphabet, A and H - the initials of Adolf Hitler. This militant group openly calls for attack on foreign immigrants, Romanies and Jews.
©Prague Daily Monitor

REFUGEES MUST MANAGE ON CZK 360 A MONTH(Czech Rep)
19/9/2005- Refugees in the Czech Republic receive CZK 360 a month from the state and are not allowed to work in a refugee camp during the first year. "This sum has not changed in the past 13 years," psychologist Vera Roubalova told CTK on Sunday at the conclusion of Refufest, a two-day festival presenting the life of refugees. At the festival, held in the centre of Prague, asylum-seekers sold products and offered dishes from their countries. Most of them are not able to prepare their dishes in Czech refugee facilities. "At present there is only one camp in the Czech Republic where refugees can make meals themselves," Roubalova said. She noted that people feel better in a facility where they can cook and decide on their own when and how to eat, and this helps keep their family life. Such refugees also less suffer from headache and other psychosomatic disorders. Roubalova recalled that the psychological condition of people living in the camp for a long time is gradually worsening, as most of them are aware that they have only a small chance to be granted asylum. In 2004, 5,459 people applied for asylum in the Czech Republic, including 1,600 Ukrainians and 1,498 Russians. Only 142 applications were approved. Fresh asylum seekers usually do not complain. "We finally feel safe somewhere," said one of two Belarussian refugees who requested anonymity. The refugees say they fled Belarus because of religious persecution. In the Czech Republic they lack money and have limited opportunities to earn any. The situation of refugees living outside the camps is worse, Roubalova said. "These people can ask for a state benefit amounting to the subsistence level," currently CZK 4,300 crowns for an adult, "but they can receive it for only up to three months," she said. Refugees can seldom find jobs. Consequently they often work illegally and subject to extortionists who take their personal documents and force them to work for a very low wages, Roubalova noted.
©Prague Daily Monitor

PLEASE STOP FETISHING INTEGRATION. EQUALITY IS WHAT WE REALLY NEED(uk, comment)
A decent job with a decent income is still the best path out of the crudest forms of racism and fundamentalism
By Gary Younge

19/9/2005- Where race is concerned there are, it seems, some words that just don't go together. No matter how many young drunken white men beat each other up over the weekend, there is no such thing as white-on-white crime. No matter how many non-white people flee inner-city neighborhoods for better schools and services, there is no such thing as "black flight". And no matter how bitter their ethnic divides, white people never engage in "tribal conflict". And so it is that it seems to make no difference how segregated their lives, white people rarely ever seem to live in ghettoes. When a group of white people gather, they call it a country club, boardroom or - for most of the last century - House of Commons. But when non-white people reach a critical mass in any area, they always hit the G-spot - the point at which policymakers scream. The cause of integration has become so fetishised since the July bombings that it has been elevated to the level of an intrinsic moral value - not a means to an end but an end in itself. Later this week the government-appointed task force will make integration a vital component of its report to Tony Blair on how to tackle Muslim extremism. In a speech in Manchester, Trevor Phillips, the head of the Commission for Racial Equality, will warn against the country "sleep-walking" into a "New Orleans-style" quagmire of "fully fledged ghettoes". This is fine as far as it goes. The trouble is, unless integration is coupled with the equally vigorous pursuit of equality and anti-racism, it does not go very far. Rwanda had plenty of inter-ethnic marriages before the genocide; Jews were more integrated into German society than any other European nation before the Holocaust. Common sense suggests that the more contact you have with different races, religions and ethnicities, the less potential there is for stereotyping and dehumanising those different from yourself. But even that small achievement depends on the quality and power dynamics of the contact.

Take the American south. Despite preaching segregation in his presidential campaign, the late South Carolina senator Strom Thurmond still slept with black women, like most white southern gentlemen. Black women breastfed and raised white children, and since most slave owners were not that wealthy, many black and white families shared the same roof. The question was not whether the races could mix but what were the ground-rules for them mixing. These relationships were not consensual or mutual but usually coerced and one-sided. The whites-only signs kept African Americans from many a public place; but in the most intimate parts of their lives, black and white people were as integrated as they possibly could be. In other words, the value of integration is contingent on whom you are asking to integrate, what you are asking them to integrate into and on what basis you are asking them to do so. The framing of the current debate is flawed on all three fronts. It treats integration as a one-way street - not a subtle process of cultural negotiation but full-scale assimilation of a religious group that is regarded, by many liberals and conservatives, as backward and reactionary. It is hardly surprising that many Muslims would not want to sign up to that. But they would have a hard time trying even if they did. The racial group in Britain that has the hardest time integrating is white people. A YouGov poll for the Commission for Racial Equality last year showed that 83% of whites have no friends who are practising Muslims, while only 48% of non-white people do. It revealed that 94% of whites, compared with 47% of people from ethnic minorities, say most or all their friends are white. There is no good reason why white people should go out of their way to befriend ethnic minorities. But the truth is some go out of their way not to. A Mori poll for Prospect magazine last year showed that 41% of whites, compared with 26% of ethnic minorities, want the races to live separately.

Britain has a great many qualities where race is concerned. But the image so eagerly touted after the bombings, of an oasis of tolerant diversity that has been exploited by Islamic fundamentalists who hail from a community determined to voluntarily segregate, simply does not square with the facts. If fair play is a core British value, racism is no less so. According to Home Office figures, in 2003-2004 roughly 150 racially motivated incidents were reported every day; of those 100 fell into the serious category that includes wounding, assault and harassment. Some are deadly, as in the case of the black teenager Anthony Walker, a devout Christian and would-be lawyer, standing at a bus stop with his white girlfriend. He looked about as integrated as you can be, but that didn't stop him being killed by a single axe blow to the head, following a torrent of racial abuse. But the most likely victims of race attacks are Pakistanis and Bangladeshis - the dominant ethnic groups among Muslims. And this was before the bombs sparked a significant rise in Islamophobia. All this is compounded by economic deprivation. Bangladeshis have the highest rate of unemployment, reaching just over 40% for men under 25. These people are not segregated; they are alienated. If they need to be integrated into anything as a matter of urgency, it is the workforce and the education system. A decent job with a decent income is still the best path out of the crudest forms of racism and fundamentalism. Polls and studies show a link between wealth and the propensity to integrate.

The reason black people could not get out of New Orleans was not because they were separate but because they were unequal - the wealthier ones left. Equality of opportunity is the driving force behind integration, not the other way round, but their relationship is subtle and symbiotic, not crude and causal. July's bombings blew a hole in assumptions, on the left and the right, about the link between race and desperation. The four young men who created bloody havoc led neither deprived nor segregated lives. Abdullah Jamal (formerly Jermaine Lindsay) was married to a white Englishwoman; Mohammad Sidique Khan was a graduate who helped children of all religions with learning difficulties; Hasib Hussain was sent to Pakistan only after he "went a bit wild" with drinking and swearing; Shehzad Tanweer was a graduate who used to help at his father's fish-and-chip shop. In July 5% of Muslims told an ICM poll that more bombings would be justified. Given the margin of error, this could be at least hundreds and at most thousands of potential suicide bombers. Whether it be Anthony Walker's murderers or terrorists, we know it only takes a few. Liberals must not give an inch to fundamentalism, whether racial, religious, ethnic or national. While its leaders must be ostracised, its followers must be won over. But either collective ethnic and racial identities are universally applicable, or they are not. If so then white people need a taskforce to discuss how to better police "their community" in order to marginalise extremists who kill in the name of white supremacy. If not then we need to move to a more sophisticated place that takes into account the degree to which our prejudices, pain and potential are all interlinked. If integration means anything, then it means we're all in this together.
©The Guardian

BRITAIN 'IS SLEEPWALKING INTO NEW ORLEANS-STYLE SEGREGATION'
19/9/2005- Harriet Harman, the Constitutional Affairs minister, warned yesterday that some of Britain's black and poor communities were sinking into the same underclass exposed in the United States by Hurricane Katrina. Her comments reflect the feelings of Trevor Phillips, chairman of the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE), who believes the UK must heed the lessons of the Louisiana catastrophe, which highlighted the economic disparity and racial division in parts of the US. Mr Phillips will tell Manchester Council for Community Relations in a speech on Thursday: "We are a society which, almost without noticing it, is becoming more divided by race and religion. Our ordinary schools ... are becoming more exclusive and our universities are starting to become colour-coded with virtual "whites keep out" signs in some urban institutions." Other campaigners agreed that there was increased segregation, but added that the poor white community was feeling equally disenfranchised. Ms Harman said: "We don't want to get into a situation like America, but if you look at the figures, we are already looking like America - in London, poor, young and black people don't register to vote." The Government is to fund a hard-hitting campaign to persuade more young people, the poor and blacks to register to vote in next May's local elections. Ministers fear that the failure of many to register is evidence of their disengagement from civic society - in the same way that the poor of New Orleans lacked a voice or power to improve their position. Latest figures show that 20 per cent of people aged 20 to 24; 20 per cent of all those living in inner London; and 38 per cent of those in unfurnished rented accommodation were not on the register. A Bill to encourage registration is being introduced next month and Ms Harman said she could not rule out compulsory voting.

Peter Hain, the Northern Ireland Secretary, said Mr Phillips' warning had to be taken very seriously. "I want to see, as he does, more and more integration right across the board." The chairman of the CRE proposes controversial measures including forcing "white" schools to take larger numbers of ethnic minority pupils to aid integration. In an assessment of the UK after the July 7 terror attacks, Mr Phillips added: "We are sleepwalking our way to segregation. We are becoming strangers to each other and leaving communities to be marooned outside the mainstream." The number of people of Pakistani heritage in ghettos, defined as areas with more than two-thirds of any one ethnic group, trebled between 1991 and 2001. Ashok Viswanathan, founder of Operation Black Vote, said: "We have a less alarmist approach. There are these patterns emerging, but it is important to keep a sense of perspective." He said it was also important to remember the number of communities that continued to coexist happily. "There is an element of disenfranchisement but it is not just the black minority and ethnic community. It is wider than that, young people in general." Mohammed Afzal Khan, of the Muslim Council, added: "We need to encourage better understanding and more interaction but these comments seem slightly over the top. We need to make sure the lower spectrum - and that includes poor white people - have better opportunities provided for them."
© Independent Digital

BIRMINGHAM UNIVERSITY ACCUSED OF DISCRIMINATION(uk)
23/9/2005- Eight Muslim students and graduates today said they were taking legal action against their university on the grounds of religious discrimination. The men said they were challenging a decision made by the University of Birmingham to annul an election in which 14 Muslim students were elected to act as delegates at National Union of Students (NUS) conferences. They said the poll was later declared void amid "unspecified" allegations of voter fraud and intimidation and that the decision to pursue legal action was taken because the NUS had no right of appeal. One of the students, Arafat Ben Hassine, said: "We had strongly urged the university to reverse its decision for the sake of fairness and clarity. "We were the candidates duly elected by the students. Decisions should be based on hard evidence not malicious rumours."

Solicitor Shah Qureshi, from the law firm Webster Dixon, said: "My clients are a group of young Muslim men who decided to follow the democratic route. "As far as we are aware that route was blocked by the university on the basis of rumour and hearsay. In the current climate it is crucial that institutions like Birmingham University are not seen to condone discriminatory practices against Muslims. "Birmingham is a multi-ethnic city and such behaviour, if unchecked, can only contribute to the vilification and marginalisation of Muslims." Mr Qureshi said the October 25 election was declared void by the university registrar on November 30 and new elections held in February this year. He said the NUS changed election rules and ran the new poll under a different system which made it more difficult for his clients to be elected. In a statement the University of Birmingham said it viewed the conduct of free and fair elections as a very serious matter. It read: "Any allegations of racism or discrimination are unfounded and utterly refuted. "Our Charter commits us to a policy of no discrimination and under the Education Act 1994 the university council is further obliged 'to take such steps as are reasonably practicable to secure that the guild of students operates in a fair and democratic manner'. "In this case, the guild elections committee received a variety of complaints which caused considerable concern. "The elections were therefore re-run. Any of the previous candidates were free to stand." Mr Qureshi said legal papers would be served on the university next week.
©The Guardian

MILAN MUSLIM SCHOOL ROW ESCALATES(Italy)
Members of the Northern League - a key party in Italy's ruling coalition - are threatening to protest outside a controversial Muslim school in Milan.

23/9/2005- The row over the school - closed down by the authorities - is testing Italian attitudes to Muslim immigrants. Parents of the 500 children who attended the school are continuing to demonstrate outside. Tensions were heightened by the death of a boy, killed by a car as he crossed the road outside the school this week. The Northern League - a regionally-based party that is vitriolic in its criticism of immigrants, especially Muslims - has scuppered a planned prayer meeting for the boy. It plans to demonstrate against any compromise which gives ground to the parents, who want help to set up a school where their children can learn Arabic and the Koran alongside the normal state curriculum.

'Nothing to hide'
The school's supporters are unfazed - although they say they will keep a low profile if the League protest does materialise. The school is in an area of southern Milan known locally as Little Egypt because of its thriving Egyptian community. A volunteer teacher there said the Northern League had been "very provocative". "We have nothing to hide, they can carry out as many checks as they like - they'll never be able to say we are doing anything wrong. "We're here simply to ask for our right to study the Arabic language and nothing more. If they give us this right we won't ask for anything else!" Italian Interior Minister Giuseppe Pisanu, meanwhile, has reiterated that the Italian school system can easily accommodate the needs of practising Muslims - but stressed that all schools must meet legal guidelines. He has also promised that the police will be even-handed with all demonstrators - be they Muslim or members of the Northern League. It is a pledge that has won him the scorn of League members - who have taken to referring to him, disparagingly, as Ali Abu Pisanu.
©BBC News

VATICAN 'TO BAN NEW GAY PRIESTS'
The Vatican is to ban all gay men from joining the clergy even if they accept a vow of celibacy, reports say.

23/9/2005- The late Pope John Paul II ordered a review of the Catholic church's policy on homosexuality after US priests were involved in child sex abuse. A formal announcement is expected in the coming months, but Vatican sources have confirmed US newspaper leaks. The Vatican has regularly made clear its opposition to gay priests, calling homosexuals "intrinsically disordered". The Papal "instruction" is expected to deal with concerns in Rome about the extent of a latent homosexual sub-culture at Catholic seminaries. Practicing homosexuals are barred from the priesthood, but celibate gay men are commonly ordained, although many keep their sexual orientation secret. Some estimate that more than 25% of US Catholic priests are non-practicing homosexuals.

Cultural shift
An inspection of the 229 Catholic seminaries in the US is due to begin this month. The review, known as an Apostolic Visitation, will examine whether there is "evidence of homosexuality" within the seminary. Speaking to the New York Times, an anonymous Vatican official said the new ruling would address the issue of temptation among those attending seminaries. "The difference is in the special atmosphere of the seminary. In the seminary you are surrounded by males, not females." The BBC's David Willey in Rome says that Pope Benedict is mindful of the splits which have been occurring in the Anglican church over the appointment of gay priests and bishops, and wants to clean up the Catholic church's image. Observers say the Pope's willingness to tackle the issue just months after succeeding John Paul II demonstrates his commitment to a conservative, traditionalist Catholicism.

Alienation
But some Catholic leaders say there is no proof of any direct connection between the presence of gay clergy in the church's ranks and child abuse scandals. Instead many priests appear to feel threatened by the Vatican's decision. "I've heard straight priests say... they're embarrassed by it," one anonymous gay US priest told the Associated Press. "I've heard priests both gay and straight seriously consider leaving. "They couldn't believe that after centuries of either explicit or implicit welcoming of celibate gay clergy that church would turn its back on them."
©BBC News

GAY RIGHTS: UNITED IN HOSTILITY(Latvia)
The strange anti-gay alliance forged by hardline nationalists and "Christian values" defenders testifies to the fragility of Latvian political discourse.
By Katrina Z. S. Schwartz

22/9/2005- The fair-haired, fresh-faced teen picks me out of the crowd and leans in as close as he can, angling his torso around the impassive policeman marching between us. He is giving me the finger and shouting in Russian, and I am too overwhelmed to catch the words. But his final comment – in Latvian – is clear as day: "Mauka!" (whore!). I am in the heart of Riga's beautiful medieval Old Town on Saturday, 23 July, marching in Latvia's first Gay Pride parade. Some opposition to the parade was inevitable, given that sexual minorities are as little understood and as little seen in Latvia as they are throughout the post-communist world. But the scale of the backlash – as many as 500 active counter-protesters – and the level of hostility directed at the 100 or so marchers that day far surpassed expectations. After all, at least 600 people marched without incident in the first gay pride parade in former Soviet territory last year in Tallinn, and some 400 turned out in mid-August this year despite heavy rain. Two factors may account for the intensity of the Riga protests. For the first time in a European Union member-state, politicians at the national level – including the prime minister – spoke out aggressively against the march. And the anti-gay backlash united two previously distinct and even hostile camps – radical Latvian nationalists and evangelical "Christian values" crusaders – and brought Latvians and Russia-speakers together in a bilingual front against gay rights.

From silence to contempt
There is very little research on the life experiences of gays and lesbians in Latvia or on popular attitudes toward gays, but perhaps the most salient indicator is the degree to which Latvian gays and lesbians remain "in the closet." According to a recent survey of EU accession countries by the European Region of the International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA-Europe), over 70 percent of Latvian respondents attempt to conceal their sexual orientation from people other than family and friends (compared to a low of 20 percent in the Czech Republic). And with good reason: gays and lesbians live in a climate of fear as, despite their attempts at invisibility, the incidence of verbal and physical abuse (by police and family members included) remains high, and face employment and housing discrimination. Gay (male) sex was decriminalized in 1993, but Latvia is the only member-state that has not yet implemented the EU employment equality directive banning discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. In recent Latvian opinion surveys, only 16 percent of respondents stated that they personally knew a homosexual person, 38 percent identified homosexuals as undesirable neighbors, and 51 percent strongly disagreed with the statement that "homosexuality is a normal phenomenon in any society." Geographer Gordon Waitt reports that some gay men in Riga feel pressure to be keep the closet door even more firmly shut than during Soviet times. In a journal article on "sexual citizenship" in Latvia, he writes that the private lives of gays "are increasingly under scrutiny by increased public awareness of homosexuality since 1991 and an emerging talk-show culture that presently obsesses over the sexual orientation of Latvian celebrities. … Some informants expressed that they are now more cautious than during the Soviet era about publicly greeting any friend of the same sex by hugging or kissing. … Several lament the passing of the system and its … silence over sexuality that had guaranteed invisibility." While the events of Riga's gay pride week were unprecedented in their scale and intensity, homophobic popular attitudes and statements by public figures, as well as anti-gay activism, are certainly not new to Latvia. Janis Vanags, the ultra-conservative archbishop of the Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church, made headlines in 1994 when he banned practicing gays from receiving holy communion in his church (he is also well-known for banning the ordination of women pastors). Both Vanags and Roman Catholic Archbishop Janis Pujats contributed chapters to a book published in 2002 by the radical nationalist Aivars Garda, entitled Homosexuality: Humanity's Shame and Ruin.

Breaking new ground
But if aggressively homophobic rhetoric had been primarily the domain of church leaders and the extremist fringe, the situation changed with the arrival on the political scene of Latvia's First, a.k.a. the "Preachers' Party." Founded in 2002 by a Lutheran pastor and former Soviet dissident and elected to parliament the same year on an American-style "Christian family values" platform, Latvia's First Party has been explicitly homophobic since its founding congress, and it led the verbal assault on the parade. Its leader, Eriks Jekabsons, is interior minister in the current coalition government. The mainstreaming of homophobia is one consequence of this newcomer's injection of evangelical Christianity into the political culture of this heretofore decidedly secular society. Throughout the 15 years of post-communist transition, battles over diversity and tolerance have been waged – at both the domestic and international levels – almost exclusively on inter-ethnic grounds: first over citizenship, naturalization, and official language policies, and more recently over the transition to Latvian-language teaching in Russophone public high schools. The rage of nationalist extremists and the anomie of the disaffected masses have largely been channeled into hatred of the ethnic other, thanks in no small part to the divisive rhetoric of politicians. Latvia's political parties are rigidly polarized on ethnic lines, heavily controlled by powerful economic interests, weakly rooted in society, and deeply mistrusted by most citizens. Seeking to boost their weak ratings, office-seekers often resort to emotionally based populist appeals. For most parties with an ethnic-Latvian base, these emotional appeals have often focused on anti-Russian nationalism. But Latvia's First explicitly endorsed multiculturalism and ethnic integration during the 2002 campaign, seeking to win support among Russian-speaking voters. Its aggressively anti-gay rhetoric suggests that the party views homophobia as a useful replacement for anti-Russian nationalism. While Latvia has always been a nominally Christian (predominantly Lutheran) nation-state, religion has never been a strong component of national identity (unlike, for example, Catholic Poland and Lithuania or Orthodox Russia). Historically, pre-Christian folklore and agrarian "peasant values" have provided the richest sources of symbolic material for constructions of nation and nationalism. Even after the collapse of communism and its enforced atheism, rates of church-going have remained low. But in Latvia, as in most of Central and Eastern Europe, the chaos and destabilization of post-communist transition has provided fertile ground for the rapid expansion of Baptists, Jehovah's Witnesses, Seventh-Day Adventists, and evangelical denominations, or "sects," as they are often pejoratively described in the Latvian media. It was perhaps only a matter of time before a political party would attempt to capture this growing segment of the electorate: hence, the arrival of Latvia's First in 2002.

The party was founded by Eriks Jekabsons, a devout Christian who fled the Soviet Union in 1988 due to alleged KGB persecution and spent the following 13 years in America, where he received a master's degree in theology and served for five years as a Lutheran pastor in Chicago (along with operating a martial-arts dojo). Jekabsons' lengthy stay in the United States, during a period of increasing political and cultural de-secularization there, surely played a critical role in shaping his subsequent political agenda. As he observed in an interview shortly after returning to Latvia:
"America is definitely a Christian country. There are ordinary [mainstream] churches, but there are also many Bible-based and evangelical churches. … A lot of incorrect perceptions about the U.S.A. have been created in Europe and Latvia. I have traveled all across that country and seen what happens on Sundays – how America is transformed on these days. Every block or two there is a church, and people are gathered there in their Sunday best. … Many of our parliamentary deputies are not religious, but in America people understand that politics without morality is maimed, and morality without religion is impossible. Latvia's politicians and society don't realize that."

After his return to Latvia in 2001, Jekabsons founded a non-governmental organization called For Spiritual Rebirth in Latvia and then merged it the following year with two existing political parties to form Latvia's First. Since winning 9.5 percent of the vote and 10 seats in the 101-member parliament in 2002, the party has spoken out against abortion and campaigned for including references to Christian heritage in the EU constitutional treaty. It also secured a highly controversial budgetary allocation for church renovations under the rubric of promoting "sacral tourism," which critics have denounced as a transparent effort to win endorsements from the pulpit. As its "Preachers' Party" nickname suggests, many party members at the national and local levels are themselves members of the clergy. The party cultivates connections with all of Latvia's mainstream denominations, but it has provoked widespread skepticism through its close ties with evangelical churches, and particularly the New Generation. This Massachusetts-based charismatic church, with branches in many post-Soviet states as well as Argentina and Israel, has attracted a primarily Russian-speaking congregation at its Riga headquarters, where pastor Aleksey Ledyaev, according to a report by the non-profit think tank Politika.lv (Policy.lv), "promotes the idea of Christian government, mentioning George Bush's administration in the United States as an admirable example."

A united front?
Radical Latvian nationalists have passionately denounced Latvia's First for its association with New Generation. In 2004, the extremist National Front published a lengthy interview with Ledyaev in its newspaper Deoccupation Decolonization Debolshevization, quoting Ledyaev as saying: "You're trying to say that a little country like Latvia, such a small nation as Latvians, can talk to Russia and the U.S.A. as an equal? What are you, crazy? … Small nations must submit to big nations and follow their rules. They must understand that small nations are not equal with the rest. If the little ones don't know their place, and make too much noise, then it's no surprise if they get it on the head." Even more alarming to the nationalists were Ledyaev's claims to close ties with Latvia's First and his assertion that the party and his church both favor the strengthening of bilingualism in Latvia. Commenting on this interview, the chairman of the National Power Union, another radical organization, asked rhetorically whether "a political party with such close ties to a socially dangerous religious sect, whose leader is hostile to the Latvian nation, can legitimately be represented in the Latvian government? … Whom does Latvia's First Party serve…?" The author called on the party's coalition partners to investigate its ties with this "scandalous pseudo-Christian community" and to consider expelling it from the government In this context, it was very interesting indeed to see the ethnically "integrated" scene on the sidelines of the gay pride march. Even the extremist nationalist organization Everything for Latvia remarked approvingly in an online photo essay: "This time Russians and Latvians are standing shoulder-to-shoulder … this time none of that matters because everyone is standing up against a common enemy." This united front is, most likely, only a temporary marriage of convenience. But it should certainly be cause for alarm that ostensibly respectable government ministers are making common cause with extreme xenophobes in attacking a highly vulnerable minority group.

Unfortunately, as Latvia prepares for the next parliamentary elections in September 2006, there is every reason to expect that populist appeals to crude prejudices will only intensify. As a prominent newspaper editor explained it to me, Latvia's First and other parties are terrified of the electorate, because they realize how unstable their approval ratings are. Thus, they are desperate to establish some kind of "emotional connection" with voters. Now that the passionate issues of de-colonization and the "return to Europe" and NATO are already faits accomplis, where will they find that emotional bond? Newspaper commentator Aivars Ozolins is not optimistic:
"Rather than addressing the question of why, for example, Latvia is the poorest EU member-state and why it has the highest level of political corruption, it is easier to set various social groups against each other. But such flirting by the parties of power with a portion of society's prejudices and the readiness of the self-proclaimed 'correct' and 'normal' people to even physically persecute and attack different or 'abnormal' people, threatens to turn the next Saeima elections into a contest between neo-Nazis, racists, Christian fundamentalists, anti-Semites, xenophobes, homophobes and every other subspecies of misanthropes and rejecters of freedom. The bigger the thief, the louder he will appeal to 'family values.' "
©Transitions Online

ROMA WOMEN SUFFER DOUBLE DISCRIMINATION IN BULGARIA
Forced into a subordinate role in their own community, Roma women also have to put up with blatant ethnic discrimination from Bulgarians.
By Boryana Dzhambazova in Sofia

23/9/2005- "The girl has to be a virgin – it's a must," said 40-year-old Gyula Dimitrova, speaking with conviction in her eyes. She takes her community's marital requirement as a given and can't hide a smile recalling her wedding, and especially the "blaga rakia" ritual, at which the guests drank a pinkish-red liquor to symbolise the bride's virginity. "People don't think well of girls who fail to keep their honour," Roza Noteva, 22, agrees. She represents a younger generation, but she believes and obeys communal traditions just as firmly as Gyula. At her wedding, she and her husband were presented with a house. His parents wanted the munificent gift to demonstrate their pleasure about the fact that she had joined their family as a virgin. "No good man would take a bride who is not a virgin," Gyula continues, explaining that such women are doomed to lead lonely, marginalised lives. Of course, virginity is more optional for the grooms. Although Bulgaria's 24 Roma communities differ in religion and rituals, they unite in upholding highly conservative attitudes towards women. Well into the 21st century, the Roma remain one of the most patriarchal societies in Europe, with men having far more rights than women.

