Headlines 3 September, 2010
CZECH HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSIONER REJECTS GOVERNMENT’S CLAIM HE HAS RESIGNED
1/9/2010- Today cabinet spokesperson Martin Kupka informed the Czech Press Agency that Czech PM Petr Nečas (ODS) had accepted the resignation of Czech Human Rights Commissioner Michael Kocáb, who would be leaving office on 15 September. Kocáb was first nominated to the post of Human Rights and Minorities Minister in January 2009 by the Green Party. Kocáb has now rejected reports of his resignation, saying they must be based on a misunderstanding which he must now clear up with Nečas. The chair of the coalition government of the ODS. TOP 09 and Public Affairs (Věcí veřejných – VV) parties met with Kocáb this afternoon. "Right at the start of today’s meeting Mr Michael Kocáb offered to resign from his post as Human Rights Commissioner as of 15 September. I have decided to accept his resignation," Kupka quoted Nečas as saying. Kocáb would not confirm this information about his resignation today, which he believes is probably based on a misunderstanding. "We did really meet about this today, but those results are probably due to a misunderstanding. Each of us has interpreted the outcome of the meeting differently,” Kocáb told the Czech Press Agency, saying he wants to speak with Nečas again in order to clarify the conclusion of the meeting with him.
"The Premier asked me to resign. I was completely dumbfounded because I had not expected such a request. He gave me two deadlines – either by September 15th or by the 30th, and told me to think it over,” news server iDNES.cz quotes Kocáb as saying. Nečas is said to have thanked Kocáb for all his good work protecting human rights in the Czech Republic during his time as Commissioner and as minister. The media have been speculating that Kocáb would be removed ever since the elections, which brought a center-right coalition government forward to lead the state. The imminent departure of Kocáb from government office was also indicated by the Czech PM’s recent decision to choose the director of the Civic Institute, Roman Joch, as his advisor on minority issues. Joch has been criticized by some human rights defenders who consider his concept of human rights to be unfortunate. Protests were even held against his joining the Office of the Government at the end of August. At the demonstration, several of Joch’s previous statements were reviewed, such as his remarks exalting Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet. Joch’s proponents have even called him the “anti-Kocáb”.
Kocáb (56) became Human Rights and Minorities Minister of the Czech Republic in January 2009, when the Greens nominated him. He remained in office even after the fall of the Topolánek government and the appointment of the interim administration of Jan Fischer in May 2009. This past March the Greens called on him to resign, but he has continued to work for the government as the Czech Human Rights Commissioner.
translated by Gwendolyn Albert
© CTK
DECISION ON DIVISIVE GERMAN BANKER POSTPONED
1/9/2010- Germany's central bank has not yet decided what measures it could take following comments by a board member that stereotyped Muslims and Jews, which it said violated its code of conduct, a spokesman said Wednesday. The discussions surrounding Thilo Sarrazin were brought up at a regular board meeting Wednesday, but no result was expected before Thursday, the spokesman said. He spoke on condition of anonymity in line with bank policy. The central bank on Monday already distanced itself from Sarrazin, saying his remarks were harmful and violated the Bundesbank's code.
Sarrazin maintains Muslim immigrants in Europe are unwilling or incapable of integrating into western societies and has cited studies he says prove that "all Jews share a certain gene." The issues are the basis of his book that caused an uproar even before its Monday release. Sarrazin's comments sparked outrage from lawmakers and community leaders, and many agreed with Chancellor Angela Merkel saying he should be removed from the bank's board. Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble on Wednesday told journalists Sarrazin's remarks were "irresponsible nonsense" that violated his duty to show political restraint as a Bundesbank board member.
Sarrazin insists his comments were taken out of context and his remarks are covered by freedom of speech. Although Merkel's government condemned his comments, it cannot force his departure due to the Bundesbank's independence. To remove him from its six-member board, the Bundesbank would have to ask German President Christian Wulff to order it. A survey for broadcaster N24 published Wednesday showed that a slight majority of 51 percent of 1,000 Germans polled thinks Sarrazin should not be fired, while 32 percent want him removed from the bank's board. The poll carried out by survey institute Emnid on Tuesday had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percent, N24 said.
This is not the first time Sarrazin has provoked controversy. He was forced to resign part of his duties at the central bank last year, following remarks about Berlin's Arab and Turkish populations. In his new book, the 65-year-old maintains that immigrants have taken from Germany's welfare system without contributing enough to the country. Sarrazin's party, Germany's left-leaning Social Democrats, launched proceedings Monday that could force him from the party. Lamakers from the far-right NPD party in Saxony's state parliament, meanwhile, held a banner saying "Everybody knows it: Sarrazin is right" during a visit by the German president to the legislature on Wednesday.
© The Associated Press
GERMANY MUST TAKE A CLOSE LOOK AT RACISM IN THE COUNTRY (opinion)
Comments by German central banker Thilo Sarrazin show how urgently Germany needs a debate about racism in the country, according to Hendrik Cremer of the German Institute for Human Rights.
31/8/2010- "Germany is doing away with itself: How we are putting our country on the line" is the title of Thilo Sarrazin's new book, due to appear in the bookstores next week. Sarrazin is a board member of Germany's central bank, the Bundesbank - a prominent public position. Excerpts ahead of publication show that Thilo Sarrazin continues to do what he has been doing for a while now: in public announcements, he has assumed the task of splitting German society along the pattern of "we" and "the others." Within the group of "the others," he identifies sub-groups like "Turks," "Arabs" or "Muslim migrants;" in a generalized and derogatory manner, he assigns members of theses groups negative characteristics. Sarrazin rejects accusations of a racist structure of thinking, and resorts to a stylistic device that is not unusual among people propagating such ideas. He laments the constrictions of political correctness, while conducting verbal racist attacks.
In Germany, the term racism is often equated with the human rights crimes committed by the Nazis. Racism is often mentioned only in connection with politically organised rightwing extremism. In court cases, the use of the term "xenophobia" has led to prosecutors or judges also speaking of "xenophobic" motives when judging a violent attack. But the use of such language will lead to a victim of physical violence feel even more ostracized. The example shows that in Germany, a country of immigration, not enough thought is given to racism and its current manifestation. The narrow comprehension of racism in Germany, by no means sufficiently discussed, has other consequences, too. People do not give appropriate attention to everyday racism below the threshold of violence and structural discrimination, for instance in the educational sector or on the job market.
Of course, stereotyping, ostracism and discrimination in democratic societies can not be equated with the systematic, monstrous crimes of the Nazi era. Comprehending racism as limited to rightwing extremism, however, blanks out the state of scientific research as well as the international and European debate on the issue. Here, the comprehension of racism is already more far-reaching. Over the past few years, several international organisations have criticized the narrow German understanding of racism. In 2008, the United Nation's Committee on Racism advised Germany to adopt a wider definition for the term racism as well as for the country's basic approach to fighting racism. In 2009, the European Council's Commission on Racism came to the same conclusion, as did a report this year by the UN special rapporteur on racism.
But Germany has started to move in the right direction. In its October 2008 "Action plan against racism," the German government acknowledged that there are racist sentiments and stereotypes beyond rightwing extremism, and that fighting racism is not limited to fighting rightwing extremism, but must take into account all of society. Racism does not depend on ideas based on theories of ancestry and heredity, even though racial theories are still today propagated along such biological lines. Increasingly, and not only in Germany, racist argumentation relies on ascribing people to different "cultures," "nations," "ethnicities" or religions. One characteristic is this is the construction of supposedly homogeneous groups whose individual members are credited with certain traits. That does not necessarily entail cultural degradation. Constructing groups subdivided into "we" and the "others" with the sole purpose of setting oneself off from the "others" ("They are different, we don't want them here") can also lead to serious social exclusion.
As a signatory of the UN Anti-Racism Convention, Germany has taken on duties that bind the public authority. IIt has also agreed to fight racism in politics and in public life. This is due to the recognition that a one-time commitment to human rights is not sufficient; rather, the commitment must be filled with life, exercised and defended. To what extent discrimination and racism develop in a society depends on the convictions and attitudes of its individual members. Politics, the state and its institutions play an important role: they set the standards. That includes politicians or other state representatives pointing out and countering racism in the public arena. Anything else would thwart integration policies in Germany, which are meanwhile regarded as necessary and right.
So we should welcome the fact that of all people, Chancellor Merkel has branded Sarrazin's remarks as simple and stupid blanket judgements that are highly offensive. But one's reaction should not be limited to a rejection of Sarrazin's assumptions. It should be the starting point for a broad discussion about the understanding of racism in Germany.
© The Deutsche Welle
GERMANY IS BECOMING ISLAMOPHOBIC: THE SARRAZIN DEBATE (opinion)
By Erich Follath
31/8/2010- Thilo Sarrazin's comments about Muslims have triggered outrage in Germany and abroad, but have met with willing listeners among the general public. His rhetoric is slowly bringing about change in Germany, transforming it from a tolerant society into one dominated by fear and Islamophobia. The Pied Piper of Hamelin knew how to fight the plague. He knew catchy, seductive tunes and was successful against the scourge with his unconventional methods. But because society paid him no tribute and refused to pay him the wages he had been promised for his service, he decided to take a radical step and lure away the children of Hamelin. In doing so, he destroyed the very community he had once set out to save.
It is unclear when and why Dr. Thilo Sarrazin, 65, the child of a doctor and a Prussian landowner's daughter, who supposedly did a decent job during his time as finance minister for the city-state of Berlin and who had unusual ideas, became a seducer. Did he see himself as a future chancellor, and was he bitterly waiting in the wings to be nominated by his Social Democratic Party (SPD)? Would he have preferred to become the CEO of Deutsche Bank instead of "merely" a member of the executive board of Germany's central bank, the Bundesbank? Does he relish the role of agent provocateur and popular guest on German talk shows? And is he truly worried about the absurd concern that Germany is "doing away with itself" -- as the title of his new book claims -- by tolerating too many foreign influences in its society?
Opinions may differ among those who seek to interpret Sarrazin's behavior. The important thing is that he is someone who has gone from being a tough-talking, audacious politician and anarchic prankster (see quote gallery) to a racist anti-Muslim who makes up nonsense about the genetic basis of intelligence and the "German-Jewish origins of intelligence research." Those ideas have prompted him to voice his concerns over Germany's "cultural identity" and "national character," and to blame Muslim immigrants and their supposed non-culture for all the problems of integration -- ignoring the fact that both the immigrants and the host country have a responsibility. "We," he says, referring to German society as a whole, are unavoidably becoming less intelligent because Muslims, who Sarrazin characterizes as being unwilling to integrate, alien and cognitively challenged, are producing the most children in Germany. Sarrazin magnanimously allows that there are, of course, exceptions in the Islamic world, perhaps a few intelligent Turks here and there. But his views essentially eliminate the need to even address the issue of a controlled immigration policy, of which Sarrazin himself has been such a vehement proponent in the past. Sarrazin, in one of his typical turns of phrase, said that Muslims ought to "disappear." From that point of view, integration is unimaginable, possible only through death -- which is naturally also one way to solve the problem.
Selective Statistics
The respected Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper called Sarrazin's book an "anti-Muslim dossier based on genetics." Chancellor Angela Merkel reacted with irritation. Stephan Kramer, the general secretary of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, suggested that the author consider joining the far-right National Democratic Party (NPD). The interior minister of the city-state of Berlin, Ehrhart Körting, a member of the SPD, expects the book to trigger legal action over hate speech. "Thilo is currently drifting away," he says. "He always had a fondness for statistics. But in the integration debate he uses only those statistics that fit in with his image of the enemy." Christian Gaebler, who is head of the SPD in the Berlin neighborhood of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, where Sarrazin is registered, said: "Enough is enough. Should Mr. Sarrazin not go willingly, we are initiating proceedings to throw him out of the party. We will carefully analyze his book and discuss the issue at our next state executive board meeting on Sept. 6." Sarrazin's rhetoric has even triggered outrage abroad. In France, the daily newspaper Le Monde called him a "racist provocateur." But the widespread rebuke among politicians and in the media (his fellow bankers have remained eloquently silent on the controversy) is only one side of the coin. Sarrazin's theories, in the form of excerpts from his book and quotes published in SPIEGEL, the tabloid newspaper Bild and the weekly newspaper Die Zeit, have also found willing listeners within a highly anxious population. In fact, they almost have majority appeal.
Socially Acceptable
The Turkish-German writer and sociologist Necla Kelek made a speech at the presentation of Sarrazin's book on Monday in which she defended his ideas. Kelek is a fan of Sarrazin and has won several awards in Germany, bestowed by people who -- like her -- see all the problems of the world as being caused by Islam. The book was already at the top of the German Amazon's list of bestsellers when it was published. Every threat to eject Sarrazin from his party or his position at the Bundesbank only enhances his notoriety. But if nothing happens, he can feel all the more validated. If Sarrazin were a lone wolf, an agitator in a desert with no supporters, he could be dismissed as a freakish phenomenon. But with his seductive flute-playing, the man now has a host of acolytes, including women of Muslim descent who ostentatiously refuse to wear a headscarf and other copycats. Shrill rhetoric is in vogue, and hysterical Islam-bashing is in full swing. Sarrazin and his fellow cynics became socially acceptable long ago.
Their efforts are having an effect, and are bringing about changes in Germany. The changes aren't sufficiently dramatic to jeopardize democracy right away, but are gradual, like a slow-acting poison. From a cosmopolitan country characterized by religious freedom, Germany is slowly becoming a state that is dominated by exaggerated fears and that exhibits the beginnings of an Islamophobic society. Of course, these fears are not completely unfounded. Conditions in areas like Berlin's Kreuzberg neighborhood give rise to very real, justified concerns. There are schoolrooms where three-quarters of the students are from immigrant families, students whose German is barely good enough to get by. There are Arab and Albanian family clans that control crime syndicates and receive welfare benefits. There are phenomena like forced marriages and honor killings. In some mosques, imams are encouraging the faithful to engage in Islamist terror. All of this exists, and yet it has nothing to do with ordinary Islam and the day-to-day lives of well over 90 percent of Germany's Muslims. And yet these are precisely the kinds of things that fuel cheap attempts to create stereotypes of Muslims as the enemy.
Part 2: Parallels with 19th-Century Anti-Semitism
"In no other religion is the transition to violence and terrorism so fluid," Sarrazin writes. Former FAZ correspondent and bestselling author Udo Ulfkotte, another prophet of doom, expresses similar concerns when he warns: "A tsunami of Islamization is sweeping across our continent." Dutch writer and columnist Leon de Winter, who is much celebrated in Germany and a frequent contributor to SPIEGEL, claims to have recognized "the face of the enemy" in the outlandish religion and is generally disparaging of Muslims, writing: "Since the 1960s, we have been deceiving ourselves that all cultures are equal." The journalist and writer Ralph Giordano, a moral authority in Germany, is sharply critical of new mosque construction and sweepingly characterizes Islam as a totalitarian religion. And aren't those who tolerate totalitarianism nothing but appeasers? And haven't we seen this once before?
Potential for Violence
There is no question that there are Muslims in Germany who sympathize with Islamist ideas (which doesn't necessarily mean that they are prepared to use violence). A report by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Germany's domestic intelligence agency, includes 36,270 Muslims in this group, a number that has increased slightly in recent years -- by about 9 percent since 2007. It is also undeniable that suicide bombers worldwide frequently invoke Islam -- a deplorable but not an isolated phenomenon. Every monotheistic religion, through its claim to exclusivity, contains the potential for violence. But no one condemns Christianity as a whole when Northern Irish breakaway factions commit murder in the name of God. We don't blame all Catholics when some of them kill abortion doctors while invoking their faith. And we don't take all of Judaism to task when a Jewish terrorist named Baruch Goldstein slaughters dozens of Muslims during prayers in Hebron while invoking Yahweh. But we do condemn Islam, whose holy book contains about as many passages glorifying violence as the Old Testament (which, unlike the Koran, does mention stoning as a punishment). Of course, the widespread mistrust of Muslims, which has only grown in recent years, has a lot to do with the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington. It is everything but a purely German phenomenon.
'Growing Hostility' in US
In the United States, traditionally a country of immigrants, where Muslims are much better integrated into society than in Germany, the planned construction of an Islamic cultural center and mosque room near Ground Zero in New York has triggered a heated controversy. Comments by hate-mongers from Fox News and leading Republicans prompted Time magazine to conclude, in a cover story in its latest issue titled "Is America Islamophobic?" that there are signs of "growing hostility" toward Muslims. The new government in the Netherlands will be forced to tolerate the right-wing populist politician Geert Wilders, who has even proposed banning the Koran. In Italy, Denmark and Austria, populist right-wing parties are scoring political points with their crude anti-Islamic slogans. In Switzerland, a country with a very small Muslim population, they even managed to win a referendum to ban minarets. And in France the banlieues, low-income areas on the outskirts of major cities, are in flames because the French government can offer no solution to the lack of prospects for most Muslim youth. In Germany, which has had at least some success in integrating foreigners, the mood against Muslims is now just as hysterical. A man like Sarrazin is applauded for behaving like a toned-down version of Wilders. But why?
Popular Scapegoat
The widespread support for Sarrazin also shows that there is potential in Germany for a party to the right of the pro-business Free Democratic Party and the conservative Christian Democrats. If Sarrazin were to establish such a party after possibly leaving the SPD, he could be expected to capture at least 10 percent of the vote. Passive, unimaginative politicians, major parties with no real integration policies and, most of all, the quarreling Islamic associations, have contributed to the possibility that the seed of Islamophobia in Germany could germinate and begin to grow when fertilized by people like Sarrazin. The concept of Muslims as the enemy is becoming more targeted, with Islam being held accountable for many social problems, like unemployment, the supposed inundation of foreigners and deficits in education. A religion has become a scapegoat -- and a focal point for intolerance and hate.
Popular Internet sites like the German blog Politically Incorrect don't even begin to take the trouble to draw the necessary distinctions. Some of the postings on the site are indicative of this tendency to paint with a very broad brush, postings like: "Islam is a voluntary mental illness," "It is pointless to grapple with this inferior culture," and "There is only one word to describe Islam: barbaric." The anonymity of the Internet enables a boundless, blind hatred to cross the last thresholds of inhibition. Worshippers of the Prophet Mohammed are variously described as "goat fuckers" or "veiled sluts." "Dirty Muslim!" and "God-damned camel driver" are among the most popular derogatory expressions among young people today. The Prophet Mohammed has more than an image problem. According to an Emnid poll, a majority now finds him almost as distasteful as Pontius Pilate, the Roman prefect who authorized Jesus's crucifixion. Some 52 percent of Germans would be opposed to one of their children marrying a Muslim or would only accept it with very strong reservations, while 46 percent would be against one of their children marrying a Buddhist and 30 percent a Jew.
