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Resolution 2069 (2015)
Recognising and preventing neo-racism
1. A disturbing rise in racism, xenophobia
and intolerance has been apparent for some years now in Europe.
Those affected include migrants and asylum seekers, Jews, Muslims
and Roma, and the reason is a supposed incompatibility between groups
of different origins on cultural and religious grounds. In addition
to the conventional definition of racism, there is also a “race-less
racism” which is equally damaging because it tends to justify discrimination
against certain groups and individuals.
2. Europe must not underestimate the dangers of racism, nor must
it forget the lessons of history. Historical memory must help us
understand that stigmatising prejudice, social exclusion, deprivation
of rights, humiliation and segregation are never harmless.
3. The Parliamentary Assembly therefore urges national authorities
and civil society to be extremely vigilant. Preventing and combating
racism, intolerance and xenophobia should be a priority for the
member States of the Council of Europe.
4. The Assembly is also concerned about the growing dissemination
of hate speech, especially in the political sphere and on the Internet,
and at the emergence of overtly anti-migrant political parties and
populist movements in a number of member States. Politicians should
be aware of the effect of their words on public opinion and should
refrain from using any forms of discriminatory, insulting or aggressive
language about groups or categories of people. They should also
base their statements about immigration and asylum, and about intercultural
relations, on objective facts.
5. Racism is a complex phenomenon. It is linked to multiple factors
and the battle against it must be fought on multiple fronts. In
addition to legal instruments designed to prohibit and punish all
expressions of racism, including hate speech, intolerance must be
fought using cultural and social instruments. Education and information
must play a crucial part in training citizens to respect ethnic,
cultural and religious diversity.
6. In the light of these considerations, the Assembly calls on
the member States of the Council of Europe:
6.1. regarding civil society and dialogue between communities,
to:
6.1.1. promote the role of civil society, in particular
organisations representing groups which are victims of racism or
targets of hate speech, as counterparts of the public authorities
with the aim of co-operating in the implementation of policies to
counter discrimination, hostility and prejudice;
6.1.2. encourage exchanges between groups which are victims of
racism or targets of hate speech, in particular in the form of joint
projects developed with the aim of consolidating social ties and
promoting inter-community solidarity and the fight against discrimination;
6.2. regarding the legal framework for combating racism and
intolerance, and its implementation, to:
6.2.1. ensure that
the legal framework on hate speech and hate crime includes the broadest possible
range of grounds of discrimination, including “race”, colour, ethnicity,
language, religion, disability, migrant status, sex, sexual orientation
and gender identity;
6.2.2. if they have not already done so, sign and/or ratify Protocol
No. 12 to the European Convention on Human Rights (ETS No. 177)
and the Additional Protocol to the Convention on Cybercrime concerning
the criminalisation of acts of a racist and xenophobic nature committed through
computer systems (ETS No. 189);
6.3. regarding racist statements and hate speech, to:
6.3.1. introduce into the rules of procedure of national parliaments,
of the organs of local and regional authorities and of political
parties regulations banning racist remarks and hate speech and providing
for adequate penalties where those rules are breached;
6.3.2. encourage Internet service providers and social networks
to follow up on complaints and to adopt guidelines to prevent the
propagation of racist remarks and hate speech, containing clear
criteria to determine which content should be deleted and to reinforce
co-operation between these parties and the law-enforcement authorities
so that the authors of racist remarks and hate speech can be identified
and prosecuted;
6.3.3. encourage citizens to report racist statements and hate
speech to public bodies and non-governmental organisations involved
in the fight against racism and discrimination;
6.3.4. promote the activity of online moderators and mediators
who endeavour to identify offensive content and engage in a dialogue
with perpetrators for preventive purposes;
6.3.5. encourage the media to use wording that is factually correct,
by providing them with appropriate data and statistics;
6.3.6. promote research into the prevalence of hate speech, its
causes and the impact of campaigns against it;
6.4. regarding education and training, to:
6.4.1. train
teachers in intercultural education, providing them with tools for
understanding the current evolution of racism in its various forms,
such as anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, xenophobia and anti-Gypsyism;
6.4.2. reform citizenship education curricula on the basis of
an intercultural approach, in conformity with the guidelines contained
in the Council of Europe White paper on intercultural dialogue “Living
together as equals in dignity”;
6.4.3. encourage exchanges and periods of living and studying
abroad;
6.4.4. promote the remembrance of historical instances of racism
and intolerance, in particular through the teaching of history and
of the dynamics which allow discrimination to develop into institutionalised
violence;
6.4.5. promote training and awareness-raising activities for
adults in the fields of democratic citizenship and human rights,
based on an intercultural approach, by means of campaigns and educational
initiatives;
6.5. regarding political communication, to:
6.5.1. improve
communication concerning migration and asylum issues so as to give
citizens and non-citizens, including groups which are victims of
discrimination and hate speech, accurate and impartial information
on migration and asylum flows and on the applicable legislation;
6.5.2. establish parliamentary networks against racism in national
parliaments to ensure that politicians react to instances of racism
and intolerance;
6.6. regarding criminal justice, to:
6.6.1. ensure
that discriminatory acts and statements and hate crimes are more
systematically reported, by devising incentives which will strengthen
confidence in the authorities and especially the police;
6.6.2. promote restorative justice, in particular in the form
of mediation between the perpetrators and the victims of hate speech
and other racist acts, on the basis of free choice by the persons
concerned;
6.6.3. promote the educational aspect of criminal penalties,
ensuring that persons convicted of racist acts or statements are
given access to awareness-raising and training activities and to appropriate
information.