The sexual discrimination Roma women have to put up with is even harder to endure when combined with the ethnic discrimination that is common in many post-socialist countries. For Roma women in Bulgaria, subordinate status in the family and the community, a low standard of living and education, a weak position in the labour market and the negative attitudes of ethnic Bulgarians, can combine to make life grim. Statistics show Roma women without a secondary education are usually doomed to unemployment – which means the majority of them, as United Nations research from 2003 showed only 16 per cent of Roma people in Bulgaria had completed secondary or higher education. There are some signs of change, however. Along with seven other countries, Bulgaria proclaimed this year the start a "Decade of Roma Inclusion". As part its effort to modernise and introduce EU-related reforms, the country has made legislative and other changes aiming to better integrate this minority, which makes up almost a tenth of Bulgaria's population. A number of non-governmental organisations are working on key projects to reduce the social disparity between the communities. The Creating Effective Grassroots Alternative, CEGA, foundation, for example, is working to increase Roma women's participation in public life. But in practice, any real improvement in their lives still seems a distant prospect.

According to the Open Society Foundation, most Roma girls who got to school at all leave well before graduation, in order to take care of younger brothers and sisters, marry, or give birth. Although the average marriage age has been rising over the last 15 years among Roma, some maintain the tradition of marrying off their daughters at 12 or 13. Roza Noteva is one of the minority who didn't drop out of education. But she attended a school in which Roma were segregated from other pupils, and she believes several potential employees rejected her job applications for this reason. She graduated in needlework but has been forced to take work as a part-time cleaner. Her mother-in-law, Silvia Stefanova, nods sadly and adds that prejudice in society towards Roma remains stronger than good will. "When we travel on the bus everybody clutches their purses, as they think all gypsies are thieves," she said. "We are treated as black sheep no matter how much we want to earn our living honestly by working hard." Rumian Sechkov, executive manager of CEGA, says Roma women in Bulgaria lag about a generation behind the rest of society. "They now enjoy about the same level of emancipation as Bulgarian women did during the Second World War," he said. If so, women like Roza Noteva and Gyula Dimitrova have a 60-year wait ahead of them before they can even begin to enjoy the same rights as contemporary Bulgarians.
©Institute for War & Peace Reporting

ABORIGINAL WOMEN FAIR GAME FOR PREDATORS AMID PUBLIC INDIFFERENCE(Canada)
Their carefree grins, candid photos and cold mugshots stare out from a gut-wrenching gallery.

18/9/2004- Untold scores of society's most vulnerable members - young native women - have gone missing across the country only to be forsaken by a jaded justice system and neglectful media. The death and disappearance of aboriginal women has emerged as an alarming nationwide pattern, from western serial murders to little-known Atlantic vanishings. Grim statistics and anecdotal evidence compiled by The Canadian Press suggest public apathy has allowed predators to stalk native victims with near impunity. The record also points to an ugly truth behind the political and legal lethargy: racism. Pauline Muskego's daughter, Daleen Kay Bosse, disappeared after a night out with friends in Saskatoon on May 18, 2004. She left behind a daughter, now four, who was her greatest joy. There was no hint that the aspiring teacher and photographer, just 26 years old, would simply abandon her life, says Muskego. The torment of waiting for answers is only deepened whenever a white woman's disappearance triggers a flurry of national media attention. "My daughter's face has never been shown nationally." Almost everyone has heard that the remains of more than 27 women were found on a pig farm in British Columbia. Lost in the grisly headlines, however, is the fact that many of the victims were aboriginal.

The episode highlighted the cases of at least 68 missing women from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside - an enclave of drug-addicted despair that is disproportionately home to native people. They vanished over a two-decade period, often with scant police or media attention. But aboriginal women are not preyed upon in British Columbia alone. Their deaths and disappearances remain unsolved on reserves, in cities and in small towns across the country. Victims include not only the most exposed drug addicts but also aspiring professionals, university students and devoted mothers with no history of street life. Amber O'Hare has been tracing their stories for years. Posters of missing native women began to haunt her a decade ago as she visited reserves across Canada working as an AIDS educator. Again and again, she saw desperate appeals for help finding loved ones - many of them aboriginal girls and women. O'Hare would check newspapers for details but usually found nothing. It was her first glimpse of the lack of public interest that has contributed to the swelling ranks of murdered and missing native women. She could not accept the general indifference and scant media coverage. "So I started documenting them." O'Hare soon heard from distraught relatives who'd spent years trying to get help from police. "I've had e-mails and phone calls from family members who've said that they've been to the police department three years later and the file's dusty." The Toronto mother of two, herself an AIDS sufferer who narrowly escaped a heroin-addicted street life, began to build an unsettling online catalogue. Today, she has documented hundreds of cases of murdered and vanished native girls and women from coast to coast. O'Hare toiled in obscurity as she built a digital memorial to the losses. Etched in her memory was the chilling case of Helen Betty Osborne, the Manitoba girl whose 1971 beating death at the hands of four white men was a shameful open secret in The Pas for years. Just one of the men was ever convicted - more than 15 years later. A public inquiry exposed the racism and misogyny that led to Osborne's rape and killing. O'Hare's website, www.missingnativewomen.ca, offers stark evidence that little has changed. The pages are filled with more than 200 desperate stories. It's a dispiriting inventory of native girls and women who were killed or have simply disappeared. "Most of them are dead, I believe," O'Hare says with flat resignation. She researches new cases through phone calls, e-mail tips, obituaries and hours spent scanning files in the reference library. Except for help from a couple of friends, she has until recently been a lone crusader. But others with more influence and resources have taken up the cause, lending credence to what O'Hare has long known: the number of missing and murdered aboriginal women in Canada has reached epidemic proportions.

Police in British Columbia are probing the disappearance of at least 68 women from Vancouver over two decades. Pig farmer Robert Pickton has been charged with killing 27 of the women, many of whom were prostitutes in the city's crime-ridden Downtown Eastside. An internal federal briefing note obtained by The Canadian Press suggests as many as half of the missing B.C. women may have been aboriginal. Exact figures are hard to pin down because ancestry is not always obvious from the facts known about each victim. An RCMP-led task force in Alberta is investigating more than 80 unsolved murders and missing-person cases - disappearances the police say could point to a serial killer. The bodies of several Edmonton prostitutes have been found discarded in farmers' fields, upping the ante for those who gamble their lives as street workers. In 2003, many in the sex trade began voluntarily providing DNA samples and personal contacts to police. But reliable information is sorely lacking on the extent to which the most vulnerable victims are targeted. The Native Women's Association of Canada campaigned last year for $10 million in federal funds to research what it estimates are at least 500 cases in the last 20 years of murdered or missing aboriginal women. That estimate is based on the group's preliminary research, including extensive interviews with families. "There is a growing awareness of particular problem. It grew out of and it grew out of other reports - particularly the Native Women's Association."till, O'Hare's online archive of continues to expand. She makes no apologies for the exclusive focus on aboriginal women "I don't consider it racism. I consider it exposing exposed." O'Hare and others to a virtual news vacuum when it comes to covering native cases. They cite how the disappearance of 25-year-old Alicioss, from a neighborhood north of made national newscasts and headlines Names vanished aboriginals are rarely beyond their home provinces - if the word of missing native women in Nova Scotia comes through a phone call from the reserves, said Bert Milberg, an addictions or in Halifax. "You don't hear from the news. " There are exceptions, but cases go almost unnoticed. Back in Toronto continues to preserve the many murdered and missing native women.

Bleak scenes on Saskatoon's 20th Street have roots in discrimination
It's mid-afternoon on a Tuesday as a 16-year-old girl paces 20th Street in the heart of The Stroll. Wearing denim shorts and eating an ice-cream bar, she looks like any teenager on a hot summer day - until she starts waving at passing pickup trucks. She is among dozens of native girls and women caught up in a highly visible and racially polarized sex trade. How they got there is a complex question with historic roots reaching back through decades of racist federal policy, says Toronto lawyer Mary Eberts. "What has happened to aboriginal women in this country, by the conscious act of the Canadian state, is appalling." A growing list of murdered and missing native women across Canada includes many who wound up in an increasingly dangerous sex trade. In Saskatoon, the women who sell their bodies and the young girls who are exploited - often under pressure from other girls in their "street families" or from drug-addicted relatives - are overwhelmingly aboriginal. The men who cruise The Stroll come from all income brackets. They range from transient construction workers to professionals in luxury SUVs. They often have wives and families. They are almost always white. Many are regular visitors to this run-down sprawl of motels, businesses and homes near Saskatoon's downtown core. Some are sadistically abusive, and there's little police can do to protect victims as young as 10 who tend to report only the worst beatings. Police are widely distrusted here, and many residents fear arrest for outstanding warrants. A local street outreach agency keeps a "high risk of homicide" registry that typically tracks up to 100 girls and women considered most vulnerable. The grim record includes such identifying information as tattoos and previously broken bones to help police investigate if needed. "The reality of it is that kids turn up dead," says Don Meikle, client services co-ordinator for the downtown youth centre. Saskatoon, like Regina and Winnipeg, has a large aboriginal population saddled with crushing rates of poverty, drug addiction, sexual abuse, domestic violence and prostitution.

Who is responsible for such misery?
Eberts says it's a grossly unfair reading of recent history to blame native communities alone. She traces a succession of federal policies that disrupted sophisticated aboriginal social systems while forcing whole populations on to small reserves. Introduced in 1876, the Indian Act limited economic prospects and even freedom of movement. It especially undercut traditional roles of authority held for centuries by aboriginal women, Eberts says. "Under the Indian Act, Indian women were not recognized as legal persons. They were not allowed to hold land or participate in band governance in any way - either as voters or to stand and hold office. And they were not allowed to inherit property or serve as executors of estates. "They were complete legal non-entities." Moreover, native women who married non-native men lost their Indian status. This especially damaging piece of sexist legislation was only partially corrected in 1985. The political approach to the "Indian Problem" was assimilation, beginning in earnest in the 1870s with residential schools. By 1900, thousands of native children had been placed in institutions where their culture and language were shunned. Many were punished for speaking their native tongue in a system that would erode family structures for more than three generations. Ottawa has admitted that physical and sexual abuse in the church-run schools was rampant. But the federal government has so far refused to pay blanket compensation. Today, the residential school experience reverberates in the form of social dysfunction. Native leaders say it's a key factor in the sexual abuse, alcoholism, drug addiction and domestic violence that have plagued many communities since. Ottawa has committed $5 million over five years to research cases of murdered and missing native women - far short of the $10 million over two years sought by the Native Women's Association of Canada. Indian Affairs Minister Andy Scott says "it's a start." Ottawa is desperately trying to deal with the fallout from years of federal meddling in the lives of First Nation, Inuit and Metis people, he said in an interview. "We're stuck with an awareness of the history of our unilateral interventions. They haven't been a happy story. "I immediately look at these conditions and say, 'I want to do something.' But I have to resist that instinct because I think we have to be more collaborative than that." There is hope that increasing education and sobriety rates will mean a brighter future for many aboriginal kids. But for those pinned down by poverty and addiction, life is a bleak struggle to survive. "To get some money," the 16-year-old girl says with a stoned grin when asked why she's offering herself up to strangers on 20th Street. Already a mother of two, she is obviously high but only admits to smoking "a few joints" of pot. She is living with a girlfriend who also works the streets with two of her sisters. Another older sister, in the sex trade as well, went missing a few years ago and has never been found.

A 20th Street business owner finally hired a private security guard to protect the corner outside her shop for part of each weekday. His main job is to keep away the young women who appear from early in the morning to late at night. Noon-hours are busy as men on lunch breaks cruise for sex. "The politicians have to do something," says the business owner, who asked not to be identified. Police say their hands are tied by lax prostitution laws, while politicians do little but say they're concerned, she says. On the table before her are stacks of newspaper clippings and letters she has written pleading for action. "This place is a breeding ground for drugs, sexually transmitted disease and abductions." She is at a loss to understand why her voice is one of few demanding change. "There are native people out there who don't want it either. Where are the elders?" Ojibwa elder Walter Linklater, 66, says those who truly follow traditional culture can help. But they are rarely asked by the mostly white bureaucrats who run programs in a social-work industry that feeds off native problems, he says. He beat acute alcoholism in his 30s only when an elder helped him reconnect with his aboriginal ancestry. Many native people will remain lost until they do the same, Linklater says. "We must go back to our traditional ways. "We won't give up. We'll go through many tragedies yet before society realizes and goes to the elders." Bert Milberg, a Halifax addictions counsellor who tries to help men deal with their anger, says the aboriginal tenet of holding women sacred has been forgotten. "We've lost that, obviously," he said. "Women going missing, women getting murdered, women committing suicide. "It's time to start reversing this wheel."

Key dates in the recent history of missing aboriginal women in Canada:

UN DRAFTS NEW HUMAN RIGHT: THE RIGHT TO NOT DISAPPEAR
23/9/2005- A French-led working group has drawn up a draft of a legally binding international convention that cracks down on enforced or involuntary disappearances, diplomats said Friday. The convention would oblige signatory countries to act to prevent disappearances and to prosecute any "arrest, detention, abduction or any other deprivation of liberty committed by agents of the state". Disappearances carried out by people or groups associated with the state, which deny the detained person the protection of the law, are also proscribed. In addition, signatories commit to searching for those missing and to compensate the victims. The 26-page document, entitled 'International Convention For The Protection Of All Persons From Enforced Disappearances' will be submitted to the next session of the UN Human Rights Committee (HRC), which meets every year in March or April in Geneva, and then at the UN General Assembly in New York. The draft text reads: "The widespread or systematic practice of enforced disappearance constitutes a crime against humanity." "No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification for enforced disappearance." A committee on enforced disappearances, made up of 10 experts, will be in charge of monitoring each signatory country's adherence to the convention. Relatives of the disappeared will be able to call on the committee to demand information from countries concerned. However, the committee will only have jurisdiction over cases that occur after the convention comes into force. The working group, appointed in 1980 by the HRC, began compiling the document in 2003 with the cooperation of rights organisations such as Amnesty International, and under the leadership of the French ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Bernard Kessedjian.
©Expatica News

FRENCH MINISTER REKINDLES DIVERSITY DEBATE
14/9/2005- France has always had a hard time dealing with its minorities. Ostensibly, they don't exist under the race, religion and colorblind creed of "liberty, equality and fraternity." The reality, of course, is that they do -- just like everywhere else in the world. Who are they and where do they come from? What forms of discrimination do they face? Such answers aren't easy to find in a country which bans official surveys from having questions on religion or ethnicity. For the same reasons, it's also difficult to target programs to improve their access to better jobs and education; to even the playing field. Indeed, such programs are also officially barred. The idea of affirmative action a l'Americaine is an anathema to France's center-right government. At least on the surface. But today, the debate surrounding minorities -- and discrimination -- has risen to the fore after several deadly Paris fires broke out in hotels housing ethnic immigrants. The incidents have sparked strong differences over just how the country does -- and should -- treat not only its first-generation, but also its second- and third-generation immigrants. French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy -- considered a top candidate for president two years from now -- is a strong backer of quotas. Only he has cleverly changed the appellation of affirmative action to "positive discrimination," to make it more palatable in France. The current French president, Jacques Chirac, and French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin are firmly opposed to anything smacking of quotas, however. So for the moment, the French twist on affirmative action instead focuses on low-income zones. Which just happen to be filled with ethnic and religious minorities, many of them ethnic North African Muslims.

One of the most ambitious initiatives is being spearheaded by Jean-Louis Borloo, junior minister for urban affairs in France's center-right government. His ministry aims to renovate and build new housing for some six million suburban residents by the end of 2008. Attractive neighborhoods, the idea goes will attract a mix of both poor-and middle-class residents, and bring in new businesses and employment opportunities. Another scheme aims to increase the number of low-income students in France's most elite universities. The initiative was launched by the renown Institute for Political Studies, or Sciences Po, in Paris. Now government officials want to include more universities and more students. Another scheme would offer similar opportunities for low-income, middle school students. France's airwaves are also changing, albeit gradually. Last year, France 3 became the first television station to hire a black anchor; others are just beginning to follow suite. Now, Azouz Begag, France's junior minister for the Promotion of Equal Chances, has launched an inquiry to assess just how open the country's private sector is to ethnic diversity. "In this country, we don't dare to pronounce the word 'Arab' or 'black,'" Begag, an ethnic North African, told Le Monde in a recent interview. "Because of political blindness, we're prevented from thinking progress is possible. The multicolored composition will become commonplace in businesses and communities once we're no longer afraid of describing French of color." Just how effective Begag's "diversity" push will be, however, is an open question. He opposes Sarkozy's "positive discrimination" platform and any efforts to assign quotas for minorities. Critics, however, suggest quotas are critical in a country where ethnic North African's represent a sizable (but unnumbered) minority -- and which hasn't one single ethnic North African deputy in its National Assembly.

Still the matter of quotas remains fiercely controversial -- it came to the fore last year, when Algerian-born Aissa Dermouche was appointed as France's first ethnic Arab-Muslim prefect, or regional political leader. "We're completely opposed to ethnic quotas, in the sense it will push people to identify themselves to a particular community," said Dominique Sopo, head of SOS Racism, a Paris-based activist group, in a telephone interview. "One of the biggest strengths of France is the fact that issues of ethnicity and religiosity are extremely porous -- as you can see with the very mixed population that exists in France." At the same time, Sopo added, "the problem with the proposals of Azouz Begag is that he says he wants more diversity in French businesses -- but we don't see clearly how this can come about in concrete terms. " As far as Sopo is concerned France has one of the best programs of integration in Europe -- because of the very fact the country's policy insists on being blind to race and color when it comes to immigrants entering France. But discrimination is another matter. "France isn't a country that's massively racist," Sopo said. "There's an enormous amount of mixing that occurs in France -- unlike a lot of European countries, where mixing is almost nonexistent. That means there's a lot of potential for fraternity and tolerance in France." At the same time, Sopo said, the country has been late to openly tackle the issue of discrimination -- and in finding solutions to it. Fighting discrimination and offering equal chances -- rather than quotas -- for minorities will naturally lead to a more socially equal country, he argues. Le Monde, for one agrees. "The sadly banal reality is that France is decades behind when it comes to integration," Le Monde newspaper wrote in a recent editorial. But like Sopo, the newspaper does not necessarily see Begag's diversity proposals offering any solutions. Indeed, Le Monde wrote, it may well lead to imposing hiring quotas on businesses -- which, it argues, goes entirely against France's Republican model.
©World Peace Herald

FORMER PRAGUE MAYOR CRITICISES UNDIGNIFIED CONDITIONS AT FOREIGNERS' POLICE(Czech Rep.)
14/9/2005- Chairman of the European Democrats (ED) and former Prague mayor Jan Kasl has criticised the conditions at the foreigners' police headquarters at Prague's Olsanska street as undignified and discriminatory in an open letter he sent to Interior Minister Frantisek Bublan yesterday. "I must assure you that I have never come across anything like this at any Czech office in the past 16 years," he wrote. The Interior Ministry received the letter but it will only comment on it after civil servants deal with it, spokeswoman Jana Matejusova said. Kasl asks Bublan in the letter when the Interior Ministry will prepare an amendment to the law on foreigners that will abolish the "nonsensical, humiliating and repeated" registration of foreigners who live in the Czech Republic. He calls for a dignified environment for the processing of foreigners' affairs and for the accessibility of necessary forms on the Internet. "I visited the B building today to fill in and submit a request for a permission to invite to the Czech Republic the future husband of my daughter and the father of my grandson, who comes from Senegal," Kasl says in the letter, explaining how he came into contact with the office. Ombudsman Otakar Motejl said in June that the situation at the foreigners' police is "humiliating and undignified towards foreigners and untenable in the future." The Ombudsman Office pointed to the bad organisation of the Olsanska office that causes foreigners to wait several hours before their affairs are processed. In addition, police officials' knowledge of foreign languages is poor, the ombudsman said. Following the inspection by the Ombudsman Office employees, certain changes were implemented. An information telephone line for foreigners was installed and working hours were extended.
©Prague Daily Monitor

COMPENSATIONS TO ROMA VICTIMS OF THE HOLOCAUST(Report, Czech Rep.)
and the International Organization for Migration
12 Sep 2005

Executive summary
The Roma are the largest and most vulnerable minority in Europe, numbering around 10 million people. Roma populations are found in every country of Europe. During World War II at least 600,000 Roma were killed, many of them in Nazi concentration camps or while being used as slave labour for Nazi states. Now, sixty years later, Roma face difficulties finding an equal place in European countries. They lack adequate access to healthcare and education, and often face discrimination in the labour market. The Roma Holocaust ("Poraimos") has been overlooked or smoothed over in many countries. Even though the Roma have tried to have their own tragic story remembered, many people are unaware that the Roma were even affected by the Nazi regime. There has never been an international compensation programme exclusively for Romany victims of the Holocaust. In the compensation programmes that already exist in European states, Roma have been lumped together with other groups of war victims and veterans without considering the fact that the Nazis planned and partially realized the genocide of the Roma nation. This report is an attempt to bring complete information about International Organization for Migration's (IOM) role in compensation programs on behalf of Roma victims of the Holocaust and forced labour work.

Our key findings include:

ARREST OF WANTED NEO-NAZI AND LATEST ON NAZI FEST(Greece)
14/9/2005- The neo-nazi Antonis Androutsopoulos, leading member of "Golden Dawn", better known as "Periandros", turned himself in on September 13, 2005. Androutsopoulos is wanted since June 1998, for leading a team of ten thugs that brutally attacked a student, Dimitris Kousouris who was badly injured, and other two people. At the time, the police was accused for unwillingness to arrest the perpetrators although the incident happened near the courtbuildings of Athens that are guarded by police forces.

In April 2004, Androutsopoulos was convicted in absentia to 4 years of imprisonment for "organising a criminal gang, illegal possession and use of weapons". Also he was charged with premeditated attempted murder. His trial for this is still pending. The fact that Androutsopoulos was not arrested for seven years had raised questions as to whether he was shielded by the police. The statement of the former minister of Public Order, Mihalis Xrysohoidis, on the matter is indicative. Asked by a journalist of the Greek newspaper "Ta Nea", why the police did not arrest Periandros even when he went to the funeral of the former dictator Papadopoulos in 1999 in Athens, the minister answered that if he excluded foul play, the only reason would be "stupidity" and "incompetence"! He added that he personally never had evidence for foul play.

It is also highly questionable that Androutsopoulos ever left Greece in order to flee to Venezuela (as he claims now), taking into consideration testimonies of persons that have seen him in Peloponnisos and Athens.

Irrespective of any expediency that lies behind Androutsopoulos turning in, this is an important democratic victory that, as we believe, is related to the weakening of the political position of nazis following the outcry against their festival. We consider that it is very difficult for the nazis of "Golden Dawn" to go on with this festival since the government is compelled to be consistent with its declaration for a ban, under the international pressure. Already, through their publications, the leaders of Golden Dawn prepare their members for a defeat. These last days they speak of a separate gathering at Meljgalas, and it is also doubtful if they can make it.

The last location chosen for the festival was the private camping "INTERSTATION" in Styljda of Lamia. The mayor of Lamia, Aleka Karagjorgou, stated that the owner of the camping "returned the advance he had received".

Nevertheless, we are still on alert in order to denounce any such attempt.
Antinazi Initiative

GREEK FASCISTS SAY THEY WILL DEFY BAN ON 'HATEWAVE' FESTIVAL
15/9/2005- Greece is braced for the arrival of thousands of right-wing extremists from all over Europe hoping to attend a banned "Hatewave" festival. Those heading for the three-day event, featuring music, sport and speeches at the seaside, include members of Germany's National Democratic Party, Italy's Forza Nuova and Spain's La Fallange. The local ultra-right organisation Golden Dawn has kept the venue secret after the Greek government imposed a ban last month, saying it could incite racism. But organisers have remained defiant: "The festival will go ahead. It will be held on private property and you will find out the location a day before it is due to start," said a Golden Dawn official. Several thousand people from at least nine European countries are expected at the gathering, billed as "three days of comradeship, with live shows, sport activities by the sea and most important, an open congress with speeches on defending our European identity". The event's main slogan is "Our Europe, not theirs. Turkey out of Europe". Initially the event was to be held in the southern Greek town of Meligalas but protests by local authorities and NGOs have forced several changes of venue. A large booking at a campsite on behalf of Golden Dawn was confirmed earlier this week at the town of Stylida, 150km north of Athens. The town's mayor has denounced the festival: "We are furious ... Our people fought against Nazism and they want to come here? We don't want them here and we are asking the government to do whatever possible so that this disgraceful event does not take place."Last night protest groups gathered in the nearby town of Lamia to discuss potential action plans. Takis Giannopoulos from Youth Against Racism in Europe told The Independent: "If the fascists try to hold their festival at the campsite here we will be there to block the entrance and make sure they don't get in. If the location changes we will go and stop them wherever they are." The Greek Public Order Minister, George Voulgarakis, said that the police would intervene if the organisers tried to go ahead with the event.
© Independent Digital

NEO-NAZIS GATHER FOR GREEK FEST
16/9/2005- Neo-Nazis from across Europe are gathering in Greece this weekend for a far-right summer festival - but no one is exactly sure where. Organisers Golden Dawn say they will defy a government ban on the Euro-Fest 2005 event, and insist it will go ahead at a secret location. Golden Dawn is relatively small compared to other far-right groups - but it is very militant. Rights campaigners say Greece should do more to condemn such groups. "The most disturbing thing is not the few hundred people following Golden Dawn, but because there is no clear condemnation of their activity," Panayote Dimitras, of the human rights group Greek Helsinki Monitor told the BBC. "They mingle with other people who are not really neo-Nazis in activities like beating Albanians after the football one year ago leading to one death; like having anti-Turkish demonstrations."

Anti-Turkish
Mr Dimitras says Greece does have an anti-racist law which could provide some deterrent if used. "If you buy the Golden Dawn newspaper you have anti-Semitic and anti-foreigner references that are enough to convict their members every week," he said. He says the government has been embarrassed into taking a stance against the festival this year following protests from Jewish and other international groups. A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Public Order and Hellenic Police refused to comment on the festival or what efforts were being taken to stop it going ahead. The Golden Dawn website for the Euro-Fest 2005, decked with "Turkey out of Europe" links has the headline: "The True voice of every European citizen". It offers "Three days of comradeship, with live shows, sport activities by the sea and the most important: Open Congress with speeches on defend [sic] of our European Identity".