'Unbelievable Hatred'
Professor Wolfgang Benz, the long-standing director of the Center for Research on Anti-Semitism at the Technical University of Berlin and the co-founder of the Dachau Review with which he established research into concentration camps, now sees parallels between anti-Semitic agitators and extreme "Islam critics." "Populists in the West are responding to the image of the West as the enemy, propagated by demagogues within the Islamic world, with their own image of Islam as the enemy." They use similar tools, exploiting distorted images and hysteria. "The act of equating German citizens who are Muslims with fanatical terrorists is deliberate and is framed as an appeal to popular sentiment." Benz sees the phobia against other cultures or minorities as a defense mechanism. An image of the enemy is constructed by means of generalization and the reduction of factual information to hearsay. A classic example is the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion," an anti-Semitic pamphlet written in the late 19th century, which supposedly furnished evidence of a Jewish global conspiracy. Although every detail of the text was debunked as incorrect, Russian czars and, most of all, the Nazis used it to incite the people against Jews. The text is still available today in Islamic countries that agitate against Israel. "Anyone who is -- rightfully -- indignant over the narrow-mindedness of anti-Semites must also take a critical view of the portrayal of Islam as the enemy," Benz wrote in January. Benz has now come under sharp attack for this reasoning. He is the target of verbal abuse and even threats. "I am confronted with an unbelievable hatred," says Benz, even though he has absolutely no intention of trivializing anti-Semitism. But in today's Germany, it appears that few people are interested in taking a differentiated view.
Never Seen Again
Germany is changing. And although it is not yet a consistently Islamophobic society, a Sarrazin republic, it is certainly on its way to becoming one. The Pied Piper of Hamelin was never seen again after his disappearance. It would, with all due respect, be an appealing thought to not hear anything from Thilo Sarrazin for a long time. However, the Pied Piper did not return the children he had abducted. Only two escaped, one blind and the other deaf. Neither of them was able to help the other children -- and so all were lost.
© The Spiegel
BUNDESBANK FACES CONTROVERSY (Germany)
Board Member's Ethnic Slurs in Book and Interviews Spur Calls for His Ouster
31/8/2010- The Bundesbank distanced itself from a board member accused of racism as it scrambled to contain the damage from a growing furor that officials fear could hurt the German central bank's international reputation. Statements by Thilo Sarrazin, a Bundesbank board member with a history of stirring controversy, have "damaged the image of the Bundesbank," the central bank said in a statement issued after an emergency board meeting Monday. "The Bundesbank is an institution that has no space for discrimination," it added. In a new book and in numerous interviews, Mr. Sarrazin, a veteran politician and longtime member of the left-leaning Social Democrats, warned that Germany's low birth rate threatened to make Germans "foreigners in their own country." He has also argued that the nature of Islamic culture has prevented Muslims from becoming more integrated into German society. The outcry over his statements intensified over the weekend after Mr. Sarrazin said in a newspaper interview that "all Jews share a certain gene." Though he was making a broader point about ethnic identity—that people of different ethnic groups have different genetic makeups—many Germans found that his linkage of Judaism and biology echoed the racial theories posited by the Nazis.
The Bundesbank statement, which some observers see as a first step toward pursuing Mr. Sarrazin's ouster, followed a chorus of calls by German politicians, including Chancellor Angela Merkel, urging the Bundesbank to take decisive action against the central banker. The Bundesbank board is expected to confront Mr. Sarrazin directly over his actions at a meeting this week. At a news conference Monday to present his new book—"Deutschland Schafft Sich Ab," or "Germany Abolishes Itself"—Mr. Sarrazin said he had done nothing to violate his Bundesbank duties and intended to keep his position. He rejected the notion that his views were discriminatory, saying that critics of his book haven't read it. The fury over Mr. Sarrazin's remarks has left the Bundesbank, a symbol of Germany's postwar revival and one of its most respected institutions, in a difficult position. No board member has ever been expelled and the Bundesbank's board doesn't even have the power to remove a member on its own. Under the Bundesbank's charter, the board can make a recommendation to the German president that a member be fired for "fundamental and sweeping misconduct." What constitutes such a breach and whether Mr. Sarrazin's comments and his writings meet that threshold is unclear, however. The board is expected to make that determination later this week after its meeting with Mr. Sarrazin.
The growing controversy is particularly awkward for Bundesbank President Axel Weber. Mr. Weber is a leading candidate to become the European Central Bank's next leader when Jean-Claude Trichet, the ECB's current president, retires next year. A spokesman for Mr. Weber said the Bundesbank chief didn't have any comment beyond the Bundesbank's statement. Mr. Sarrazin said in an interview last fall that immigrants serve "no productive function beyond fruit and vegetable sales" and referred to female Muslim children as "little headscarf girls." Following that, Mr. Weber persuaded the Bundesbank board to take away some of Mr. Sarrazin's responsibilities. At the time, Mr. Sarrazin issued a public apology in which he said that the strong public reaction to the interview "made him aware" of the "sensitivity" associated with his public position at the Bundesbank, even when he spoke his personal opinion. Mr. Sarrazin, 65 years old, rose through the ranks of the German finance ministry beginning in 1975. As a member of the Social Democratic Party, he served as a deputy state finance minister in the 1990s and as senator for financial affairs, a cabinet-rank position, in the Berlin state government from 2002-09. Many of his party colleagues have responded with dismay to his recent comments. The SPD said on Monday that it had initiated proceedings to expel Mr. Sarrazin, a member of the party for about 40 years.
© The Wall Street Journal
CDA CRISIS OVER FOR NOW, COALITION TALKS WITH PVV TO CONTINUE (Netherlands)
2/9/2010- After two days of crisis, all 21 Christian Democrat MPs have agreed to press on with talks on forming a new coalition government with the right wing Liberals and Geert Wilders' anti-Islam PVV. On Tuesday and Wednesday party officials were locked in crisis talks with MPs after opposition to an alliance with Wilders mounted. 'I am very glad that all 21 of us could reach this [decision] in unity,' acting party leader Maxime Verhagen told reporters after two days of upheaval within the CDA.
Negotiations
Ank Bijleveld will take over the job of second lead in the negotiations from Ab Klink, who has made it clear he does not personally back an alliance with the PVV. Klink and two other anti-PVV MPs, Kathleen Ferrier and Ad Koppejan, will outline their objections to the alliance at a CDA congress after the coalition accord has been finalised. The crisis within the CDA came to a head on Wednesday evening with the publication of a letter from Klink in which he outlines his objections to the PVV and says talks with the party are a no go for him personally.
Open mind
He told reporters in the early hours of Thursday morning he would keep an open mind. 'At the end [of the negotiations] we will judge if the objections have been removed,' he was quoted as saying by Nos tv. The VVD and CDA plan to form a minority government which will be supported by the PVV in terms of economic policy. In return, Wilders wants tough new agreements on immigration and integration and has made it clear he will continue to speak his mind about Islam.
© The Dutch News
RIGHT WING COALITION PLANS ARE BEYOND REPAIR (Netherlands, opinion)
In the flurry of activity following the June general election, the Christian Democrats were an appropriate model of modesty, writes Robin Pascoe.
1/9/2010- The CDA was hammered in June, seeing its support almost half to just 21 MPs, prompting both the party leader and chairman to resign. And acting leader Maxime Verhagen was quick to say that the party needed time to lick its wounds and come to terms with its defeat. And that meant it would take a back seat in subsequent coalition negotiations, he said. Although combination of VVD Liberals, anti-Islam PVV and CDA was the first obvious coalition choice, Verhagen was adamant. The CDA did not merit a place in a new government.
Three months
Nearly three months on and the CDA is tearing itself apart after Verhagen decided it was okay after all to join talks on forming an alliance with Geert Wilders' PVV. To get round objections to the PVV's stance on Islam, the three parties agreed to 'respect' each others' positions. But that was not good enough for a vociferous body of former ministers and other elder statesman who have been snapping at Verhagen's heels telling him to pull out.
Discipline
They've given newspaper and tv interviews and signed petitions, betraying a remarkable lack of party discipline and causing acting chairman Henk Bleker to urge them to shut up. But now it seems even Verhagen's own number two at the negotiating table Ab Klink wants to call a halt. And, insiders say, a small number of MPs are also threatening to leave the party if the talks continue - which would mean any VVD CDA PVV coalition would not have a majority in parliament anyway and making the entire exercise a waste of time.
Damage
Even if the ongoing crisis talks within the CDA end up with a consensus that the talks should continue, the damage has already been done. Support for an alliance with Wilders has been shown to be extremely fragile, which is hardly conducive to stable government. Several MPs have serious doubts and could step outside the party at any moment. Former prime ministers such as Ruud Lubbers will continue to gather newspaper headlines with their opposition. Wilders has made it quite clear that he will continue to speak his mind about Islam - whatever the CDA thinks about it. And that means the CDA's 'acceptance' of Wilders and his role in government will be called into question every time he makes a statement.
© The Dutch News
AN ALLIANCE WITH WILDERS IS A NO GO, SAYS CDA NUMBER TWO AB KLINK (Netherlands)
1/9/2010- The cabinet negotiations between the CDA, VVD and PVV were in tatters on Wednesday night following the publication of a letter from CDA negotiator Ab Klink saying he cannot be involved in a coalition with Geert Wilders. A 'political alliance with the PVV is an impassable road,' Klink says in a letter to party leader Maxime Verhagen, published by Nos tv. 'That is really the definite conclusion for me personally,' Klink says in the letter which has been published on the Nos website.
Crisis talks
On Tuesday, the CDA began crisis talks about the prospective government alliance with Geert Wilders' anti-Islam PVV. Those talks continued on an individual basis with the party's 21 MPs, including Klink, on Wednesday. In the letter, Klink writes that Wilders was planning to distance himself from the coalition partners when a new government agreement was presented to the press. 'He states he will come with a completely different story than the VVD and CDA at the presentation of the accord,' Klink wrote. 'He suggested colleagues would look the other way at that moment and predicted the leaders of the coalition partners would blush.'
Support
'No one should expect a unifying vision,' Klink wrote. And in return for his support for €18bn worth of government spending cuts, Wilders will demand much tougher immigration and integration rules, Klink says. Wilders has already made it clear he will continue to speak his mind about Islam despite his party's prospective role in propping up a minority government. Party leader Maxime Verhagen has declined to comment on the letter. 'I don't give up easily,' Nos tv quoted him as saying.
© The Dutch News
CDA CHAIRMAN URGES MEMBERS TO QUIETEN DOWN ABOUT PVV ALLIANCE (Netherlands)
30/8/2010- Christian Democrat chairman Henk Bleker has urged senior party members to stop going public with their criticism of the party's prospective alliance with Geert Wilders' anti-Islam PVV. A string of elder statement have urged the CDA to pull out of talks on forming a new government with the PVV and the VVD Liberals. 'Our former ministers and prime ministers can express their concerns but I am not happy with the way they are doing it,' Bleker told a radio programme. 'They are writing letters and looking for publicity while the party office door is wide open for debate and contact,' Bleker said. He called on CDA members to let the party return to order over the next few weeks. 'Let us not damage our party any more,' he said.
VVD
Meanwhile, elder VVD statesman Frans Weisglas has called on other party members to make their opposition to an alliance with the anti-Islam PVV known, news agency ANP reports on Monday. Weisglas, a former chairman of the lower house of parliament, has always opposed a link up with Geert Wilders' party. He says he is surprised by the lack of public opposition from other VVD members because he knows many think like he does. 'On the basis of Liberal principles alone we should have nothing to do with a party which stigmatises groups of people,' Weisglas said. 'I urge VVD members to make their feelings known to [party leader Mark] Rutte. Let your criticism be heard.'
© The Dutch News
REPORT: 100 RUSSIAN SKINHEADS ATTACK CONCERTGOERS
30/8/2010- Scores of bare-chested skinheads attacked a crowd of about 3,000 people at a rock concert in central Russia on Sunday, beating them with clubs, media reports said. Dozens of people were left bloodied and dazed in the attack, television and news agencies reported, and state news channel Rossiya-24 said a 14-year-old girl was killed at the concert in Miass, 900 miles (1,400 kilometers) east of Moscow. Fourteen ambulances were called to the scene, the channel said, citing witness accounts. The motive for the attack was not known, and authorities couldn't be reached for comment. The ITAR-Tass agency said local police had refused comment. Many of Russia's top rock acts were attending the "Tornado" rock festival, the agency said.
Russia has an ingrained neo-Nazi skinhead movement. Attacks on dark-skinned foreigners in Moscow and St. Petersburg have been relatively common in recent years. The January 2009 murder of lawyer Stanislav Markelov and journalist Anastasiya Baburova prompted a Kremlin crackdown on ultranationalists, who were blamed for the killings. In April, a Moscow court banned the far-right Slavic Union, whose Russian acronym SS intentionally mimicked that used by the Nazis' infamous paramilitary. The group was declared extremist and shut down. Then the group's leader, Dmitry Demushkin, told The Associated Press it tried to promote its far-right agenda legally and warned that the ban would enrage and embolden Russia's most radical ultranationalists.
Russia's ultranationalist movement is so deeply embedded in the country's culture that militant groups have sprouted up around Russia to fight it. Anti-racist groups regularly spearhead attacks on ultranationalists, sparking revenge assaults in an intensifying clash of ideologies. Neo-Nazi and other ultranationalist groups mushroomed in Russia after the 1991 Soviet collapse. The influx of immigrant workers and two wars with Chechen separatists triggered xenophobia and a surge in hate crimes. Racially motivated attacks, often targeting people from Caucasus and Central Asia, peaked in 2008, when 110 were killed and 487 wounded, an independent watchdog, Sova, said. The Moscow Bureau for Human Rights estimated that some 70,000 neo-Nazis were active in Russia — compared with a just few thousand in the early 1990s.
© The Associated Press
MANY MIGRANT WORKERS IN UK ARE MODERN-DAY SLAVES, SAY INVESTIGATORS (uk)
Channel 4's Dispatches says thousands of workers endure sexual, physical and psychological abuse from employers
30/8/2010- Thousands of foreign domestic workers are living as slaves in Britain, being abused sexually, physically and psychologically by employers, according to an investigation to be screened tonight. More than 15,000 migrant workers come to Britain every year to earn money to send back to their families. But according to a Channel 4 Dispatches investigation, many endure conditions that campaigners say amount to modern-day slavery. Kalayaan, a charity based in west London that helps and advises migrant domestic workers, registers around 350 new workers each year. About 20% report being physically abused or assaulted, including being burnt with irons, threatened with knives, and having boiling water thrown at them. "Two-thirds of the domestic workers we see report being psychologically abused," said Jenny Moss, a community advocate for the charity. "That means they've been threatened and humiliated, shouted at constantly and called dog, donkey, stupid, illiterate."
A similar proportion say they were not allowed out alone and have never had a day off. Nearly three-quarters say they were paid less than £50 a week.
"The first thing to understand when we're talking about slavery is that we're not using a metaphor," said Aidan McQuade from Anti-Slavery International. "Many of the instances of domestic servitude we find in this country are forced labour – a classification that includes retention of passports and wages, threat of denunciation and restriction of movement and isolation." Lobby groups and charities say that a large proportion of domestic workers are paid less than £50 a week for working 20-hour days. Others have their wages withheld completely. In some cases, the workers are young people who were trafficked over to the UK as children and forced to endure years of violence and forced labour. The programme also investigates claims that foreign diplomats are among the worst offenders. Their workers, unlike those brought in on a domestic worker visa, cannot change their employer and face being homeless or being deported if they escape. The Dispatches study says it is also extremely difficult to prosecute diplomats for treating their workers as slaves.
Accurate figures are hard to establish because the abuse happens behind closed doors. But campaigners say that every year, hundreds of domestic workers run away from employees they claim have mistreated them. Marissa Begonia left three young children in the Philippines when she came to Britain as a domestic worker 16 years ago. Now the head of Justice 4 Domestic Workers, a new campaigning organisation run by and for migrant workers, Begonia says most of their clients are forced to work abroad, without ever seeing their families, because of extreme poverty in their home countries. "It's a matter of life and death," said Begonia. "You have two choices only: you watch your children die slowly, starving, or you leave them and come to the UK to work to make sure your children survive." The Metropolitan police specialised crime unit specifically targets forced labour, including domestic workers. "We've now got 10 cases of domestic servitude we are investigating," said detective chief superintendent Richard Martin, who heads the unit. "Some victims are being chained to the kitchen sink, working seven days a week, 20 hours a day, for little or no pay. We have had cases of workers being forced to eat scraps off the table, so some of them are not even fed properly, and are assaulted and abused. We've had cases where women have been raped."
Children are also being bought to the UK to work in conditions of slavery. Christina was trafficked from Nigeria to London when she was just 12 years old. She says the woman in charge of her was of Nigerian origin, but worked as a British civil servant first with the Home Office and then Customs and Excise. "I got beaten up all the time but I had no choice: I had nowhere to go," said Christina, who worked for the woman for five years, until she escaped in 2005. "She hit me with a frying pan and with a belt, so many, many times. It was horrible. I wanted to die."
From abuse to justice
Patience is a domestic worker from west Africa, whose former boss was a London solicitor. She says that for almost three years she worked 120 hours a week for little money. "I was treated like a slave, not allowed to go out, to make friends … she'd pinch me, slap me. I didn't have anyone to talk to." A neighbour helped Patience escape, but then, she says, the police did not believe her. She finally won her case at an employment tribunal and took action against the police, who reopened the investigation. The solicitor was convicted of assault.
© The Guardian
THE FAR-RIGHT AS AN ANTI-LIBERAL PENDULUM IN BRITAIN
30/8/2010- On Saturday, August 28, a demonstration, organized by a far-right group named English Defense League (EDL) in a northern English town of Bradford resulted in intense clashes with the police and with a counter-demonstration led by anti-racist groups and the local Asian diaspora, mainly of Pakistani origin. The two groups, divided by a strong police force, threw bottles and stones at each other and at the police. As a result, 13 members of the far-right EDL were detained by the police. The main accusation against them was that the EDL was granted a right to hold a ‘static’ protest, but not a public march. It is doubtful whether a demonstration of some 700 supporters of a rather marginal political group could be worth of mentioning. Bur actually, the event in Bradford raises a lot of questions, which the dominant British (as well as European, as a whole) establishment would like to avoid.
First, the choice of Bradford, a townlet in Northern England with a population of little more than 200,000 people was not accidental. The fact is that this small town has a huge Asian, namely Pakistani, i.e. Muslim diaspora. And therefore it has for a long time been a target for far-right demonstrations under the slogans of ‘defending the British identity’. A similar demonstration occurred last year, and riots of 2001 virtually tore the town apart. This time, fearing a repetition of 2001, about 10,000 local residents signed a petition demanding a ban on the planned far-right demonstration under anti-Muslim slogans. The local authorities banned the march, but the ban did not prevent the EDL supporters from coming in bus-loads to Bradford for participating in the action.
Second question arises if we connect the demonstration in Bradford with the last year’s elections to the European Parliament. It is worth mentioning that in June 2009, for the first time ever, two candidates from the far-right British National Party (BNP) become European MPs. And that was far from being a single accident in the all-European trend of nationalist and isolationist movements gaining momentum. In fact, the wave has swept over all of Europe, with a wide spectrum of anti-immigrant, nationalistic and xenophobic elements showing much better results in comparison with the previous years and arriving at mainstream politics from what previously seemed just a marginal political outskirt.