Secret location
Mr Dimitras says one of the key speakers, Udo Voigt of the German NPD, is not expected to turn up because of elections in his own country. He said Golden Dawn could postpone the event so that the Germans could attend "because without them the glamour is lost." But a spokesman for Golden Dawn told the BBC News website that more than 500 supporters from all over Europe, including England, Germany and Belgium, had already arrived in Athens. He said the government had no legal powers to stop the event. As well as a demonstration in Athens, he said, the festival would still go ahead at a location to be revealed later. He said the main focus of the weekend was opposition to Turkey in Europe.
©BBC News

MAN GOES ON TRIAL ACCUSED OF RACIST BEATING(Cyprus)
16/9/2005- The trial of Christodoulos Nicolaides, the man accused of attacking and injuring a Turkish Cypriot and his Greek Cypriot friend at a Nicosia caf? on July 29, began yesterday at the Nicosia Assizes. The 28-year-old former policeman turned salesman made headlines after being arrested for allegedly attacking two men, Greek Cypriot Marinos Kleanthous and Turkish Cypriot Sadik Aktan. The story made bigger headlines when it was reported that Nicolaides was linked to the ultra-nationalist party Chrysi Avgi (Golden Dawn). Although there is no official Cyprus branch of Chrysi Avgi, there are a reported 28 members on the island, of which, according to police, Nicolaides is the leader. Nicolaides denies those claims. Nicolaides faces eight charges, which include causing actual bodily harm, assault and acting with intent to incite hostility between Greek and Turkish Cypriots. He has so far denied all charges. The court yesterday heard statements by three police officers. Kleanthous, a witness in the trial, also made a statement saying that he did not see Nicolaides involved in the fight. Meanwhile, the prosecution is also charging Nicolaides with the actual bodily harm of Turkish Cypriot Veysel Toksoy, who was attacked in Troodos on March 13. According to reports, Aktan and Kleanthous were with a group of other friends at the caf? when they were attacked and beaten. Nicolaides was later tracked down by police at his home and was arrested. Nicolaides later told police that night that the incident was a misunderstanding which had nothing to do with the fact that one of the victims was a Turkish Cypriot. According to one source, the two groups were sitting next to each other at the caf? when at one point the Greek and Turkish Cypriot pointed and laughed towards the suspect and his friends sparking the fight. The former policeman told the court, "I never hurt anyone. The Turkish Cypriot was not touched. The incident happened after they verbally abused us." Fears that Golden Dawn supporters might turn up for the trial proved unfounded. The trial is set to continue on September 20.
©Cyprus Mail

FINE LINE BETWEEN FEAR AND RACISM(Cyprus)
15/9/2005- Law commissioner and President of Ethnopad, the National Organisation for the Protection of Human Rights, Leda Koursoumba yesterday warned of the fine line between terrorist fears and racism after two Pakistani men were kicked off a Larnaca-Manchester flight last week. For the third time in 12 months, passenger fears resulted in Muslim or Asian travellers being left behind in Cyprus when one of two Pakistanis on an Excel Airways flight was reported to be behaving suspiciously. He had spent around 10 minutes in the toilet before take-off, prompting terrorist fears amongst the flight's 228 British passengers. The pilot, after consulting with the authorities decided it was in the interests of the flight's safety that they be removed. The plane was grounded until it was cleared and the two men were questioned and later released. Last September, a Cyprus Airways (CY) flight to Moscow was delayed for over two hours when Russian passengers refused to fly with what they described as "a suspect-looking" fellow passenger who was "dark skinned". CY staff told the passengers they could not offload the man just because someone didn't like his looks, but some passengers began searching his bags irrespective and in the end the pilot ordered everyone and their baggage off the plane for checks. The Russian passengers were still not satisfied and CY had no option but to offload the suspect. Earlier the same month, a Canadian citizen was left behind at Larnaca airport after an Aeroflot crew member said he looked like a Chechen.

"Because you see someone with dark skin, it does not mean he is a criminal," said Koursoumba. Commenting on the Excel incident, she said her position would depend on what the airline and the authorities were actually faced with at the time. "But this is a prime example of xenophobia and racism, provided there was no other evidence to make the assumption," she said. "Certainly you have to be careful because of terrorists attacks, and it is a great responsibility to go ahead with a flight if there is suspicion someone might be a terrorist. On the other hand there is this generalisation (that all Muslims are terrorists)." Koursoumba said this attitude, which was particularly strong amongst Britons and Americans, was a product of terrorism and also of anti-terrorism measures taken worldwide. "The British and Americans are much more racist in this respect because they are more afraid due to the fact that it has happened to them," said Koursoumba. "It's the times we live in. Human rights and liberties are something people have gained after struggles for centuries and now people are prepared to give them up or have them compromised because they are afraid of terrorism." Koursoumba said when human rights activists nowadays attempted to raise awareness of liberties at threat from new security measures, most notably in the US, the standard response was that the suspects are terrorists. "This is in fact a flagrant violation of human rights where people are supposedly innocent until proved guilty by a court of law," she said. "This only leads to a presumption of guilt. We've reached this anomaly where instead of having the people behind you in advocating for these rights, you have them almost against you because they are so afraid of terrorism." Cyprus Airways spokesman Tassos Angelis said that when faced with passengers' terrorism fears, the final decision rested with the pilot, but he would also consult with the authorities and the company. "A pilot will never take a decision to go ahead with a flight if passengers are panicking about something. He would never take a decision that would jeopardise the safety of the flight," Angelis said. A spokeswoman at British Airways echoed the CY spokesman. Angelis agreed that the threat of terrorism had increased the frequency of such incidents, which were based on passengers' fears. "People are suspicious of everyone around them," he said. Angelis said CY had not experienced any such incidents involving Cypriot passengers. He said last year's incident involved scared Russian passengers, and that the Cypriots on the plane had not caused any fuss. A Nicosia-based political analyst said yesterday this was perhaps because Cypriots had remained relatively untouched by terrorism. "People here seem to believe Cyprus is immune to terrorism," he said.
©Cyprus Mail

VOCABULARY OF RACISM(uk, Editorial Comment)
13/9/2005- The Crime and Disorder Act of 1998 means well. It regards a criminal offence as racially aggravated if motivated or accompanied by an expression of malice or ill-will on grounds of race. It was introduced to address two concerns: that racism was not being monitored properly and that racist crimes were not being taken seriously enough by the police and the courts. The broad aim was to make clear that racial crime would not be tolerated. Three cheers to that sentiment. Laws are made to deter as well as punish. To be branded a racist is to acquire a socially undesirable label. The act was framed to curb racist behaviour by making the fear of punishment (the scarlet letter R) greater than the impulse to hurl racist abuse. However, there is growing anxiety that the law is being used in a zealous way that was not intended when it entered the statute book. There have been cases recently of people being convicted of a racially-aggravated crime for applying an adjective based on nationality when using abusive language towards the victim. For instance, boyo, English and Welsh have all been deemed racially aggravating terms and have caused a stiffer sentence than would otherwise have been the case to be handed down.

In strict terms, a slur based on national identity – or, indeed, citizenship – is deemed racially aggravating if proved in court. Craig Bellamy, when playing for Celtic, was called a "wee Welsh bastard" by a spectator. The policeman who arrested the fan told Glasgow Sheriff Court that it was the adjective Welsh that caused him to take action. Does that constitute racial aggravation? If the adjective had instead been "black" there would be no doubt. The law should apply in such cases. But Welsh? Scottish? EU, even? Many racially aggravated crimes come under the law of breach of the peace, a catch-all offence when alarm is caused to ordinary people and serious disturbance to the community is threatened. People are alarmed when verbally abused but is the harm greater when their nationality is part of it? It is not a theoretical matter. People convicted of a racially aggravated offence, including breach of the peace, are in theory barred from public-sector jobs. The element of deterrence is important. When the law is applied in relatively minor cases in a way that adds to the punishment for the use of language many would not consider racist, the implications are potentially considerable.

Democratic society must be wary of crossing the line between bearing down on the cancer of racism and interpreting a law in such a way that it possibly curbs freedom of speech. There must be a compelling reason to cross that line. It is perhaps time to look again at the crime and disorder act to establish if it needs to be tightened up to concentrate on the area intended – race hate.
©The Herald

CAPITAL RACE HATE CRIMES SOAR AFTER BOMB BLASTS(uk)
Racist attacks in the Capital soared following the London terrorist bombings, according to new figures released today.

14/9/2005- The number of racist incidents doubled in Edinburgh in the two months after the suicide bombings, with a total of 169 racist incidents being reported to police during July and August compared with 85 for the preceding two months. This is despite police increasing measures to protect Edinburgh's ethnic minorities after fears of a backlash following the terror atrocities on July 7. A total of 45 racist incidents were logged by police during May and another 40 for June, but the numbers rose steeply to 87 and 82 for July and August respectively. Another 19 were reported between September 1 and 9, with 57 projected for the whole month. But Lothian and Borders Police stressed today that they had also reported a rising success rate in solving race and hate crimes in Edinburgh and the Lothians. The latest figures reveal that 47.6 per cent of racist offences in Edinburgh were cleared up between April and August, compared to 40.9 per cent for the same period last year. And the Safer Communities Unit covering the Drylaw area of the city has more than doubled the number of hate crimes it solves in one year. Police define 'hate crimes' as those motivated by racial, religious or sexual prejudice, although the vast majority are those with a racial element.

Shami Khan, the Capital's only Asian councillor and a leading member of the city's Pakistani community, said he was convinced the London bombings were responsible for the increase. He said: "It was the same after September 11. The tension between ethnic minorities and the mainstream has definitely increased. "Because of the bombings, there are a lot of Pakistani people living in fear." He added that there may be many more attacks not reported to police. He said: "Some people living in the community, such as shopkeepers, are harassed every day, but they don't always report it. It is only the serious assault cases that go to the authorities. "These people who are attacking are taking out their anger on the ethnic minority communities, but they need to understand that the majority of these communities are peace-loving people." A spokesman for Lothian and Borders Police said: "We experienced a very slight rise in race crimes in the immediate aftermath of the July bombings when, in a 12-day period, we recorded 41 incidents compared to 39 for the same period last year. "We immediately took steps to try and reassure the public. This included having officers visit mosques and other places of worship, as well as businesses such as shops run by the ethnic community." But Ali Jarvis, interim director of the Commission for Racial Equality Scotland, said he was not convinced the London bombings were the real reason for the increase in attacks. He said: "We need to be clear about these figures - there are indications that the numbers of racist incidents in Edinburgh were increasing before July 7 so they cannot all be equated to the London bombings. "We are encouraged by the improvement in Lothian and Borders Police clear-up rates and we hope people from ethnic minority backgrounds will be too."

Between April and August last year there were 44 such offences recorded in the Drylaw area, of which 31 per cent were solved. In the same period this year, and bucking a city and nationwide upsurge in the wake of the London bombings, the number of offences fell to just 29, of which 69 per cent were solved. Much of the success has been attributed to the council-funded Safer Communities Unit, which was formed in 2003 as part of the local authority's antisocial behaviour division. The specialist team - which consists of one sergeant and five constables and is based at the local authority's housing department offices in West Pilton Gardens - have taken a "victim-centred" approach in the investigation of complaints. Temporary Sergeant Alun Williams, who leads the task force, said: "Because we are funded by the council, our officers are above the head-count already at Drylaw Police Station. "That has allowed us to focus on key issues like hate crimes and begin to specialise in them. We have links with groups such as the Black Community Development project, which has been very useful in building up confidence among residents in coming forward or providing information. "Face-to-face contact with victims has been vital and we carry out full door-to-door inquiries. Officers at Drylaw still investigate around a third of hate crimes in the area, but we are now covering the majority. "In the past year, the community has seen the work the unit is doing and recognised the fact that we are willing to go over the score to solve these crimes. That has built up more confidence. I think some of our work could be looked upon as 'best practice' and could be rolled out across the city." The unit covers Drylaw, Silverknowes, Barnton, Crewe, Granton and Wardieburn, although most of the hate crimes were carried out in West Pilton and Muirhouse. All racist and other hate crimes across the Capital are also being monitored on a daily basis so police can spot any worrying trends if they emerge. Superintendent Ian Burnside, who heads up police partnership working across the city, said: "Hate crime - be it racial, homophobic or sectarian - is appalling. The Drylaw policing example shows just what can be achieved when we work with our partners and the local community towards a common purpose."

Scot mistaken for immigrant assaulted by teenage gang
Drunken youths battered a Scottish man over the head with a wine bottle after accusing him of being an immigrant. The victim was punched and kicked by a group of ten teenagers during the city centre attack. The thugs shouted a volley of racist abuse at Innes Wood, 31, calling him "immigrant scum" shortly before the unprovoked assault. Mr Wood needed four staples to close a massive gash on the back of his head which doctors told him had been caused by "blunt force trauma". His shocked girlfriend took him to hospital with blood pouring out of the wound. The youths, who are believed to be aged between 14 and 19, were gathered on the footpath at Elm Row at the top of Leith Walk. Mr Wood was carrying flowers for his girlfriend when he passed them at around 10pm on Saturday night. He said: "I just walking past Leith Walk when they started shouting at me. They called me 'immigrant scum', which I thought was strange, because I'm Scottish. "Some of them were on BMX bikes and they were gathered round drinking from bottles and glasses. They were drunk and kept hurling abuse. "I went inside the Elm Bar nearby for a few minutes because groups like that can be quite intimidating. I came out and they started shouting immigrant insults again. I told them I was Scottish and that's when they attacked me. "I was hit on the back of the skull with a wine bottle by one of them. I don't think it smashed but then the others started punching and kicking me. I was hit several times in the face with bottle and fists. "I managed to get away and ran to Gayfield Police Station along the road. I used the intercom and they sent a police car round." He added: "Some people have remarked that I can look a bit Italian with my dark hair. It felt strange but shocking to be the victim of their racism." Mr Wood, a student from London Road, added: "The police gave me a paper towel to wipe some of the blood from my face. It was pouring down my shirt from the back of my head so I applied pressure to the wound to try and stop it. "I called my girlfriend to come and take me to the hospital. She's a nurse so she's used to seeing that kind of thing, but she was still really shocked. "It was so wide I could fit my fingertips into the wound when I felt it." Mr Wood has been recuperating at home following his ordeal which left him badly shaken. He said: "These kids think it's a great laugh to attack someone and they go back home and tell all their friends about. It was a shocking thing to happen and I still don't feel right." A police spokesman said: "This would appear to be an unprovoked assault which happened just before 10pm on Saturday night on the footpath at Elm Row. The victim was assaulted by a group of people and suffered bruising to his right eye and a cut to his head."
©The Scotsman

HALL BOSSES SHUN BNP EVENT(uk)
15/9/2005- The British National Party has been force to cancel plans to hold a conference at Manchester's Bridgewater Hall. Bosses at the hall, which holds up to 1,875 people, said they had "exercised their right not to proceed" with an attempted booking by the far-right party. The BNP claimed the venue had taken a fee and it has threatened legal action for breach of contract. The party had already advertised the event - described as an "international conference on anti-white racism" - on its website. A spokesman for the Bridgewater Hall refused to confirm the BNP's claim it had put down a booking fee. The spokesman said: "An oblique inquiry was made. Once the nature of the event transpired the hall exercised its right not to proceed." A BNP spokesman said: "They accepted our fee and then the usual suspects have bullied them into changing their mind. We have the same right as anyone else to hold a conference. They have decided to discriminate against us. We have nothing to hide but perhaps they do." The row comes at a time when Manchester is gearing up to edge out Blackpool, Brighton and Bournemouth as the conference capital of Britain. The Labour Party has already confirmed it will hold its main national conference in Manchester next year for the first time since 1917 in an event that could be worth £15m to the local economy. The party "test-ran" the idea last year when they held their smaller spring conference in a walled-off "village" around the G-Mex, Manchester International Convention Centre and the Bridgewater Hall. Earlier this year the same site was used for an "Urban Summit" which attracted delegates from around the world.
©Manchester Evening News

POLICE HUNT FOR THREE MORE OVER ANTHONY KILLING(uk)
15/9/2005- Five people were present when black teenager Anthony Walker was bludgeoned to death with an axe, police revealed yesterday. Detectives believe they know the identity of two of the group involved in his killing, but are now hunting for the rest. The 18-year-old schoolboy was killed in McGoldrick Park in Huyton on July 29 just minutes from his home. Two people are awaiting trial, accused of his murder. But so far officers have made nine arrests during the massive investigation into the killing, which has involved help from Interpol. Police would not reveal if they have any leads about the identity of the rest of the gang, but are urging anyone with information to come forward. Det Chf Supt Peter Currie, who is leading the investigation, said: "We believe there were five people present at the murder scene at the relevant time. "We believe the identities of two of those people are known and we are anxious to identify the other three." Anthony's death shocked the Huyton community he had grown up in, and the whole of Merseyside. The popular student attended Roby College where he was taking A-levels in IT, media and law and was devoted to his parents, four sisters and brother. After his death, they had to open the exam results he had been so keenly waiting for in the hope they would get him into a London university so he could fulfil his dream of becoming a lawyer. He passed all three. The keen basketball player was also a devoted youth worker at the Grace Family church in Aigburth. More than 1,000 people attended a candlelit vigil at St George's Hall held in his memory, and around 3,000 mourners turned up to his funeral at Liverpool Cathedral to pay their respects. His death also prompted anti-racism campaigners to organise a concert which included local band The Zutons. Yesterday, police also bailed a man over claims he sent racist emails to a website dedicated to Anthony. The keen DJ started theplayerzuk.com, at school with a friend after they formed their own rap group, and it was revived in his memory. Merseyside Police said a 29-year-old man from the Maghull area was arrested and bailed on suspicion of acts likely to incite racial hatred pending further inquiries.
©IC Network

TEACHER REJECTED FROM JOB OVER HIS GAY MARRIAGE(Belgium)
14/9/2005- A gay man in Flanders has been turned down from teaching because he is married to a male partner, it was reported on Wednesday. Gertjan Bikker, a Dutch religious education teacher, applied for a post in the Flemish community in Belgium. To teach about the protestant religion in the region, candidates have to present their applications to a committee made up of representatives of the United Protestant Church of Belgium (EPUB) and the Synod of Evangelical Churches. The committee rejected Bikker's application because a few years earlier in the Netherlands he had married. The decision was taken despite the fact that Belgium was the second country after the Netherlands to legalise gay marriage, in September 2003. In July, the country counted 2,442 gay couples, three percent of the total of Belgian marriages. Priest Kommer Groeneveld told De Standaard, which broke the story, the committee took its decision to protect Bikker rather than to stigmatise him. "Homosexual marriage is too controversial at the moment and it seemed to us we should protect the teacher. "A high number of parents don't accept homosexual marriage and he wouldn't have been any more protected by his pupils. It would have created permanent instability." Michel Dandoy, speaking for the EPUB, said: "We're often talking about optional classes where boycotts can have very upsetting consequences since the teacher could find himself in front of an empty class, which would be very damaging for him." Dandoy added, though, that more evangelical priests were against gay marriage than those from the EPUB. "Individual conscience is essential among us," he said. "Traditional Belgian Protestantism is characterised by a large plurality of opinions. Our church undertook a deep reflection on this social theme at our last synod assembly and that continues at a local level. "It's also a question of community point of views: some are open to female priests, others aren't. You could say the same for coloured priests, etc."
©Expatica News

BERLUSCONI DENIES RACISM CHARGES(Italy)
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has firmly rebuffed charges of anti-Semitism levelled at his party Forza Italia, but apologised for seemingly anti-Semitic comments made by one of his MP's.

14/9/2005- MP Guido Crosetto, a member of the House Finance Committee claimed recently that Bank of Italy Governor Antonio Fazio, currently involved in a controversial banking takeover probe, was the victim of a "Jewish, masonic plot." Speaking a week ago Crosetto added: "The liquidity of Italian banks is inviting for a lot of people, especially the Jewish and American freemasons who are already at our doors."

Communal outrage
The comments caused great concern both in the Jewish and wider community. Amos Luzzatto, chairman of the Italian Union of Jewish Communities, said he believed Crosetto's comments were similar to views prominent in the pre-war fascist era. "I don't know precisely what financial and legal troubles have led to crisis of the Bank of Italy, but I would never have thought that once again the responsibilities would be sought in a shadowy conspiracy by 'masons and Jews', with words evoking the 30s," Luzatto told the Corriere della Sera, Italy's most influential daily newspaper. He then added: "It strikes me that an MP used such a language and, overall, I hope that this does not mask a world perspective which has caused enough sorrow and tragedy in the recent past." In a further article, published in the Corriere's front page on 13 September, prominent political analyst Gianni Riotta commented on the issue, pinpointing how Crosetto's language recalled the nazi-fascist anti-Jewish propaganda. Riotta wrote : "It is with sadness that one must notice that the government, the majority, Forza Italia, the newspapers and TV channels which support the Premier, as well as the intellectual world have completely ignored Crosetto's comments". Echoing the title of a renowned novel by Italian Holocaust survivor Primo Levi, Riotta concluded urging for an immediate moral condemnation of the MP's declarations with the following words: "If not now, when?"

Berlusconi embarrassed
Former prime minister and foreign minister Giulio Andreotti, today an old but lively life-senator, immediately denounced Crosetto's words saying that "some people just cannot lose their racist tale." An embarrassed and disappointed Berlusconi responded on the same evening, stating: "Forza Italia has always condemned, and will continue to do so, even the slightest involuntary remark that fosters echoes and ghosts of an atrocious past. Forza Italia publicly apologises to those who might have been offended by such remarks, underlining at the same time that nobody can doubt the party's liberal nature." However the prime minister then accused the Corriere della Sera of having launched "a totally indefensible accusation against a government which is proud to be among the best friends of Israel."
©The European Jewish Press

ASYLUM PROTESTORS STOP DEBATE(Sweden)
14/9/2005- A debate about asylum policy in the Riksdag, Sweden's parliament, had to be broken off on Wednesday morning after a protest broke out in the public gallery. The demonstration started when Barbro Holmberg, Sweden's migration minister, was about to start speaking. She was interrupted by a group in the public gallery who started singing a protest song to the tune of the national anthem. The text criticised the government's asylum policies. Holmberg was criticised for using "the same old racist words." The demonstrators also threw leaflets into the chamber. The public gallery was cleared after the outburst. Holmberg resumed her speech twenty minutes later, but no members of the public were allowed to watch. "What we have just seen is evidence of the incredibly strong feelings awakened by refugee policy," she said, and called for a rational debate. The Riksdag is to vote on whether to introduce a new asylum process, in which the Alien Appeals Board will be abolished, and people who have their asylum applications turned down will appeal to designated district administrative courts. The parliament will also consider proposals for a refugee amnesty, under which asylum seekers already in Sweden will be allowed to stay.
©The Local

UEFA SUSPENDS FOR THE FIRST TIME IN HISTORY STADIUM FOR RACISM(Romania)
14/9/2005- On Friday, September 8, 2005, UEFA announced that it would increase the initial fine for racist incidents against Romanian football team Steaua Bucuresti, and suspend their stadium for their next UEFA game. This is the first time a stadium has been suspended for racist acts. These actions followed President of UEFA Lennart Johannson's courageous declaration: "We are concerned about racism, particularly in Bulgaria and Romania." Racism plagues stadiums all across Europe. However, there is a growing awareness about anti-Gypsyism at the national and European level, and UEFA's officials are interested in finding out more about it and they are ready to look for ways to curb it. The first step has already been taken. UEFA officials made a very strong statement. They made clear that they are serious about stopping racism in the stadiums and sent a chilling message to the European clubs whose supporters are prone to racist behaviour. In Romania the news provoked an open debate about racism, perhaps the first of it kind. Despite an initial defensive reaction, most of the Romanian mass media has responded with articles on the problems of racism in sport, which has been largely ignored until this point. UEFA's action has raised unprecedented awareness and debate on the issue. Steaua Bucuresti was hit hard by the sentence, and some Romanians feel that UEFA has been too harsh on them. It is a painful process for Steaua's supporters, and indeed most Romanians, to accept that Steaua has been punished for racism. During the last three days ERIO has been flooded by phone calls from Romanian TV stations, radios and newspapers in regard to racism and especially anti-Gypsyism in Romania and in the stadiums. For the first time, ERIO has had the opportunity to promote a pro-tolerance message and talk openly about anti-Romani prejudices using major mass media outlets in Romania. UEFA has made a major step forward in stopping racism. ERIO hopes that other public personalities, major politicians and European and international institutions will follow UEFA lead. The Romanian National Council Against Discrimination -CNCD also deserves congratulations for its courage and strong position against racism in Romania.
European Roma Information Office

ROMA CHILDREN'S RIGHTS CONCERNS IN HUNGARY(Press release)
European Roma Rights Centre Submits Written Comments to UN Body Reviewing Hungary's Compliance with International Law on the Rights of the Child

13/9/2005- Today, the European Roma Right Centre submitted a shadow report to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) concerning Romani children's rights issues in Hungary. The CRC will formally review Hungary's compliance with the International Convention on the Rights of the Child in January 2006. Prior to that, in October 2005, a pre-sessional working group of the Committee will meet to assess preliminary issues and main areas of focus with respect to Hungary. The ERRC's comments are intended to provide information on the situation of Romani children in Hungary, to supplement the Hungarian government's report to the Committee.

The ERRC comments focus on the following issues:
Anti-discrimination law: Hungary adopted a comprehensive anti-discrimination law in December 2003. The ERRC shadow report addresses areas of concern with respect to the scope of the law, as well as its implementation.

Ethnic statistical data: The ERRC submission also addresses issues related to the lack of adequate statistical data on the situation of Roma including Romani children in Hungary.

Child protection: In its discussion of issues related to the best interests of Romani children in Hungary, the ERRC describes the worrying phenomenon of high rates of removal of children from Romani families. The shadow report also notes problematic features of the child protection system in Hungary. The ERRC notes imprecision in the definition of key terms operative in the child protection system, as well as the influence of arbitrary criteria in decisions to remove Romani children from families. The ERRC also calls the attention of the Committee to reports of racial discrimination in adoption and related matters.

Racial segregation in schools: The ERRC submission notes very high rates of racial segregation in schooling. The ERRC also provides the Committee with statistical data on rates of advancement to secondary education by Romani children, noting differences in rates of advancement between children coming from schools with greater or lesser percentages of Romani children.

In addition, the ERRC notes a number of areas of concern in which problematic policies and practices in Hungary with respect to Roma generally have pernicious effects on Romani children. These include:

Health care: According to some studies, approximately 17% of the total Romani population in Hungary lives in settlements where there is no general practitioner. The ERRC shadow report also presents data about discrimination experienced in hospitals and other health care institutions or by general practicioners, as well as worrying statistics concerning the refusal of provision of ambulance service.

Housing: Forced evictions, racial segregation and refusal to allocate social housing for Roma are practices that dramatically worsen the housing situation of Roma, as well as hindering the ability of Roma to realize a range of other fundamental human rights. In its shadow report to the Committee, the ERRC notes concrete cases concerning the above phenomena, as well as surveys concluding that many Romani settlements in Hungary are manifestly inadequate for living. According to the World Bank,
-54.9% of Romani households in Hungary do not have access to hot running water,
-34.7% do not have access to cold running water.
-More than half of the houses do not have indoor toilets and
-13.2% have one or more members sleeping on earthen floors in their homes.

The full text of the ERRC shadow report concerning the situation of Romani children in Hungary to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child
©European Roma Rights Center

AFRICAN STUDENTS PROTEST OVER RACISM IN RUSSIA AFTER MURDER
15/9/2005- Dozens of students protested over rising racism in Russia on Wednesday after one of their classmates died following an attack they believe was racially motivated. Epassak Rolan Franz, a 29-year-old from Congo, died on Wednesday in hospital after failing to recover from injuries he received when he was attacked on Friday. The students gathered outside their university, holding photographs of their dead friend and showing a letter they had written to officials calling on them to pay more attention to the "rising hatred towards people of different skin colors". Prosecutors said there was no evidence yet that the attack on Franz had been racist, but the protesters saw it as the latest in a string of racist murders in Russia's second city. "We expressed our wish that the authorities and law enforcement bodies deal with this. It is not the first or the second case. Or are they going to wait for all the students to die?" Dezire Defo, a representative of the African Unity group, told Reuters. In March, a U.N. Human Rights Commission investigator said racist attacks were on the rise in Russia and that a growing "skinhead movement" had been responsible for many incidents. Several racist killings -- particularly the murders of two Tajik girls aged 5 and 9, both in St Petersburg -- have provoked widespread revulsion and triggered calls for the government to take action. President Vladimir Putin has called for greater racial tolerance and accused extremists of trying to encourage hatred to hamper the Kremlin's drive against terrorism. Attacks blamed on Chechen separatists have been accompanied by a rise in brutality against people clearly identified as non-Russian, much of it directed at darker-skinned Muslims from southern Russia and neighbouring ex-Soviet states.
©Reuters

CHECHEN FOOTBALL STARS CRY FOUL(Russia)
13/9/2005- When a football team is languishing at the bottom of the table, it normally considers changing its tactics. Or changing its players. Or simply firing the manager.But not Terek Grozny. The club from Chechnya, which is currently sixteenth out of 16 in the Russian Premier league, is battling to avoid relegation... by playing politics. It has written to President Vladimir Putin to cry foul about Russian referees. The letter lists all the Terek goals disallowed in recent matches, and all the free kicks and penalties given against the team. It calls on the Mr Putin to intervene and blow the whistle on what the club believes is a concerted campaign against it. "We don't deserve to be bottom," says the letter. "We want honest football and objective refereeing!" "These referees aren't human - they're beasts!"

Powerful lobby
Terek's president and Chechnya's Vice Premier Ramzan Kadyrov complained to me by telephone from Grozny.
"For the last twelve years the Chechen people have been abused, we won't let this happen any more. That's why we've written to the president. He's the fairest man in Russia - he'll find out why there's a campaign against the club." It is a far cry from last season - when Terek came from nowhere to win the Russian Cup. That triumph provided a rare good news story from the volatile North Caucasus - a Russian region racked by conflict. And it earned the team an invitation to the Kremlin to meet Vladimir Putin. "Sending this letter is a very impulsive step," Russian sports journalist Kirill Kiknadze told me. "It's their southern temperament showing through. After getting into the Premier league, Terek is determined to remain part of Russia's footballing elite and to achieve that it'll break down every wall in its way."

Political football
But will the Kremlin come running to the defence of a soccer team? Well, it has happened before. In 1939 the head of the Soviet secret police, Lavrenti Beria, ordered a replay of a cup semi-final after one of his organisation's teams, Dinamo Tbilisi, lost the match. And in 1967, a government decree ensured that the Leningrad-based club Zenit remained in the top league. Relegation would have been embarrassing, since at the time the USSR was celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution, which had started in Leningrad. Terek's president Ramzan Kadyrov has close ties to the Kremlin. His father Akhmad was Chechnya's pro-Moscow leader, until his assassination by rebels last year. The Kadyrov clan continues to play a key role in cementing Moscow's rule in Chechnya. Terek may be hoping that this support will help get the Kremlin on its side.
©BBC News

POLL SHOWS: 'XENOPHOBIA IN RUSSIA HAS NEVER BEEN SO HIGH'
15/9/2005­ A poll conducted ten days ago by Moscow's Levada Center found that 45 percent of Russians now blame non-Russians for all their problems and 60 percent want the authorities to block new immigration, prompting a senior analyst there to declare that "xenophobia in Russia has never been so high." Boris Dubin's comment was published yesterday in a "Novyye Izvestiya" article by Mikhail Pozdnyaev as part of the latter's discussion of controversies arising from the appearance at the Moscow Book Fair of openly anti-Muslim, anti-Semitic and anti-immigrant publications. The scandal concerning Elena Chudinova's dystopian novel, "The Mosque of Notre Dame de Paris," which urges Christians to combat the Islamicization of Europe, has only grown over the last few days. (For a summary of the novel, see „Gazeta" for September 12 and the description in the September 12 "Window on Eurasia.") The Moscow section of the liberal party Yabloko has denounced the novel for its anti-Muslim message. But Roman Silantyev, the secretary of the Inter-religious Council of Russia who is close to both the Moscow Patriarchate and the Kremlin, advanced a very different argument. He said that Russia's Muslims themselves were to blame for this book: "For a long time, the Dzhemals, the Polosins, the Porokhovs and their less well-known colleagues have slandered Christianity … If they wanted a Russian Oriana Fallaci, they have achieved their goal". But Silantyev did acknowledge that the appearance of such a book in the current environment could prove dangerous: He said that Chudinova's novel by itself "can turn hundreds of thousands of people into Islamophobes, and there is already nothing that can be done about that." This anti-Islamic novel was hardly the only work at the Moscow exhibition promoting hatred of minorities. Among the books on offer there were the notorious anti-Semitic forgery "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion," Hitler's "Mein Kampf," Shafarevich's "Russophobia," and. Yemel'yanov's "Dezionization." The appearance of these books and others like them have generated demands from the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia, the Russian Jewish Congress, and the Moscow Human Rights Bureau that the authorities consider prosecuting both the publishers and the promoters of this exhibit, "Novyye Izvestiya" said.

But other evidence of the rising tide of xenophobia in the Russian Federation has been provided by reports from far beyond the walls of the Moscow Book Fair. Two of the most interesting recent ones concern the rapidly deteriorating interethnic situation in Kaliningrad and a broader survey of changing Russian attitudes toward immigrants old and new. On Tuesday, "Komsomolskaya Pravda ­ Kaliningrad" reported that a majority of its readers had reacted in a sharply negative way to an earlier article in that paper reporting on the plans of the local Muslim community to build a mosque in that non-contiguous part of the Russian Federation. In the past, the paper said, Kaliningrad has not been a place of religious or racial intolerance because almost all of its residents are themselves migrants from somewhere else. But despite that, "attitudes are changing, [and] in place of peaceful assimilation, there is now an aggressive unwillingness to deal with other cultures or faiths." The paper included an interview with a Tatar who currently operates a tour business in Kaliningrad. Aleksandr Shamshiyev -- who said he was not religious but was proud to be a Tatar -- confirmed everything the paper had reported and added some significant new details on his own. He said that in Kaliningrad, many Russians no longer make distinctions among people of other faiths but rather lump them together, viewing all Muslims as Chechen terrorists. And he added that one of the reasons he misses his native city of Kazan is that there one never hears negative comments about "persons of Caucasus nationality."

But perhaps the most disturbing conclusions of all with regard to the future of interethnic and inter-confessional relations in the Russian Federation were suggested by a survey of the impact of ethnic conflicts on relations between Russians and longtime non-Russian residents by Vladimir Golyzhev posted on the APN website on September 6. In the past, non-Russian immigrants to Russian regions accepted many of the cultural values and norms of behavior of the dominant community, to the point of acculturation if not assimilation, and were viewed by Russians as allies whenever more recent immigrants arrived and violated the rules of the game that the two other groups accepted. That not only limited any inclination to xenophobia among Russians and thus helped to keep many situations under control but also allowed the authorities to present most conflicts not as ethnic ones but rather as the product of of bad behavior by new arrivals who had not yet learned how to behave. But Golyshev found, in many recent cases, including the Yandyki events in Astrakhan last month and several high-profile trials in Moscow, many Russians are breaking with their former allies, the longtime immigrants, and just as Shamshiyev suggested as the case in Kaliningrad lumping them together with the new arrivals. That in turn has lead at least some of the longtime immigrants to feel betrayed and thus to begin to line up with their newly-arrived co-ethnics against the dominant majority. This trend is only beginning to take off, Golyshev suggests, but it is already feeding both Russian xenophobia and presaging more serious ethnic and religious conflicts ahead.
©FSU Monitor

EX-WAFFEN SS MAN RIGHTIST CANDIDATE IN DRESDEN(Germany)
15/9/2005- A former member of Nazi Germany's Waffen SS, Franz Schoenhuber, was formally named Thursday as a right-wing extremist party's candidate for general elections in the eastern city of Dresden. Schoenhuber, who is 82, joined the race following the death of a National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD) candidate for the city's 160th election district earlier this month. The district, with 219,000 voters comprising half of Dresden, will not vote this Sunday like the rest of Germany. Ballots will be cast on October 2 and the vote could decide the entire election if - as polls project - there is a neck-and-neck result in the rest of the nation Sunday. Trained in the Waffen SS unit "Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler", Schoenhuber saw action during World War II in France, on the eastern front and in Corsica where he was awarded the Iron Cross for bravery. After the war he used SS documents from early 1945 questioning his qualification as an officer to claim opposition to the Nazi system, according to Munich's Sueddeutsche Zeitung paper. Reacting to Schoenhuber's candidacy, the co-leader of Germany's Greens, Claudia Roth, expressed outrage. "The election chances are low but for the neo-Nazis this is about long-term impact," said Roth, adding: "They want anti-foreigner sentiments and populism to become mainstream." The NPD are not expected to win the district's seat, even with such a prominent rightist as Schoenhuber. Last year the NPD won 9.2 per cent in Saxony state elections and has 12 deputies in the state parliament in Dresden.

Schoenhuber only became a politician in a roundabout manner. After working briefly as an actor, he became a leading journalist in his native Bavaria where he was editor of the Munich tabloid TZ before becoming a senior editor at the state's public TV network and presenter of a popular talk show. In 1981 he published a book on his years with the Waffen SS titled "Ich war dabei" (I was there) in which he tried to defend some of the Waffen SS's ideals. The book caused an uproar with the Sueddeutsche Zeitung slamming it as "an unacceptable apologia full of personal tastelessness." Schoenhuber was subsequently sacked from his TV job and stripped of his post as honorary chairman of the Bavarian Press Association which he had led from 1971 to 1977. In 1983 he helped found the Republikaner Party, a rightist movement which began as a protest over multi-billion mark credits brokered by the Bavarian government for communist East Germany. Schoenhuber took the helm of the Republikaner which swiftly came to focus on stirring up anti-foreigner sentiments - especially aimed at asylum seekers from poorer countries arriving in Gemany. The Republikaner scored their first election success in West Berlin in 1989, winning 7.5 per cent. Under German proportional representation election system a party needs to cross a 5 per cent hurdle to win parliamentary seats. Schoenhuber swiftly became the closest thing Germany has had in the post-war era to charistmatic rightist, similar to France's Jean-Marie Le Pen or Austria's Joerg Haider.

His burly figure accentuated tub-thumping speeches flanked by rightist folklore including brass oompah bands of elderly men wearing spiked helmets. The Republkaner rose to 25,000 members nationwide and drew global news coverage and Germany's new far-right threat. Schoenhuber was elected to the European Parliament in June 1989 where he served as a deputy until 1994. Following a firebomb attack on a synagogue in the German city of Luebeck in 1994, Schoenhuber drew outrage for accusing the leader of Germany's Jewish community of being "one of the worst people for stirring up hatred" and partly responsible for rising anti-Semitism. But Republikaner swiftly began to decline and later that year he was ousted as chairman and quit the party a year later. Since then the Republikaner has gone into terminal decline and party membership has fallen to 7,500. Turning again to journalism, Schoenhuber has written numerous books and articles on rightist subjects including a recent column in which he says: "Nazism may have had many bad sides but sports was not one of them. Naturally there was a huge incentive to perform during the 12 brown years and this led to Germany being the most successful nation in the 1936 Olympics ... 'They are fighting for Germany' were not just an empty words but was reality." Although not an NPD member, Schoenhuber backed the party after it won seats in Saxony last year. This past February he made a speech at an NPD-sponsored rally in Dresden marking the 60th anniversary of the city's firebombing in World War II. Marching at the front of the demonstration on a frigid day which drew 5,000 thousand rightists - the biggest neo-Nazi protest in Germany since the 1950s - Schoenhuber looked pale and drawn but as determined as ever despite his advancing years.
©Expatica News

NEO-NAZIS CARVE SWASTIKA ON FACE OF WOMAN(Spain)
15/9/2005— Police are investigating claims neo-Nazi thugs carved a swastika on the face of a woman. The 24-year-old, who is a member of the communist party, told officers two men cut the Nazi symbol into her skin with a knife. The newspaper 'La Nueva España' reported how the woman was attacked on the doorstep of her house in Oviedo in northern Spain. She went to the door after two supposed friends said they were calling and rang her buzzer. When she opened to door, she came face to face with two men dressed in neo-Nazi uniform who attacked her. A spokesman for the regional government of Asturias, which includes Oviedo, said: "We want to make this public to try to eradicate this type of violent conduct which does not have a place in a democracy like ours." The left-wing party Izquierda Unida in Oviedo said they were "absolutely repulsed" by this type of violence of "fascist aggression". A police investigation is underway. The woman asked for her identity not to be revealed.
©Expatica News

PETA AGAIN COMPARES ANIMAL CRUELTY TO SLAVERY(usa)
14/9/2005- One month after suspending a provocative display comparing animal cruelty to slavery, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is resuming the traveling show on the West Coast. PETA came under fire after a man began yelling that the exhibit was racist during an Aug. 8 showing in New Haven, Conn. The incident outraged national civil rights groups, who said it demeaned blacks. But after weeks of reviewing e-mail and conducting an online poll, PETA officials are confident the exhibit should continue, said spokeswoman Dawn Carr. "What we kept seeing is that the complaints always boiled down to not wanting to be compared to animals - which is the very bias we're trying to challenge," she said in an interview Tuesday. In a lengthy statement, PETA president Ingrid Newkirk defended the decision, even as she acknowledged the display's unintended impact. "I unequivocally apologize for the hurt and upset that this exhibit has caused some of its viewers," she wrote. "I realize that old wounds can be slow to heal and for not helping them heal, I am also sorry. "That said, I would fail in my duty if I allowed this exhibit to disappear." The Animal Liberation Project is scheduled to resume its tour Tuesday in Portland, Ore, then make stops in Seattle and Spokane, Wash., Boise, Idaho, and Salt Lake City. The display toured the South and Northeast from July 8 through Aug. 11. The project involves a display of panels juxtaposing graphic images of slavery and other human abuse with pictures of chained animals. In one panel, titled "Hanging," a white mob surrounds two lynched blacks swinging from a tree. A nearby picture shows a cow hanging in a slaughterhouse. Newkirk argued the same mind-set that caused slavery has a role in animal abuse. "It is only human supremacy, which is as unacceptable as racism and sexism, that makes us afraid of being more inclusive," she wrote. That message fell flat with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, which has called the display an attention ploy. "I'm not surprised," NAACP spokesman John White said of the decision to resume the display, declining to elaborate. PETA, which is based in Norfolk, issued an apology earlier this year after a campaign comparing the suffering of Holocaust victims with that of factory animals. That campaign ran from February 2003 to October 2004.
©Associated Press

ATTORNEY GENERAL SUES AUTHOR OF RACIST WEBSITE FOR SOLICITING HURRICANE RELIEF FUNDS(usa)
14/9/2005- Attorney General Jay Nixon recently filed a lawsuit to prevent a St. Louis man who has captured multiple Web site addresses in the name of hurricane Katrina relief from misleading consumers and redirecting money collected to anti-Semitic and racist organizations. The lawsuit, filed in St. Louis County Circuit Court, seeks to freeze the assets of Frank Weltner - a self-proclaimed white separatist - and prohibit him from soliciting funds under the guise of hurricane relief. Nixon is also asking the court to order the shutdown of the Web site internetdonations.org, which serves as a central collection point for at least 10 Weltner-operated Web sites with hurricane relief-related themes. Weltner also operates a Web site known as "Jew Watch," a widely regarded anti-Semitic hate speech site, which collects donations through internetdonations.org. "It is an outrage for someone to solicit funds from well-meaning Americans eager to lend a helping hand to the victims of hurricane Katrina, only to funnel those donations to something that is nothing more than a racist hate site," Nixon said. "Donors to the thousands of legitimate and worthwhile charities providing hurricane relief need to be reassured that their hard-earned dollars are going toward their intended purpose, and flim-flam artists working this tragedy for personal gain will not be tolerated." From 1992 to January 2005, Weltner was known as "Couch Potato" on his St. Louis radio show that boasted racist and anti-Semetic themes. He is also associated with the National Alliance, listed by the Southern Poverty Law Center as one of the nation's most active neo-Nazi hate groups. Nixon said that Weltner is "taking advantage of the generosity of Americans from coast-to-coast to promote racism and hate." Neither Weltner nor any of his affiliated organizations have ever been registered with Nixon's office to solicit charitable donations in the state of Missouri.
©Ozarks Newsstand

TV STATION ACCUSED OF RACISM(Bulgaria)
5/9/2005- A European TV station has been accused of inciting ethnic intolerance after presenters referred to the Roma population as "cockroaches" and suggested sending them to "camps". Bulgarian TV channel Skat has been charged with disseminating racist propaganda and promoting a "purely fascist agenda" by a local Roma political party and the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee for Human Rights. Yuliana Metodieva, a spokeswoman for the BHCHR, said the complaint addresses three of the channel's programmes in particular: "Between the Lines is presented by author Georgi Fandiev, who previously suggested the Armenian genocide was masterminded by Jews and that Bulgaria is being turned into a 'second Palestine' by Jewish property investors. All Bulgarians Together is allegedly devoted to denying the existence of a Macedonian minority in Bulgaria, and Attack is presented by top Bulgarian journalist and MP Volen Siderov, who heads a far-right extremist party of the same name." The Roma party and the BHCHR have now filed a joint complaint against the channel with the state-run media watchdog, the electronic media council, for "inciting ethnic intolerance", against the Roma and Turkish minorities and for promoting anti-semitic views. Ms Metodieva believes that Siderov poses a threat to Bulgaria's fragile democracy. She said: "His influence is obvious and damaging for our developing democracy. These programmes clearly instigate ethnic hatred and even violence. Siderov's coverage of stories involving Roma are known to have led to violent incidents. "He has referred to the Roma as 'cockroaches and termites', and once said 'police need to use the cruellest measures against Gypsies, including shooting them'." "His party's rallies are also regularly broadcast by Skat, including one where he told cheering supporters that 'Gypsies should be sent to camps and Jews and Turks should go home'." She added that in his book, The Boomerang of Evil, which sold 150,000 copies, Siderov even calls upon "Orthodox believers" to take revenge on the "murderers of Jesus". Siderov, 43, was once considered one of the country's top journalists, praised for his contribution to the rebuilding of a democratic society after the fall of the country's totalitarian regime in 1989. Ms Metodieva said: "He was the former editor of the esteemed paper Demokracija and considered one of the forerunners of the democratic rebirth of Bulgarian journalism. "But he now uses his admittedly brilliant journalistic skills to appeal to common people and manipulate facts into false and damaging theories. Unfortunately, only a small number of people are protected by education and so don't fall victim to his skilfully devised campaigns of defamation and disinformation. "We feel that the authorities must act to enforce our laws against instigating ethic hatred, especially now that Siderov has become an MP and continues to damage Bulgaria on an even greater scale." Tzvetelin Kanchev, the leader of Roma minority party Euroroma said: "Almost all of Skat's programmes are spreading hatred directed against the Roma and Turkish minorities. This is not nationalism anymore, its pure fascism."
©The Guardian

BANANA REVOLUTIONS AND BANANA SKINS(Belarus)
For Belarus' opposition youth movements, the countdown to revolution begins now, a year before presidential elections.
by Andres Schipani-Aduriz, Argentinian-born journalism student at Cardiff University and Alyaksandr Kudrytski, TOL correspondent in Minsk.

7/9/2005- To one side, a clutch of listless 16-year-old girls hold sheets of A3 paper at waist height, uncomfortable, it seems, to be bit-part players in a scene played out in front of the Polish embassy in Minsk. Their posters, with slogans such as "Don't break the tradition of Slav brotherhood" typed in identical typography, are dwarfed by the professionally printed banners ("Neighbors should be friends") behind which most of the mass of the pro-government supporters stand. On the other side, penned against a fence and holding slogans such as "Poland Belarus = Solidarity," are a score or more members of Malady Front, arguably the country's largest opposition youth movement. Between the two sides, head to head, stands a group of young men, their faces offering as strong a contrast as their politics. In the center is Zmicier Dashkevich, the leader of Malady Front, a wispy-looking man in his twenties. In the lapel of his jacket is the white-red-white former national flag of Belarus. Opposite him, a head taller stands a leader of the Belarusian Republican Youth Union (BRSM), his shaved head complementing his camouflage outfit. At this high-noon moment, the exchange is suitably stagey. "Do you have a permit to be here?" asks the man from the BRSM. "We have. A moral one," replies Artur Finkevich, a prominent member of Malady Front. "Are you on the list of participants?" the BRSM man asks. "The Belarusian people have the right to protest. Or is it that you are the Belarusian people, and we are not?" Dashkevich responds. At the end, Dashkevich is arrested. He has apparently assaulted policemen, though there was not the slightest hint of violence in this cameo of political life in Belarus. "This is the policy of Lukashenka, aimed at stifling all of civil society in Belarus," Dashkevich says as he is led away. "If you don't like Lukashenka, then leave Belarus," the BSRM responds. He remains, undisturbed by the police, leading a protest at Poland's protests about the Belarusian government's decision to overrule the results of leadership elections in Belarus' large Polish community.

Thinking of a revolution
President Alyaksandr Lukashenka's men have been busy dragging away demonstrators and cutting relations with the outside world these past few years, particularly these past months and weeks. Civil-society groups are being restricted, foreign NGOs are being expelled, even tighter restrictions on foreign funding for NGOs have been imposed, new restrictions on election campaigning, political parties, political advertising, street demonstrations and protests have been set in law, and any perceived solicitation of foreign interference in Belarus' "internal affairs" has been criminalized. Relations with almost all international organizations – from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the Council of Europe to the EU – have worsened. Lukashenka's motivation is clear. "In our country, there will be no pink or orange, nor even a banana revolution," Lukashenka has declared and with a real sense of urgency he has set about the task of preventing his opponents emulating the opposition in Serbia, Ukraine, Georgia, and Kyrgyzstan, countries that have experienced bloodless ‘democratic revolutions' in the past five years. Young opponents are particular targets; in all four countries, youth groups were strong mobilizing forces in the revolutions. At opposition demonstrations, young people are routinely arrested; some have then been sentenced to spells of labor in remote parts of the country. At university or in school, opponents are being summoned to the dean's office and threatened with expulsion. Ordinary students are being urged – coerced and bribed, say teachers – to join the BRSM, commonly known as Lukamol, a compound of Lukashenka and Komsomol, the communist-era Young Communist League. So it could come as a relief to Lukashenka that Siarhiej Sakharau, an editor at Studentskaya Dumka, the only independent youth magazine in the country published in Belarusian, believes that "there will be no Ukrainian-like scenario here." But Sakharau is an exception among Belarusian youth leaders opposed to Lukashenka. "The main conclusion we reached from the events in Ukraine is that the regime can be defeated, and one doesn't need to fire a single shot for that to happen; the only thing needed is to bring people out onto the streets to protect the results of the elections, just as happened in Ukraine," says Barys Garetzky, deputy leader of Malady Front. When presidential elections are held in September 2006, Lukashenka may face a harder task dealing with protestors than ensuring he ‘wins' a third term. But even now, a year before the vote, the opposition youth movements are launching their campaigns. Speaking in August, Garetzky declared that "we will be launching on 1 September [2005] a broad nationwide negative campaign, Hopits! (Enough!) We also plan to organize a number of street actions and to publish a great number of leaflets, about one for every citizen of Belarus [the country's population is roughly 10 million]. After the negative campaign, we will base our actions with what is happening in the country at the time." Another powerful and well-organized group, Zubr, has begun a more positive campaign, posting stickers around the capital.

They're talkin 'bout a revolution...
The Belarusian opposition, including its youth groups, has history to overcome. It has traditionally been fractured and key moments of mobilization and protest – including presidential elections in 2001 and parliamentary elections and a constitutional referendum in 2004 – have passed without Lukashenka's authoritarian regime being shaken. What form the protests of groups other than Malady Front will take is still in the process of being worked out. However, for Zubr, the models are the Serbian and Ukrainian revolutions. The outline of Malady Front's plans – a major information campaign and, if there is fraud in the elections, street rallies and strikes – also fits the model. The final form of the plans will depend partly of course on Lukashenka – control of the internet, for example, is such that it is unlikely to be a major tool – and largely on the plans of the rest of the opposition movement. Coordination between the youth groups and political parties will be close. "As in 2001, the activists of these [youth] groups will be the major ‘work force'… for the democratic candidate, the civic mobilization campaign, and the independent [election] observation team… They will be bringing out their supporters to distribute materials and knock on doors, organizing and participating in Get Out the Vote campaigns," says Iryna Vidanava, a former coordinator for the Assembly of Belarusian Pro-Democratic NGOs and the editor-in-chief of Studentskaya Dumka. Vidanava believes youth groups will not just work for the opposition candidate, but will also help shape overall strategy. "In some way they will be mediators between the democratic opposition and young people," she says. "They will have to establish a two-way communication channel between the democratic forces and young people. Youth groups will have to cover all segments of Belarusian youth and coordination of their efforts is therefore crucial. Some groups will focus on the political campaign. Some will conduct a positive youth-mobilization campaign trying to convince young people to go out and vote. Some youth groups will focus on bringing young people out on the streets to protest against [electoral] falsifications. It is only youth groups who will be able to come up with the message, ideas and language that will appeal to young people."