Now, the nationalist parties that have asserted themselves as a part of mainstream may say as much as they will that they do not have anything to do with the events in Bradford. Well, maybe legally they don’t – the EDL is quite new phenomenon in British politics, and at the moment there is no solid ground to state that it is organizationally linked with the BNP. But if we look at the public statements made by BNP leaders in 2009, we could see a clear cross-reference between the slogans of the Bradford demonstration and the BNP program mottos. As BNP leader Nick Griffin said a year ago, "this (Britain. – B.V.) is a Christian country and Islam is not welcome, because Islam and Christianity, Islam and democracy, Islam and women's rights do not mix.” Is there ground to wonder why the demonstration in Bradford was held under anti-Islamic slogans?
So, the spiritual and ideological roots of the far-right demonstration in Bradford seem to be very clear. But there still remains a question whether the anti-immigrant trend is a one-way traffic. Remember that the strict measures against public demonstration of Muslim identity (like wearing head-scarves in public places) in France have led to a number of clashes initiated by French Muslims, but actually drove the French far-right to oblivion. At the same time, the more liberal stance of other European, as well as North American government which allow immigrants not only to settle in the country, but also to continue abiding their national and religious laws, often in a violation of European (i.e. Christian) rules and values, has resulted in a steep rise of far-right sentiments and has brought to the frontline of mainstream politics a number of far-right parties which were virtually unknown some ten years ago (Austria, the Netherlands are just among most striking examples).
As for Britain, it has always been rather skeptical of the all-European integration. But, at the same time, has followed the general liberal guidelines in its immigration policies. Isn’t it the time to gather stones scattered away in the previous years?
© The Moscow Times
FOOTBALL HOOLIGANS TO LAUNCH 'EUROPEAN DEFENCE LEAGUE' IN AMSTERDAM
31/8/2010- The English Defence League (EDL), the anti-Muslim 'street army' composed largely of football hooligans that burst onto the front pages of British newspapers in the last year as a result of its often violent protests, is to hold a rally in Amsterdam in October, EUobserver has learnt. The EDL is to demonstrate in support of Geert Wilders, the Dutch anti-immigrant firebrand, with a recently launched French Defence League and Dutch Defence League, modelled on the English group, to join them along with other anti-Islamic militants from across Europe. Formed in 2009, the EDL has held over a dozen often rowdy marches and demonstrations in cities across Britain over the last year. Protests that attracted only a couple hundred militants at the end of last year are now bringing thousands out. On Saturday (28 August) a rally in Bradford, West Yorkshire, home to the second-largest community of south Asians in the UK, turned ugly when members clashed with police and pelted anti-racist activists with bricks, bottles and smoke bombs. Thirteen were arrested, according to media reports.
Anti-racist watchdogs call the EDL one of the most worrying developments on the far-right scene in the UK since the 1970s and the days of the National Front, an openly white supremacist and neo-Nazi political party. The group now appears to be meeting with some success in exporting its novel brand of nativism to the continent, a combination of anti-Muslim vitriol, agressive street marches and attempts to rope in football hooligan gangs by holding rallies around the same time as matches. Graeme Atkinson, European editor of Searchlight magazine, a UK anti-fascist journal, says that the group is "tapping into a widespread and growing Islamophobia in society," in a way that other far-right groups, weighed down with explicitly fascist iconography and discourse, have not been able to. He warns against panic regarding the new group, but says authorities should not be blind to the growth of such moevements, describing the new formation as "an utterly socially divisive, politically toxic ideology."
New kind of far-right outfit
Distinct from the traditional far right, the EDL, which originally grew out of the "football casual" subculture, claims to be multi-ethnic, to target "jihadism" rather than Muslims, and employs a rhetoric more in keeping with the fringes of neo-conservative anti-Islamism than the nostalgia for Nazism of other far-right formations. The group's mission statement declares that anyone is welcome, so long as they are "integrated:" "We are non-racist/fascist and anyone is welcome if they want to live under English values and fully integrate into our way of life." "English Defence League members recognise that this threat is one that must be stopped at all costs. Our Christian, Jewish, Sikh, and Hindu friends all have tales to tell with regard to Islamic Imperialism," the group's "Exposing the myths" page reads. One of its leaders is Guramit Singh, a Sikh born in Britain, and it says it is, like Mr Wilders, strongly pro-Israel and maintains both Jewish and LGBT "divisions" while backing a ban on the building of mosques and seeking the burqa to be outlawed.
Its LGBT wing was set up after the Dutchman visited the UK in March when he had been invited to show his short anti-Islam film, Fitna, in the House of Lords. At a demonstration in Bolton in March, a man held up a pink triangle alongside anti-Islam placards and banners. Its LGBT division has 107 members at the time of writing. In what would normally be anathema to traditional, antisemitic far-right outfits, the group has taken to brandishing the Israeli flag at rallies and, according to the Jewish Chronicle, its Jewish division had signed up hundreds of members on its Facebook page until the page was recently deleted, though Jewish leaders in the UK actively discourage young people from joining, with the Board of Deputies of British Jews describing the organisation as "built on a foundation of Islamophobia and hatred which we reject entirely."
Links to BNP, Swedish Democrats
As with other formations in Europe that far-right monitoring organisations describe as "far-right-lite," notably Mr Wilders, Denmark's People's Party and the late Pim Fortuyn, some in the EDL try to distance themselves from, in the words of the group's website, the "Adolf-worhipping neanderthals." But these same monitors say that while the EDL is not an outright "fascist" or neo-Nazi formation, links with the traditional far right remain, with many leaders being ex-members of the British National Party. Its leader, Tommy Robinson, is an ex-BNP activist. One of the organisation's main strategists is 45-year-old IT consultant Alan Lake, who has advised the far-right Swedish Democrats on tactics.
Meanwhile, at every demonstration but two in the last year, dozens have been arrested. The group's marches regularly involve anti-Muslim sloganeering and frequently descend into violence. At a rally in Dudley in July, a Hindu Temple was attacked as well as a number of shops, restaurants, cars and homes. Figures for the size of the organisation and its supporters are hard to pin down and no figures have emerged for the new continental franchises. The group claims it has "thousands" of supporters and has spawned a Scottish Defence League and a Welsh Defence League, both of which have held rallies in their respective countries, as well as an Ulster Defence League. Police meanwhile reckoned that 1,500 to 2,000 EDL demonstrators marched in Newcastle upon Tyne in May this year, one of its bigger rallies.
Ground Zero 'Mosque'
The EDL has received endorsements from Robert Spencer and Pamela Geller, two of the main agitators behind the right-wing movement opposed to a Muslim community centre being built two blocks away from the site of Al Qaeda's attacks on New York in 2001, the so-called Ground Zero Mosque. Geert Wilders, for his part, is scheduled to speak at a protest in Manhattan on 11 September this year by Stop Islamization of America (SIOA) against the building of the community centre. Although Mr Wilders is not thought to have direct links with the EDL, SIOA is an affiliate organisation of Stop Islamisation of Europe (SIOE), which has marched alongside the English hooligan movement. SIOE itself was founded in 2007 by Anders Gravers, previously the leader of a tiny Danish party called Stop the Islamisation of Denmark (Stop Islamiseringen af Danmark), in reaction to the Jyllands-Posten Mohammed cartoon controversy. On 11 September 2007, the SIOE staged a demonstration in Brussels.
Other affiliate organisations have been created in 10 European countries including Denmark, Russia, Finland, France, Germany, Norway, Poland, Romania, and Sweden and the United States of America. Mr Gravers is reportedly on friendly terms with Mr Wilders, is his "friend" on Facebook and will be speaking alongside him at the anti-Mosque rally in New York. The demonstration in Amsterdam is due to take place on 30 October, according to the EDL website. Mr Wilders heads to court at the end of next month on charges of inciting racism. The case begins 5 October, with a verdict expected 2 November. Joining them there will be members of the recently formed Dutch Defence League' and French Defence League, both modelled on the EDL. The latter draws its members from the ranks of far-right supporters of the Paris Saint Germain football club, known in France for long harbouring a far-right element among the club's supporters, although elsewhere on the continent, according to EDL spokesman Steve Simmons, not all the defence-league-linked groups have their origins in football hooliganism.
Paris Saint Germain supporters
The French Defence League, which employs both an anglophone version of its name and "Ligue Francaise de Defense," founded in May and more latterly takes the name Ligue 732, after a group of Paris Saint Germain supporters, that, according the outfit, "tries to unify all French Casuals, Ultras and French Fans to fight against Radical Islam." The 732 figure references the year that the French king Charles the Hammer, the grandfather of Charlemagne, won a victory at the Battle of Tours halting Islamic expansion in western Europe. Mr Simmons told EUobserver that militants from the "anti-Jihad movement" in Germany, Belgium, Switzerland and "other European states" will join them in Amsterdam for the launch of what is termed the "European Defence League" or, alternately, the much cuddlier "European Friendship Initiative."
"I would also like to take this opportunity to announce a new demonstration that is to take the English Defence League global," Tommy Robinson, the pseudonym of the group's leader, Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, a former member of the BNP, wrote on the EDL website in a missive in July. "You may be aware that the great man Geert Wilders is in court for race hate charges," he continued. "The EDL has been in contact with our European brothers and sisters and we have decided that on Saturday, 30 October the European Defence League will be demonstrating in Amsterdam in support of Geert. We hope that all of you will be able to join us for this, what promises to be a landmark demonstration for the future of the defence leagues." "We feel that freedom of speech is being eroded and a lot of appeasing of radical muslims and Islam in general. Geert has the courage to take this on and we want to support him," the group's spokesman, Steve Simmons, told EUobserver.
Counter-Jihad conferences
In June this year, the EDL sent two representatives to Counter-Jihad 2010 - a conference in Zurich held by the International Civil Liberties Alliance, which does not focus on civil liberties at all but is instead an anti-Muslim movement. It was the fourth such pan-European conference in as many years. The Zurich conference may have been where the idea for a European Defence League originated. According to an EDL report back from the meeting, which attracted "counter-Jihad" activists from Denmark, Sweden, France, Germany, Norway, Austria, Switzerland, the UK and the US, the conference "built on the important work that had already been done as well as doing the groundwork for new initiatives and the inclusion of new organisations and activists in the work of the global counter jihad."
Mr Simmons for his part in a slight detour from the announcement of Mr Robinson, told EUobserver that the Amsterdam rally will see the launch of the "European Friendship Initiative," and that a "European Defence League" will be just part of this broader alliance of "Defence-League"-branded movements. He said that talks are ongoing with in particular German, Dutch, Belgian and French groups ahead of the Amsterdam demonstration. Already, in April this year, the EDL took part in a small pro-Wilders rally of 100 people in Berlin outside the Dutch embassy, organised by the Burger Bewegung Pax Europa (Pax Europa Citizens' Movement). He also explained why the EDL and allied groups are heading to the Netherlands: "We feel that freedom of speech is being eroded and there is a lot of appeasing of radical muslims and Islam in general. Geert has the courage to take this on and we want to support him."
He downplayed the group's rowdy reputation: "We want to turn it into a sort of celebration rather than a protest, with food, drink and entertainment." He claimed that off-duty serving UK, Dutch and German soldiers which had joined "Armed Forces Unite," (which grew out of "Armed Forces Defence League," a Facebook group for EDL-supporting soldiers and sailors) have offered to help Dutch police to steward the event. The city of Amsterdam government for its part is aware of the plans for a demonstration and is tracking developments, but will not discuss details of preparations due to "security considerations." In Bradford over the weekend, in what was a massive police operation, some 1,600 officers from 13 forces took part.
© The EUobserver
BRADFORD RIGHT-WING DEMO: FULL LIST OF CHARGES (uk)
30/8/2010- Two men were charged with offences today after Saturday's controversial city centre demonstration in Bradford by far-right group the English Defence League. A total of 14 men were detained on suspicion of a range of offences during and after the protest, which was attended by fewer than 1,000 EDL supporters. West Yorkshire Police said two men have been charged and eight others have been released on bail pending further inquiries. One man has been released without charge and three have been given fixed penalty notices. A 37-year-old Bradford man was charged with possessing an offensive weapon and bailed to appear in court on September 8. A 23-year-old Walsall man was charged with a public order offence and bailed to appear in court on December 6. During the demonstration, bottles, cans, stones and three smoke bombs were thrown at opponents gathered nearby. Nearly 100 supporters of the far-right group climbed over a temporary 8ft barricade - aimed at keeping them inside the city's Urban Gardens - to get on to neighbouring waste ground from where they threw missiles at police. As the skirmishes were breaking out, nearly 300 people gathered for an alternative event hosted by Unite Against Fascism/We Are Bradford about half a mile away at Crown Court Plaza. In the days before the rally, Bradford community leaders called for calm, fearing demonstrations could provoke a violent reaction to rival the 2001 Bradford riots. Initially the EDL intended to march in Bradford with a planned protest by Unite Against Fascism on the same day. A high-profile campaign was started to stop the EDL march and Home Secretary Theresa May eventually authorised a ban on any public processions over the August Bank Holiday weekend.
West Yorkshire Police said the 14 people arrested were dealt with in the following ways:
# A 37-year-old Bradford man was arrested for possessing an offensive weapon. He has been charged with the offence and bailed to appear at Bradford Magistrates Court on September 8;
# A 32-year-old Bradford man was arrested for assaulting a police officer. He has been interviewed and released without being charged;
# A 23-year-old Walsall man was arrested and charged with an offence under Section 4a of the Public Order Act. He has been bailed to appear at Leeds Magistrates' Court on December 6;
# A 24-year-old Bradford man was arrested under Section 5 of the Public Order Act. He has been bailed pending further inquiries;
# A 42-year-old Wolverhampton man was arrested under Section 5 of the Public Order Act. He was released after the event and issued with a fixed penalty notice for disorder;
# Two men aged 22 and 20 along with two youths aged 16 and 15, all from Bradford, were arrested on suspicion of wounding after an incident in which a stone hit a man on the head causing a slight injury. All four have been released on bail pending further inquiries;
# A 24-year-old Wakefield man was arrested under Section 4a of the Public Order Act and has been given police bail pending further inquiries;
# A 23-year-old man from Birmingham was arrested under Section 5 of the Public Order Act. He was released after the event and was issued with a fixed penalty notice for disorder;
# A 24-year-old man from Halifax was arrested under Section 5 of the Public Order Act. He was released after the event and was issued with a penalty notice for disorder;
# An 18-year-old man from Bradford was arrested on suspicion of violent disorder following alleged missile throwing. He has been released on bail pending further inquiries;
# A 24-year-old Bradford man was arrested in relation to two alleged assaults and also criminal damage after a missile was thrown at a coach on the M62. He has been bailed pending further inquiries.
© The Yorkshire Post
N.Y. ANTI-MOSQUE LEADER DEFENDS GROUP THAT CLASHED WITH BRITISH POLICE (usa)
She says nothing wrong with goals of right-wing, anti-Muslim activists.
30/8/2010- A leader in the movement protesting plans to build an Islamic cultural center two blocks from Ground Zero in lower Manhattan is defending the actions of a right-wing, anti-Muslim group that was involved in violent clashes with British riot police over the weekend. Pamela Geller is a conservative blogger, activist, and a principal organizer of Stop Islamization of America (SIOA), which seeks to block construction of the proposed center. The group is sponsoring a protest rally at the site on the 2010 anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, a week from Saturday. In a posting on her Atlas Shrugs blog, Geller expresses sympathy for the goals and actions of the English Defense League (EDL), a far-right group implicated in violent clashes with police during an anti-Islamic demonstration last Saturday in the northern English city of Bradford. "The stated goal of the EDL is to oppose militant Islam and the sharia," Geller writes. "What's wrong with that? Everything to the PC, leftist slaves in the media and the government." In an e-mail to Declassified, Geller affirmed her support for the EDL and defended the group's actions in Bradford, which, with its nearby sister city of Leeds, has a substantial Muslim population, many of Pakistani extraction.
Geller wrote: "The media has been defamatory and libelous towards any and all counter jihad activists, including the EDL, which far from being neo-Nazi and racist, is pro-Israel and has Sikh and other non-white members and spokesmen. The EDL's own explanation of what happened in Bradford is here. As you can see from that statement, a group of Islamic supremacists and Communists actually began the violence by throwing rocks at EDL members. White supremacists at the demonstration did not represent the EDL, and EDL members actually removed them from the demonstration." British media reports—including accounts from outlets known for their conservative political slants—and official police statements on the Bradford clashes do not offer much support for, and in some cases contradict, the account offered by the EDL. In an official chronology of last Saturday's events posted on the Web site of the West Yorkshire Police, the first reference to violence is a 2:30 p.m. entry that says: "Missiles have been thrown in the area around the Bradford Urban Gardens, however, this has been contained and the police are utilising their resources to manage the current situation."
Bradford Urban Gardens is the location at which U.K. authorities had allowed the EDL to stage its rally; a left-wing counterdemonstration was booked a half mile away. (The EDL had wanted to conduct a march through the city, but authorities denied permission.) A report from The Daily Telegraph, a newspaper known for its conservative sympathies, says violence broke out "as chanting EDL supporters began throwing missiles towards Asian youngsters and anti-fascist activists who had been taunting them with shouts of 'Nazi scum off our streets.' " The Telegraph said that as EDL protesters got off buses that had taken them to the site, they shouted slogans at locals, including "Allah-Pedophile," "We want our country back," and "We love the floods"—a reference, the paper said, to flooding that's now devastating much of Pakistan. The Daily Maill, a newspaper perhaps even more conservative thanThe Telegraph, also reported on the violence. The paper's Web site carries photos of what it says are EDL protesters, with one caption reading, "Crossing the line: EDL supporters in hats, hoods and balaclavas hurl missiles at police in Bradford today."
By her own account, Geller's support of the EDL and other anti-Muslim groups in the U.K. has put her at odds with what are considered mainstream groups representing Britain's Jewish community. In an interview with the conservative FrontPage Magazine Web site, Geller claims that rabbis and prominent Jewish groups in Britain had urged Jews to boycott a demonstration that a group called Stop the Islamization of Europe (SIOE) organized last December to protest plans to build a mosque in the North London neighborhood of Harrow. According to Geller, the Community Security Trust, which keeps watch on extremist and anti-Semitic activities in the U.K., much like the Anti-Defamation League does in the U.S., urged Jews not to support the SIOE protest, as did unnamed rabbis who said the protest's "only purpose" was "to spread hatred and fear." Geller accused U.K. Jewish groups like the CST of "aiding and abetting Islamic jihad and Islamic anti-Semitism." A person familiar with the views of British Jewish leaders, who asked for anonymity when discussing sensitive information, said mainstream Jewish groups regarded the English Defense League as "politicized football hooligans."
In an e-mail to Declassified, Geller acknowledged that some epithets that The Telegraph attributed to EDL protesters in Bradford were "in bad taste, although in saying that I am not accepting the accuracy of The Telegraph account, and also understand that words said in anger are not always words the speakers would endorse in moments of reflection." In a move apparently designed to avoid such embarrassments at her group's upcoming 9/11 event, she said, "We have already published several notices warning that inflammatory signs will be removed." Geller said the EDL itself acknowledged that there may have been neo-Nazi thugs among its ranks: "The left and real neo-Nazis frequently attempt to infiltrate EDL rallies in order to discredit the EDL. This is amply documented. Both have an interest in seeing the EDL fail: the left so that there will be no serious resistance to its agenda, and the neo-Nazis so that there exists no respectable alternative to them in opposing the British elite, and also because the neo-Nazis have generally aligned with the Islamic jihad that the EDL resists." She added that while she would not assert that the EDL "can do no wrong, I just refuse to accept accounts of EDL misdeeds from sources that have been proven in the past to have lied about EDL activities."