… it sounds like a whisper
Some of these initiatives will simply depend on getting bodies out, but grassroots activities on the scale these groups envisage requires money. And the issue of where that money comes from may help determine how the opposition's activities are viewed and their chances of success: the use of foreign funds in Georgia and Ukraine prompted commentators in former Soviet states such as Russia and also in some Western newspapers to question how homegrown the revolution was. Lukashenka has, of course, used this for propaganda purposes, portraying the opposition as a collection of Western lackeys. The source of the youth groups' funding is varied. Yury Karetnikau, leader of Pravy Aljans (Right Alliance), says the money his organization receives comes almost exclusively – 90 percent – from members, with the rest coming from local businessmen. "We made it a condition for our members: if you feel that you are a friend of the organization, then you must pay skladki, donations. That is 3,000 rubles [about 1 euro] a month, but there are people who give more, about 5-10,000 rubles." The leader of Zubr, Jauhen Afnagel, says their funds come "from our friends, in Belarus and outside Belarus." How much comes from within Belarus is unclear. In Ukraine, much of the funding for the opposition campaign came from local patrons, but Belarus has no private businessmen remotely as wealthy as those in Ukraine (or in Russia). Nor is it clear how much is coming from abroad. "All kinds of organizations give us funding," says Malady Front's Garetzky. "For five years we have been cooperating closely with the Swedish Social Democrats […] Through Ukraine, we have big plans for cooperation with the Soros Foundation, which is interested in the Enough! campaign; the Foundation has helped bring together many youth organizations, covering the whole of Belarus."

The U.S.-based National Endowment for Democracy (NED) has provided some of the most active support. The same has been done by some other private foreign institutions, including a Polish organization, the East European Democratic Centre (IDEE). The U.S. government is also providing help, though the extent and nature of that support is unclear. Marina Shubina of the U.S. Embassy in Minsk would merely say that "the U.S. government supports a broad range of youth groups and believes that the development of democratic values among youth is a priority of U.S. government assistance." U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with Zubr representatives in a visit to Lithuania this April. Studentskaya Dumka has in the past received support from the U.S. State Department. The European Commission says that it will not fund political activities in Belarus. It is, though, channeling fresh funds to Belarusian NGOs, through the European Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights and the Decentralized Cooperation Program. Nor has it excluded "a priori" the possibility of a special fund to help Belarusian civil society. Given Lukashenka's crackdown on civil society, even such apolitical funding may be viewed by the Belarusian president as being political. But aid – from whatever source – is of background importance, activists insist. "If you see the Ukrainian experience – with all this unlimited support of Russia for [defeated Prime Minister Viktor] Yanukovych – then you see that Russian influence is important, but not the main factor," says Afnagel of Zubr. "The United States and the EU will support democratic changes, but their influence is not the main thing. Everything will depend on our people, and not on external factors."

The 2001 experience
That may explain why "external factors" have failed in Belarus before. In 2001, the U.S. government offered financial support to the opposition for a campaign modeled on Serbia's street protests in 2000, the model later successfully adjusted in Georgia, Ukraine, and – to a lesser degree – in Kyrgyzstan. But that blueprint produced little in Belarus. The defeat in 2001 sent many in the opposition into a collective depression and convinced them that Lukashenka's position was impregnable. That depression has now lifted. Lukashenka's style of rule is changing. His authoritarian character has always been apparent, but it is now increasingly intrusive and menacing. He has strengthened the security forces, effectively elevated the position of the secret police (giving them authority over defense forces and border guards), increased the legal powers of the KGB (allowing secret servicemen to enter homes at will, and tap telephones more extensively), and has passed a new law allowing police to shoot in peacetime if ordered to by the president. Lukashenka's clampdowns and tightening control may be designed to strengthen his power, but they are eating away at his popular legitimacy. His popularity (rated by independent pollsters) has been falling for some years now and some controversial recent decisions – such as renaming the streets of central Minsk – and has turned some of the apolitical against him. Restrictions on the use of the Belarusian language and the promotion of Russian have been features of his rule, but fresh constraints are upsetting even some Russian-speakers.

Yury Karetnikau of Pravy Aljans, which emerged only in late 2003, also believes the international community is now willing to pay more attention to the repressive character of Lukashenka's rule. "In 2001 when Lukashenka won, there were those horrible terrorist attacks in America and during the last referendum [in 2004] there was the tragedy in Beslan. The major powers were then distracted from Belarusian events. But now I can see the attention from the West, so they should do what they promised to do about Belarus [regarding democratization]," states Karetnikau. Perhaps even more importantly, there is the experience of Ukraine's Orange Revolution, just two months after the Belarusian referendum. "During the revolution we saw that society could be so politically charged that it would go onto streets, take risks, protect its victory," says Karetnikau. "A hope emerged at that point that we are no worse and that the time will come for our people to show themselves. We are all Soviet children, and there are no great differences – in the appearance of our people, in our way of life – between Belarus and Ukraine." Belarus' youth movements are taking more than inspiration from Ukraine. Youth activists in Ukraine have been training and leading seminars for Belarusian activists. Malady Front, which was founded in 1997, forged particularly close ties with Ukrainian organizations such as Pora, National Alliance, and Svoboda during the Orange Revolution. In visits to Ukraine, its members have appeared in the media numerous times and have met with an influential cross-section of Ukraine's political elite – with regional governors, members of parliament, and with Ukraine's foreign minister. Money from private sources in Ukraine is crossing the border and when members of Malady Front were thrown out of universities in Belarus, Ukraine's foreign ministry opened the doors of Kyiv National University to gave them a chance to continue their studies. Lukashenka has retaliated. In late August, two activists from the Georgian youth movement Kmara, a key moving force in Georgia's bloodless Rose Revolution in 2003, were arrested in Minsk after they made contact with youth organizations. Georgians now have to apply for visas to visit Belarus, a move seen as a direct response to Lukashenka's fear of revolutionaries. This incident follows the arrest in late April of five representatives of Ukrainian youth organizations for taking part in an unsanctioned anti-government protest in Minsk.

All for one and one for all
Plans and new hope the youth groups may have, but the revolutions in Serbia, Georgia, Ukraine, and Kyrygzstan suggest the opposition will need to unite behind a single candidate if it is to succeed. That will happen, youth leaders insist. "I think all the youth organizations will consolidate, because we have one goal," Zubr's Afnagel says. "We have fewer problems agreeing with each other than with grown-ups." Vidanava emphasizes the "feeling of solidarity" and "common values" shared by all the "youth democratic initiatives." "Of course they [youth groups] will consolidate," says Malady Front's Garetzky. "They have already formed two big groups, the negative and the positive campaigners." Those assertions will be put to the test in within a matter of weeks, when ten Belarusian opposition parties and NGOs meet to choose a single presidential candidate. In conversation, the name that crops up frequently is Alyaksandr Milinkevich, a prominent figure in Belarus' civil society. He has no party affiliation but his bid already has the support of the Belarusian Popular Front, a major opposition party and member of the Permanent Council of Democratic Forces (PDSDS), an umbrella body coordinating the activities of the opposition. "If [Milinkevich] is chosen as a single candidate, the process of consolidation will proceed very fast," Karetnikau predicts. Youth groups will also ensure that the political parties unite, believes Pavel Sevyarynets, the leader of Malady Front before he was given a two-year sentence of forced labor on 31 May. Speaking by phone from internal exile, Sevyarynets said he is convinced that "the youth will form a group, pressing the politicians to work for the victory rather than for satisfying personal ambitions."

The youth groups' leaders are also convinced that, as the campaign rolls out, young people will follow their lead. They all report a big increase in membership, with thousands joining them across the country. Zubr claims to be growing "particularly in smaller towns," which, if so, would represent a promising advance for the opposition. Members are not just coming from the opposition's traditional recruitment grounds, schools and universities. Yury Karetnikau of Pravy Aljans says many of his activists come from the capital's football clubs Dynamo and Torpedo. He claims that "in my neighborhood – the south-western district of Minsk – I have a person I can turn to in practically every apartment block, to ask to disseminate leaflets or collect signatures." But students remain the cornerstone for the larger, mainstream youth movements. Students could pay a heavy personal cost for joining the opposition. "Belarusian youth live in a society in which schools and universities are closed at whim by the administration, and students arbitrarily expelled," says Iryna Vidanava of Studenskaya Dumka. Zubr's Afnagel believes security comes in number. "As the experience of 2001 shows, when one person stands up in a department of a university, then that person is in danger. When a dozen stand up, then nobody can do anything with them. At that point, people are no longer so scared." Still, Alena Talapila, chairman of the Council of Belarusian Students Association, argues that "it will be very important to ensure that [students] finish the campaign with as little lost as possible. Activists need to know more about the possible punishments they face." Her association is focusing sharply on arranging legal support. "We will try to put pressure on deans, do everything possible so that [punishments do] not pass unnoticed," Talapila promises. For her, "the main question is how much inspiration people will have."

Springtime of a generation?
Inspiration may prove largely to be a matter of leadership, but the emergence of politicized youth movements in the former Soviet Union suggests there are new sources of inspiration for leaders to tap into. In Belarus, national sentiment may prove one source. Pravy Aljan's Karetnikau likens the situation in Belarus to Europe's "springtime of nations" in the 18th and 19th century, a process that largely passed Belarus by. Belarus may have re-emerged as an independent state in 1991, but Lukashenka's rule has been explicitly anti-nationalist. For Karetnikau, strengthening Belarusian national identity and breaking with the Soviet past therefore require the same thing: a change of president. "We believe that our country is today occupied by ‘homo soveticus' people, products of the Soviet system, people without a national idea, who don't really associate themselves with the Belarusian nation," says Karetnikau. Pravy Aljans is still a small player and its attitudes are overtly nationalist, but most other youth movements are also adopting the historical insignia of the Belarusian people: the white-red-white flag of Belarus that Lukashenka replaced with the green-red flag of Soviet Belorussiya; and the Pahonia, a medieval knight on a horse with the Slavic cross on his shield. "I'm convinced that at the most crucial moment young people, fighting for Belarus under white-red-white flags, will stand shoulder to shoulder with each other," says Malady Front's Sevyarynets. The decision to adopt the old white-red-white flag banned by Lukashenka and other national symbols is in part a marketing decision. In 2001, Zubr marched under its own emblem – a bison – but it now feels a more unifying symbol is needed. However, that marketing change may mark a deeper social change. Lukashenka has, largely successfully, sought to smear Belarusian nation-building as extremism (‘fascism'), and he has carefully nurtured an alternative Belarusian identity, one in which Belarusians are brothers of the Russians and children of the Soviet experience rather than as a distinct nation with strong historical ties to Central and Eastern Europe. These youth movements appear to believe that while Lukashenka's attacks on those with Belarusian nation-building sentiments may have enjoyed success with older generations, but will now work less well with the young. More generally, the youth movements may be tapping into a generational change in the post-Soviet world. In the Soviet era, opposition was limited to prominent but isolated figures like Andrei Sakharov, people whose ability to act was limited to words. Now, the opposition movements reach a generation whose members, judged by their comments, see themselves as part of a youth movement linking post-Soviet societies from Eastern Europe to the Caucasus and Central Asia and have shown themselves able and willing to protest and explore the limits of their freedom.

Change, but when?
If there is a generational change in process, defeat for the opposition in 2006 may not stop the youth movements. But the more immediate question is whether these groups really can help engineer Lukashenka's ouster in 2006. Ethan Burger, an election observer in Belarus' parliamentary elections in 2004, believes that "Belarus is not Ukraine [...] Peaceful ‘regime change' in Belarus is a long-term project." And if the regime is changed, the process will probably be more violent than in other former Soviet republics. In Belarus it is widely felt that Lukashenka will be willing to use the type of violence used by Uzbekistan's President Islam Karimov in May, when maybe as many as a 1,000 opponents were killed in Andijan. Karimov remains in power. Youth leaders accept that change may not come immediately. "I would really like the independent candidate to win," says Talapila, "but I believe that our immediate task is to persuade people that the independent candidate can get 30 percent or more of the vote and to protect the real results of the elections." "If not in 2006, then changes will happen in two or three years," says Pravy Aljan's Karetnikau. Siarhiej Sakharau, the skeptical editor of Studentskaya Dumka also believes it is only a matter of years before matters come to a head. "People are not yet being shot in the streets, but if it goes on like this, then in two-three years' time that will already be a possibility," he says. But, while Lukashenka's repression underpins such realism, Lukashenka's response is providing real encouragement to the opposition. "Subconsciously it is more complicated for [Lukashenka]" than it was in 2001, believes Zubr's Afnagel. "You can feel it from what he says. He keeps saying that there will be no revolution in Belarus – why would he say that if revolution is not an option?" Will the color of the revolution be blue? Would Lukashenka's removal go down in history as the Cornflower Revolution, a ubiquitous flower in Belarus and a national symbol? "It is too early to say what color the revolution will have. The color is not important. It is not even important whether it will be a revolution or some kind of a change," Afnagel says. Hopes are high among this new breed of revolutionaries that change or revolution will come, whether in 2006 or only later. "If we didn't believe that, we wouldn't be doing this. Of course, we believe," says Afnagel in comments echoed by other leaders.
©Transitions Online

NGOs CONDEMN PLANS TO TOUGHEN ASYLUM LAW(Switzerland)
A coalition of non-governmental organisations and churches has expressed concern about the government's plans to further tighten the asylum law.

2/9/2005- Just weeks before parliament is due to debate the issue, the groups called on parliamentarians not to forget the country's humanitarian tradition. Parliament will consider amendments to the asylum legislation, which include doubling pre-deportation detention and scrapping all welfare payments for rejected asylum seekers, in its autumn session. At a joint media conference on Friday, the 20 organisations – including refugee and religious groups, as well as charities – called on parliament to pass a constitutional law that was in line with international human-rights legislation. Beat Meiner from the Swiss Refugee Council said that the law's main task was to protect people from persecution. But he said that the proposal to reject asylum seekers who are unable to show valid identity papers did not fulfil this criterion. Some people were simply not able to produce such papers within the two to three days during which they are required to do so, said speakers. Another bone of contention was the move to limit exceptions in the asylum process, which are usually made on humanitarian grounds. At present 23,000 people have been granted leave to stay in Switzerland without being given asylum. According to Walter Schmid from the Swiss Conference for Social Welfare, these people are subject to ever-tightening regulations, making it difficult for them to find work and educate their children. Delegates warned that excluding some people from social security – a move which has been in place for a year - had not led to more asylum seekers returning to their countries of origin. They argued that the move had contributed to poverty and placed an increased burden on cantons, cities and private organisations. The increase in time spent in pre-deportation detention was also questioned, with speakers calling it a "disproportional" measure. The appeal comes a few days after a House of Representatives committee called for tougher measures to reduce criminal acts by asylum seekers. The committee suggested further restricting asylum seekers' movements and possibly banning them from certain places when they first enter Switzerland. Members want to see these measures added to the latest revision of the law.
©Swissinfo

FURY AS PARIS EVICTS IMMIGRANTS FROM 'UNSAFE' BUILDINGS(France)
3/9/2005- About 140 immigrants and asylum-seekers where evacuated from two squats in Paris yesterday, three days after Nicolas Sarkozy, the French interior minister, announced that all unsafe buildings would be closed. The decision was made after two fires killed 24 people, mainly children, last week. Since April, nearly 50 people have lost their lives in blazes in the capital. The squats, located in two separate districts of Paris, were the first of 60 buildings considered unsafe and closed. Although squatters were expecting to be evicted after Mr Sarkozy's declarations, they did not expect it to happen on the first day of school. "Sarkozy, I don't know if he has children," said one squatter, Aoua Sila. "What he is doing right now, we'd never do this to mothers or fathers of children." The squatters posed no resistance and gathered their belongings as quickly as possible. Two vans were used to evacuate the families, apparently all from the Ivory Coast, to nearby hotels, where they will stay for a couple of weeks. Hyacinthe Marcel Kouassi, the Ivory Coast's ambassador to Paris, said: "They're going to some temporary accommodation. After that, the authorities will have to find them permanent, decent housing." Roger Madec, Mayor of the 19th district in northeast Paris, where the second squat was located, called the evacuation a "miserable operation," and insisted the building was safe. The evictions come a day after the Prime Minister, Dominique de Villepin, promised new housing to help the poorest. The government announced that 28,000 homes would be built rapidly, some of them on land that was supposed to be used for the 2012 Olympics but only if municipal authorities agree to build 3,000 temporary student housing units on it within 18 months. The socialist Mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanoe, said he was "stunned" by the plans and that the 18-month timetable was "simply not realistic". Pressure groups accused the government of not taking the problem seriously and of using the fires as an excuse to throw Paris's poorest inhabitants, as well as immigrants and asylum- seekers, into the streets. Thousands of demonstrators are expected to take to the streets of Paris today in protest at the government's proposals
© Independent Digital

PROTESTERS STAGE PARIS FIRE MATCH(France)
3/9/2005- Thousands of protesters have marched through central Paris to demand better housing for African immigrants, after two deadly fires last month. About 5,000 people marched from the site of the first fire in Paris' 13th district, in which 14 children and three adults died on 26 August. Seven people died in a similar blaze just four days later. The French authorities have been criticised for housing poor immigrants in dilapidated accommodation. The marchers, some carrying banners, called for greater investment in housing. They also condemned French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy for ordering the eviction of squatters from the capital's most run-down apartment buildings. Hugh Schofield in Paris says the Parisian authorities have identified more than 1,000 run-down buildings, in which some 13,000 families - the majority of whom are African - are housed or are squatting. Saturday's protest was backed by left-wing pressure groups and political parties, French news agency AFP reported. On Friday, police evicted dozens of African illegal immigrants from two buildings declared unsafe, in line with Mr Sarkozy's orders. There have been calls for better housing since April, when 24 people died in a fire at a Paris hotel housing immigrants. Meanwhile, the city prosecutor opened an investigation into the 26 August blaze on Friday, AFP reported. It quoted officials from the prosecutor's office as saying the "wilful destruction by the use of fire leading to death" was being investigated, suggesting suspicion the fire was started deliberately.
©BBC News

CAMPING MISERY FOR PARIS IMMIGRANTS(France)
One gets a spectacular view of the French capital from the well maintained Buttes Rouge park perched on a hillside in the heart of Paris. However, its tranquillity has been shattered this week with the erection of three large tents housing African immigrants.

9/9/2005- Expelled last Friday from the squat they had been living in for four years a couple of streets away, 20 mainly Ivorian families are now camping in a public park. Men sleep in one tent and the women and children are in another. There is one toilet and no showers. If they are lucky one of the park's neighbours will allow them to use their facilities. Life since they were expelled is harsh but Abdoulaye is not complaining. "At least we are still alive, we weren't burnt like our brothers trapped in a building."

Help
Two deadly fires last month in dilapidated accommodation full of mainly African immigrants, prompted action from the Paris authorities. Evacuations of buildings deemed a fire-risk were ordered, and one of the first was on Friday last week in a dawn raid. About 150 French riot police swooped on the run-down apartments housing the Ivorian group. It all happened so quickly they had to leave the bulk of their belongings behind. After heading to the park, waiting and wondering what to do, they began getting some help from Parisians and then from the French Red Cross. "We've received many clothes," says Abdoulaye, pointing out big piles of trousers, T-shirts, shoes and jumpers, left in bulk. A lot of food has also been donated, he explains while walking towards what's called "the common kitchen". Litres of milk, of water, bags of rice, vegetables and bread are pushed in this corner.

Mama
Mama is five-months pregnant and is standing there smiling, bedecked in orange, distributing bread. She is much better than last Friday she says. The 24-year-old Ivorian woman was dragged to the floor and kicked by French riot police during the raid. "I don't want to speak about that any more," Mama explains with sadness on her face. "I just know that the doctor said the baby is fine and released me from hospital after three days on condition I sleep in a proper house. But I didn't want to part with my husband and my eldest child and the group. So I came back here." Her husband, Fofana, says she has not been sleeping well - being both uncomfortable and unhappy. "Our eldest son Moussa is also having nightmares at night since he saw how his mother was treated by French policeman. During the day all the children have become aggressive. They are just confused, not understanding what's going on." A French Red Cross volunteer says so far the only medical problems have been minor ones with children getting flu. "The fear is that unless the group are re-housed quickly, as winter approaches, things could get a lot worse," they tell me.

Desperate
The situation is a lot worse at another African tented camp which sprang up three months ago in a Paris suburb, Aubervilliers. Here, there are 26 smaller roadside tents housing 56 children and 42 adults from varying African countries. Children were being washed using buckets. "This is outside, anybody passing by can see us," explains Hawa. Families are sharing leaking tents with others for everybody to get a roof. "The situation is desperate. We even received threats from social services to come and to take our children away. This is just a shame," Hawa says. At present re-housing falls mainly on the districts, but Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe has urged the government to intervene and help in case the problem mushrooms. Some parents say they may have to reluctantly accept the offer of accommodation in a cheap hotel for two months for the sake of the children, but there is a risk attached. In April, Africans languishing for four years in a hotel died when it burnt down. The Paris authorities have identified more than 1,000 run-down buildings, in which some 13,000 families are housed or are squatting - most of them inhabited by Africans. French Home Affairs Minister Nicholas Sarkhozy has said he intends to close down other squats, but there is a dearth of alternative accommodation. The fear is that as winter draws in, tented camps could become a regular fixture in Paris.
©BBC News

IMMIGRANT JOBS RAISE CHANGING EQUALITY ISSUES FOR COMPANIES(Ireland)
4/9/2005- The story of Tsvetko Mitov is typical of a new wave of employment inequality cases facing Irish companies. Mitov is white, from eastern Europe and claims he was discriminated against on the grounds of race. The Bulgarian physiotherapist lost his case against the Irish Society of Chartered Physiotherapists. But he highlighted the lack of transparency in the organisation's procedures and he was awarded compensation for being victimised as a result. In its judgment, the Equality Tribunal gave the ISCP an apparent clean bill of health, declaring: "Applications are assessed on the basis of their merits, and no distinction is made on the basis of nationality." However, the equality officer added the rider: ‘ ‘Having said that, the respondent's failure to set out its criteria does inevitably mean that there is a lack of transparency in its procedures which can promote claims of discrimination." The society was criticised for its failure to respond to any of the queries by Mitov about why his application was rejected. Simple two-line responses might have sufficed. The society only had to write to Mitov, telling him that he was not entitled to the information but it failed to do so. "This failure by the respondent [the ISCP] led to a very real and understandable frustration on the part of the complainant," said the equality officer. She awarded Mitov 10,000 for the stress arising from the victimisation.

Human resources expert Carol Ann Casey believes the case highlights how companies are often unprepared for dealing with their obligations under employment legislation. Quoting from the Mitov judgment, she noted that the ISCP was ordered "to examine its procedures to make them more transparent so as to avoid allegations of discrimination under the provisions of the Employment Equality Act'‘. Casey, managing director of CA Consulting in Dublin, believes that most companies employing workers from overseas should heed this advice. She foresees a dramatic increase in a broad range of discrimination cases, in line with the influx of foreign workers from the new European Union member states. "The Equality Tribunal's report for 2004 showed a 46 per cent increase in employment equality cases on grounds of race," Casey said. "The trend will no doubt continue with the rise in the number of workers from the new member states, 100,000 of whom most of them Polish arrived in Ireland in the last 13 months." Philip Watt, director of the National Consultative Committee on Racism and Interculturalism (NCCRI), reckons that there is a "rogue minority'‘ of employers who are breaking employment law by exploiting vulnerable foreign workers. "We need more inspectors at the Labour Inspectorate, the body responsible for enforcing employment law," he said.

"There are fewer than 20 labour inspectors. It is grossly insufficient, and even the data that is currently collected by the inspectors is seriously inadequate. "They don't know the scale of the problem, because they are not obliged to ask simple questions, such as ‘Are you employing migrant workers?' If they don't ask this question, the most important question of all is not addressed and that is ‘Do you have documentation for this migrant employee?'," said Watt. "The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment has recognised that this is a problem, and has committed itself to changing the inspection procedures, but we are still awaiting action on this front." The case of Ronaldo Munck, an Argentinian-born academic, illustrates the dilemma facing companies who find themselves before the Equality Tribunal. Munck was awarded 10,000 after the Equality Tribunal concluded that NUI Maynooth discriminated against him on grounds of his race. The university decided to pass Munck over in favour of an Irish-born academic when it was filling the position of professor of sociology. The key issue in the case as in most successful ones heard at the tribunal was the failure of the employer to provide enough records to support the contention that it had not discriminated against Munck on the grounds of race. The equality officer pointed out that "direct evidence of discrimination on the grounds of race is very often elusive. Rather a decision must be made if an inference of discrimination on the grounds of race can be determined on the facts." The information supplied by Munck "raised an inference of discrimination on the grounds of race, thus shifting the burden of proof onto the respondent," she said. "And I find that the respondent has failed to adequately or satisfactorily discharge that burden." The lack of documentation retained by the college was a central feature in the case. "I note that the respondent [NUI Maynooth] did not retain any notes which may have been made . . .with the exception of the . . . [notes taken by the] . . .chairman. . . "I would hope that this case would again draw employers' attention to the importance of retaining notes made at interviews and the marking of candidates under objective criteria."

Casey said that companies should avoid trying to pay lip service to the equality legislation. "Employers must treat all employees, including contractors, comparatively fairly and reasonably to avoid perception of bias of any sort," she said. "Ireland is an increasingly multicultural society, and employers need to select the best person for the job without discrimination factors. "Discrimination can happen at any stage of the employment process, from the selection of candidates for interview to the way the employee is treated in employment." Ideally, staff policies should be communicated in each of the different languages of the employees of a company, she said. "However, this is a challenge when you have many different nationalities employed," Casey said. "For example, in McDonald's restaurants in Ireland, they have their opinion survey information sheets translated into 12 different languages for their staff to increase awareness and communication with staff." According to Michele Ryan, head of human resources and training with McDonald's, the company's staff are trained with "different training tools to accelerate learning. Policies and procedures are covered in detail at orientation to assist mutual learning for all national and non-national staff. "When writing policies, a company should consider whether there is any reason to believe that their policies affect people differently, according to their racial group, for example in terms of access to a service, or the ability to take advantage of proposed opportunities." Casey added: "This is all simple commonsense. But it can save a company a lot of time, money and embarrassment. And it's good for business."
©The Sunday Business Post

MIGRANTS RUN GREEK GAUNTLET
The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) and human rights organisations have sharply criticised the Greek government over its treatment of thousands of asylum-seekers who cross illegally into Greece every year from Turkey.

5/9/2005- Since the so-called War on Terror began, the Greek authorities have been granting asylum to less than 1% of all those claiming to be fleeing from persecution - one of the lowest rates in the European Union. But the BBC has learnt that even the majority of those who can prove they are the victims of torture are initially being rejected. Sub-Lieutenant Christos Nanos, captain of patrol boat 150 of the Greek coastguard, exudes the night. The hours of darkness have cast a permanent shadow across his face. Whilst most sleep, he and his crew scour the Aegean Sea off the island of Lesbos hunting for unwanted men, women and children. He uses all the sophisticated gear on board his powerful boat, including hi-tech radar and night-vision equipment. But at times he resorts to the hunter's basic instinct - switching off the engines and lights, to wait and listen.

Refugee season
The sound of another boat's engine breaking the stillness of the night prompts a sudden surge of activity to determine whether this is a "target" or not. A target for Captain Nanos and his crew means a boat filled with migrants trying to reach Lesbos from the coast of Turkey, just a few kilometres away to the east. Every year, thousands of migrants from countries such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran and Georgia try to make the illegal crossing in the hope of reaching the European Union. And the summer is the peak season, with on average 12 people spotted every day. In response, the Greek coastguard in this region has in recent years been bolstered with more boats, more personnel, more patrols and most significantly a policy of "zero tolerance". "Our strategy here is to patrol continuously along the sea-border and prevent the boats that come from Turkey from entering Greek territorial waters", says Captain Nanos. "If we find them before they cross the line then we push them back. "We manage to send back about 60% of the people who try to cross." But the problem with this policy is that it is indiscriminate. Whilst many making the crossing are economic migrants, there are also people who have fled their countries due to a genuine fear of persecution. But the only way an asylum-seeker would be allowed through during a mid-ocean confrontation with the Greek coastguard would be by shouting in clear Greek or English that he or she wanted to claim asylum. "We've never had anyone asking," says Captain Nanos. Human rights groups accuse the Greek government of violating international treaties on the treatment of asylum-seekers. "Unfortunately, in the past two years we've had an increasing number being forcibly sent back before they get a chance to apply for asylum," say Gerasimos Kouvaras, director of Amnesty International in Greece. But this is not the only alleged violation. For those migrants who do manage to get across the border and reach Greek territorial waters, their ordeal is far from over when they reach the sun-drenched islands of the Aegean.

Detention centre
Most, if not all, are immediately locked up in detention centres which have been built on the islands lying close to the Turkish coast. International organisations including the UNHCR say there is no screening beforehand to check whether there are genuine refugees amongst them. And once inside, they say the migrants are often not properly informed of their rights. We applied for permission to visit the detention centre on Lesbos, but the authorities refused. Later, local human rights activists handed us rare photographs showing conditions inside the detention centre, which perhaps explain the sensitivity of the authorities. "In the detention centres there is a failure of following fundamental human rights. In terms of unhygienic and overcrowded conditions... prolonged periods of detention and detention of unaccompanied children put together with adults," says Mr Kouvaras. Mohammed, a Sudanese refugee, spent three months in the Lesbos detention centre. He told me it was similar to the prison in Sudan from which he had managed to escape.

Trouble with papers
We met Mohammed in the Greek capital, Athens, at a medical clinic where he was being examined to check out his claim that he had been tortured by the Sudanese authorities. The examination confirmed his story and yet, he says, the Greek authorities have been blocking his attempts to apply for asylum. "It's very complicated, they want many documents I don't have," he says. "For example, they want a paper which has to be stamped by the police, but every time I go to the police, they say come back tomorrow, they won't stamp it. They also want my address here, but I don't have one... I have no hope." Mohammed's despair is shared by many others in Greece. It is estimated there are currently 50,000 asylum-seekers who have not even been able to officially register with the authorities, which leaves them vulnerable to arrest and deportation as illegal immigrants. Doctor Maria Piniou-Kalli, head of the Greek branch of the Medical Rehabilitation Centre for Torture Victims, has examined hundreds of asylum-seekers at her Athens clinic. "If you see the statistics for asylum in 2004, you see that about 4,500 people applied," she says. "But they [the authorities] only recognised 11 people and gave asylum to them. "But I certified 120 [as torture victims]. That means more than 100 people identified as torture victims were rejected. Who has the right to do this?"

Athens squalor
Later, Mohammed took us to the squalid, abandoned house in central Athens where he has been sheltering for the past 10 months with more than 20 other refugees from the Darfur region of Sudan. Some walls have collapsed entirely, others are on the verge. The air is thick with the stench of human excrement - there is no water, electricity or sanitation. One man lifts up a mattress which is teeming with bedbugs and squashes one with his finger. It is full of human blood. All of them say they get no help from the government and depend on charity for one proper meal a day. Some have already been living here for years, still waiting for an answer from the government about their requests for asylum. The minister of public order who is ultimately responsible for deciding whether a person is granted asylum or not, was not available when we asked for an interview with him. Instead George Maris, a legal adviser to the minister was put forward. He denied any suggestion that the government was deliberately blocking asylum applications as part of a broader policy of deterrence, saying there had just been a temporary administrative problem. "There was a delay... as you know 2004 was the year of the Olympic Games. The preparations for the Olympics demanded most of our personnel. Thus procedures regarding refugees and issues like political asylum were postponed, delayed."

Fortress Europe
According to Mr Maris, the wheels of Greek bureaucracy are now moving much faster and by May the number of people granted asylum had already gone up to 5%, compared to less than 1% for the whole of last year. "Within this year, things will be so improved you'll be impressed," he added. But according to the UNHCR, the latest figures are already down again to less than 4%. And asylum-seekers we spoke to said nothing had changed. "I've lost 10 years of my life," said one Iraqi Kurd who has been in Greece since the mid 1990s, trying to get asylum. "People are very, very disappointed. Every day is a death. Just waiting, waiting, waiting." Human rights activists are also sceptical. They believe the government is implementing a "fortress Europe" policy in which the focus is on control and deterrence.
©BBC News

THREE YOUTHS ATTACK ROMANY COUPLE IN PRAGUE(Czech Rep.)
5/9/2005- Three young people attacked a Romany couple in the centre of Prague on Saturday night, the iDnes Web site reported. The youths, probably skinheads, first assaulted the couple verbally and then physically attacked an 18-year-old pregnant young woman and her 21-year-old boyfriend. Both suffered light injuries. Police have detained the assailants, iDnes said. The men aged 24, 21 and 19, have been charged with inflicting bodily harm and support and propaganda of movements aimed at suppressing people's rights and freedoms, Prague police spokeswoman Iva Knolova told i-Dnes. The couple was attacked near a refreshment stall. The perpetrators first assaulted the young man and when his girlfriend started to defend him, turned against her. The attacked were taken to hospital where they received a treatment and were released afterwards.
©Prague Daily Monitor

SLAPS INSTEAD OF GOALS(Czech Rep.)
7/9/2005- Garrisons of three police cars had to come on Saturday, September 3rd to cosolidate a conflict which occured during a football match in Olomouc. The match was part of a minority festival entitled „We can understand each other". A football team consisting of clerks from the office of municipal government of Olomouc and a team consisting of Roma were involved in the conflict. The municipal government is not likely to punish anyone invovled in the brawl. The two main actors of whole case were a Roma and a Non-Roma player, who lost their nerves and started kick and slap each other during the match. Roma witnesses of the event accused the clerks of being drunk although there is no clear evidence whether the players had been drinking or not. The clerks denied a breathilizer test. Minority football matches do not necessarily lead to better understanding between people of different ethnic backgrounds. As illustrated by the case of the Minority football tournament in May 2001 in the Czech city of Pribram, where members of Greek minority team and Vietnamese minority team got in brawl during their match. The conflict was mitigated by two gunshots from a gun of one player.
©Dzeno Association

GAYS AND LESBIANS ONE STEP CLOSER TO REGISTERED-PARTNERSHIP LAW(Czech Rep.)
7/9/2005- A bill allowing homosexuals to register as legal partners was supported yesterday by the petition committee of the Chamber of Deputies. The lower house may vote on the bill in autumn. The bill is the fifth attempt at passing the legislation as the four preceding ones have been rejected. The last bill was only short of passage by one vote in February. The law on registered partnerships is among the few legislative proposals that has support across the political spectrum, as only the Christian Democrats are against it. In general, the legislation tends to be supported by left-wing deputies, as confirmed by today's vote in the petition committee. The opponents of the legislation say they are afraid of it weakens the status of a traditional family. But the bill's supporters say that there is no reason for some citizens not to have the same rights as the rest due to their different sexual orientation. One of the spokesmen for the Gay and Lesbian League yesterday tried to convince the deputies of the necessity of the law. Moreover, he gave a petition, advocating the bill and signed by almost 2400 people, to the committee. The bill defines the start and demise of the partnership union. The partnership is to be written in the identity card. The partners are to acquire the right to information about their counterpart's health condition and a chance to inherit in the same way partners in marriage do. The law also introduces bilateral obligation to pay maintenance. Homosexual couples may conclude marriage in the Netherlands and Spain. They conclude unions in Denmark, Finland, Norway, Germany, Sweden, Iceland, France, Belgium, Portugal and Switzerland. They can be also registered in London.
©Prague Daily Monitor

LATVIAN PARLIAMENT TO DISCUSS SEXUAL ORIENTATION
7/9/2005- On 7 July 2005, the anti-discrimination Unit of the European Commission published its 2005 Annual Report on Equality and Discrimination, reports ILGA-Europe. The report examines how the EU member states implemented the requirement of the two EU directive agreed in 2000 - the Racial Equality Directive (2000/43/EC), banning discrimination in most areas of everyday life on grounds of race or ethnic origin, and the Employment Equality Directive (2000/78/EC), banning discrimination in respect of employment and training on grounds of religious belief, disability, age and sexual orientation. According to the Report, Latvia is the only country which has not fully transposed the requirement of the Employment Equality Directive and did not explicitly ban sexual orientation discrimination. Sexual orientation discrimination in employment was banned in all other 24 EU member states and in Romania and Bulgaria, which are still EU candidate countries. All previous proposals by the Latvian government to ban sexual orientation discrimination in employment were rejected by the Human Rights and Public Affairs Commission at the Latvian Parliament. On 19 July 2005, the Latvian government approved yet another amendment to the Labour Law to include sexual orientation in the anti-discrimination provisions of the Labour Law but the amendment has to be approved by the parliament. It is expected that the Human Rights and Public Affairs Commission of the Latvian Parliament will discuss this amendment in September 2005. On 29 April 2005, the Latvian court ruled that denying employment to a gay man because of his sexual orientation was illegal (case of Maris Sants pret Rigas Kulturu viduskolu, Nr. C32242904047505, C-475/3). However, the EU law requires Latvia to explicitly mention sexual orientation among prohibited grounds of discrimination. In case Latvia fails again to comply with the EU directive, the European Commission might take a legal action against Latvia at the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg for not fully transposing the directive and Latvia might face significant financial penalties.
©Gay Law Net

CARDINAL UNDER FIRE FOR ANTI-GAY ADOPTION STANCE(Belgium)
8/9/2005- The Belgian gay and lesbian federation feels insulted by Cardinal Godfried Danneels, claiming that he gave the impression gay marriages are objectionable. The holebifederatie has also demanded the Catholic Church stop interfering in civil affairs, news agency Belga reported on Thursday. "Cardinal Danneels fails to make a distinction between a civil marriage and [the sacrament of] a religious marriage. The religious marriage remains intact," the federation said. Danneels had said in a press conference that he will not attend the Saturday demonstration 'March for the Family', which is a protest against gay adoption rights. He said protesting was the responsibility of lay apostolates. However, he backed the intentions of the march and pointed to the statement that bishops made in spring in which they expressed concern about the opening up adoption rights. Cardinal Danneels also stressed that the march was not directed specifically against gay adoption, but was instead a pro-family demonstration. Bishops also said last week that they give thanks and encouragement to those who work "in the spirit of our declaration" for the values of the family. The bishop of Namen, André Leonard, is part of the demonstration's supporting committee. However, the holebifederatie has focused it criticism on Danneels and raised concerns about the church interfering in civil affairs. It said the church was also thwarting non-church goers from complete legal privileges.
©Expatica News

LEGAL BATTLE OVER SCHOOL BAN ON MUSLIM VEIL(Belgium)
7/9/2005- Anti-racism movement MRAX is taking legal action in the Belgian Council of State to overturn school regulations banning the wearing of a Muslim veil. French Community Prime Minister Marie Arena approved on 26 August a regulation implemented by the state secondary schools Gilly and Vauban (in Charleroi) banning the wearing of any form of head garment. The French-speaking MRAX — which is demanding discussions about the wearing of a veil — has lodged a legal objection in the Council of State. MRAX director Didier de Laveleye said the movement wants to demand respect for religious liberty, which is guaranteed in the Belgian Constitution and international treaties. He also pointed to equality and anti-discrimination laws. The anti-racism group claims that banning girls from wearing a veil at school is xenophobic and displays cultural ignorance, newspaper 'Het Laatste Nieuws' reported on Wednesday. Besides the legal action, MRAX chairman Radouane Bouhlal also said the movement wants to stimulate debate and put forward five proposals for consideration. He said a neutrality principle should be re-employed by schools, urged the prevention of 'ghetto schools' where girls study because they are not welcome elsewhere and called for comparable philosophy and religious education so that cultural diversity could be taught, MRAX also wants to boost participation rates at schools and improve teacher education to include cultural, ethnic and religious diversity. MRAX said 80 percent of schools in the French community in Belgium ban the wearing of head garments, including the Muslim veil.
©Expatica News

RELIGIOUS PARTY LOSES FUNDING OVER ITS ATTITUDE TO WOMEN(Netherlands)
7/9/2005- The SGP should not continue to receive state funding of EUR 800,000 a year because the small religious party discriminates against women, a court in The Hague has ruled. The Clara Wichmann campaign fund and seven other organisations also asked the court to declare the party's statutes in relation to limiting the membership of women null and void. The court refused to do this as no female SGP supporters backed the legal action. In deciding the Staatkundig Gereformeerde Partij (Reformed Political Party) should lose state funding, the court noted that the Netherlands ratified the UN Convention on Discrimination against Women in the late 1980s. "By this the Netherlands committed itself to taking appropriate steps to prevent discrimination of women in politics and public life. The Netherlands has not made good on the obligations arising out of the treaty," the court said. "The government has not taken any steps to end the discrimination against women by the SGP, but has even supported the SGP by granting a subsidy," the court said. The judge ruled the SGP should not receive state support as long as the party does not give women an equal standing with men in terms of membership. The SGP also do not allow women to stand for election. The leadership issued a statement expressing "amazement and disappointment" at the ruling. It said the loss of the subsidy would be a drain on resources but could not gauge the full impact at this stage. The party has two MPs in the Lower House of Parliament and two Senators.
©Expatica News

MISTAKEN IDENTITY(uk)
Since the July 7 bombings much attention has been focused on the Muslim community, while attacks on Hindus and Sikhs have been largely ignored. Shivani Nagarajah* talks to non-Muslim Asians about feeling under siege

5/9/2005- If you travel on London's public-transport system you may have spotted them: stickers and T-shirts with "Don't freak, I'm a Sikh" written across them. On the tube, they tend to be greeted with wry smiles, but they have sparked heated debate on Sikh online message boards. "Don't wear these T-shirts, they're anti-Muslim," writes one contributor. "We should wear the T-shirts," says another. "We need to think of ourselves first - let the Muslims take care of themselves." In the weeks following July 7 it was widely reported that hate crimes against Asians had increased dramatically. They were not just attacks on Muslim Asians, of course: they were attacks on Asians of all faiths. The fact is that your average hate-crime perpetrator isn't going to stop and ask what religion you are before attacking you - or even care, for that matter, about such distinctions. But this point seems to have been lost on the media. There's been a huge focus on the impact on Britain's Muslim community, but the plight of Britain's 560,000 Hindus and 340,000 Sikhs has been largely ignored. So to what extent have non-Muslim Asians been the victims of hate crimes? On July 7, as speculation grew that the London bombs were the work of Islamist extremists, the first reported hate crime took place in Erith, Kent: a Sikh gurdwara (place of worship) was firebombed. Since then the Sikh Federation (UK), a lobby group which represents more than 150 Sikh organisations, has recorded five further attacks on gurdwaras and two serious assaults on Sikh individuals. And as Jagtar Singh, of the federation's national executive council, points out, there is a huge problem of under-reporting, particularly in the case of less serious attacks. "For every crime reported to the authorities, we estimate another 30 to 40 that go unreported," he says.

Dal Singh Dhesy, a community worker with the Sikh community and youth centre in Handsworth, Birmingham, thinks that Sikhs have had a worse time of it than Muslims - because of their turbans. There is a grim irony to this: turbans are a potent symbol of Sikh identity, but, somehow, certain sections of the white population have come to (wrongly) associate them with Islamist extremists. "The turban-wearing Sikh community is under siege," he says. He experiences name-calling and stares from white people on a daily basis, and describes other Sikhs facing physical attack and intimidation. This doesn't mean that Hindus have had an easy time of it. "There are issues of security for Hindu temples, Hindu students at university and Hindus walking on the streets who risk being assaulted," says Ramesh Kallidai, secretary general of the Hindu Forum of Britain, which speaks for 240 Hindu organisations.

Ishvar Guruswamy is a Hindu who has lived in Kent for 32 years. He had never experienced racism until shortly after the attempted bombings in London, when a group of teenagers spat at him while shouting, "Bomb, bomb, bomb." A few days later, a family at his local supermarket shouted the same thing at him. When he told his sister what had happened, her advice was simple - to shave off his beard and wear a large crucifix so no one would mistake him for a Muslim. He has not followed her advice, but others are making an effort to advertise their faith. Ratnes Kandiah, a Hindu grandmother from east London, says: "When I go out I'm very ashamed because people don't know if I'm Hindu or Muslim." She has started wearing an extra large pottu, the red spot that Hindu women wear on their forehead, in the perhaps optimistic belief that people will understand its significance."I try to order pork and make sure that people hear me," says Mital Pankhania, a Hindu optometrist in his late 20s who lives in Derby. "If there are strangers around I make a point of saying that I drink. It's a bit like being a Canadian and always having to tell people you're not American."

Tariq Modood, professor of sociology at Bristol University, says it's understandable that Sikhs and Hindus should attempt to distance themselves from Muslims. "If a group has bad press or is seen as likely to drag you down in terms of your social status or the way you are perceived by the rest of society, then you want to distance yourselves from that group," he says. "At the moment, Muslims are certainly playing that role for other south Asians." Does he blame non-Muslims for backing away from Muslims? "Their motives are not good, they're selfish, but on the whole ... I don't deplore it, I regret it."

Of course, the divisions between different Asian groups didn't start on 7/7. In Derby, Pankhania says that although he has a mixed circle of friends, including Sikhs and white Christians, there are no Muslims among them. "I went to university in Bradford," he says. "I really grew to despise them [Muslims]. It didn't come from my parents but from my first-hand experience of living with them." Such attitudes are not uncommon. It wasn't always this way. Many of the older generation of Sikhs, Hindus and Muslims speak with real sadness about how things have changed. They describe how the early south Asian settlers to Britain saw one another as brothers and sisters, unified by a common heritage and shared sense of isolation. Until the 1980s, Asians organised collectively, with groups such as the Bradford Asian Youth Movement cutting across religious divisions. All this came to an end with the Salman Rushdie affair and the subsequent development of a distinct British Muslim identity. "Muslim identity rocketed off with one controversy after another, post-Rushdie," says Modood. "It became very difficult to develop an Asian identity which included other faiths."

According to Roger Ballard, director of the Centre for Applied South Asian Studies at Manchester University, this polarisation on religious grounds, particularly between Muslims and non-Muslims, is growing. He thinks that young Asians don't hang out together as much as they used to, especially at university. "They've been educated in barmy notions of political identity," he says. Where the immigrant generation saw a common tie to south Asia, these young Britons focus on religious differences, and often get their information from extremist sources. "They have no access to their history, no appreciation of their culture, so instead they embrace a very crude form of identity politics." Ballard believes that this is as true of young Sikhs and Hindus as it is of Muslims. For example, he is concerned by how the ultra-nationalist VHP (World Hindu Council) is exploiting the London bombings to gain support, particularly among young Gujaratis. "Its line is, 'We Hindus are entirely different from Muslims. We've been victims of terrorism by Muslims and we stand shoulder to shoulder with the Brits.'"

According to Jagtar Singh of the Sikh Federation, there are a number of towns and cities in the UK with tensions between Sikhs and Muslims, "especially among the youngsters.". He mentions Birmingham and west London; others mention Leicester, Slough and Derby. The scale of the conflict is difficult to quantify, but Gurharpal Singh, professor of interreligious relations at the University of Birmingham, says that it is a real problem. Professor Singh believes that the main cause of these tensions is a rise in the numbers of Muslims in areas that have traditionally had large Sikh and Hindu populations. However, he says, other factors - including events in India and concerns about the activities of radical Muslim groups - play a part.

There are non-Muslim Asians prepared to stand shoulder to shoulder with the Muslim community in its time of need. "Most people I know are proud to be British Asians," says Amar Singh, editor of the multi-faith Eastern Eye. He believes that "if anything, the backlash against the Asian community since 7/7 has reinforced the idea of a collective British Asian identity". But I hear a different story time and time again from Sikhs and Hindus across the country. Mahendra Dabhi describes an event he held recently for sixth-formers in Birmingham: their main concern was to establish a Hindu identity before going to university. "They felt that if they didn't differentiate themselves, they would be at risk of social stigma. They wanted to say, 'We are Hindus, we are not with them [Muslims]. We play cricket with them and we mix together fine, but we are different.' "

*The author is writing under a pseudonym. Some other names in the article have also been changed
©The Guardian

AGEISM, MORE THAN SEXISM OR RACISM, COMMON IN BRITAIN
6/9/2005- People in Britain are more likely to discriminate against you because of your age than the colour of your skin or your gender, new research showed on Tuesday. The first national survey of age-related prejudice, carried out among 1,843 people, showed 29 percent reported suffering age discrimination -- a higher proportion than for any other kind of prejudice including sexism and racism. "Ageism is the most pervasive form of prejudice experienced in the UK population and that seems to be true pretty much across gender, ethnicity and religion -- people of all types experience it," said Dominic Abrams, professor of Social Psychology at the University of Kent. Speaking in Dublin at the British Association for the Advancement of Science annual Festival, Abrams said the findings of the poll were particularly relevant given recent estimates that by 2041 nearly 40 percent of the British population would be over 60. The survey, compiled for the University of Kent and Age Concern, showed that on average people see youth as ending at 49 and old age beginning at 65.

Youth ends at 49
Women, however, judge that youth ends almost five years later and old age begins three years later than men do. The poll revealed that older people are perceived as being friendlier than younger people, but younger people are seen as more competent and capable. "Older people are seen basically as doddery but dear, and young people perhaps as clever but callous," said Abrams. He said society needed to guard against "the essentially sympathetic but actually patronising forms of ageism" which treated older people as incompetent but loveable. Younger people in the poll reported experiencing prejudice of all types more than older people, but ageism dominated experiences of prejudice in all ranges except between the ages of 35-44. And while respondents tended to believe organisations avoided employing older people to protect their image, nearly half of those between the ages of 25 and 65 said they would not be happy with a boss under the age of 30. Abrams said ageism was a significant problem in British society. "The bottom line is that government legislation on equality and human rights which is currently being formed needs to ensure ageism is treated at least as seriously as all of the other forms of prejudice that it is tackling," he said.
©Reuters

SCHOOLS UNDER FIRE AS CHILD RACE CRIMES ROCKET 74% (uk)
8/9/2005- The number of children charged with race crimes in Scotland has soared by 74 per cent in the past three years. Some 197 youngsters were referred to the Children's Reporter for race-related offences in 2004-5 compared to 113 in 2002-3. The figures, released by the Scottish Executive in a written parliamentary answer, have sparked accusations that schools are not doing enough to tackle racism in the playground. Last night, anti-racism campaigners called on teachers to take "proactive" measures to stamp out racism in schools. Morag Patrick, a senior officer with the Commission for Racial Equality Scotland, said: "The increase in the number of children reported for racist crimes is concerning. They clearly indicate that racism remains a problem. "They also reinforce recent CRE research in which ethnic minority participants expressed anxiety about the effect on their children of racist abuse in schools and said that schools were not doing enough to tackle the issue." Bill McGregor, the general secretary of the Headteachers Association of Scotland, said he recognised that racism among children was "a problem", but insisted that "the great majority of schools, if not all, are working hard to do something about it". He also suggested the rise could partly be explained by an increased willingness to report crimes of racism. The Scottish National Party's social justice spokeswoman, Christine Grahame, said: "In just three years, we have seen the number of children accused of racial offences almost double. That indicates a very serious problem, not just for the victims of such offences but also for the wider communities in which these children live."
©The Scotsman

COP AIMED SHOTS AT MANS HEAD(uk)
Scotland Yard are refusing to suspend an armed officer who shot a man five times in the head. Azelle Rodney died instantly after police opened fire on a north London street.

8/9/2005- 24-year-old Mr Rodney was looking forward to the birth of his child when an SO19 officer shot him seven times. His daughter was born the day after his funeral. It is believed witnesses saw Mr Rodney attempting to surrender and leave the passenger seat of a silver Volkswagen Golf when he was killed. An independent post-mortem recorded five bullet wounds to Mr Rodney's head, one in his back and one to his shoulder. The revelation that the armed officer aimed shots at Mr Rodney's head will shock civil rights groups still reeling from the killing of innocent Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes. But while Scotland Yard initially justified their shoot-to-kill policy claiming they thought Mr de Menezes was a suicide bomber, when police stopped the car containing Mr Rodney they were not looking for terrorists.

dreams
Armed officers 'hard-stopped' the VW Golf in Hale Lane, Edgware in north London, after cops followed it in what was described as a pre-planned operation. The two other occupants, Wesley Lovell, 26 and Frank Graham, 23, were arrested and are each facing four charges of carrying guns and ammunition. No shots were fired at police during the incident. Mr Rodney's mother, Susan Alexander, told Blink that her sports-fanatic son was a friendly and popular young man whose dreams of being a top footballer were shattered by a serious hip injury at 15. Mr Rodney, who won a host of medals in amateur football, even played in midfield for the Metropolitan Police soccer team and was known on and off the pitch as 'speedy' for his pace. Ms Alexander wrote to Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair a month ago demanding the suspension of the SO19 officer who killed her son but his reply did not address that question.

devastated
The officer remains at work but has been moved to desk duties while the Independent Police Complaints Commission carry out an investigation. Ms Alexander said: "Friends and family are devastated and cannot understand what has happened to Azelle. We just want some answers. We, as a family, are still in shock. "I won't be able to grieve properly until some action is taken and to suspend that officer would be a sign that something is happening and that the authorities are taking responsibility. "No mother ever imagines their child dying before them. No mother expects to bury her son. All I want is the justice that he deserves so he can rest in peace." Deborah Coles, co-director of campaign group Inquest, said: "We have grave concerns about the increasing number of fatal shootings by police. "Since 2000 there have been fourteen fatalpolice shootings, three of which have been black men. This deeply controversial death once again raises serious questions about the disproportionate number of young black men who die following the use of force by police."
©The Black Information Link

UK CALLS FOR CHANGE TO EUROPEAN CONVENTION ON HUMAN RIGHTS
8/9/2005- In the aftermath of the July bomb attacks in London, senior politicians are now warning that EU citizens will have to accept curbs on their civil liberties in the fight against terrorism. Addressing the European Parliament on Wednesday (7 September), UK home secretary Charles Clarke said the 50-year old European Convention on Human Rights had to be reviewed. "European Union states may have to accept an erosion of some civil liberties if their citizens are to be protected from organised crime and terrorism", said Mr Clarke. "The reality of the convention's founding fathers is different from that of today", he stated in his opening address. Mr Clarke said citizens' right to privacy had to balanced with their right to be protected from terrorism, and that the convention was imbalanced - in favour of the terrorist. The British politician said that the results of the French and the Dutch referendums on the EU constitution before the summer were proof that the citizens of Europe feel that the EU is doing far to little to tackle problems to do with terrorism, organised crime and asylum. His comments received a mixed response from MEPs. UK liberal MEP Graham Watson said that he welcomed the commitment to fight terrorism, but added the fight could never be at the cost of human rights. "We do not agree ... that the human rights of the victims are more important than the human rights of the terrorists." "Human Rights are indivisible. Freedom and security are not alternatives, they go hand in hand", he stated. Conservative MEP Timothy Kirkhope, on the other hand, said that the EU must use new technologies available to track down terrorists "otherwise the terrorists will be ahead of us like they have in the past, in crime and violence", he said.