© Newsweek
FAR-RIGHT PROTESTERS CLASH WITH POLICE IN UK
28/8/2010- A right-wing group that opposes what it calls the spread of Islam in Britain clashed with riot police in northern England on Saturday, throwing bottles, rocks and a smoke bomb at authorities. The demonstration by the English Defense League occurred in Bradford, a city with one of the country's largest Pakistani and Muslim communities. The clashes began as the police kept about 700 English Defense League protesters apart from a leftist group that had called a counter-demonstration nearby. One English Defense League protester was taken away with a leg injury and five people were arrested, police said. Bradford saw some of the U.K.'s worst riots in 2001, when racial tension between whites and South Asian immigrants resulted in looting, arson, and attacks on immigrant-owned businesses. More than 180 people were charged with rioting in that incident. The city had braced for similar unrest Saturday because the English Defense League had predicted that thousands of its supporters would descend on the city. But riot police, some riding horses, outnumbered the activists, penning them in with barricades to keep them away from the counter-demonstration by United Against Fascism. The two opposing groups had clashed during similar rallies last year in northern English cities such as Leeds and Manchester. The English Defense League, which insists it is a peaceful organization, opposes what it calls the spread of Islam, Sharia law and Islamic extremism in England. Its opponents say the group is racist and stages violent protests.
© The Associated Press
TEN-POINT PLAN FOR COMBATING HATE CRIME
Human Rights First calls on all governments to implement the following Ten-Point Plan for combating violent hate crimes:
1. Acknowledge and condemn violent hate crimes whenever they occur. Senior government leaders should send immediate, strong, public, and consistent messages that violent crimes which appear to be motivated by prejudice and intolerance will be investigated thoroughly and prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
2. Enact laws that expressly address hate crimes. Recognizing the particular harm caused by violent hate crimes, governments should enact laws that establish specific offenses or provide enhanced penalties for violent crimes committed because of the victim's race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, mental and physical disabilities, or other similar status.
3. Strengthen enforcement and prosecute offenders. Governments should ensure that those responsible for hate crimes are held accountable under the law, that the enforcement of hate crime laws is a priority for the criminal justice system, and that the record of their enforcement is well documented and publicized.
4. Provide adequate instructions and resources to law enforcement bodies. Governments should ensure that police and investigators-as the first responders in cases of violent crime-are specifically instructed and have the necessary procedures, resources and training to identify, investigate and register bias motives before the courts, and that prosecutors have been trained to bring evidence of bias motivations and apply the legal measures required to prosecute hate crimes.
5. Undertake parliamentary, inter-agency or other special inquiries into the problem of hate crimes. Such public, official inquiries should encourage public debate, investigate ways to better respond to hate crimes, and seek creative ways to address the roots of intolerance and discrimination through education and other means.
6. Monitor and report on hate crimes. Governments should maintain official systems of monitoring and public reporting to provide accurate data for informed policy decisions to combat violent hate crimes. Such systems should include anonymous and disaggregated information on bias motivations and/or victim groups, and should monitor incidents and offenses, as well as prosecutions. Governments should consider establishing third party complaint procedures to encourage greater reporting of hate crimes and conducting periodic hate crime victimization surveys to monitor underreporting by victims and underrecording by police.
7. Create and strengthen antidiscrimination bodies. Official antidiscrimination and human rights bodies should have the authority to address hate crimes through monitoring, reporting, and assistance to victims.
8. Reach out to community groups. Governments should conduct outreach and education efforts to communities and civil society groups to reduce fear and assist victims, advance police-community relations, encourage improved reporting of hate crimes to the police and improve the quality of data collection by law enforcement bodies.
9. Speak out against official intolerance and bigotry. Freedom of speech allows considerable latitude for offensive and hateful speech, but public figures should be held to a higher standard. Members of parliament and local government leaders should be held politically accountable for bigoted words that encourage discrimination and violence and create a climate of fear for minorities.
10. Encourage international cooperation on hate crimes. Governments should support and strengthen the mandates of intergovernmental organizations that are addressing discrimination-like the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance, and the Fundamental Rights Agency-including by encouraging such organizations to raise the capacity of and train police, prosecutors, and judges, as well as other official bodies and civil society groups to combat violent hate crimes. Governments should also provide a detailed accounting on the incidence and nature of hate crimes to these bodies in accordance with relevant commitments.
© Human Rights First
SWEDEN'S FAR-RIGHT FURIOUS: 'DEMOCRACY IN DANGER'
Swedish media refused to air anti-immigration ad campaign.
30/8/2010- The small far-right Sweden Democrats party said Monday a second media outlet had refused to air its anti-immigration ad campaign, insisting it was being censored and Swedish democracy was in danger. "That media representatives in this way would take on the role as censors and filter the message voters receive before the election is nothing less than a threat to democracy," Sweden Democrat chief Jimmie Åkesson said in a statement. The party, which according to recent polls could enter parliament for the first time after upcoming September 19 elections, complained last week that private broadcaster TV4 had refused to air its advert and said Monday private radio station SBS had also backed out of a deal to broadcast a radio version. The television advert shows a race between an elderly woman and several women in burqas pushing prams with a slogan promising to safeguard pension funding at the expense of immigration. The radio version meanwhile featured the same ad's slogan, a female voice telling voters that "on September 19, you can choose between hitting the breaks on immigration instead of hitting the breaks on pensions. Vote for the Sweden Democrats."
SBS did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but on Friday TV4 told AFP it had decided not to broadcast the advert because it considered it breached Swedish laws prohibiting messages containing hate grounded on race and religion. "In this case it is against religion," TV4 communications director Gunnar Gidefeldt said. Sweden Democrat spokesman Erik Almquist rejected the idea that the ad campaign was illegal, and said the party was working on a new advert with a similar theme that it expected TV4 to broadcast. "It would be ridiculous if they were to say the new film was illegal, so we expect it to go through," he told AFP. According to a survey published Sunday, the Sweden Democrats were polling at 4.6 percent of the vote, enough to enter parliament. If they manage to pass the 4.0-percent threshold for the first time, political analysts believe the party could be in a powerful position with the two main blocs on course to split the vote.
© The Swedish Wire
SWEDEN DEMOCRATS ASK LEGAL OFFICIAL TO RULE ON AD
The far-right Sweden Democrats have submitted their own election film for review by one of the country's top legal officials after TV4 refused to broadcast the advert on grounds that it promoted religious hatred.
28/8/2010- The party, which could win its first ever parliamentary seats in next month's general election, disputes TV4's interpretation of the advert and wants the Chancellor of Justice to rule on whether the film represents a form of hate speech. The half-minute advert shows a race in which an elderly woman with a walker is chased by a group of burqa-clad women pushing prams with a slogan promising to safeguard pension funding at the expense of immigration. The party wanted to pay the channel 1.5 million kronor ($201,240) to run the ad. As an alarm-like sound plays in the background, a voiceover says, "All politics are about priorities - now you have a choice." The clip promotes the Sweden Democrats' demand that, like other parties, pensioners' taxes be cut to the same levels of wage earners. However, they claim their plans would be funded by reducing immigration.
On its website, the party claimed that the film would be shown on TV4, TV4 Fakta and TV4 Sport from September 6th to 17th, but the network changed its mind after viewing the advert. "We decided not to broadcast it," Gunnar Gidefeldt, communications director for TV4, told AFP. Swedish law on freedom of expression prohibits messages that contain hate grounded on race and religion, said Gidefeldt. "In this case, it is against religion," he said. According to party press secretary Erik Almqvist, the ad does not violate Swedish law. The party has screened the clip for lawyers, who said that it does not break the law against inciting racial hatred. "The conflict we see as a result of mass immigration is not related to the person's origin, but rather a conflict of values, as far as we can see," said Almqvist in reference to the burqa-clad women in the video. TV4 CEO Jan Scherman disagreed.
"The film is contrary to the democracy clause in the Radio and Television Act and also against democracy clauses which the Sweden Democrats, among others, have adopted for the equality of all people, regardless of whether it is the European Convention or the UN Charter," he said. "The film is also against the constitution act on freedom of speech that prohibits hate speech," Scherman added. Per Hultmangård, a lawyer at the Swedish Media Publishers' Association (Tidningsutvgivarna), came to a different conclusion. He does not see how the video would violate the law. "I cannot see how this would be hate speech," he told news agency TT. "This is an election ad. The scope is wide for what one can say. They simply play on people's fears. Legally, it is within the allowable framework." However, Scherman stood by his position and referred to an EU directive that is the basis for the wording of the Broadcasting and Television Act. "The directive prohibits incitement of hatred according to race, sex or religion, which supports my decision," he said.
"It is quite clear to me as the editor responsible that those who watch the clip, together with the text, images and sound, very clearly see a group portrayed as intimidating and aggressive. The group is very easily identifiable, belonging to a religion, dressed in a certain way and attacking another group," he added. According to Scherman, that group is the Muslims. "There are probably lawyers and press experts who disagree on this," he said. "It is for TV4 and I to make an independent decision based on our knowledge, experience and perception of the law. It is not possible, even if one gets advice and opinions, to refer to them when making a editorial decision. It must be based on the conclusion that we and I have come to."
The Sweden Democrats could play kingmaker in the election on September 19th, which is up for grabs between the two coalitions. According to a survey from last Friday, just a month ahead of voting, the party was polling at 3.6 percent of the vote, just shy of the minimum of 4 percent that is required to enter Sweden's parliament, the Riksdag. If they can reach this threshold for the first time, political analysts believe the party could be in a powerful position with the two main blocs on course to split the vote.
© The Local - Sweden
TURKISH LEADER CALLS ON BERLIN TO SACK CENTRAL BANK OFFICIAL OVER RACISM (Germany)
A leader of Germany's Turkish community has urged Chancellor Angela Merkel to fire the Bundesbank's controversial board member Thilo Sarrazin over comments that Muslims are undermining German society.
28/8/2010- Chairman of Germany's Turkish Federation, Kenan Kolat, called for central bank board member Thilo Sarrazin to be removed from his post after fresh comments criticizing Muslims in Germany. "I am calling upon the government to begin a procedure to remove Thilo Sarrazin from the board of the central bank," Kolat told the German daily newspaper Frankfurter Rundschau on Saturday, August 28. In his book "Deutschland schafft sich ab" ("Germany does away with itself"), Sarrazin claims that members of Germany's Muslim community pose a danger to German society. Sarrazin, a member of the Social Democrats (SPD) and Berlin's former finance chief, was reported in June as saying that members of the Turkish and Arab community were making Germany "more stupid." With his book, Kolat said, Sarrazin had overstepped a boundary. "It is the climax of a new intellectual racism and it damages Germany's reputation abroad," Kolat said.
High birth-rates
In a serialization of the forthcoming book in the German popular daily newspaper Bild, Sarrazin said that Germany's Muslim community had profited from social welfare payments far more than they contributed, and that higher birth-rates among immigrants could lead to the Muslim population overtaking the "indigenous" one in terms of numbers. Merkel's chief spokesman Steffen Seibert said on Wednesday that many people would find the remarks "offensive" and "defamatory," adding that the chancellor was concerned. Members of the SPD have distanced themselves from Sarrazin's comments, while Germany's Green and Left parties have called for his removal from the central bank's board. A Bundesbank spokesman said that Sarrazin's latest remarks were personal opinions, unconnected with his role on the board.
Blanket generalizations
Lower Saxony's minister of social affairs, Ayguel Oezkan, Germany's first-ever female Muslim minister, accused Sarrazin of doing damage to the Muslim community with blanket generalizations. "There are a vast number of hard-working immigrants," she told the weekly German newspaper Bild am Sonntag ahead of its publication on Sunday. "They deserve respect, not malice." "All of those who are involved in society, those who encourage their children, who learn German, who work and pay taxes and those who, as entrepreneurs, provide jobs – all of them deserve respect." In June, 65-year-old Sarrazin was reported as saying that Germany was "becoming on average more stupid" because immigrants were poorly educated.
'Distorted image, half-truths'
Maria Boehmer, the government's commissioner for integration, accused Sarrazin of giving "a distorted image of integration in Germany" that did not bear up to academic scrutiny. "In his comments, he states only half truths," she told Bild am Sonntag. "It is indisputable that, in education, there are currently a lot of immigrants with a lot of catching up to do. It does not take Sarrazin's comments to establish that." In a lengthy interview with weekly newspaper Die Zeit, Sarrazin defended himself against the charge he was encouraging racism. "I am not a racist," he told the newspaper. "The book addresses cultural divisions, not ethnic ones." Last year, Sarrazin caused a storm by claiming that most of Berlin's Arab and Turkish immigrants had no useful function "apart from fruit and vegetable trading." As a result, the central bank stripped Sarrazin of some of his duties.
© The Deutsche Welle
ADL'S ABE FOXMAN DENOUNCES ANTI-MOSQUE RALLY AS 'UN-AMERICAN'
Adam Serwer of the American Prospect is guest blogging on The Plum Line this week.
1/9/2010- Earlier this week, the Sept. 11 victims' families group "Where to Turn" sent out a letter expressing opposition to a planned Sept. 11, 2010 protest of the proposed Islamic community center near Ground Zero. "Such activities... disrespect the memories of our loved ones on this sacred day at this sacred site," read the letter, which was signed by the group's founder, Dennis McKeon, and posted on Politico. Today, I spoke with Anti-Defamation League director Abe Foxman, who said he agreed with "Where to Turn" that the rally shouldn't take place. Among those slated to appear is Dutch MP Geert Wilders, whom the ADL has previously criticized for anti-Muslim bigotry. Foxman called the planned rally, and the recent incidents of anti-Muslim bigotry across the country, "un-American."
On the rally:
I would agree with [Where to Turn], this is not a place for political demonstrations, for advocacy, especially on 9/11. This is a place for memory, for families to be together, to memorialize their loved ones, [to have] a moment of reflection and introspection. For people with political agendas to use the place and the moment for their own interests and their own platforms is desecrating the memory and very sad. Especially if some of the families of the victims are asking, their view should be taken seriously and respected.
Foxman had some harsh words regarding the presence of Wilders, as well as for conservative blogger Pamela Geller and her group Stop Islamization of America, which is organizing the protest:
[Wilders] is a bigot, he's an anti-Muslim bigot, and one of the demonstrations being called for is being headed by someone who has an anti-Muslim agenda, often under the guise of fighting 'radical Islam.' The group vilifies Islamic faith and is engaged in [claiming] there's a conspiracy to destroy American values, which is nonsense. The organizer in fact has stated that part of her agenda is to help garner support for Wilders, who is a bigot, who has a long record of anti-Muslim bigotry.
Foxman also said he was concerned about other instances of anti-Muslim incidents around the country:
The debate surrounding the Ground Zero mosque has surfaced, first, a campaign which is in many places directed against building mosques, and it also has focused attention on the anti-Muslim bigotry that exists in this country. It's not new. It has been there. Part of the landscape, unfortunately, of America is that we're not immune to bigotry, to racism, to anti-Semitism. And part of what's out there is a bigotry to immigrants. Jews experienced it, Irish experienced it. Part of our history is there was opposition to building Catholic churches and Jewish synagogues. Now there's opposition to build mosques, and there is, in our landscape, bigotry. Some of it is beneath the surface, and some of it in moments of crisis explodes. That's what we're seeing now. There seems to be a legitimacy that it's okay now to speak out and act out against Islam, and that's why this rally, on this very tragic day for Americans, but most tragic for those who lost their families, to use it and abuse it as a platform for bigotry, is not only tragic, it's un-American.
Foxman and the ADL came under criticism both from this blog and mine, for their position that the Cordoba Initiative should move the project from its current location, several blocks from Ground Zero, out of sensitivity to the families of the Sept. 11 victims. But the ADL has been the only high-profile opponent of the project so far that I've been able to find to also publicly acknowledge and condemn recent anti-Muslim incidents elsewhere. According to SOIA's website, the rally is also supposed to feature John Bolton, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, and conservative activist Andrew Breitbart.
© The Plum Line - Washington Post
FRENCH & OTHER EU COUNTRIES CRACKDOWN ON ROMA - 2
ITALY: MAYOR MOVES TO DEMOLISH ROMA GYPSY CAMPS
1/9/2010- Illegal Roma Gypsy camps which have sprung up in the Italian capital will be razed to the ground starting next week, Rome's conservative mayor Gianni Alemanno said on Wednesday. "The camps will begin to be closed down this week and checks carried out. We are talking about numerous camps that are very small, often with only five to ten residents, and which are frequently in extremely dangerous locations," Alemanno told state television Rai1. "We need to help children and women, but it is equally clear that people who have arrived in Rome must be able to support and house themselves adequately, otherwise they have to leave," Alemanno, a former neo-Fascist, said. Authorities in neighbouring France dismantled 128 camps and - controversially - deported 977 Roma Gypsies to Romanian and Bulgaria in August on security grounds, according to the government. "The state must be able to keep its territory under control," said Alemanno, adding that France's policy of Roma deportations was "unconvincing and weak". "A European strategy is needed to control the rate of immigration," he said.
Earlier this year, Alemanno demolished Rome's largest gypsy camp, the Casilino 900, which had 600 residents. The sprawling camp had existed for 40 years and was inhabited by people from the former Yugoslavia, as well as Italian gypsies. The destruction of the Casilino 900 was part of Rome city council's so-called 'Nomad Plan' to demolish around 100 illegal, insanitary and unsafe camps around the capital and relocate 6,000 Roma, commonly referred to as Gypsies, to 13 new or expanded locations on the outskirts of the Italian capital. The 'Nomad Plan' has drawn criticism from rights groups including Amnesty International, who in a report said the plan would leave at least 1,000 people homeless, and would uproot Gypsies from their homes and communities. Amnesty and other non-governmental organisations fear Rome's 'Nomad Plan' will be used as a blueprint for similar demolitions of Roma Gypsy camps in other Italian regions.
After a visit to the Casilino 900 camp Italian camps last year, the Council of Europe's human rights commissioner, Thomas Hammarberg, expressed "serious concerns" about Italy's policies towards its Gypsy minority, whom he said faced "a persistent climate of intolerance." There are an estimated 150,000 Gypsies in Italy, nearly half of whom were born in the country and have Italian citizenship. Between 12,000 and 15,000 Roma live in Rome, according to Amnesty International. Tens of thousands of Roma Gypsies have entered Italy in the past few years since Slovakia and Romania joined the EU, and are being blamed by many Italians for much of the recent rise in crime rates.
© Adnkronos
FRENCH COURT BLOCKS DEPORTATION OF ROMA
1/9/2010- A French court has blocked the deportation of seven Roma people, also known as gypsies, in a blow to President Nicolas Sarkozy’s plan to dismantle illegal camps. The administrative tribunal in Lille canceled the deportation orders yesterday, saying the cases didn’t meet the legal standard of posing “a real, immediate, and sufficiently grave threat,’’ according to a statement. Sarkozy ordered camp demolitions and expulsions after itinerant workers went on a rampage in central France following the death of a man during an identity check. Although the rioters were French citizens, most of the dismantled camps are inhabited by gypsies who hold Romanian or Bulgarian citizenship. French authorities dismantled 128 camps and deported 977 people to Romanian and Bulgaria in August, the government said Monday. Meanwhile, France yesterday defended its deportation of foreigners, including hundreds of Roma, and demanded that the Romanian government spend more of the money it gets from the European Union on integrating minority groups at home. After talks with the European Commission, two French ministers said that the controversial policy is in line with French and European law, rejecting claims of discrimination. At a press conference in Brussels, the French minister for Europe, Pierre Lellouche, criticized the Romanian government, which, he said, spends only 0.4 percent of the $5 billion it receives annually in subsidies from the European Union on integrating its Roma minority. Lellouche called on the Romanian government to outline a plan for better integration, focusing on education, housing, health, and training. The French government argued that the Roma were not targeted specifically as a group.
© The Boston Globe
ROMANIA URGES EUROPEAN UNITY ON ROMA
1/9/2010- Romanian Prime Minister Emil Boc has called for “solidarity at the European level ... to better help the social inclusion of Roma people". Boc, speaking at a meeting of Romanian diplomats on Wednesday, also said his government had launched a strategy for Roma, including those of Romanian origin, which form a part of global measures aimed at dealing with the problem. Foreign Minister Teodor Baconschi said that Romania and France should “tone down” its rhetoric over Roma and work together to improve their conditions following Paris' move to expel people living in illegal camps. France is planning to deport 700 Roma from Romania, despite rising popular anger and accusations that French President Nicolas Sarkozy is feeding racism and creating violence. The Roma involved to date have agreed to return, with adults receiving €300 in cash and children €100 to go back to Romania. A total of 8,313 Romanian and Bulgarian Roma have been expelled so far this year, up from 7,875 on 2009.
© Balkan Insight
ROMA NGOS CALL FOR BOYCOT OF FRENCH PRODUCTS (Romania)
31/8/2010- A federation of Romanian Roma civic organisations has called for a boycott of French products and services to protest against Paris' move to expel people living in illegal camps. The Roma Civic Alliance, a federation of 21 NGOs involved in protecting the rights of Roma people, also called for a protest in front of French embassy in Bucharest on September 6. France is planning to deport 700 Roma from Romania by the end of the month, despite rising popular anger and accusations that French President Nicolas Sarkozy is feeding racism and creating violence. The Roma involved to date have agreed to return, with adults receiving €300 in cash and children €100 to go back to Romania. France and Romania last week vowed to take united action to stop Roma from travelling to France illegally and to help them to integrate in both countries. Early this month Romanian authorities said they would not abandon their citizens abroad and would co-operate with France on its plans to tackle illegal immigration. But rights groups across Europe have attacked France's decision, saying it violated human rights and the Roma are often treated like a sub-class of immigrants and targeted by police. According to official statistics, there are 535,000 Roma people in Romania, but Roma NGOs say the actual number is about 2 million.
© Balkan Insight
HAS THE CURRENT ANTI-ROMA CLIMATE IN EUROPE TRIGGERED A 'LICENSE TO KILL' ? (press release ENAR)
31/8/2010- The European Network Against Racism (ENAR) is deeply concerned by the recent shooting of 6 members of a Roma family and another woman in Bratislava, Slovakia on 30 August. A gunman shot dead six members of a Roma family and another woman in a block of flats in the Slovak capital before killing himself. This murder reflects the emergence of a climate of negative stereotyping directed against Roma minorities across Europe. ENAR is extremely worried that recent discriminatory measures and statements targeting the Roma population and stigmatising this ethnic group in a number of countries, including France, Italy, Denmark and Sweden, have led to a climate of impunity for those who want to target this population. ENAR strongly condemns this violent act and calls on the Slovak government to undertake a rigorous investigation and to treat this attack as a suspect hate crime. If it is found to be a hate crime, it should be prosecuted as such. ENAR urges EU member states to refrain from making statements which collectively cast the Roma in a negative light, thus stigmatising an entire ethnic minority and inflaming public opinion against them. The EU and its member states should instead focus on developing a comprehensive EU Roma strategy, ensuring that the Roma are protected from discrimination and have equal access to education, employment, healthcare and housing.
© EUropean Network Against Racism
ROMA PERSECUTION IN FRANCE TAKES EUROPE 70 YEARS BACK (press release, UNITED)
28/8/2010- Over recent weeks, France has pushed forward with implementing a policy that targets Roma and travellers, both migrants and citizens, consisting of shutting down Roma and travellers' camps and deporting migrants. The policy targets both those Roma migrants from Romania and Bulgaria residing in France, estimated at around 15,000 people, and also the French Roma and traveller community, estimated at around 350,000 people. According to official statements, France plans to disband 300 camps over the next three months, several of which have already been broken up. Last year France sent 'home' around 10,000 Roma people (several EU states followed this example), and during the last week it has deported around 700 Roma people to Bulgaria and Romania. Roma are offered 300 EUR per adult and 100 EUR per child if they voluntarily leave France.
The main concern is the 'reason' provided for undertaking the measures, which has been mentioned by Sarkozy and in a number of official statements; namely the alleged criminality of Roma and travellers (theft, prostitution, trafficking, etc), which allows the French government to justify these policies in the name of 'protecting' its citizens. All relevant international organisations, including EU, UN, Council of Europe and Amnesty International among others unanimously condemn these statements and the resulting policies as prejudice and discrimination. Such inflammatory statements provoke racist sentiments towards Roma and travellers among the mainstream population and can potentially lead to racially based violence and discrimination (which we have witnessed in other countries during the last 5 years: the fingerprinting and deportations of Roma in Italy, murders in Hungary, etc).
Moreover, the measures alone violate the rights of targeted groups: forced evictions from camps violate rights on housing, deportations violate freedom of movement, protection by law, equality before the law and a number of other internationally recognised rights, culminating with this racially based discrimination. On top of that, virtually all experts agree that these measures are neither solving the problem nor addressing its roots, often found in the poverty and substandard living conditions which made those the targeted communities move (from Bulgaria and Romania or within France) in the first place.
The current practices of marking and collectively targeting Roma throughout Europe, and particularly in France, is being compared by many to the Nazi persecution of Roma and other groups some 70 years ago. 'Les rafles', meaning roundups, is a historically loaded term that has been used by those within Sarkozy's party itself to criticise the current crackdown, which is threatening to grow far worse. Therefore, UNITED the pan-European network against nationalism, racism, rascism and in support of migrants and refugees calls upon France and other EU countries to stop such ill treatment towards Roma, and instead work on their integration with the support of the EU.
For more information:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/roma
http://euyouthspeak.org/roma/?m=201008
http://www.france24.com/en/search/sinequa_search/roma
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Against-Romaphobia-Gypsism/121704284526822
On 6 September a select group of EU Interior Ministers will attend a summit in Paris on the broad topic of immigration and Roma, it is significant that representatives from both Romania and Bulgaria were not invited. Therefore we forward a call for protest, to take place on the same date outside French Embassies across Europe and initiated by Roma Civic Alliance of Romania Roma. For further details, please see link below.
http://www.unitedagainstracism.org/attachments/ProtestFrenchEmbassies.pdf
© UNITED for Intercultural Action
THRASHING FRANCE OR BULGARIA ON ROMA? (editorial)
30/8/2010- Pickpockets and thieves, dirty, lazy, uneducated people, who have tons of kids and sponge off social assistance. This is how the average Bulgarian perceives the Gypsy people, despite the inroads the politically correct term “Roma” has made in people's everyday speech. The ongoing deportation of hundreds of them from France has triggered similar accusations of stereotyping behaviour against the French and Europeans in general. The stereotype is hard to fight for many reasons both in Bulgaria and France. The question is where does the responsibility for these people lie? Paris feels very far away when you stand on the derelict, garbage-strewn streets of Bulgaria's Roma ghettos. They are home to most of the country's 375,000 Roma - although unofficial data estimates their true numbers come closer to 750,000, out of a population of 7.8 million. Here you can see skinny men rooting through piles of rubbish alongside pigs, fat women in flowing skirts cradling babies and clan chiefs - who struck it rich after the collapse of Communism - driving gleaming cars. Interestingly, most of the ramshackle houses in the ghettos, made of poorly "cemented" bricks of clay and straw, sport a TV satellite dish, perched on the roofs like an extraterrestrial eye.
Replace the ramshackle houses for caravans and you will get the colorful picture that one can see now close to Paris. Fears that this might happen have been plaguing Europe for quite some time. Even though it had already admitted several poor, former Communist countries with Roma populations before opening its doors to Bulgaria, the poverty in the Balkan country's larger Roma ghettos was a bitter pill to swallow. Now the ghettos have become part of the European diversity and Europeans see for real the nightmare scenarios in which huge numbers of Bulgarian Roma head to the West to plunder the generous welfare systems there. Europeans have long been accused of hypocrisy in their attitude towards the Roma and in some cases rightfully so. A few years ago members of the European Parliament quickly came to the rescue of an illegal Roma ghetto in Sofia when it faced demolition for the suffocating stench of animals and excrement. Yet nobody expected tolerance from the English family whose newly acquired house in a Bulgarian village was invaded by Roma squatters while they were out of the country.
The Roma crackdown in France showed that Western Europe has its own agendas, but why should it be blamed for this? Besides, its stance appears to be not that hypocritical when one takes into account its own experience with the integration and non-integration of ethnic minorities. Bulgarian NGO workers say that if prejudice, poverty and illiteracy are the problem, providing a level playing field and equality is the solution. An Open Society Foundation report entitled "The Costs of Non- Inclusion" reveals that Roma integration does not require massive funding and its positive effects would exceed 20 or even 30 times the cost of expenditure. Unlike France however the authorities in Bulgaria, generally not held in high esteem, have little power over the larger Roma ghettos, where clan chiefs are left to rule. The ghettos are rife with extortion, human trafficking, baby selling and other menaces. The Roma ghettos are one of Bulgaria’s gravest problems, but it can not be packed, exported or sent via the post for pan-European structures to solve it. The major responsibility for its solution lies with the country’s state authorities, whose steps so far have been chaotic and without a consistent policy. What they should do is replace the long list of conferences and studies on Roma life with hands-on activities designed to improve it.
© Novinite
EUROPE'S OMINOUS MOVES AGAINST THE ROMA (opinion)
Instead of discrimination and expulsion, gypsies need help overcoming poverty and low education
By George Soros
30/8/2010- The Roma have been persecuted across Europe for centuries. Now Roma (often called Gypsies, a term they dislike) face a form of discrimination unseen in Europe since World War II: group evictions and expulsions from several European democracies of men, women and children on the grounds that they pose a threat to public order. This month, France began to carry out plans to expel all non-French Roma, implicating them as a group in criminal activity, without any legal process to determine whether individuals have committed any crime or pose a threat. These French actions follow Italy's "security package" of 2008, which described so-called "nomads" as a threat to national security and imposed emergency legislation leading to expulsions of non-Italian Roma. Stopping criminal activity is a legitimate government concern. But the expulsion of EU citizens on the basis of ethnicity as a proxy for criminal activity is a violation of EU directives on racial discrimination and the right to move freely from one EU member-state to another.
Indeed, it is a firmly established legal principle that crime should be addressed by a determination of individual guilt before a court of law. Moreover, convicted criminals are not routinely deported if they are citizens of another EU member state. Instead, European law requires an individual determination that deportation is necessary and proportionate to the crime committed, as well as consideration of other circumstances (such as the strength of the individual's ties to the community). Of course, European societies should not tolerate criminality and anti-social behavior. But no ethnic group monopolizes such pathologies, and all people should be equal before the law. Since World War II, Europeans have found it unacceptable to subject any group to collective punishment or mass expulsion on the basis of ethnicity, so, in casting aside fundamental rights in the name of security, rounding up Roma sets a worrying precedent. By contrast, the French government is right to call for measures to improve employment and development opportunities for Roma in their countries of origin (primarily Bulgaria and Romania in this case), which would reduce the incentives and pressure for them to move to other countries. In response to France's position, the Swedish government also called for concerted EU action to foster Roma inclusion.
Roma want to and can integrate if they are given the opportunity, as my foundation's programs have shown. Most Roma share the aspirations of the majority populations: a home with adequate services, a decent education for their children, jobs that enable them to provide for their families, and to interact with the majority in their society. It is because they face appalling discrimination and deprivation at home that they continue to migrate across Europe. The EU must recognize that the pan-European nature of this problem demands a comprehensive and effective strategy for Roma inclusion. Primary responsibility for safeguarding the rights and well-being of all citizens lies with EU member states. Policies and programs to promote inclusion in employment, education, health care and housing must be implemented at the local and national levels. But the EU has a vital role to motivate, coordinate, financially assist and monitor such efforts through an EU-level plan.
In 2009, the EU endorsed the principle of "explicit but not exclusive targeting" for Roma, and the European Commission allowed structural funds to be used to cover housing interventions in favor of marginalized communities, with a particular focus on Roma. This is a welcome step and "explicit but not exclusive targeting" should be extended to education, health care, and employment. Most importantly, the rules guiding how structural funds are spent should be changed to allow their use for health and education from early childhood, rather than only for job training. Structural poverty in Roma communities is intimately linked to poor education and unemployment. The Commission's Europe 2020 initiative sets specific targets for raising school completion rates and employment levels for all EU citizens. In both of these areas, Roma fall so far behind their fellow citizens that targeted measures to close the gap should be an integral part of the Europe 2020 plan.
The greatest divide between the Roma and majority populations is not one of culture or lifestyle — as is so often portrayed by the media — but poverty and inequality. The divide is physical, not just mental. Segregated schooling is a barrier to integration and produces prejudice and failure. Segregated housing has led to huge shantytowns and settlements lacking sanitation and other basic conditions essential to a life with dignity. The plight of so many millions of Roma in the 21st century makes a mockery of European values and stains Europe's conscience. The plight of the Roma is not just a short-term security problem that can be addressed by draconian measures to move people forcibly from one member state to another. Not only does this undermine European values and legal principles, but it fails to address the root causes of the problem.
As Europe's largest ethnic minority, Roma inside the EU comprise the youngest and fastest-growing demographic segment of the population. By 2020, for example, young Roma will make up one-third of the new entrants to the workforce in Hungary. Europe cannot afford another lost generation. This is a matter of human rights and basic values, and it is vital to peace and cohesion in societies across Europe.
© Project Syndicate
HEAD OF OSCE HUMAN RIGHTS OFFICE WARNS AGAINST STIGMATIZING ROMA AND TRAVELLERS
30/8/2010- Ambassador Janez Lenarcic, the Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) in Warsaw, said today he shared concerns about recent developments in France affecting Roma migrants and Travellers, and warned that such actions risked fueling intolerance and discrimination. He said he was troubled by the approach of French authorities to the matter of the legal status of Roma migrants in the aftermath of riots by some French Travellers. The riots followed the fatal shooting by police of a member of their community. "Recent developments in France come against the background of continuing and growing intolerance toward Roma in a number of countries, as well as insufficient efforts by many OSCE participating States to create conditions for the sustainable integration of Roma individuals and communities," said Lenarcic.
He stressed that "implicating the Roma and Travellers collectively in criminal activities based on individual cases could only contribute to stigmatizing these communities". He added that official statements by the French authorities on the policy of evicting Roma from illegal settlements and offering them financial incentives to return to their country of origin raised questions as to whether individual migrants' rights to due process are being respected. Lenarcic emphasized that public officials needed to be especially sensitive to the risk that statements about Roma could further encourage anti-Roma public discourse and prejudice, which could fuel intolerance, discrimination and even acts of violence against members of these communities. As an OSCE participating State, France has undertaken commitments, outlined in the OSCE Action Plan on Improving the Situation of Roma and Sinti within the OSCE Area, to implement concrete measures to eradicate discrimination against Roma and Sinti, and ensure that they are able to play a full and equal part in the societies in which they live.
© The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights
FRENCH FM MULLED QUITTING OVER ROMA MOVE (France)
30/8/2010- French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner admitted on Monday that he had considered resigning over President Nicolas Sarkozy's decision to deport thousands of Roma Gypsies. Kouchner, a former Socialist and renowned humanitarian who was recruited into Sarkozy's right-wing government in 2007, said he had a "heavy heart" but had decided to remain in government to fight his corner. "I'm not happy with what has happened. I've been working with the Roma for 25 years. I'm not happy about this polemic," he told RTL radio. "What can I do to help the situation? Resign? I've thought about it. He said he had decided to remain in office and to push for more to be done to find a solution to the problem of the Roma, adding: "It's important to keep going. To go would be to desert my post, to accept what's happening."
Earlier this month Sarkozy touched off a storm of international criticism by announcing that police were to raid and dismantle 300 unauthorised Gypsy encampments across France following a public order incident. While French-born Gypsies and travellers are to be moved on, Eastern European Roma who can not demonstrate they have sufficient means to integrate into mainstream French society are to be flown back to Romania and Bulgaria. Those who agree to go voluntarily are given small cash grants, those who do not are expelled by judicial order. Kouchner was one of the founders of the global medical aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders), who made his name helping refugees, in particular the Vietnamese "boat people". As the United Nations' chief representative in Kosovo between 1999 and 2001, he tried to shield the former Yugoslav province's Roma and Ashkali Gypsy minorities from ethnic violence.
Now, his own French government is itself the target of United Nations criticism, over a policy which a UN anti-racism panel warned could amount to an illegal collective deportation of a minority group. Sarkozy's government fiercely denies the charge, insisting that the expulsions are carried out in line with European Union residency laws and France's international treaty obligations.
© AFP
GRANDFATHER BECOMES THE FACE OF FRENCH RACISM ROW
29/8/2010- When Rene Galinier pulled the trigger on his old hunting rifle, he said he was acting to defend his home. Two young eastern European women had broken into his house while he was taking a siesta, and when the startled 73-year-old woke up, he shot and wounded them both. Since Mr Galinier fired at the intruders, reverberations have been felt far beyond the four walls of his modest bungalow in a village in south-west France. The case of "Papy" Galinier has become a cause celebre thanks to the bitter debate caused by President Nicolas Sarkozy's recent crackdown on the Roma community in France, which has seen itinerant camps demolished and hundreds of Roma returned to eastern Europe. On one side stand those who have condemned the expulsions as redolent of Nazi Germany - on the other are those who say Mr Sarkozy has not gone far enough. In the middle of the political maelstrom sits Mr Galinier who is in a local prison cell, charged with attempted manslaughter and denied bail pending trial. "He was a good man, who had been pushed too far," said 85-year-old Edouard Martin, a retired policeman and fellow resident of Mr Galinier's village, Nissan-lez-Enserunes. "People here are scared of the foreigners. I sleep with a revolver by my bed. If someone comes into my house, then I am going to kill them before they kill me."
Mr Sarkozy started to shut hundreds of illegal Roma camps in response to clashes between police and traveller communities last month. With more expulsions planned, and criticism mounting at home and abroad, he hopes to bolster support for his stance next week by convening a summit of interior ministers from countries facing similar immigration debates. Western European governments are split on the matter. While Italy is considering similar action, Britain will be sending a senior official to the meeting rather than the Home Secretary, Theresa May, for fear of being seen to endorse Mr Sarkozy's policies. On Friday, a United Nations human rights body rebuked France and urged the government to aim for integration of Roma rather than deportation. Nissan-lez-Enserunes, where four generations of the Galinier family live, provides a vivid snapshot of why it has become such a charged issue in France. Not far from Montpellier, it is a picture-postcard image of southern French living, with elegant stone houses set among narrow winding streets filled with flowers. Mr Galinier has lived in the area all his life, raising two children, working for the council, then retiring to spend time with his wife and grandchildren and tend his garden. He had been targeted by criminals twice before. In 2002, thieves attempted to break in and in February this year goldfish were stolen from his garden pond.