Controversial data retention law
One of the central planks of the UK's anti-terror measures will be discussed by justice ministers on Thursday (8 September) involves a data retention law, which calls for increased surveillance of electronic data, such as phone calls and emails. This particular proposal has caused huge friction between member states and several MEPs, who fear an erosion of individuals' privacy. But yesterday, Mr Clarke again called for more "effective and intelligent" use of intelligence in deep collaboration between member states urging pan-EU harmonisation on data retention rules. The home secretary said he hoped to see the new legislation and anti-terror measures in place by early 2007.
©EUobserver

SUMMER SCHOOL OF THE HELSINKI CITIZENS' ASSEMBLY NETWORK IN MOLDOVA(Report)
'Nationalism, identity and conflict resolution'

7/9/2005- In the end of August 2005 the annual summer school of the network of the Helsinki Citizens' Assembly under the title "Nationalism, identity and conflict resolution" took place. The choice of the summer school venue has been symbolic - on left bank of the river Dniestr in the village Kochiery close to the Transnistrian town Dubossary, where military actions occured in 1992. The collapse of the Berlin Wall and the new global political context this created gave rise to a new peace movement called the "Helsinki Citizens' Assembly". From October 19th to 22nd 1990, peace activists from all parts of Europe (chaired by Vaclav Havel, then president of Czechoslovakia) held a meeting. They agreed on the "Prague Appeal" and founded the Helsinki Citizens' Assembly as a permanent forum, within which peace and civic groups, as well as individuals and institutions representing a broad spectrum of views, could exchange experiences, discuss common concerns and formulate joint campaigns and strategies. Today the Helsinki Citizens' Assembly (hCa) is one of the largest non-governmental peace-making organizations in Europe. In Moldova hCa operates since 1993 and on its account there are many peace-making, human rights and antiracist actions including the first round tables discussions on the Transnistrian conflict resolution with participation of politicians, legal experts and representatives of the Council of Europe and OSCE in 1993-1994. hCa in Moldova also publishes multilingual antiracist magazine "Collage" oriented mainly on young people.

This time the meeting has gathered old members of hCa, famous peace and political activists, such as Bernard Dreano, co-founder and co-chair of hCa (France) and Natalia Belitser, co-founder of hCa (Ukraine), also the representatives of hCa offices in Moldova, France, republics of South Caucasus, Turkey, etc. This summer school has gathered young activists of hCa branches and their partner organizations from 14 countries - from Tunis to Turkey. Moldova has been presented by 25 young activists in the meeting. And, as it was mentioned by Natalia Sineaeva-Pankowska, one of the main representatives of hCa in Moldova and coordinator of the summer school, for the first time in history Moldova has been presented in all its diversity, without any ?onoethnic preferences as it usually happens at the conferences in the former Soviet republics. Activists from Gagauzia and Transnistria, representatives of Jewish, African, Bulgarian and Roma communities contributed to the summer school. The most important is that all them participated on an equal basis, as citizens of the republic of Moldova. Annual summer schools not only help to train young activists of the movement, but also promote its development.

This summer school included a more regional focus on Eastern Europe and participants discussed the topics of possibilities of peaceful resolution of frozen conflicts, including the Transnistrian conflict, positive and negative aspects of recent ‘revolutions' in Eastern Europe, a problem of growth of antisemitism and xenophobia in Europe, rights of Roma and other minorities in Eastern Europe. Grigory Volovoi, the editor of the "Novaya gazeta" (the only independent newspaper in Transnistria) from Bendery shared the memories of events of 1992 and presented his book "Bloody summer in Bendery ". Special attention has been paid to the issue of history teaching at the special session of the summer school "History as a cause of conflicts in Europe". It is widely recognized that teaching of history should contribute to interethnic tolerance and respect not only for one's own nation, but also for the others'. Unfortunately, in Eastern Europe such approach has not been developed yet and history textbooks quite often use ‘hate speech' and ‘enemy' images.

The Moldovan participants noted the necessity of introduction of the course of integrated history of Moldova which should develop respect for both the Moldovan state and for other countries among the young, even for the countries with which Moldova once was at war (for example, towards Turkey), towards minorities, living in this territory for centuries. The integrated history course should tell youth about the Catastrophe of Jewish people in this country and the extermination of Roma by the Romanian ally of Hitler Marshal Antonescu during the Second World War. Until nowdays Moldovans learn „History of Romanians" (history of an ethnos) in the schools, from where the representatives of minorities such as Jews are excluded. It is also important to mention that this summer school became historical for the future destiny of hCa, a decision on the revision of the Charter of Assembly in which realities of today should be considered was taken. According to the Polish participant Rafal Pankowski, the ideas of interethnic tolerance should be especially included in the Charter, considering the growth of xenophobia, antisemitism and islamophobia in the world. Participants from Moldova noted at the final session that after bloody events of 1992 people in Moldova have learned to appreciate the value of human life and war will not repeat itself any more. But it is still very important to promote tolerance, especially among youth, and not only on a nongovernmental level.
©I CARE News

IS MOSCOW'S POPULATION APPROACHING AN ETHNIC 'TIPPING POINT'?(Russia)
7/9/2005– The percentage of immigrants in certain Moscow neighborhoods has risen to the point that many indigenous Russian residents now want to move away, a situation that sociologists sometimes refer to as the „tipping point" and one that may create ethnic ghettos there and generate new support for nationalist and anti-immigrant groups. That is the judgment of Ol'ga Vendina, a specialist on social and political geography in the Russian Academy of Sciences and the author of a book entitled „Ethnic Moscow." And it is one that has lead the Kremlin to consider organizing a new commission to integrate non-Russian ethnic groups there. According to the Russian edition of „Newsweek" this week, President Vladimir Putin will soon form this commission under the chairmanship of Vice Prime Minister Aleksandr Zhukov. And that body will try to come up with ways to integrate non-Russian migrants into the Russian capital and thus prevent the formation of ghettos. One official told the news weekly that Moscow „needs migrants. But only those," he said, „who will come to Russia forever and can have children. Those who come in that way in the second generation will be converted into Russians. Not Russian by nationality but in the broadest sense." To achieve those goals, he said, the government needs to consider what it must do now and in the future: „how [best] to settle them, how to adapt them, and how to teach their children in order that they will mix together with the indigenous population and not be converted into an isolated society." Those are laudable goals, but the evidence gathered by Vendina and other researchers suggests that the Russian authorities are already behind the curve and that migrants in the Russian capital are ever less interested in such a transformation – all the more so because at least some ethnic Russians do not want them to. Since the late 1980s, the percentage of non-Russians in the Russian capital has risen from 10 percent to 15 percent, according to official statistics which many say understate the number of migrants. But compared to the end of Soviet times, the non-Russian share of the city now consists of people from the Caucasus instead of Jews, Germans, or Balts.

And the number of such non-Russians in the city is likely to continue to grow regardless of what the authorities do: In 2000, ethnic Russians formed 70 percent of the babies born there, while four years later, they formed only 55 percent, a figure that reflects both ethnic and age structure differences between the indigenous and immigrant populations. But the most important reasons for thinking that Moscow will not be able to assimilate the new arrivals, the experts cited by the Russian weekly, are rooted in the needs of Moscow employers, the attachments of many non-Russians to their national cultures and homelands, and the attitudes of the Russian majority, the Moscow journal reports. For assimilation to happen in the way that the authorities say they would like, Moscow would need to attract the most educated and socially mobile strata from abroad, but in fact, as Vendina points out, employers in Russia and especially in its capital city „now need unqualified workers," precisely the group least likely to adapt to the new situation. Moreover, even though Moscow's housing stock is such that few people are able to move easily, non-Russians there have tended to cluster, on the one hand, because of their dependence on friendships to make their way in what is for many an alien landscape and on the other, because it provides a defense against skinheads and other groups that dislike them.

The generally lower income levels of non-Russian immigrants and the fact that they typically send as much as half of their earnings home mean that the non-Russians often move into the very poorest neighborhoods, the ones in which housing and other infrastructure is in a particularly bad state. Such residential patterns also help to explain, the Russian experts say, why many ethnic Russians believe that non-Russian migrants are more heavily involved in crime, even though researchers like Emil Pain have demonstrated that widespread assumptions about „ethnic crime" are overstated or just plain wrong. But those views have helped power anti-immigrant actions, sometimes in the form of skinheads and at other times in the form of radical political groups like the Movement Against Illegal Immigration. And both of these developments in turn are leading many non-Russians to conclude that they will do better if they live in ethnic enclaves. As one ethnic Azerbaijani told the Russian edition of „Newsweek," his co-ethnics who live in areas with few other Azerbaijanis are often subject to attacks by such groups, but Azerbaijanis who live together generally can avoid such problems. The skinheads know, he said, that in those places, „we can respond" to any attack. Consequently, „Russian Newsweek" concludes, while „there are still no ghettos" in the Russian capital, „there is already a folklore about them," a clear indication that the Russian capital may soon face precisely the kind of ethnic divisions and their consequences that other cities around the world have long had to cope with.
©FSU Monitor

CRUSHING ISLAM IN BESLAN(Russia)
5/9/2005- In the year since the Beslan tragedy, North Osetian security officials have sought to close down all independent Muslim organizations there, a campaign that has caused at least some members of historically Islamic nationalities to announce their conversion to Orthodox Christianity. Prior to the terrorist attack, 70 percent of the residents of that city considered themselves to be Muslims, according to a report in „Nasha versiya" this week. But now, their number has declined significantly as officials have indicated that they view anyone who „actively practices" Islam as „an enemy". Earlier this year, Taymuraz Kasayev, the North Osetian minister for nationality affairs, said that officials had decided that they must take steps in order to ensure complete „transparency in the work of every social organizaation [and maintain] closer contacts with all religious and national communities." The meaning behind Kasayev's words quickly became clear. A local paper indicated that the authorities planned to shut down the activities of all Muslim groups which were not prepared to subordinate themselves to the government-financed and controlled Muslim Spiritual Directorate (MSD), a body that in North Osetia is headed by a former policeman. Over the next months, the authorities in Beslan and across North Osetia arrested numerous independent Muslim leaders, sometimes even planting evidence on them and sentencing them to confinement in prison camps. And fearing arrest, other Muslim leaders either stopped preaching in public or fled the republic, „Nasha versiya" reports.

But this police campaign against „unofficial" Islam – which had been the more dynamic part of the Muslim scene in Beslan as it has been elsewhere – intentionally or not has had the effect of undermining the position of the official Islamic establishment and its followers as well. On the one hand, this campaign led the local authorities to take an even harder line against official mosques. Plans to build a mosque in Beslan appear to have been put on permanent hold. Moreover, republic officials reportedly are considering closing down the main mosque of North Osetia in Vladikavkaz and converting it into a museum of some kind. And on the other, many members of historically Muslim nationalities are having themselves baptized, either as a result of their horror at what the Islamic radicals did at the school or, what is more likely in today's climate, their recognition that being identified as a practicing Muslim in Beslan is potentially dangerous. According to „Nasha versiya," „many children who survived the terrorist act and the parents of those who did not have been baptized despite the fact that earlier they considered themselves to be Muslims. And those residents of Beslan who died -- including Muslims -- have been buried according to Orthodox custom, and none of their relatives has complained." Russian Orthodox priests in Beslan have confirmed this development, Russian news agencies reported this week, with one priest reportedly saying that the number of people seeking baptisms in his parish alone had gone up 500 percent over the year before and in the republic as a whole risen by at least a third.

Father Vladimir attributed these conversions -- which he said involved many who had been hostages -- to the activities of Bishop Feofan of Stavropol and Vladikavkaz, who took an active role in the hostage crisis and in the treatment of the bereaved and wounded after the authorities ended the standoff. But such conversions, however welcome they may be to the Church, are not the end of the story. Many of these newly baptized may quickly fall away from their new faith. And at least some of those who had been the followers of unofficial or official Islam may now be driven to listen to underground Muslim activists with a more active and more radical message. To the extent that happens – and the experience of Muslims in both Soviet and post-Soviet times suggests this is the most likely outcome – the crushing of Islam in Beslan over the past year may set the stage for more rather than less Islamist radicalism not only there but across the north Caucasus in the future.
©FSU Monitor

ERRC PRESSES FOR CRIMINAL CHARGES RELATED TO TREATMENT OF ROMA IN NORTHERN KOSOVO(Press release)
The European Roma Rights Centre filed a request on 2 September 2005 for criminal investigation into the continued danger to human life being caused by the placement and retention of approximately 550 Roma people in three camps contaminated by lead poisoning in Northern Mitrovica, Kosovo.

6/9/2005- In 1999, following the cessation of military action by NATO against Yugoslavia, Roma and others regarded as "Gypsies" in Kosovo were ethnically cleansed by ethnic Albanians. In Mitrovica, while KFOR units looked on, mobs of ethnic Albanians took the Romani quarter to pieces, chased out local inhabitants, and plundered wholesale their possessions. Those Roma who did not escape Kosovo to other countries or to rump Serbia and Montenegro were placed in camps for internally displaced persons (IDP), Chesmin Lug, Kablare and Zitkovac. At the time, this arrangement was purportedly supposed to last for 45 days. It was known at the time that these camps were in toxic areas, situated near the tailings of the Trepca mine complex. More than 6 years later, the Roma concerned are still living at the contaminated sites. In 2000, the World Health Organization (WHO) undertook a report on the issue, noting extremely high levels of lead in the bloodstreams of a number of camp residents. The WHO recommended to UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) officials, that the Roma be immediately evacuated. No action was taken. In July 2004, WHO again tested a number of persons and subsequently stated that there was now a medical emergency and recommended immediate evacuation. In spite of a number of expressions of goodwill by UNMIK officials, the Roma are still there today. At least one death - that of Dzenita Mehmeti, a 2-year-old child -- can be directly attributed to the lead contamination. The deaths of several other persons living in the camps may also have been caused by toxicity arising from heavy metals in the camps. The health consequences of lead poisoning are irreversible, and the harms suffered by the remaining several hundred camp inhabitants mount daily. The original placement and retention of the Roma in this extremely dangerous environment implicate Kosovos criminal law.

The complaint filed by the ERRC under Article 291(5) of the Provisional Criminal Code of Kosovo asks for the general prosecutor to identify any culpable persons and to bring criminal charges against them. If the perpetrators are international personnel who have immunity, then immunity must be lifted in order to bring justice to those who have suffered from these criminal acts.
Further information
A copy of the complaint
©European Roma Rights Center

JOHANSSON WORRIED BY ROMANIAN RACIST ANTICS
8/9/2005- Uefa are ready to act against the growing blight of racism in European football. Lennart Johansson, president of Uefa, told me: "We are concerned about racism particularly in Bulgaria and Romania." In Romania the situation is so alarming that the authorities have asked Uefa to step in and control blatant displays of racism during matches. This includes 40-metre high banners proclaiming "Jews and crows [gypsies] out of Romania" and spectators coming to the ground carrying large portraits of Hitler, Corneliu Zelea Codreanu, the pre-war leader of the fascist Iron Guard, and General Ion Antonescu, the wartime leader of Romania who allied his country with the Nazis. William Gaillard, Uefa director of communications, said: "It is a very serious problem. We have told the authorities we cannot do anything in their domestic league matches but we will not allow it in our Uefa club competitions." Steaua Bucharest have experienced ugly scenes and Uefa are appealing against the apparent leniency of a 16,000 (£10,800) fine imposed on the club for racist behaviour by their fans during a match with Shelbourne. Greek MEP Manolis Mavromatis has urged Uefa to use televised Champions League matches to broadcast anti-racist messages. Meanwhile, at the weekend, Johansson was subject to an extraordinary attack by the Bulgarian coach Hristo Stoichkov following Bulgaria's 3-0 loss to Sweden in a World Cup qualifier in Solna, Johansson's home town. Stoichkov said: "Johansson could not wait until the end of the game and walked out at 2-0, when it was all clear. He showed to the whole world once again that he does not love soccer. He is just interested in how to make more money." According to Swedish newspapers, Stoichkov also made comments to Bulgarian media strongly suggesting that Johansson had influenced Sweden's qualifying results. In fact, Johansson left early to escort his wife out of the stadium ahead of the rest of the crowd. His wife walks with the aid of crutches. Johansson said: "I get pretty angry that a man in his position can make statements like this. It's sad. We're dealing with a very unskilled leader and careless man." The Bulgarian Football Union have apologised and Fifa are to hold an inquiry into the Stoichkov incident.
©Daily Telegraph

ROMANIAN PRIME MINISTER URGED TO ACT AGAINST HATE SPEECH
7/9/2005- The European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) has sent a letter to Romanian Prime Minister Calin Popescu-Tariceanu urging him to take action against a recent outburst of racist speech in Romanian media. The recent announcement by the European Court of Human Rights of two judgments concerning the 1993 pogrom in the village of Hadareni, and subsequent measures by the authorities taken against the perpetrators of the pogrom, have been seized upon as an opportunity by a number of politicians and journalists to launch verbal attacks against Roma in Romania, significantly degrading the public space.

The European Court of Human Rights ruled twice in July in connection with the 1993 pogrom in the village of Hadareni, Mures County, central Romania, and its aftermath. The case involved the killing by a mob of three Romani men and the subsequent destruction of fourteen Romani houses in Hadareni, as well as the degrading circumstances in which the victims were forced to live after the event. The Court issued two decisions on the matter in July, the first affirming a friendly settlement between the Romanian government and 18 surviving victims of the pogrom, and the second finding Romania in violation of multiple provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights and awarding damages to 7 victims who had declined amicable settlement. Following the ruling, and in the wake of measures by authorities to seize property belonging to the perpetrators of the pogrom in order to award damages to victims, prominent public figures have spoken out to provoke, reinforce and incite popular anti-Romani sentiment. Major media outlets have provided such persons with space to air their views. The ERRC letter calls the particular attention of Prime Minister Tariceanu to one very extreme example of anti-Romani hate speech undertaken by the prominent politician Mr. Corneliu Vadim Tudor, and currently still available to the public on an Internet website. In the letter sent, the ERRC also urges Prime Minister Tariceanu to ensure that the Romanian Government takes all necessary measures to provide full redress to the victims of the pogrom, as well as to swiftly prosecute those persons responsible for inciting and participating in the pogrom who have not yet been brought to justice. The latter category includes a number of police officers. The ERRC also urges that legal action be brought against those authorities responsible for the deficiencies of the criminal investigations in the 1993 events as found in the judgments by the European Court of Human Rights. Finally, the ERRC letter notes the detailed commitments undertaken by the Romanian government as part of the friendly settlement decision to alleviate the very extreme conditions of the Roma in Mures County, as well as to dampen the very high levels of hatred against Roma there. The letter urges Prime Minister Tariceanu to take an active role in supervising the measures set out in the friendly settlement decision.

In related development, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has denied accusations by the head of the Human Rights Office at Pro Europe League, Istvan Haller, who said the ministry had tried to become involved in the Hadareni Roma discrimination case the night before the 1994 judgement in Romania.. According to Haller, since Romania ratified the European Convention on Human Rights in May 1994, the ECHR Court ruling had stipulated that the damages for the Roma community in Hadareni should be paid from then until the present time, because ECHR articles had not been respected. "Internal rulings refer strictly to what had happened in September 1993," said Haller, adding that it is a grave abuse for a ministry to become involved in the act of justice and to suggest to a court what ruling to give. "We can clearly show that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs used its power to intervene in this case," said Haller, explaining that he had talked to international lawyers who confirmed that both the ruling in Romania and the ruling of the ECHR are applicable. The head of the prefect's office in Mures, Marius Ichim, denied that there had been interference in the case, saying he had talked to the Ludus Court (where the case was first heard) whose judges said they never received a note from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, suggesting to them how to handle the trial.
©Divers

NO GYPSIES ALLOWED: THE SCANDAL AGAINST ROMANY(Austria, Sweden)
7/9/2005- Although racial discrimination is a crime in Austria, the owner of the tourist campsite in Tassenbach posted a sign last August reading "No Gypsies Allowed". This sign was intended to inform his customers that Roma people are not welcomed at his campsite. Camp owner Johann Weiser justified his actions by explaining that if he accepts Roma in his campsite, his camp will be rated poorly by camping guidebooks. Mr Weiser alleged that the guidebooks Dutch Publishing House and German Club for Motorists have previously degraded his camp for accepting campers who are in fact not campers at all. Mr Weiser has recently removed the sign from his camp and is in danger of receiving a penalty for racial discrimination. The Zara association for fighting racism was informed about the case at the beginning of this week. The case in Tassenbach is the most recent in a series of similar instances of discrimination against Roma by accomodation providers throughout Europe. Further evidence of racial discrimination against Roma in Europe is stated by Sweden's English Newspaper, The Local. An investigation by Swedish Radio's Ekot programme has revealed that Roma people with Swedish citizenship face discrimination at the country's campsites. Of 20 camp sites called by Ekot, 10 said they did not allow Roma guests. The programme called a couple of campsites to establish whether or not there were places free. Ten minutes later, the producers sent a Roma family to the site. In both cases they were refused entry. Sweden's Ombudsman against Ethnic Discrimination has already identified people of Roma origins as common targets of discrimination in Swedish society. Indeed, DO is already investigating five cases where Roma Swedes have reported camp sites. "It makes me sad and concerned," Keith Palmroth told The Local, himself of Roma origin, at the anti-discrimination office in Gothenburg. "Now you see the truth in black and white, that it is actually the case that Roma do not have a place in society on the same terms as everyone else." Keith Palmroth concisely states the contemporary condition of Roma throughout Europe.
©Dzeno Association

HOW WILL OFFICIALS RESPOND TO NEO-NAZI TENDENCIES?(Slovakia,editorial)
History marches on at SNP ceremonies
By Beata Balogová

5/9/2005- This year, the local media gave considerable space to the August 29 state holiday commemorating the Slovak National Uprising (SNP), the day when Slovaks turned against the pro-Nazi regime of Jozef Tiso. However, the media lavished most of its attention not on the significance of the event, but rather on an extremist group using the anniversary to promote its xenophobic and racist attitudes. There are differing opinions on whether the nation should continue celebrating the SNP. For example, the Communist Party has co-opted the SNP for its own purposes, recasting it as an armed rebellion by anti-fascist party members. In fact historians point out that many of those involved in the anti-fascist resistance movement suffered greatly under the Communist regime because they refused to yield to another flavour of totalitarian regime.

The gathering of about 300 people in Bratislava to commemorate the SNP's 61st anniversary apparently offered few tasty sound bites to Slovakia's media. Coverage of the various meetings and speeches given by celebratory participants was meagre. Obviously, in the center of attention was the Slovenská pospolitost, an extreme right-wing group, now registered with the Interior Ministry as a valid political party. Pospolitost marched through the streets of Banská Bystrica and Zvolen carrying torches and dressed in dark blue uniforms decorated with symbols resembling those of the wartime fascist Slovak state. About 50 members of the so-called "skinhead" movement joined the group's procession. Pospolitost made no effort to hide its sympathy for Slovakia's wartime state and Tiso's Nazi puppet government. Some party members presented the opinion that German forces entered Slovakia in 1944 to clean the country of criminals and partisans. Though the group rejects being described as sympathetic to fascism, they call the boss of the group "leader" (essentially "fuhrer" in Slovak) and shout slogans typical for Hlinka's guards, the anti-Semitic militia that enforced the policies of Tiso's government. The "leader", Marian Kotleba, said that the SNP initiated the end of the Slovak Republic (1939-45). "This is the responsibility of several renegades who organised this putsch. The president of the Slovak Republic, Dr Jozef Tiso, has been the only Slovak president," Kotleba added.

The group imprinted itself in the minds of the public earlier this year when, dressed in the same uniforms, celebrated the anniversary of the rise of the fascist wartime state. Precisely at this time, the world was grieving over the victims of the Holocaust on the 60th anniversary of Auschwitz. As leader of the wartime state, Roman Catholic priest Jozef Tiso and his government largely excluded Jews from public life, basing his decision on the Nuremberg Decrees of 1935. Slovakia was the only Nazi collaboration state that covered the deportation costs of its own Jews. While Pospolitost toasted the rise of the Slovak fascist state, debate opened up on whether these young people could be criminally prosecuted for dressing in uniforms resembling Hlinka's guards. The police's answer was no; the uniforms were not exact matches to those worn by the Hlinka militia. Activists with the People Against Racism filed a complaint with the Interior Ministry and called for the dissolution of the group based on the torch marches in Banská Bystrica and Zvolen. Some historians and political analysts say that registering the party was a mistake on the ministry's part, as Pospolitost conducts activities based on the oppression of human rights and freedoms. The ministry says it registered the party on January 18 as it met requirements set by the law. However, based on the appeal of the People Against Racism, the Prosecutor General is taking a look at the party's registration file. Some state officials expressed disappointment that the party is registered, but they have not done anything concrete about it. So far no political party has been banned in Slovakia. Parties have filed complaints against other parties in an attempt to ban them, but to no end. For example, the Slovak Nationalist Party (SNS) has tried several times to ban the Hungarian Coalition Party (SMK).