Among villagers, the finger of blame for local petty crime often points - rightly or wrongly - to a patch of wasteland several miles outside the village where a group of Roma recently made camp next to a motorway. The families and their wild-haired children live in ramshackle caravans among piles of rubbish. On the afternoon of August 5, two women in their early 20s broke into Mr Galinier's home. The unarmed pair, who speak no French and have not given police their names, were both shot at from just a few yards away. One was hit in the groin, the other in the chest. Both are in hospital awaiting identification and questioning. Mr Galinier's story, with strong echoes of the British case of Norfolk farmer Tony Martin, has resonated throughout the village and beyond. A committee has been set up to fight for his cause, and slogans have been painted on the road to Nissan-lez-Enserunes proclaiming: "We're right behind you, Rene." A local petition has more than 8,000 signatures, with 10,000 from as far afield as the US joining the campaign on Facebook and internet forums. The internet forums have attracted the attention of more extreme elements of French society, with queues of people denouncing the Roma community for every crime under the Mediterranean sun.
Mr Galinier has caught the eye of the extreme Right with some of his comments. After being arrested, he said: "I was in danger I was scared. I was threatened by this dirty race. I've become racist." "He's not a philosopher," admitted his lawyer, Josy-Jean Bousquet, acknowledging the unfortunate comments. "But I reject that he's racist. He was angry and upset." The Front National, an extreme-Right party, seized the opportunity provided by Mr Galinier. Its vice-president, Marine Le Pen, whose father, Jean-Marie founded the organisation, described his arrest and detention as "totally abusive", given the "insupportable immunity of these notorious delinquents". The village has had a total of 17 break-ins since the beginning of the year and a falling crime rate. Yet villagers still speak of a "crime wave" and lay the blame squarely on the caravan doorstep of the travellers. Roma rights organisations claim that "stigmatisation" will not solve the underlying problems of lack of integration and facilities. Maxime Andreu, of the regional Support Committee for the Roma, said: "We should be looking at why they are having to leave their countries - what is being done with all the EU funds to help them there?"
For the Roma travellers on the waste ground outside Nissan-lez-Enserunes, their new home remains better than the one they left behind. Picking her way among broken bottles, discarded sofas and heaps of rubbish, Mikaela Josephine, 19, is only interested in avoiding being sent back to Romania. "It's wrong, what Mr Sarkozy is doing," the mother of two said. "But I don't want to go back there. It is more racist than France."
© The Sunday Telegraph
PM CRITICISES SELECTION OF EU STATES TO DEBATE IMMIGRATION (Czech Rep.)
30/8/2010- Czech Prime Minister Petr Necas Monday sharply protested against a number of EU countries, including the Czech Republic, not being invited to the ministerial meeting in Paris that is to discuss the transfer of Bulgarian and Romanian Romanies from France. The meeting is due next Monday when Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg is scheduled to pay an official visit to Paris. Necas (Civic Democrats, ODS) said the selection of participants in the meeting is "a display of contempt and arrogance" that does not correspond to good cooperation among EU countries. The participants are not to include Romania and Bulgaria, with whom the problems with immigration are largely connected. Originally, the organisers even did not invite Belgium, the current EU-presiding state. The Czechs have not been invited either. On the other hand, those invited include Canada, which reintroduced visa requirements for Czechs last year over an excessive number of Czech Romani asylum seekers. "Staging a meeting without the countries in which the problem certainly has its roots is a bizarre, wrong idea," Schwarzenberg (TOP 09) said last week.
In an interview with Czech daily Lidové noviny he criticised French President Nicolas Sarkozy for "racist views" on the expulsion of Roma. Later, however, he softened his criticism. On Sunday, Necas said he considered Schwarzenberg's statements rash. Monday he dismissed being in dispute with Schwarzenberg over their position on the transfer of Roma. He said people can be of different views on the issue. Necas said he does not see any racist subtext in the expulsion of Romanian Roma from France. He said it is the right of each EU country to want everyone on its soil to observe its legislation. The disputes over the expulsion and the observance of Roma' rights in France must be assessed by international organisations, Necas said. "Sarkozy's expelling Romanian citizens goes against the spirit and rules of the EU. To put it mildly, when inspecting the case one cannot but voice the suspicion that racist motivation plays a role, too," Lidove noviny cited Schwarzenberg on Saturday. According to Czech Television, he later softened his position. He said he had not accused Sarkozy of racism but only said Sarkozy's steps outwardly look as if they were racist. It stems from the Czech cabinet's agenda that Schwarzenberg is to pay an official visit to France on Sunday, September 5, and Monday, September 6.
© The Prague Daily Monitor
PM: EXPULSION OF ROMA FROM FRANCE NOT RACIST (Czech Rep.)
29/8/2010- Romanies' expulsion from France has no racist connotations, Prime Minister Petr Necas told public broadcaster Czech Radio (CR) Saturday, adding that statements by Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg were rash. "French President Nicolas Sarkozy's expelling Romani citizens goes against the spirit and rules of the EU. To put it mildly, when inspecting the case one cannot but voice the suspicion that racist motivation plays a role, too," Schwarzenberg told the paper Lidové noviny (LN) on Saturday. The public broadcaster Czech Television (CT) said later Schwarzenberg had somewhat moderated his words. "I said there was the outward impression that this may be racism. I did not accuse him of racism," Schwarzenberg told CT. Since the beginning of the year, France has repatriated over 8300 Romanies to Romania. "Labelling the affair automatically racist seems to me rather cheap. But I do not want to assume any categoric stand on Schwarzenberg's statement," Necas said. Necas said he would discuss the affair with Schwarzenberg and ask him whether his statements were corroborated by any evidence. "I do not have the evidence and I think that in the case of Romanian Romanies, their way of life is really unacceptable in France," Necas said.
The expulsion has provoked stormy reactions. Concern has been voiced by the European Commission and the Council of Europe. Eighteen United Nations independent experts have called on the French government to integrate the biggest ethnic minority in the EU. The repatriation has been condemned by European socialists and the Vatican as well. The Roma who agree to leave France receive 300 euros and another 100 euros for every child from the French authorities. On Thursday alone, some 300 of them left Paris and Lyons. France is preparing the programme of a summit of European powers on Roma to be held in Paris on September 6. However, neither Romania nor Bulgaria whose citizens are to be discussed nor the Czech Republic have received the invitation. "Staging a meeting without the countries in which the problem certainly has its roots is a bizarre, wrong idea," Schwarzenberg said. Besides, the Czech Republic is presiding the inter-governmental Decade of Romani Integration associating south and central European countries such as Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary. Its presidency will only expire next year, LN writes.
It is an irony that EU newcomers will deal with the issue at the end of September, it adds. On the other hand, the powers will inspect the same issue behind the closed door in a few days' time, LN writes. "In Paris, there should be no talks 'about them without them'," Czech human rights commissioner Michael Kocáb said, adding that this is reminiscent of the 1938 Munich agreement. The summit was also condemned by Roman Joch, Prime Minister Petr Nečas's human rights advisor. "As Europeans who insist on tearing down barriers within Europe, we can consider this something inconsistent with the ideals of European unity," Joch told LN.
© The Prague Daily Monitor
SUSPICION OF 'RACIST' THINKING ON ROMA EXPULSIONS (Czech Rep.)
28/8/2010- The Czech Republic's foreign minister on Saturday condemned France's expulsion of Roma Gypsies and said he could not avoid the suspicion that 'racist' thinking played a part in the policy. "The way in which the President (Nicolas Sarkozy of France) is expelling Romanian citizens is contrary to the spirit of European Union rules," said Karel Schwarzenberg, writing in the Prague daily Lidove Noviny. "One cannot avoid the suspicion that racist viewpoints are playing a role in this," he said. The minister also criticised the way in which the debate on the issue was being held "without the new countries" of the EU, including the Czech Republic. "To have a debate without the countries where this problem most probably has its roots is a bizarre and erroneous idea," he said. In the latest deportations, France on Thursday sent nearly 300 Roma back to Romania. France's crackdown has sparked international criticism in recent weeks. The European Union is also examining the legality of the move and the Vatican has also spoken out against it. French ministers will travel to Brussels on Tuesday to discuss the situation with the European Commission, a commission spokesman said. Thursday's expulsions brought the total number of Romanian and Bulgarian Roma deported so far this year to 8,313, up from 7,875 expelled throughout last year. Earlier this month, Sarkozy announced that French authorities would dismantle some 300 unauthorised encampments used by both French Gypsies and members of the Roma minority born in Eastern Europe. Those foreign-born Gypsies found to be living on French soil without means to support themselves would be expelled back to Romania and Bulgaria, with those going voluntarily receiving small cash grants.
© AFP
Headlines 27 August, 2010
SLOVAKIA STUNNED BY RAMPAGING GUNMAN
30/8/2010- A man armed with a submachine gun and two handguns killed six members of a Roma family in their apartment house in the Slovak capital, Bratislava, on Monday, and then, firing wildly as he tried to evade the police surrounding the building, killed another person and wounded 15 more before fatally shooting himself, police and government officials said. Among the wounded was a police officer who was shot in the head. The killings shook the country and resonated with Europe’s growing xenophobia against Roma, or Gypsies. While the police in Bratislava said that the gunman’s identity and motives were still being investigated, relatives and neighbors of the victims said the killer lived in the same apartment building, often railed against the Roma, and had accused the family of dealing drugs and otherwise disturbing the peace. In a video interview with the victims’ family members posted on the Web site of SME, a leading Slovak daily, one young Roma woman, identifying herself as a granddaughter of one of those killed, said she believed the crime had been fueled by racism. “He’d always been very hostile to colored people and hated us,” she said. “He picked on us all the time.” SME ran a photo of the killer taken by a witness from a balcony, showing a gray-haired man wearing a denim jacket and ear muffs and carrying an assault weapon. The Slovak news media identified him a former soldier.
In France, French police in recent weeks have been dismantling Roma camps and deporting Roma living illegally in France to Bulgaria and Romania, prompting accusations of ethnic discrimination. Clashes with Roma have also been intensifying in other countries in Eastern Europe and in Italy. In Hungary, at least seven Roma have been killed in the last two and a half years, and Roma leaders have counted about 30 firebomb attacks. In Slovakia, a small, predominantly Catholic country where about 380,000 Roma eke out an existence on the fringes of society, anti-Roma demonstrations have been held repeatedly since late last summer, when two Roma badly injured a man in a robbery in the east.
© The New York Times
MASS GAY KISS-OFF TO HIGHLIGHT GAP IN EU LAW
27/8/2010- An Italian MP is planning to ask gay couples to hold a day of mass-scale public kissing in September in a fight against petty homophobia. But a draft EU law combatting the same problem is likely to stay off the agenda for years. Paola Concia, an MP from the Partito Democratico, which sits with the centre-left S&D group in the EU parliament, is rolling out the project after organising an earlier protest in the town of Torre del Lago on 11 August, when around 100 people locked lips on the beach in an event called "Many Kisses Against Intolerance." "This is our answer to a sort of strange campaign against gay and lesbian people in Italy this summer. In many cities and villages, local authorities or even the police told gay and lesbian people that they are not allowed to kiss in the street," she told EUobserver. "The problem with homophobia in Italy is alarming. In September, I want to organise this in all the cities in Italy, from north to south."
Ms Concia's partner, Ricarda Trautmann, added: "The situation here is worse than in Poland or in Greece. I don't know why this isn't generally known. The Italian government couldn't care less about European law. If the rest of Europe doesn't force Italy to change, then nothing will ever change here." No EU country has a law against public displays of affection by gay people. But some local authorities, as in Italy, use "homophobic interpretations" of laws on public order and morality to target gay couples, according to Juris Lavrikovs, from the Brussels-based International Lesbian and Gay Association-Europe. "This is yet another example why the EU needs to adopt its proposed anti-discrimination directive which would ban discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation in such areas as access to goods and services, housing, education, health and so on," he said.
The directive in question is currently being discussed by EU diplomats in a working group in the EU Council, but the Belgian EU presidency has signaled to the European Commission that there is not enough support for legislative action. Opposition to the bill, which also covers discrimination against disabled people, is linked to the economy rather than Christian Democrat values. Germany, for one, is worried that its small businesses will be forced to install disabled access or that family-run hotels will have to hire lawyers to fight off complaints by pro-minority-rights pressure groups. The two governing parties have in their coalition agreement said the EU law is "not fit for purpose," despite the fact that Germany's finance minister is in a wheelchair and its foreign minister is openly gay.
"We are waiting for the commission to explain the economic repercussions of the directive. We understand the commission is doing some research. We fear there would be strong repercussions for small and medium-sized enterprises," a foreign ministry spokesman told this website. A senior EU commission official explained that if Berlin requests a fresh impact assessment study, Brussels would be willing to do one. But if Germany is waiting for the results of an ongoing commission study into the economic effect of three previous directives - on race, gender and anti-discrimination in the workplace - it will have to wait until late 2011 or early 2012. If it is waiting for a sustained economic upturn, Berlin could block the bill even longer.
"With the way the economy is today, people are frightened that voters will say 'Why are we putting another burden on our companies in these difficult times?'" the commission source said. The contact noted that member states who oppose the bill could in theory be violating their commitment under the UN's 2008 Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. "There are millions of disabled people in the EU waiting for their rights. And there are increasing numbers of people over 70 who don't want to sit at home and watch TV. They want to move around. But if you want to do this in a town like Brussels [which has a prevalence for vertiginous stairwells to basement toilets in bars and cafes], then ... good luck!"
© The EUobserver
BOOK MAY REIGNITE MOHAMMED CRISIS (Denmark)
Jyllands-Posten culture editor says his book is just an insider’s story
26/8/2010- A new book from the man who approved the Mohammed cartoons for Jyllands-Posten newspaper could revive tensions between the Muslim world and Denmark and trigger another Mohammed crisis, say several experts. The book by Jyllands-Posten culture editor Flemming Rose, ‘Tavshedens tyranni’ (‘Tyranny of Silence’), is scheduled to be released on 30 September. It will include the 12 drawings of Mohammed originally printed in the newspaper in 2005 – an act that subsequently resulted in boycotts of Danish products and the burning of the Danish flag in Muslim countries around the world. In 2008, three people were arrested for plotting to kill one of the cartoonists, Kurt Westergaard, who was also accosted in his home by a man with an axe in January of this year. In Chicago, terrorist David Headley, who was one of the men behind the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai, admitted there were plans to bomb Jyllands-Posten’s head office in Copenhagen. No Danish newspaper has reprinted the cartoons since Politiken and several other media outlets in February 2008. They have, however, been reprinted countless times worldwide since then.
Evan Kohlman, an American terrorism expert, warned that reprinting the drawings could be a mistake. ‘If I were him, I would very seriously consider the consequences of reprinting the cartoons,’ Kohlman told Politiken newspaper. Ole Wøhlers Olsen, Denmark's ambassador to Algeria, said he understood that the interests of free speech needed to be reinforced. ‘But every time the drawings are reprinted, there are riots and demonstrations – and also bloodshed,’ said Olsen, who added the more radical Islamic groups would welcome the move because they would use it as propaganda. ‘And government leaders in the Arab and Muslim world will probably shake their heads and say that Danes have failed to understand that the issue is something that bothers them and creates internal problems for them,’ he said. Rose himself said the book was not an attempt to provoke Muslims. ‘I’m just telling the story of the drawings and putting them in a context about pictures that can be offensive,’ said Rose. He added that if he didn’t include the pictures, then there would be an uproar over why they weren’t in the book. Rose’s book is not the only one on the subject due out this autumn. Westergaard, the man who drew the infamous drawing of Mohammed with a bomb in his turban, has written his memoirs, ‘Manden bag Stregan’ (‘The man behind the drawing’), which are due out in November.
© The Copenhagen Post
U2 RUSSIAN GIG MARKED BY HUMAN RIGHTS ARRESTS
26/8/2010- Irish band U2's first Russian concert was marred after police arrested activists from rights group Amnesty International before the gig began. A police spokeswoman said they did not have permission to hand out leaflets outside the Moscow event. The head of the human rights group's Moscow office, Sergei Nikitin, said U2 management had assured them all the necessary permits were in place. The campaigners have since been released, police said. News agency Agence France-Presse also reported that police forced volunteers from U2's own charity fund, the ONE Campaign against AIDS, out of Moscow's Luzhniki stadium. Tents set up by Greenpeace Russia were also moved on according to the organisation's director Ivan Blokov. "We were not allowed to collect signatures and to talk to people," he said. "Our activities were agreed with U2's management, so we are very much surprised." Mr Nikitin added that Amnesty had been present at many of the band's concerts throughout their European tour. "I don't know if Bono knows about what happened to us," he said. "It was a typical publicity event, which this organisation has carried out in every city where U2 has performed." During the gig, Bono invited Russian rock star turned anti-Kremlin activist Yuri Shevchuk onstage for a rendition of Knockin' on Heaven's Door. The Irish singer called his Russian counterpart a "great man". On Sunday, Mr Shevchuk appeared at a banned concert in central Moscow protesting against plans to build a motorway through a forest.
© BBC News
NEO-NAZIS AT AN ALL TIME HIGH ON THE INTERNET (Germany)
The number of websites with right-wing extremist content has reached a record high. In the course of the last year, 1,872 Neo-Nazi websites were logged in Germany, over 800 more than five years previously.
24/8/2010- Right-wing extremism on the Internet is on the rise. The number of neo-Nazi networks has tripled within a year to 90, according to the German youth protection organization, jugendschutz.net. The number of websites from the NPD (the right-wing German National Democratic Party) rose 30 percent to 242. The extremists are even spreading their message via social networking communities like Facebook, and video sharing platforms such as YouTube. The content is invariably xenophobic, anti-Semitic and racist. The form it takes varies: some sites rewrite children's songs into neo-Nazi anthems, others call openly for violence. Often it can be hard at first glance to tell the ideology behind the content.
How to tackle the problem?
Up to 10,000 internet users access neo-Nazi blogs and platforms every day according to jugendschutz.net. The organization is now working to combat the problem by raising awareness among young internet surfers. Jugendschutz.net also targets the sites themselves, and has succeeded in banning four out of five cases of offensive content. Stefan Glaser is head researcher for right-wing activities at the organization. He is pleased with the success of this strategy, which relies on international partners to ban content. "If we in Germany have a case that is based in Hungary or Romania, or has a provider that we cannot access, where there may also be language barriers, then we will contact our local partners," Glaser explained. "They contact the operator or try to get the content removed from the network via other means."
Parents often need advice
Another resource in the struggle against online neo-Nazism is an online advice forum led by graduate teacher Martin Ziegenhagen. He encourages people to seek advice over problems with neo-Nazis at school, in the workplace or at home. There is a closed chat room for parents worried about their children. Ziegenhagen says online consultation can be an important factor in a successful turn-around:
"After over two years, a son left the NPD. The fact that the boy's mother survived the two years and has repeatedly dealt with the topic while remaining in contact with her son, that's largely thanks to the online consultation." The President of the Federal Center for Political Education, Thomas Krueger hopes that the fight against neo-Nazis on the internet will be more focused in the future. "I would like to see a bit more strength and creativity from the Internet community. The sort of demonstrations against the NPD which take place in the real world must also take place in the virtual world."
© The Deutsche Welle
BAVARIAN CORNFIELD SWASTIKA STOKES FEARS OF NEO-NAZI RESURGENCE (Germany)
Unknown perpetrators have trampled an enormous swastika into a corn field in the Upper Bavarian municipality of Assling, and authorities fear it may signal renewed neo-Nazi activity in the region, a media report said this week.
24/8/2010- A photographer spotted the Nazi symbol, about half the size of a handball court, on Sunday during a sightseeing flight, and passed the photos on to police, daily Süddeutsche Zeitung reported on Tuesday. “We've never had something of this dimension,” Bavarian police investigator Gerhard Karl told the paper. “At the most someone has peed a swastika into the snow.” The owner of the land in question, Erna Lechner, called the incident a “pigsty” and a “murderous injury” to farmers in the Upper Bavaria region. The farmer who rents the land from Lechner did not wish to comment. “The poor man will now be expected to do something, and in the worst case will have to destroy the crop,” she said. Assling Mayor Werner Lampl called the perpetrators “die hards” who were trying to make their mark.
Authorities believe the swastika was stamped into the field sometime on Saturday night, and Lampl did not rule out the possibility that it could have been done by guests at a nearby airfield festival, which drew hundreds from out of town. But whoever the culprits may be, the accuracy of the formation indicates they weren’t joking around, criminal investigator Karl said, speaking of a very clear “right-wing extremist” motivation. The use of Nazi symbols is illegal in Germany and carries a sentence of up to three years in jail, he added. His department plans to take a helicopter out for further investigation in the next several days.
Assling has already had problems with neo-Nazis in the past, the paper said. Some six years ago police raided a barn shed used as a meeting place, finding a Nazi imperial war flag, or Reichskriegsflagge, and other paraphernalia. Seventeen young people were questioned as possible suspects in the case. While Mayor Lampl told the paper that efforts to rehabilitate the youths mean there is no longer such a problem in the region, landowner Lechner disagreed. “Unfortunately the brown scene is managing to spread out,” she told the paper, referring to the colour associated with Nazi brownshirts. Further evidence of the problem can be seen in frequent threats to a local immigrant aid organisation (Ausländerhilfe) and the district presence of the BJR Bavarian youth organisation’s coordination headquarters for work against right-wing extremism, the paper said.
© The Local - Germany
WHAT'S IN A NAME? COPING WITH JOB REJECTIONS AS A FOREIGNER (Germany)
German companies and ministries are testing new ways of screening job applications to prevent immigrants and other minorities from being being discriminated against.
24/8/2010- Try submitting a job application in Germany if your name is Ali or Mehmet and the chances of it being rejected are pretty high, a recent study says, whatever grades you got at school. Now try submitting that same application without a photograph, your age or marital status and you could be more successful in getting that first interview and your foot in the door. In a study conducted by the Bonn-based Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) researchers found evidence of statistical discrimination. "Having a Turkish name can mean that that your chances of getting a job interview drop by up to 25 percent," said Ulf Rinne from the IZA. "In the study applicants with German names had, on average, around 14 percent higher chances of being invited for a job interview." But it's not just applicants with foreign names that are facing this kind of discrimination. Similar studies show that women, mostly mothers, the disabled and elderly people have less chance of getting a job, irrespective of their qualifications and experience. Christine Lueders, director of the Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency in Berlin, has launched a pilot project in which a number of companies and ministries are testing anonymous job applications. "Photo, age and marital status - these things don't belong on an anonymous application," explains Luebers. A neutral body, like a commission, could ensure that the name and address of the applicant are withheld from personnel departments. In this way personal documents from immigrants or older applicants are not rejected from the outset. "When an applicant has overcome this hurdle and is having a job interview, some prejudices are broken down."
Cool reception from German industry
Many German employers have voiced their opposition to the scheme, citing an increase in bureaucracy, given that the scheme requires a neutral commission. "The time and effort taken to fill job positions will increase considerably," said Dieter Hundt, the President of the German Employers Association. But Lueders strongly defends anonymous applications: "German industry shouldn't get so worked up about this and give this pilot project a chance." The process is voluntary and there is no intention of seeking legislation to make it compulsory.
Unconscious decision by personnel managers
One of the companies participating in the project is cosmetics giant L'Oreal: "We want to prevent unconscious decisions being taking in job selection," said Oliver Sonntag, Personnel Director at L'Oreal. "Internationally-mixed teams, in which women, men, older and younger colleagues work together are especially successful. That's why it's in the interests of the company to eliminate discrimination." "The anonymous application will clearly help us to get to know a lot of different people and select them purely on the basis of their qualifications," he said. But what happens in the job interview? Will prejudices surface at this stage? No, says the L'Oréal personnel director: "In the interview everyone can demonstrate their ability, their motivation and their energy. That creates equality," Sonntag said.
Not a German phenomenon
Economist Ulf Rinne from the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) is convinced that that job seekers can profit from submitting anonymous job applications: "The best qualified person should get the job, If discrimination prevents this from happening then it is a macroeconomic problem, that leads to deficits in welfare." Anonymous applications have long been established in the United States. France and Switzerland are testing a pilot scheme. A similar project in Sweden recently proved that the anonymous application is successful: Women and foreigners definitely have better chances of being invited to a job interview there. The timing of the study coincides with proposals by Germany's Labor Minister Ursula von der Leyen (CDU) and Interior Minister Lothar de Maiziere to encourage skilled workers to stay in Germany.
© The Deutsche Welle
MINORITY OMBUDSMAN TO EXAMINE GYM LOCKER ROOM PRAYER BAN (Finland)
Espoo fitness centre does not want Muslim women to pray in locker room
24/8/2010- Minority Ombudsman Eva Biaudet plans to investigate whether or not the Espoo-based Lady Fitness gym is guilty of discrimination because of its ban on Muslim prayers in its locker room. Biaudet plans to ask the fitness centre, located in the Entresse shopping complex in the Espoon Keskus district of the city, to explain the reasons for the ban. Women arriving at the centre on Monday were surprised to see a sign on the wall of the locker room asking people to hold their possible prayers outside the gym. The sign read “the locker room is a religion and politics-free zone, where everyone can spend their free time in a neutral manner”. Riding on an exercise bicycle, Agemine Fallenius is not disturbed by Muslim prayers at all. “I know that the Muslim religion calls for prayers five times a day. I feel that we need to respect the culture and customs of others”, Fallenius says. The owner of the gym, P-C Nordensved, says that the decision to ban prayers came after years of complaints, dating back to when the gym was in another location nearby.
Large numbers of immigrants live in this area of Espoo, and there are many Muslims among them. There are dozens of Muslim women who go to the gym. “Some of them have very weak language skills, and they deal with membership issues through an interpreter. The ones that have lived here longer have adapted to our customs”, Nordensved says. The shopping mall does not have a meditation room where the Muslims could hold their daily prayers. “Might there be a room in the public library to which they could be guided?” Nordensved ponders. He plans to take up the matter next Tuesday at a meeting of shop owners at the mall. Walking in the door in black Muslim attire is Piia Keskinen, who has been a member of the gym for two and a half years. “I have prayed here once, and I have seen others pray”, she says.
Keskinen feels that the locker room is not an appropriate location for prayers, because it is not quiet. “I also understand that others might feel strange about it.” She also notes that there is a mosque 500 metres away.
The proprietor of the gym hopes that Keskinen might pass on the message to her own community. “The community might think about the matter among themselves and give guidance on how to behave.” Minority Ombudsman Biaudet notes that the practice of religion is a human right, which is guaranteed by the Finnish Constitution.
Finland also has a law on equal treatment. “It applies to the offering of private services. It bans discrimination, both direct and indirect, against people of different ethnic origin.”
© The Helsingin Sanomat
LITHUANIA'S JEWS CONDEMN PIG'S HEAD ATTACK AT SYNAGOGUE
5,000 Jews live in Lituania, once a thriving centre of Judaism
24/8/2010- Lithuania's Jewish organisations on Monday condemned an apparent neo-Nazi attack in which a pig's head was left at the entrance of a synagogue by unknown perpetrators. "The Lithuanian Jewish community and the Religious community of Lithuanian Jews judge this as Nazi provocation aimed at insulting the ethnic and religious feelings of Lithuanian Jews," their leaders, Simonas Alperavicius and Chief Rabbi Chaim Burstein, said in a statement. The statement said that the pig's head was found on Saturday -- the Jewish holy day -- outside a synagogue in Lithuania's second city Kaunas. The use of a pig is particularly offensive because Judaism, like Islam, considers pigs unclean and bars the consumption of pork. Simonas Gurevicius, executive director of the Lithuanian Jewish community, told AFP the incident should be treated as an attack on all believers, not only Jews. "We hope that Lithuanian society will not be impassive, as this act of a few anti-Semitic vandals does not reflect the attitude of Lithuanian society," he added.
Kaunas police have launched a formal investigation but there are no suspects so far, officer Gintautas Dirmeikis told the Baltic News Service. Lithuania was once home to a 220,000-strong Jewish community, and Vilnius was a cultural hub and world centre for the study of the Torah, known as the "Jerusalem of the North". At the end of the 19th century, the number of synagogues in Vilnius exceeded one hundred. But 95 percent of Lithuania's Jews perished during the country's 1941-1944 German occupation at the hands of the Nazis and Lithuanian collaborators. Today there are no more than 5,000 Jews in Lithuania, of whom around 500 live in Kaunas, Gurevicius said.
© The European Jewish Press
SWISS CAMPAIGN FOR DEATH PENALTY REFERENDUM
24/8/2010- Swiss death penalty advocates can start collecting signatures for a referendum that would revive capital punishment in the country after 68 years, the government said today. An announcement in the federal bulletin says the documents submitted by campaigners meet formal legal requirements. The group now has until February 24 2012 to collect 100,000 signatures for a popular vote to reintroduce capital punishment for murders involving sexual abuse. Government spokesman Andre Simonazzi says authorities have yet to examine whether the death penalty would be constitutionally legal and in line with Switzerland's international obligations. Switzerland struck capital punishment from its criminal statutes in 1942. The last military execution took place in 1944.
© The Independent
TURKEY LOOKS TO SETTLE IN DINK CASE
24/8/2010- Turkey is working on a way to address the criticism of its defense in the trial regarding Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink being heard at the European Court of Human Rights. Turkey's former judge at the European court, Rýza Türmen, suggests Turkey can either make a unilateral declaration accepting that it violated the court's convention or settle with the victim's family. Ankara is known to be warm to settlement. Turkey is seeking to make amends for its defense strategy at the European Court of Human Rights trial regarding slain journalist Hrant Dink, in which it drew parallels between Dink’s perspectives and Neo-Nazism. A commission of representatives from the Justice, Interior and Foreign ministries are working on a road map, including steps to be taken before the Strasbourg-based European court delivers its verdict in September. The government is also utilizing opinions from experts, including Turkey’s former judge at the European court Rýza Türmen, who suggested that Turkey could either make a unilateral declaration admitting that it violated the European Convention on Human Rights and pay compensation, or it could settle with the victim’s family. “Either option can be resorted to only before the European court, which is currently on summer recess, makes a decision in the fall,” Türmen told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review on Monday. “But if nothing is done, Turkey will most probably lose the case [because of its] defense, which was written by a jurist, but the responsibility entirely lies with the government,” he said.
The Dink trial made headlines earlier this month when Turkey cited in its defense the case against a leader of a Nazi organization in Europe as an example supporting its prosecution of Dink. In an early reaction, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutođlu expressed regret and said, “As an intellectual and a minister, I could not digest this.” The minister, however, said the defense could not be withdrawn because that stage of the trial process had passed. He did however signal that the state could settle with the victim’s family. According to Türmen, making a unilateral declaration or striking an accord with the victim’s family – recognized as a friendly deal – are the best options, but in both cases the European court must also find a settlement in compliance with its own conventions. “The European court may not always find a settlement appropriate. It depends on whether the settlement addresses the complaint’s concerns and if it meets the commitment made to the victim’s family,” he said. “But if any settlement is accepted by the court, the file will be dropped.” Another option is that Turkey may wait for the decision of the court, likely to rule in favor of Dink’s family. Accordingly, Turkey would be found guilty of violating the freedom of expression by trying Dink for “insulting Turkishness” and of violating the right to life by failing to protect Dink despite numerous death threats he received.
“If no settlement is made and the court delivers a verdict, Ankara can appeal that verdict. That means everything would start from scratch. The case would be re-heard. Under those circumstances, Turkey could demand that it take the case to the Grand Chamber only three months after the verdict is delivered,” said Türmen. But he noted that the government was not yet thinking about that option because the court has not yet issued a ruling. Turkey’s current judge at the European court, Ayţe Iţýl Karakaţ, declined to comment on the case, telling the Daily News that the trial process was ongoing. Dink, a Turkish journalist of Armenian origin and editor of weekly bilingual Agos, was gunned down by an ultranationalist in January 2007 in front of his newspaper’s office in Istanbul. Before his death, he had filed an appeal with the European court after he was tried for violating Article 301 of the Turkish penal code, which prohibits insulting Turkishness. Dink’s family rules out any deal with the state as long as the article continues to exist.
© The Turkish Weekly
EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS SECURES HRANT DINK FAMILY CLAIM AGAINST TURKEY
23/8/2010- The European Court of Human Rights secured the claim of the family of slain Agos newspaper editor Hrant Dink against Turkey, condemning lack of precautionary measures to ensure his safety and ineffective investigation of murder case. Dink, Turkish journalist of Armenian descent who was shot to death by an ultranationalist assailant in January 2007, had filed a case at the European Court of Human Rights seeking annulment of his conviction for insulting Turkishness under Article 301. Following his assassination, his family filed another complaint at the European court against Turkey, saying that despite the gendarmerie and police having been informed about threats and murder plans against Dink, they had failed to take action to prevent the murder. The two cases were then combined by the European court, which will announce a comprehensive ruling on the claim of Dink’s family in early September.
© Pan Armenian
UNEASE MOUNTS WITHIN CDA OVER WILDERS' BACKED CABINET (Netherlands)
25/8/2010- As talks on forming a right-wing cabinet between the VVD Liberals and Christian Democrats with the tacit support of the anti-Islam PVV continue, unease is mounting within the CDA. In Tuesday's NRC, Arjan Kaaks who wrote most of the party's election manifesto, urged the CDA not to go ahead with an alliance with the PVV. 'We have lost our party leader, our chairman, our unnamed crown prince in Camiel Eurlings and our important advisor Jack de Vries. Combine that with the massive loss of seats [at the general election] I would say especially now we have to stand by our key values,' he wrote. 'And those are equality, solidarity and freedom of religion and freedom of education.' The PVV wants to ban the Koran and close Islamic schools.
Prime ministers
Acting party chairman Henk Bleker met senior CDA members, including three former prime ministers, on Tuesday to bring them up to date with the talks. All declined to comment for Nos tv when leaving the meeting. Bleker told reporters opponents of the alliance with the PVV should wait for the outcome of the formation discussions. The result will have to be 'CDA proof' or 'we will not join this party, he said. At a meeting of the CDA parliamentary party on Tuesday, acting party leader Maxime Verhagen came under fire for not keeping MPs up to date on the talks. Verhagen was made temporary leader following the resignation of Jan Peter Balkenende. He quit after the party took just 21 seats in the June general election.
© The Dutch News
NEW GOVERNMENT MUST DEFEND PVV HUMAN RIGHTS POSITION, SAYS MP (Netherlands)
24/8/2010- A new minority government made up of the Christian Democrats and VVD Liberals which is supported by the PVV should defend the anti-Islam party's position on human rights, according to PVV MP Hero Brinkman. Brinkman makes the comments in the new issue of Amnesty International magazine Wordt Vervolgd, newspaper Trouw reports on Tuesday. The three parties, currently in talks on forming a new government, had agreed to 'respect' each others' positions on Islam. 'If the PVV is soon going to give tacit support the government, the government will have to take the PVV's standpoints into account. And then the Netherlands, once the self-proclaimed leader in the field of human rights, will have to support the PVV's thoughts internationally,' the paper quoted Brinkman as saying. The PVV wants to ban the Koran, ban the building of new mosques, close Islamic schools and end immigration from non-Western countries. Brinkman made waves during the election campaign by calling for more democracy within the PVV itself. The party has no members apart from its leader Geert Wilders. In a reaction on the micro blogging site Twitter, Brinkman said the interview was six weeks old 'when the world was completely different'.
© The Dutch News
OPPOSITION GROWS AMONG CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATS (Netherlands)
23/8/2010- With cabinet negotiations entering their third week, a weekend poll shows that 39% of Christian Democrat party members are against any form of political cooperation with Geert Wilders' anti-Islam PVV. Negotiations are continuing this week to form a minority right-wing government of Christian Democrats and Liberal VVD with Wilders' party providing support on certain policies in parliament in return for getting some of his immigration policies accepted. The poll, carried out by TNS Nipo for the Algemeen Dagblad, also shows that 13% of the 67,000 party members would give up their membership if Wilders is involved in a new right-wing government. Fewer than half the members, 49%, are in favour of a right-wing government with the involvement of Wilders. In a reaction to the poll, the prominent Liberal Hans Wiegel told the paper on Monday that history is repeating itself. He was referring to the Christian Democrat-Liberal VVD government of 1977 under prime minister Dries van Agt. 'In my time too there was a lot of opposition to our joining a right-wing cabinet,' he said. That government took six months of negotiations to form and lasted until 1981. It was, however, a majority government.
© The Dutch News
CHECHEN WOMEN WITHOUT HEADSCARVES TARGETED DURING RAMADAN
22/8/2010- Chechen women said Friday that they had been harassed and some physically harmed by bands of men for not wearing headscarves during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. Bearded men in traditional Islamic dress have been roaming the streets both on foot and in cars since Ramadan started on Aug. 11, demanding bareheaded women wear a headscarf, Grozny residents and witnesses said. "Two men came up to me, one furiously fingering a prayer bead, and said it wasn't pretty to have a bare head during Ramadan," said Markha Atabayeva, 38. "They instilled such fear in me." Atabayeva said she had seen a group of men with automatic rifles taunting women for not wearing headscarves. Atabayeva was one of at least a dozen women who told of harassment or attacks. A woman in her mid-30s said she was punched in the face by a man in Islamic dress after refusing to put on a headscarf he had given her. One of the women's assailants said in an interview that "hundreds" of women had been warned.
"We are trying to warn women of their possible sins before God," the assailant, who described himself as an "activist," said on condition on anonymity. "We do this through force, fighting and battles." Another assailant said they were working under orders from Chechnya's Center for Spiritual-Moral Education, which Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov set up 18 months ago. Kadyrov's spokesman declined to comment on the action against women failing to wear headscarves. Alcohol is all but banned in Chechnya, and women must wear headscarves in state buildings. Polygamy is encouraged by authorities. The men's action follows an order earlier in the week from Chechnya's spiritual leader to shut all cafes during Ramadan, as well as paintball attacks on bareheaded women in June. A number of other women last week described how men in cars threatened them with violence if they did not cover up. While some women carry headscarves in their bags, those without were encouraged to go home immediately.