Slovak law states that the Interior Ministry must reject the registration of any political party that could potentially restrict personal, political or other freedoms of citizens. It must also reject a party involved in illegal activities. Pospolitost's programme could hardly be called democratic or peace loving. It calls for the dissolution of parliamentary democracy, the ban of churches and the reduction of the influence of minorities. The party even supports the acquisition of a "weapon system of high destructive power with the possibility of liquidating the enemy on its own territory," the daily SME reported. What many find shocking is that the "leader" is a high school teacher. His colleagues told the press that they had no idea what Marian Kotleba was advocating, even though he taught at the school for four years. After the latest pospolitost march the director of the school said he was shocked. He added that the "leader" did not demonstrate discrimination against the Roma, Jews or Hungarians at the school. Though pospolitost is a small group with limited influence, many say authorities need to take a closer look at the activities of the group. According to historian Ivan Kamenec, Pospolitost is "an extreme right-wing nationalistic movement with an ideologically clear fascist tendency". The group openly declares its sympathies towards the wartime fascist Slovak state and its representatives. Yet Kamenec touches on one of the sorest parts of Slovak history and highlights Slovakia's refusal to take full responsibility for that segment of its history. All that is fine for the young party members. They seem to care little about history and truth telling. The march is an opportunity for them to demonstrate their hate and aggression towards anyone who they neither know nor comprehend.
©The Slovak Spectator

THE FIGHT AGAINST THE RIGHT(Germany)
General elections are less than two weeks off. Neo-Nazi parties have practically no chance of exceeding the five percent clause to get into parliament, but nevertheless the fight against the right goes on.

6/9/2005- In the small Brandenburg hamlet of Altlandsberg, Ravindra Gujjula has taken on the task of fighting radicals from the right-wing scene. But then, that's partly his job. Born in India, Gujjula is now the mayor of Altlandsberg, and the head of the anti-right club "Brandenburg against rightists." Gujjula is aware that he sticks out in the eastern German village he governs, but he keeps a cool head to counteract the xenophobic rhetoric of the local adolescents. "Did you know that 7,000 foreign computer specialists with German green cards, created 33,000 new jobs for Germans within six months?" he frequently asks young people in the region. Gujjula told the Märkische Oderzeitung that the club concentrates on getting the message against neo-Nazism out to youths between the ages of 14 to 17. To help, he decided to use the same medium often employed by neo-Nazis to reach disenchanted youths -- music. Together with prominent German rock bands, Gujjula has produced a CD called "Hörbar tolerant" (Audibly tolerant). "Lots of the kids just make foolhardy, far-rightist comments without understanding what they say. We have to convince them that that is nonsense. We can't ostracize them otherwise we'll lose them to the rightist scene," the 50-year-old said.

National politicians concerned
The increasing confidence of violence-prone rightists has become a source of great discomfort to parliamentary president and Social Democratic vice-chairman Wolfgang Thierse. He has never shied away from confrontation but what he has witnessed at some campaign stops in the east has troubled him. Radicals are speaking more aggressively and skillfully without restraint. "Fortunately lots of people, and I'd like to point out many young people in our country, have the courage to stand up to the far-right scene. Even to the point that they risk being beaten up or attacked. It is imperative that we support and encourage them," Thierse said. In some parts of Eastern Germany, the radical right is a part of everyday life. Since 2001, the federal government has supported some 4,000 projects with a total of 154 million euros ($192 millio) to counteract the ever-increasing acceptance of neo-Nazis in mainstream society.

Not just a protest vote
To ensure the success of these projects, a network of groups and individuals is being established to stand up to the rising trend. The success of the far-right National Democratic Party (NPD) in Saxon state elections last autumn, for example, can't be considered a mere protest or manifestation of youthful angst. One in five 18-to-25 year olds voted NPD then. "Studies have shown that many first-time voters have internalized right-wing attitudes. Politicians were asleep while extremists cultivated young people systematically with music, youth clubs and activities," Thierse criticized. The sociologist Wilhelm Heitmeyer has pointed out that more and more people are accepting the right-wing mentality as normal. "There is a rise in the population as a whole, particularly in when it comes to sensitive things like xenophobia. It's less among youths than among older people," Heitmeyer said, warning that right-wing extremism shouldn't be considered a problem solely amongst adolescents. Meanwhile, Ravindra Gujjula's group has distributed over 16,000 of 20,000 "Hörbar tolerant!" CDs to the under-20 set, in the hope of turning their ears away from the hate-filled rhetoric of the far-right.
©Deutsche Welle

COMMISSION SUGGESTS EU LOYALTY OATH FOR IMMIGRANTS
2/9/2005- The EU has announced a major package of proposals aimed at harmonising member state rules on illegal immigration and the returning of failed asylum seekers. Presenting the proposals on Thursday (1 September), EU justice commissioner Franco Frattini said that the EU needed "coherent, efficient and credible" common EU-standards immigration and asylum rules. In order to bring 'asylum shopping' and illegal immigration to an end, the commission called upon member states to adopt stricter common rules governing the return of illegal immigrants and failed asylum seekers to their home countries. At the moment sharp differences in national legislation encourage immigrants to move from one EU country to another to seek the safest haven. The proposals would see a Europe-wide ban placed on any illegal immigrant convicted of terrorist acts or judged a threat to national and public security from entering a member state for a minimum of five years.

Expelling illegal immigrants
But they would also ensure that illegal immigrants could only be kept in custody for six months. Immigrants would also have the right to appeal against decisions to expel them. The commission underlined the principle of voluntary return by establishing a general rule that a "period for departure" should normally be granted. After this period, a removal order should be issued and executed. "People who reside illegally in Europe should be sent back to their countries of origin", Mr Frattini said, and presented figures showing that out of the 650,000 illegal immigrants who were ordered to leave last year, two-thirds of them avoided expulsion and stayed in the union. The commissioner said that the measures were a "balanced" initiative that guaranteed illegal immigrants legal entity, while at the same time counteracting the "popular scepticism" which can feed extremist anti-immigration movements across Europe. He underlined that the EU did not equate illegal immigration with terrorism, and that the proposed measures were not drawn up to combat terrorism, although he believed they could become useful for member states when dealing with terrorism.

Oath of allegiance
Raising concern over extremist groups and undemocratic view amongst immigrant groups across Europe, the commissioner also suggested that immigrants swear an oath "of faithfulness" to European values. "One can get every immigrant to somehow declare they will respect national law, EU law and the Charter of Fundamental Rights," he said, and referred to a French chart that immigrants are asked to support, as a model for an EU loyalty vow. "I personally feel it is something worth exploring at European level", he said. Reactions to the proposals have been diverse. Eurosceptics ridiculed the idea. Mike Nattrass, deputy leader of UKIP said that the idea was absurd. "An allegiance to something with no single culture, no agreed history, no common language and packed with fraud and corruption? The EU must be joking". Meanwhile, a coalition of NGOs, among them Amnesty International Europe, Caritas Europa, Human Rights Watch and Jesuit refugee Service Europe, expressed serious concern about the plans to expel illegal immigrants. "Detention of irregular migrants should not be a systematic part of any common asylum policy in Europe: alternatives to detention should always be the absolute exception and last resort, and persons belonging to vulnerable categories should never be detained", the coalition announced. A British government source told UK daily The Guardian that Britain was likely to oppose one of the key proposals yesterday - that temporary custody under immigration laws should not last longer than six months. Of the 2,155 people detained under Immigration Act powers in Britain, 195 have been detained for six months or more. Of these, 140 are failed asylum seekers Britain is also likely to be opposed an "oath of faithfulness". "I do not think that we would see any particular need for anything at EU level on this. We have our own citizenship system and that is how it should be", the government official said.
©EUobserver

OOPS! WE FORGOT THE NIGGERS [AGAIN]!(usa, opinion)
"When I interviewed a survivor of the Rwandan genocide a few years back, she placed the lack of world response to her people's suffering in a context of world racism. "We are Black and we have no oil", she stated, as a way of explaining the indifference to the deaths of one million people in only ten weeks (100 people every twenty minutes, as the Hutu supremacist militias boasted they would do, before they even began)."
By Frank M. Afflitto, Ph.D , is proud to be a Muslim revert and university professor. He specializes in research on war crimes and victimized civilians' perceptions of justice. He contributed this article to Media Monitors Network (MMN).

3/9/2005- The United States government has, once again, manifested its massive, chronic insensitivity to the plight of the poor, disenfranchised and descendants of African slaves, in New Orleans, Louisiana. The same administration which purports to uphold the sanctity of life in the womb has been the perpetrator of massive losses of life in Iraq, a fact well-known to all, whether one supports or detracts from such a policy. Now, however, the US cannot explain away its neo-genocidal policies of lack of prevention, indifference to needed pre-storm evacuation (it should have been forced at gunpoint if necessary) nor indifference to timely and adequate relief efforts, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, by attributing its policies to its mythical "war on terror".

While the Federal government has participated in and orchestrated massive international airlifts, such as the Berlin airlift during the Cold War, apparently persons of African descent do not need rescue. Heck, park rangers in my home state of Massachusetts would air-drop bales of hay to starving deer in the snow-covered winter. While the word is not to be used in polite Euro-descendant company, (in front of African Americans anyway), persons of African descent in the United States are still "niggers" - worthless, chump change, pieces of flesh who do not merit respect nor courtesy nor the satisfaction of minimum and dignified needs, not even as victims of a man-made disaster termed "natural". I read an article by a U.S. scientist less than six months ago, in which he detailed the archaic and decrepit state of the New Orleans levee system. In that article, the author aptly predicted the disaster which occurred in New Orleans in the wake of the rainfall brought by Hurrican Katrina, stating that even a tropical storm or moderate hurricane could have caused such a disaster, never mind a Category Five. I could not believe that I was seeing this with my own eyes, several months later, having been blessed with only a Category One experience here in South Florida. But putting what has occurred and is occurring in Louisiana in the context of U.S. history and racism, and chalking it up to the fact that the niggers in New Orleans are Black, even though they do have oil, I painfully understand. In this light, it is still crushingly heart-breaking but not difficult to comprehend this man-made /government-made disaster and how the warning signs were ignored when prevention would have been feasible and effective.

Who were those who stayed behind and what resources did they have? While no scientific study has yet been done, I am going to add my (hopefully) educated two cents to the mix - mainly African American, mainly poor, many living in the projects or economically blighted neighborhoods, many who receive government assistance or are employed in low-wage positions - this means many persons who are unable to afford the stockpiling of flashlights, batteries, gallons of water, radios, canned goods, medicines and other products in their homes necessary to prepare for such a disaster. This, because they are forced to live week to week and month to month by an indifferent government and an indifferent money-hungry market system which could not even send enough buses and enough muscle to evacuate completely the city so that people would have lost homes, not lives; so that people would never have had to hear their children yelling "Daddy, I am so thirsty"; so that no woman would be gang-raped by groups of drunken psychopaths; so that no father would be shot trying to protect his babies' gallon of water. Black America - my heart grieves for you... your sons and daughters are still sent to kill and die in rich people's wars, so many of you have been felonized and cannot even vote for the president who will send your sons and daughters here and there to those wars, you still live in the poorest most decrepit housing in urban America, your children still go to the worst schools in urban America, and despite the token Colin Powell's and Condoleeza Rice's in high office, you are still largely expected to be janitors instead of CEO's or surgeons.

Slavery was abolished on paper, but the lives of the people I live and work with, who are called "Black" instead of just "human", are enmeshed in a slavery of poverty, thwarted hopes and official disrespect. How I pray that for each and every child who suffered, for each and every woman raped due to man-made insecurity, for each and every dead Black body, a law suit against the White House will be filed, along with a call for impeachment of the current President of the United States of America.
©Media Monitors Network

'IT'S BLACK PEOPLE WHO ARE DYING, SO BUSH DOESN'T CARE'(interview)
New York churches leader Dr Calvin Butts says if Katrina had hit middle-class white areas, the relief effort would have been quicker, better planned and more effective
Interview by David Smith, 4/9/2005

'President Bush is not a strong leader. There's something wrong with him and it comes from two places. First, a lack of concern for poor people, and certainly poor black people. Second, like his father, he's probably not even aware that these people exist. Even if he knew they existed and even if he were concerned, I'm not sure [he would know] what to do, whom to call. If this hurricane had struck a white, middle-class neighbourhood in the north-east or the south-west, his response would have been a lot stronger and I think he would have had more of those people around him who are supposed to know what to do moving a lot more quickly. If you can call Dick Cheney and say: "We're going to Iraq", and Cheney can say: "I can get Halliburton - for the right amount of money of course" and we can move thousands of troops in there overnight and get them set up so we can wage an offensive thousands of miles away in the desert, you mean to tell me that there aren't people there who could say: "We know how to solve this, Mr President; we'll help you"?

The response to 9/11 was strong and immediate and people knew what to do, and the recovery, except for the redevelopment of the property, has been nothing short of miraculous. And now look at this and you can see the stark difference. In New Orleans, there was a criminal lack of preparation. We have known about the weakness of the levee for a long time; we've known that hurricanes would increase in number and intensity for a long time; we knew this hurricane would gain strength after it passed the east coast of Florida and moved across Florida to the west coast and then into the Gulf; we knew that evacuations should have come a lot earlier; we knew that New Orleans is below sea level. The population in those areas most vulnerable is poor and largely black, and race and class are huge issues since the conservative takeover of US politics. The urban policy of this administration is terrible, but this has been going on for a long time, so it's not just this particular Bush. It's the conservative backlash we have witnessed maybe since Nixon, or certainly Reagan. This president is just the stark epitome of it all.

Racism had become subtle and amorphous. You'd hear about it in the law suits, you'd see it in the change of the judges, you'd see it in the backlash against affirmative action. It was cloaked under Clarence Thomas and upfront people, puppets like Condoleezza Rice and Colin Powell, who hide a multitude of sins in the administration, but black people were catching big hell, and poor people were catching big hell. This dramatises it, this lifts it up and says: "See? There were many of us who've been trying to say, this is the reality." The last person who was able to really lift us out of the trickbag of race was Martin Luther King. He said: "Look, poor black people and poor white people, we're all catching hell, so let's get together in this poor people's campaign and march up to our government and say you can no longer fool us by turning us on each other with race." I am shocked and I am not shocked by what is happening now. It is instructive to a lot of people that we really have not been concerned about the poor and certainly about the blacks in this nation. When you look at who is in control of the politics, when you look at who the appeal has been to from the conservatives, you see that whole racial element coming up again. Louisiana is pulling the sheath off the nation.'

LISTEN TO WHAT KATRINA IS SAYING(usa, column)
The latest natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast has a message for the entire U.S.
By Joe Klein

4/9/2005- As the floodwaters rose in New Orleans last week, a group called Columbia Christians for Life announced that it had discerned God's purpose in the storm: the destruction of the five abortion clinics in the city. The proof was a radar photograph showing that the hurricane "looks like a fetus facing to the left (west) in the womb, in the early weeks of gestation." A photo of a 6-week fetus was helpfully provided for comparison. At the other end of the political spectrum, environmental activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was blaming the hurricane on ... Haley Barbour, the Governor of Mississippi, who played a "central role ... derailing the Kyoto Protocol" on global warming. Kennedy's larger point was defensible—global warming may well cause extreme weather patterns—but the implication that one man and one (flawed) treaty might have prevented this storm seemed a bit much.

Foolish reactions are inevitable in moments of disaster. But in the primal enormity of the Gulf Coast tragedy, these two risible and annoying responses almost seemed to have a purpose. They were a reminder of our vestigial selves, of how humankind has rationalized catastrophe through most of its history. The whims of nature were either God's will or our fault. Happily, the two institutions that arose from these explanations—religion and government—proved to be civilizing impulses. Religion provided the moral basis for human interaction; government provided the forum for common action against external threats.

The aftermath of the hurricane brought these rudiments of humanity to mind. It was a case study in why societies exist—which may be the one good thing to emerge from this mess. We have grown accustomed to best-case scenarios in the U.S.; we have come to assume that we will always have electricity and fresh water and an endless pipeline of goods and services. We assume that we can always control our fate, that we are exempt from chaos, and that governance is a necessary evil rather than an essential good, the ultimate civilized defense against the rudeness of nature.

The Chinese believe that natural disasters signal the fall of empires, a shift in the "Mandate of Heaven." The 1976 Tangshan earthquake that killed more than 200,000 people, for example, was said to portend the end of Mao's reign. This may be akin to seeing a fetus in the shape of a hurricane, but the Chinese do have a point: we have had two catastrophes in the past four years—9/11 and Katrina—and taken together, they send a signal that America's remarkable late-20th century run may not be perpetual. Modifications in the way we live may be necessary. Certainly, the terrorist attacks have changed little things, like the way we ride airplanes, and profound things, like the basic assumptions of American foreign policy. And now there is New Orleans, which, at the very least, should spark a reconsideration of what has become a casual disdain for the essentials of governance and our common public life.

There was, last week, an immediate and furious debate about the racial implications of the tragedy, since most of the victims we saw on television were poor and black. There were recriminations about the lack of preparedness for the disaster, the corroded infrastructure, the mind-boggling swiftness of a city's collapse into anarchy. But those arguments can be neatly folded into a larger discussion about the radical turn toward what is inaccurately described as "conservatism" that American politics took in the late 20th century. There were good reasons for the turn: a new understanding of the inefficiencies of socialism and initiative-stifling government bureaucracies. But there were terrible reasons as well. Starting in the 1960s, Republicans exploited Southern opposition to integration, as the G.O.P. National Committee chairman, Ken Mehlman, recently admitted. This implicit racism evolved into a tacit unwillingness to rethink problems of poverty and race—an unwillingness shared by Democrats, who clung to old bureaucratic solutions and cosmetic remedies like affirmative action—and worse, to the denigration of a basic governmental role: the need to plan for the future, to anticipate crises. The new philosophy of governance was stated most crudely in 1987 by British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher: "There is no such thing as society ... There are individual men and women, and there are families."

There was no such thing as society in New Orleans last week.

Government cannot prevent hurricanes, of course, but the prevailing haplessness reflected 25 years of distorted priorities. In a civilized community, there is a need for collective thinking and preparation—not just for immediate risks like a natural catastrophe but also for more abstract concerns like the environmental issues that worry Robert Kennedy, as well as for eternal problems like poverty. Having celebrated our individuality to a fault for half a century, we now should pay greater attention to the common weal. As Kennedy's uncle said in his 1961 Inaugural Address, "Here on earth God's work must truly be our own."
©Time Magazine

RACE DEBATE REACHES PULPIT(usa)
Bishop blasts slow response to hurricane; donations pour in

5/9/2005- In an emotionally charged Sunday service, Bishop Larry Trotter of Sweet Holy Spirit Church on Chicago's South Side tied the slowness of Hurricane Katrina relief efforts to racism, contending that when it comes to aiding African-Americans, the only people they can count on for help is themselves. "We have got to come to the rescue of our own people," Trotter said. "I've learned that nobody is going to take care of us but us." Five trucks loaded with water and supplies donated by parishioners from Sweet Holy Spirit and other churches were scheduled to depart for Mandeville, La., on Sunday night, bringing the total number of trucks filled with goods from Chicago-area black churches to 12, Trotter said. Relief efforts poured in from churches throughout the area. On Chicago's West Side, New Mt. Pilgrim Church loaded supplies for three churches in Covington, La. New Life Community Church on the Southwest Side gathered supplies totake to Ocean Springs, Miss., and volunteers from Amor de Dios United Methodist Church in Little Village left for New Orleans with goods Sunday.

Meanwhile, the Islamic Society of North America, meeting in Chicago for its annual convention, announced a pledge to raise $10 million in humanitarian relief for hurricane survivors. In his homily Sunday in St. Sabina Catholic Church on the South Side, Rev. Michael Pfleger echoed Trotter, saying racism was to blame for the government's slow reaction time to the tragedy. "It is a shame when people last week died in the richest country in the world because they couldn't find clean water," Pfleger said. "What an embarrassment to our society. We have learned to save the whales, exotic birds. ... But we still let people die." At a special service dedicated to Hurricane Katrina survivors, Trotter delivered a sermon that arched from anger to redemption to forgiveness. He cited other events in the last week involving prominent citizens in the African-American community and said the delayed response to the Hurricane Katrina disaster was one more sign of the country's racial prejudice. He pointed out the sentencing of former Bishop William Ellis to 18 months in federal prison for stealing from collections at his Far South Side church. He also mentioned the Chicago Police Department's ruling that state Sen. James Meeks was not a victim of racial profiling during a July incident where a white police officer pointed a gun at him. "It is clear that racism is alive all over America," Trotter said.

Then he lambasted President Bush and the federal government's response in helping those stranded by the hurricane, the majority of whom are black and poor, especially since the country's response for international disasters, such as the tsunami relief effort in Asia, were assembled more quickly. "Had it been NYU instead of Tulane? Had it been Yale? They would have got the folks out of there by Monday," Trotter said. He also criticized officials who made statements following the disaster. "When the stupid man from FEMA got up on TV and said, `Why didn't they evacuate?'" Trotter said. "Don't you understand that it's the end of the month, and when you live on a monthly check, you're trying to stretch out that last $3 to $4? Everybody doesn't have a car, everybody doesn't have relatives outside of where they live." Trotter added to criticism of labels applied to hurricane survivors, asking why those left behind are called refugees, the same terminology applied to people who have left their home countries to seek sanctuary in the U.S. "I don't understand how one day we can be described as tax-paying citizens and the next day they call us refugees," Trotter said. "A refugee is an escapee from out of the country."

But as the sermon progressed, Trotter's tone moved from anger to forgiveness. "When folks have messed over you, there are days when you want God to take them out," Trotter said. "We have to take the spirit of Jesus and forgive them." In between gospel hymns, Trotter asked people to approach the pulpit who either fled the hurricane or have family still there for a moment of prayer. Nearly 100 people came forward. He encouraged them to stay strong and hold onto the belief they will overcome their hardships in the future. "This is not the end of the story," Trotter said. "Sit down for a minute to cry if you have to, but after you've cried, what's coming? I see myself in the future, and things are getting better."

Dianna Lowery of Durant, Miss., joined the group at the front of the church and cried, thinking about the relatives who could not flee with her to Chicago last week. Lowery, 43, split her time growing up between Chicago and Mississippi. She drove 10 1/2 hours to her mother's house on the South Side on Wednesday with her 96-year-old grandmother, an uncle and two cousins after their house lost power and water. Her grandmother worries about losing their family home, which sits on a 2.5-acre farm. Lowery said attending the service helped ease her worries. "I felt comfortable, I felt that everybody was supportive," Lowery said. "I truly believe that it's going to be all right." At the end of the service, parishioners jumped out of their seats and circled the church, pulling out $1 bills to place in front of the pulpit. Bills were gathered into a green plastic bin and added to the church's relief efforts. "Let this be more than enough to do all that we need to do," Trotter said.
©Chicago Tribune

VIEWPOINT: THE GLOBAL VOICES RECLAIMING ISLAM
Ziauddin Sardar, travelling around several Muslim countries, finds that thinkers, activists, political leaders and ordinary Muslims across the globe are refusing to be defined by the ideology of violence and intolerance, but their responses are diverse.
By Ziauddin Sardar, Presenter BBC Two's Battle for Islam

5/9/2005- This has been a terrible year to be a Muslim. But, revolted by what is being perpetrated in the name of Islam, the Muslim world is bringing a whole range of new debates to the fore. For decades the core debate in the Muslim world was about establishing an ideological "Islamic state" and returning to the Sharia, the historical body of Islamic law. This debate, often led by so-called "Islamic movements", produced a narrow, intolerant, obscurantist, illiberal, brutal and confrontational interpretation of Islam. It is this interpretation that gave rise to what we now know as "Islamic fundamentalism". But the fixed simplistics of fundamentalists never were the whole of the debate - even though the fundamentalists shout the loudest and dominate the globe through violent expression.

Sharia debate
Now, fundamentalism is being challenged by emerging and alternative visions of Islam, each taking shape in different ways in different countries. Pakistan was founded as the first modern Islamic state. But it was only in 1978 under the military regime of General Zia ul Haq that Sharia was made the law of the land. What followed was a series of cases where the implementation of the law acquired a notorious reputation for practical injustice, especially towards women. And it is women who are really standing up to this law. The essence of the argument against the Sharia is much more than the fact that its interpretation and application is illiberal and contrary to contemporary ideas of human rights. The fundamentalist position is that the Koran is the source of all legislation in Islam and therefore the Sharia is an immutable body of sacred law. It is this concept itself that is now being challenged. Sharia, it is being widely argued, is not divine but a "jurists' law", that was formulated and socially constructed during the early phase of Islamic history. It can be changed, modified and reformulated - in its entirety. Thus the Sharia, as an inherited body of rulings and precedent, is being reclaimed in Pakistan. Muslim scholars are demanding the same right as their forebears to investigate the sources for alternative interpretations, new ways of framing and operating precepts and law.

Activists' agenda
We can see this activism not just in Pakistan but also in Morocco. In Morocco an entirely recast family law aspect of Sharia has been produced by Islamic scholars. It was promulgated by the King in response to widespread public demonstrations by women and, when published, became an instant best-seller. While it has its opponents, including women, its impeccable Islamic intellectual credentials - advancing the case for gender equality, poverty eradication, economic advancement and the development of free expression through civil society - are now the agenda of debate. The irony is that neither Pakistan nor Morocco are democracies: one a thinly veiled military regime, the other a near-absolute monarchy. But the activist proponents of this alternative interpretation of Islam are clear that it can never be fully realised without democracy; indeed that democracy is an essential hallmark of a genuine Islamic society.

Separation from state
Indonesia has the world's largest Muslim population. Eight years ago, it threw off 30 years of dictatorship backed by the military. Democracy has led to a great outpouring of new thinking. Established organisations such as Mohammadiyah and new civic society organisations such as the Liberal Islam Network - which have followings in the tens of millions - are revising the conventional views of Islam and the state. In seeking an interpretation of Islam that is both authentic and moderate, liberal, tolerant, open and democratic, they stress the importance of separation between religion and state. And thus they come to a vision of modernity for Muslims that is rooted in, and inspired by, Islam, yet does not lay claim to being an infallible expression of religion and therefore closed to debate. It is these agents of civil society that are setting the pace of change.

Diverse solutions
The demands they make on governments are producing a response. But it is no longer a case of seeking one solution. There is a diversity of responses according to the particular circumstances of different countries, with different histories and different experiences of modernising and modernity. The extremists have one all-embracing, all-constraining ideology. But the reality of the Muslim world is its immense diversity. The new ideas battling for the soul of Islam have a clear set of common principles but they are varied and must be heard in their own context and place. A journey around the populous periphery of the Muslim world clearly demonstrates that the extremists are not only a minority but that the fossilised traditionalism from which they derive their legitimacy is also on the retreat. There is a new air of optimism and confidence in many places that an Islam that is moderate, tolerant and democratic not only should - but will - actually be the future. This new spirit, and the new ideas it is producing, is not tentative. But it would be too soon to assert that the ideas are carrying all before them and have secured their dominance. It is, however, beyond question that to understand the changes taking place in the Muslim world, and appreciate how Islam is being reformed, one has to listen to these voices from the edge.
©BBC News