© The Moscow Times
IJZERWAKE WELCOMES RADICAL FLEMISH NATIONALISTS (Belgium)
In Steenstraete, in West Flanders, the annual IJzerwake has been held. According to the organisers, the event attracted some 5,000 people, the same number as last year. The IJzerwake is an organisation that split off from the IJzerbedevaart, uniting the more radical Flemish nationalists.
22/8/2010- The ultimate goal for the IJzerwake nationalists is the independence of Flanders. IJzerwake president Wim De Wit said that in order to reach this goal, they are prepared to work in different steps. "Our main goal is an independent Flanders. If we can reach this goal at once, that would be perfect, but if we have to take different steps, we are prepared to accept that. I realise that we will have to take it one step at a time, but if enough progress can be made each time, and no additional obstacles are created, we can live with that", Wim De Wit told the VRT. Before the IJzerwake, police detained ten persons. They came from the Liège region and carried illegal weapons like knuckle-dusters and truncheons.
About the IJzerwake and IJzerbedevaart
The annual event gets its name from the IJzer or Yser River. Around the river is where some of the fiercest and most deadly battles of the First World War were fought. The IJzerwake takes place in a field which has a monument commemorating the Van Raemdonck Brothers. The Flemish soldiers were killed there during enemy fire. As the story goes, the bodies of the two brothers were not buried because, according to the French-speaking general, they were "only Flemings". The story highlights an underlying tension, which still exists today in the minds of a small group of Flemish, between the French and Dutch-speaking Belgians. The IJzerbedevaart, which takes place next Sunday, literally means the Pilgrimage of the IJzer or Yser. It is a yearly gathering of Flemings to remember the Flemish soldiers who died during the First World War. It was first organised in 1920 and has been an important symbol of Flemish political autonomy. During the Second World War the pilgrimages were organised by the German occupying forces. Because of the venue of the IJzerbedevaart, Diksmuide has become a gathering place of neo-Nazi groups from all over Europe. The IJzerbedevaart did not want to be associated with the extreme right-wing movement and has tried to make its message more up to date. The 82nd IJzerbedevaart takes place in Diksmuide next Sunday.
© Flanders News
MÁRIO MACHADO JAILED (Portugal)
21/8/2010- Neo-Nazi leader Mário Machado has been jailed for seven years and two months this week, for the crimes of coercion, robbery, kidnapping and illegal possession of weapons. The leader of the nationalist far right party, the ‘Hammerskins’, was finally sentenced to seven years and two months at Loures Courts on Tuesday, after sentencing was postponed twice beforehand. A further two suspects, Rui Dias and Fernando Massas, were jailed for nine years and seven years and ten months, respectively. Nuno Cerejeiro (two years and two months) and João Dourado (ten months) received suspended sentences, whilst Bruno Ramos, Bruno Monteiro and Nuno Themudo were acquitted. Mário Machado had previously been convicted to four years and ten months in 2008 for racial discrimination, intimidation, damage and assault with intent to cause serious bodily harm, amongst other related crimes.
© The Portugal News
INMATES' DORMITORY HOSTS ROMA HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL (Czech Rep.)
22/8/2010- Inmates' dormitory hosting an exhibition was opened to the public on the site of a former wartime internment camp for Romanies in Hodonin near Kunstat in the presence of about 80 people yesterday. The visitors paid respect to the World War Two Romany Holocaust victims by a religious service and by a commemorative meeting at the mass grave of Romanies. The Zalov complex in Hodonin, where a recreation centre operated until recently, was bought by the Education Ministry last year. The ministry wants to transform it to an educational centre for individual researchers and school classes to study Romany Holocaust. Simon Mastny, from the Education Ministry, said at the ceremony yesterday that the ministry considers the project important. Nevertheless, he avoided commenting on whether the ministry has enough money for it now that the government is planning strict austerity measures. Mastny said the Hodonin project is being reassessed. It may be carried out in a lesser extent than originally planned and within a longer time-span, Mastny said.
The newly opened original dormitory is to be preserved within the Holocaust study centre, though it is in a very bad technical state. "It is the only building related to the Romany Holocaust that has been preserved on Czech soil," said Jana Horvathova, director of the Brno-seated Museum of Romany Culture that organised the exhibition in the dormitory. She mentioned the importance of the dormitory's surroundings, such as terrain waves and the platforms on which six dormitories of the interment camp used to stand. "We don't know about something like that existing [elsewhere] in Europe," Horvathova said. She said people's awareness of Romany Holocaust is still low. The Nazi policy against Romanies, which many refer to as genocide, was survived by only one-tenth of 6,000 Bohemian and Moravian Romanies. It is Romanies from Slovakia who prevail among the country's Romany population now, Horvathova pointed out.
The visitors to the commemorative meeting yesterday included deputy ombudsman Jitka Seitlova, leaders of the Jewish community, regional politicians and representatives of the government and the Education MInistry. Karel Holomek, from the Association of Romanies in Moravia, criticised Prime Minister Petr Necas (Civic Democrats, ODS). He said Necas's potential pro-Romany statements are untrustworthy in a situation where he has chosen Roman Joch for his adviser. Holomek cited alleged statements by Joch, Civic Institute head, which he said were targeted against Romanies. The information that Necas is considering naming conservative Joch his adviser for human rights and foreign policy has caused protests from not only left-wing activists these days.
© The Prague Daily Monitor
ROMA KILLINGS ACCUSED LINKED TO SECURITY SERVICES (Hungary)
After half a decade of random murders of Hungarian Gypsies, four suspects have been arrested amid claims they may have had links with the country’s various secret intelligence services.
22/8/2010- Now, with the Hungarian Defence Ministry having made a timid admission to the allegations, conspiracy theorists are having a field day. Over the years, six Roma, including a five-year-old boy, have been gunned down by unknown assailants, striking terror into Hungary’s half a million Gypsies. Last week, after what some are calling an unconscionable delay, police closed their investigations into the serial Gypsy killings and transferred the cases of the four suspects to the Pest County Superior Court. At a press conference, a police spokesman named the alleged assassins as Istvan Cs, Istvan K, Arpad Sandor K, and Zsolt P, as under Hungarian law suspects cannot be named while in preliminary detention. The four are charged with murdering six strangers in nine predominantly Gypsy villages, and injuring another five. In the raids they allegedly fired 78 shots and threw four firebombs, endangering the lives of 55 others. They are facing charges of premeditated murder, arms control violations and stealing weapons. They all pleaded not guilty.
Given the prevalent antagonism towards the “thieving, workshy Roma”, as they are labelled by the far right, it is widely assumed that the alleged murderers are neo-fascist activists. But in a startling twist to the emotive race-hate issue, further exacerbated by lynchings of Hungarians by Gypsy mobs, the possible involvement of state security organs for political ends has been unearthed. The Hungarian Defence Ministry admitted last week that the murder suspect Istvan Cs. had served in the Military Intelligence Office’s counter-intelligence section, but had left the service before the Gypsy murders. According to investigation sources, he was the driver at two separate Gypsy murders. A second accused, Istvan K, formerly a security-service informer, has been charged with three Roma murders, involvement in eight other attacks and masterminding an arms theft. Here the plot thickens because, after being on the radar of the civilian secret services for years, Istvan K was inexplicably removed from their watchlist just when he began to acquire illegal guns prior to the attacks.
According to Magyar Hirlap, a right-wing Budapest daily, the third serial murder suspect had family ties with the forces of law and order. His brother-in-law is a serving policeman and his sister is the personal assistant to the Hajdu-Bihar County’s police commissioner, a county in which several Roma shootings have taken place. In an extraordinary open letter on a far-right website, Arpad Sandor K, the fourth accused, charged the National Investigations Office with “once again impudently claiming ‘seamless intelligence work’ but failing to look at its own backyard [in the Roma murders]”. He accused his fellow murder suspect Istvan Cs of being a military intelligence officer and “a plant in the Debrecen cell, who ratted on his comrades”. In his letter, published on Barikad, an internet website sympathetic to the far-right Jobbik Party, Arpad Sandor K analysed and refuted all the police evidence in the case, including the DNA samples, foot and wheel marks, and spent cartridges found at the Tatarszentgyorgy murder site.
Last year, in response to a parliamentary inquiry, the Defence Ministry categorically denied any link to Istvan Cs. Last week, however, it admitted that the man had been one of its officers who worked, among other assignments, as a field intelligence officer in Kosovo. Last week, Ervin Demeter, the Orban government’s overseer of the security services, offered a reality check. He said that “the intelligence services could have prevented at least some of the [Gypsy] murders”, thus pointing an accusing finger at the previous Socialist administration’s national security track record. And at this point, conspiracy theories and a murderous reality appear to meld. The emerging picture reveals, in view of the Defence Ministry’s admission of one of the key accused’s links to military intelligence, the previous Socialist government’s exploitation for party-political ends of the country’s anti-Roma feelings.
The killings were to apparently discredit the ascendant neo-fascists with the Gypsy murders, appease public opinion and boost the Socialists’ standing in the popularity charts. Simple really: one ploy promising to kill three birds with one stone, with the added bonus of cowing the “criminal Gypsies” who were allegedly “getting above themselves with their human rights”. It is, of course, always possible that what the country is being presented with as facts are massaged images in a hall of mirrors, both from the left and from the right. At the same time, the possibility cannot be excluded that the four arraigned men slaughtered the Gypsies because of their own hate “of this inferior race”, or on behalf their party “cells” without the help of some or other secret service, but not without their knowledge.
© The Herald Scotland
TWO TOWNS DIVIDED BY A CONSONANT (Hungary-Slovakia )
Komarno and Komarom are twin towns divided by the Danube and centuries of rancour between Slovaks and Hungarians. But this flashpoint of nationalist tension that spilled over into an international incident last year is not all what it seems...
23/8/2010- In this town on the Danube where Slovaks and Hungarians live side by side, four monuments symbolise the enduring divide between the two communities. Two of them pay tribute to Hungarian historical figures, the other two to Slovakia’s past. All of them have caused controversy, even clashes. The last of the four was erected in June, and rather furtively at that, by a Slovak nationalist party. It’s an obelisk of sorts commemorating the 90th anniversary of the Treaty of Trianon, which amputated two-thirds of Hungary’s territory in 1920 and gave birth to Czechoslovakia. The monument was placed slap bang in the middle of the bridge across the Danube. The message was plain as day: this is where Slovakia starts. Now and forever after. In this small country of 5.4 million inhabitants, the integrity of the national borders is no trifling matter.
Populists punished
While Komarno often makes the headlines in the press, this town of 40,000 is more preoccupied with the havoc wrought by the floods of May and June than with the ongoing nationalist rows. “The town is quiet. The rowdies go round and round for a while and then go home,” says Zoltan Bara, head of a European cross-border cooperation agency. On the Slovak side, things have indeed quietened down. The SNS Slovak Nationalist Party that put up the obelisk got kicked out in the June elections, in which voters punished the populists who had been in power for four years. On the Hungarian side, voters have yet to gauge the fallout from one of the first steps Viktor Orban’s right-wing government took after he was elected in April, granting citizenship to all ethnic Hungarians abroad, including the 600,000 living in Slovakia. But that offer leaves Komarno’s large number of ethnic Hungarian cold. “A passport? What for? It’s not a pay cheque or a job offer,” says Gabriela, a 23-year-old looking for her first job. Many Komarno residents already cross the bridge to work on the other side in the Hungarian town of Komarom anyway. Most of them work for Nokia, the leading investor in the region. That’s also where they catch the train to Vienna. The Schengen treaties, to which the two countries acceded in December 2007, have already brought down the borders. “Back in the Communist era, there were strict controls. People would cross the border to buy some sausage, or nails, basically the items usually trafficked in economies of scarcity,” remembers Gabor, a walker on the riverbank. The sentry boxes may be deserted but an ingrained reflex persists: drivers still slow down at either end of the bridge. The only vestige of a border is a bureau de change — Slovakia has embraced the euro, whereas Hungary is hanging on to her forint.
So everyone gets through. Well, almost everyone.… Last year, Hungarian president Laszlo Solyom got turned back at the border. The equestrian statue of Saint Stephen, the patron saint of Hungary and founder in 1100 of the Hungarian dynasty that was to rule Slovakia for several centuries, had to be inaugurated without him. This commemoration in Komarno, whose mayor happens to be an ethnic Hungarian, along with 60% of the townsfolk, had incensed Bratislava. The presidential visit was slated for August 21, which marks the anniversary of the invasion of Czechoslovakia by Warsaw Pact troops, including Hungarian soldiers. That was pretext enough for an outpouring of Slovak grievances. “It’s as though Hungarian soldiers had invaded Czechoslovakia on their own initiative,” quips border agency director Zoltan Bara.
Resentment
But these resurgent resentments are not only about symbolic matters. There’s the past, of course — centuries of Magyar domination for the Slovaks, mass expulsions of ethnic minorities after World War II for the Hungarians. And a precarious present. Iveta Radicova’s right-wing Slovak government still hasn’t repealed the restrictions on the use of the Hungarian language promulgated by her populist predecessor Robert Fico. “These conflicts are fuelled by the politicians,” remarks political scientist Dagmar Kusa. However, opinion polls show that young people's attitudes hardening. Then again, it might not be too late to reverse the trend. In the June elections, Most-Hid (most and hid being the Slovak and Hungarian words, respectively, for “bridge”), the first multiethnic party, raked in the votes in both communities in Komarno – at the nationalists’ expense.
© Press Europe
BRITAIN SCRAPS ANNUAL ASSESSMENT OF HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES ACROSS THE WORLD
NGOs concerned that ministers are 'blindly' pursuing commercial interests in countries where atrocities are taking place
22/8/2010- The coalition government is plunged into a major row today over its commitment to human rights amid claims that it will scrap the Foreign Office's landmark annual assessment of abuses across the world. The Observer has learned that civil servants have been told to stop working on the next edition of the FCO Annual Report on Human Rights, which highlights incidents of torture and oppression, monitors use of the death penalty and aims to expose the illegal arms trade. The report also acts as a guide to MPs and businesses over which countries it is ethical to trade with. The former Liberal Democrat leader, Sir Menzies Campbell, broke ranks last night to claim that any move to end the annual report risked "downgrading human rights" and would be met with "fierce resistance". NGOs said that doubts over the future of the report, which was introduced by Robin Cook in 1997, fuelled their concerns that coalition ministers were "blindly" pursuing commercial interests in countries where atrocities were taking place.
Last year the former Labour government used the report to publicly declare its concerns with 22 countries, including China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Zimbabwe. David Miliband, the shadow foreign secretary and Labour leadership candidate, said that it had "saved lives", revealing atrocities in Burma, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gaza and Sri Lanka. "Britain has led the world in standing up for human rights and the coalition is taking a serious step back," he said, arguing that the audit was not just "nice to have" but a crucial tool. A Foreign Office source said a huge amount of effort went into the report each year, with some embassy staff spending months uncovering atrocities. He said the team had been told the future of the study was "under review" and staff had been asked to "hold fire on it". He added: "The word has already gone out to the embassies that we need to concentrate on trade. It's not surprising, but it's very sad."
NGOs fear the coalition is putting economic interests above the drive to stamp out abuses. Last week Tom Porteous, the director of Human Rights Watch in London, warned in an article on Comment is Free that by "blindly pursuing commercial interests" the UK risked undermining efforts to protect human rights. Kate Allen, the director of Amnesty International UK, said she had deep concerns about plans to axe the report, saying the move would "raise serious questions about how much they value human rights". "The government has already stressed that it will concentrate on trade when it comes to foreign policy" Allen said. "But that move cannot be at any cost. Amnesty International's fear is that this is the latest step in putting economics before human rights." An FCO spokeswoman said: "The foreign secretary is determined that the UK's foreign policy should reflect the values that we uphold at home and that our actions overseas be consistent with support for human rights. "In the current financial climate ...we need to look carefully at how best to communicate and ensure transparency with parliament and the public on our human rights activity."
© The Guardian
EMMERDALES 'GAY' STAR DANNY MILLER ATTACKED (uk)
22/8/2010- Emmerdale star Danny Miller has been attacked by two drunken thugs over his controversial role as a gay teenager. The yobs threw punches at him after he had spent a night out watching his dad - comic Vince Miller - perform a show in Manchester. Danny, 19, who plays gay character Aaron Livesy, used his Twitter page to reassure fans, tweeting: "I was attacked by a couple of lads tonight but escaped unharmed. I just didn't want people worrying." After some of his 12,352 followers responded, he said: "It was Emmerdale-related." The incident came less than a fortnight after Danny (dating co-star Kirsty Leigh Porter, 21) revealed he had received hate mail from fans angry to learn he was straight in real life.
© The Mirror
CANADIAN MEDIA CLAMOURING TO GIVE WELL KNOWN RACIST/NEO-NAZI A PLATFORM
Anti neo-Nazi and anti racism activists are horrified at the Canadian mainstream media platform and brazen public organizing of well-known white supremacists and neo-Nazis such as Paul Fromm following the Tamil asylum seekers landing on BC’s coast.
22/8/2010- Anti neo-Nazi and anti racism activists are horrified at the public platform and brazen public organizing of well-known white supremacists and neo-Nazis such as Paul Fromm in recent weeks in response to the Tamil asylum seekers landing on BC’s coast. Last week in Calgary Paul Fromm and a group from the Aryan Guard protested in front of Immigration Minister Jason Kenney’s constituency office with signs ‘Stand Up, Send the Illegals Back’. This weekend, Paul Fromm organized a rally at Esquimalt to oppose the landing of the MV Sun Sea. In a press release, he made absurd and false allegations about the boat being found with drugs and explosives. “Paul Fromm, now fronting as the leader of the Canada First Committee, is a known neo-Nazi leader and one of Canada’s most notorious white supremacists. Fromm has spoken at Heritage Front events, including a celebration of Hitler’s birthday. He cannot be given an uncritical platform to spew his hate,” says Maitland Cassia of Anti Racist Action- Vancouver.
Fromm received prominent media coverage all weekend including by the Toronto Star, Canadian Press, CTV, and CFAX 1070 with little mention of his notorious links. According to Shane Calder of the Victoria Anti Racist Network, “Government officials and media outlets should all be aware about his extremist white supremacist links, and should report on them. It should be absolutely unacceptable that well-known neo-Nazis and white supremacists are openly organizing rallies for the ship to be sent back. We should all be organizing counter-rallies against in response to their hateful and oppressive views.”
“It is frightening when Vic Toews and Paul Fromm are parroting the same unsubstantiated lies about terrorists, criminals and illegals to justify public hysteria and a large security operation. Is this really the direction we want to be going in? Or do we want to stand on the side of refugee justice, compassion, and respect for life?” states Magin Payet Scudalleri, a member of No One Is Illegal-Vancouver. “We should refrain from stereotyping these migrants and remember that they have survived a long and arduous journey in the hopes that the Canadian state will fully comply with its international refugee and human rights law obligations to the right to asylum” Scudalleri said.
© The Link
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