74 BELGIUM*

IHF FOCUS: anti-terrorism measures; freedom of expression, free media and infor- mation; freedom of religion and religious tolerance; national minorities; racism, in- tolerance and xenophobia; migrants, asylum seekers and refugees.

The main human rights concerns in New anti-terrorism legislation adopted Belgium in 2005 were racial discrimination during the year broadened the powers of and intolerance and violations of the rights police and public prosecutors to engage in of asylum seekers and immigrants. surveillance and control, which gave rise to In May, Belgium signed Protocol No. 7 concern about violations of privacy rights to the Council of Europe Convention for and freedom of expression. the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR), which ex- Anti-Terrorism Measures1 tends the list of protected rights to include On 28 October, the Council of Minis- the right of aliens to procedural guarantees ters submitted to the Chamber of Repre- in the event of expulsion from the territory sentatives a draft law that envisaged chan- of a state; the right of a person convicted ges to the criminal code and judicial code of a criminal offence to have the sentence concerning special forms of investigation reviewed by a higher tribunal; the right to in the fight against terrorism and organized compensation in the event of a miscar- crime.2 New legislation on this topic was riage of justice; the right not to be tried or necessary because the Court of Arbitration punished for an offence for which one has partially revoked existing legislation in a already been acquitted or convicted; as decision of 21 December 2004. The court well as equality of rights and responsibili- had found that some of the existing provi- ties between spouses. sions were not in conformity with the con- In its annual report published in June, stitution and pointed to the need to make the Centre for Equal Opportunities and some measures, especially those directly Fights against Racism (CECLR) reported related to private life, subject to approval that it received a growing number of com- by an independent and impartial judicial plaints about discrimination in 2004. Com- body. The draft law was dealt with in a fast- plaints about discrimination on grounds of track procedure by the Chamber of Repre- origin, nationality and religion were fre- sentatives and the Senate, and was adopt- quent in the areas of employment, hous- ed by the Senate on 23 December, two ing and public service. months after it was first proposed.3 In October, the Parliamentary Assem- Human rights organizations and civil bly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopt- groups criticized the draft law for infringing ed Resolution 1469 (2005), calling on fundamental rights. Concerns were expres- Belgian authorities to encourage commu- sed that the bill granted the public prose- nication and cultural cooperation across cutor’s office the right to enter into private the linguistic borders of the country as well places, except for places of residence, on as to ratify the Framework Convention for its own initiative and without any control. the Protection of National Minorities. Bel- This provision was at variance with the ju- gium also still has to ratify Protocol No. 12 risprudence of the European Court for Hu- to the ECHR, which contains general anti- man Rights (ECtHR).4 The League for Hu- discrimination provisions. man Rights also found that the bill appea- In December, the Council of Ministers red to be aimed at establishing “an ideolo- adopted new legislation to simplify and ac- gy of permanent control.”5 celerate asylum procedures, a reform that Senators from both ruling and opposi- was long overdue. tion parties expressed concern that the ap-

* Written by Human Rights Without Frontiers, IHF Cooperating Organization, January 2006. BELGIUM 75 plication area of the law was not suffi- a legal guarantee for the protection of ciently defined, which may lead to abuse. sources.”10 In response to such concerns, Justice N On 25 January, three days before the Minister Laurette Onkelinx stated that the Senate vote on the bill on the protection of law would be applied only in cases related journalists’ sources of information, reporter to the fight against terrorism and organized Anne de Graaf and editor Yves Desmet of crime. the Flemish-language newspaper De Morgen were interrogated as witnesses in Freedom of Expression, Free Media an investigation by federal prosecutors into and Information unauthorized leaks. In particular, they were The rights of freedom of speech and asked about calls made on De Graaf’s freedom of the press were generally re- phone between 23 March and 8 May spected. However, the principle of confi- 2004. Media monitoring NGOs con- dentiality of journalistic sources remained demned this as an attack on journalists’ a topic of discussion. In 2003, two bills re- right to confidentiality of sources.11 garding the protection of journalists’ sour- A draft resolution on the protection of ces of information were submitted to the the rights of journalists and editors in the Chamber of Representatives, one of which exercise of their profession was also sub- 6 was taken up for further debate. The mitted to the Senate in February 2004. Senate amended and passed the bill on This draft resolution would expand the 27 January 2005 and the Chamber finally scope of protection of journalists and edi- 7 adopted it on 17 March 2005, following tors and of access to sources of informa- lively debates, which were due to the sen- tion.12 Senate discussions on this issue sitivity of the issue as well as the difference were pending at the end of 2005. in approach.8 The new anti-terrorism bill was viewed The new law provides that journalists by some as undermining the protection of have the right not to reveal their sources. the right of journalists not to reveal their They are explicitly protected against home sources that was established by the March searches, seizures, phone tapping and oth- law. A provision on “discreet visual con- er investigations. Under the new law, jour- trols” included in the bill revived debates nalists cannot be held responsible for ex- on the protection of journalistic sources. ercising their right not to divulgate the con- The Association of Professional Journalists tents of the documents in their possession in Belgium (AGJPB) addressed a letter to or for complicity in the violation of profes- the Senate members, demanding a revi- sional secrecy by a third party. Article 4 of sion of the draft.13 The AGJPB was mainly the law envisages exceptions to the right of concerned about the lack of legal guaran- journalists not to reveal their sources in tees in cases of controls in professional cases where it is considered necessary that places such as media offices and de- they disclose their sources “to prevent manded the re-establishment of the role crimes that represent a serious attack on of a judge in authorizing the enforcement the physical integrity of one or several par- of such measures. The European Fede- ties.” Any exceptions must be approved by ration of Journalists stated that the draft a judge.9 law was “out of proportions” and ex- The European Federation of Journa- pressed concern that the presence of po- lists welcomed the law as a “landmark vic- lice officers in press-rooms and media of- tory” for Belgian journalists as well as for fices could become a routine practice un- “European journalists who still do not have der the law.

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Freedom of Religion and Religious previous General Assembly, boycotted the Tolerance election in response to the government’s State and Religion policies. The General Assembly designated The relationship between the state 17 candidates for the Executive, who were and religions in Belgium is historically root- appointed only after being screened and ed in the principle of recognition and non- approved by the Ministry of Interior. recognition of religions. However, recogni- Discussions about the wearing of tion criteria have never been enshrined in headscarves (hijabs) in public institutions the constitution, in decrees or in other abated after a peak in 2004 and a pro- laws. Six religions (Catholicism, Protestan- posal made by two senators in 2005 to in- tism, Anglicanism, Judaism, Islam and Or- troduce new federal legislation banning thodoxy) and secular humanism (laïcité) the wearing of religious symbols in public are recognized by the state. This system of places garnered little political support. hierarchy of religions generates various The governments of the French and forms of institutional discrimination. As in Flemish community had granted public previous years, the state only financed rec- schools the right to ban the wearing of ognized religious communities in 2005, al- headscarves. By late 2005, about 70% of though state subsidies were provided by secondary schools under the authority of all taxpayers, including those who pro- the French community had introduced fessed a non-recognized religion or who such a ban, compared with 41% in 2000. A number of complaints were filed did not adhere to any religion or belief. with regard to school bans on head- Relations between the state and the scarves. representative bodies of the Muslim com- munity have been strained over the past N In June, in a case involving a com- few years and tensions lingered on in plaint about the policies of a school in 2005. In July 2004, the government intro- Hasselt in the Province of Limbourg, the duced a law requiring that new general Appeal Court of Antwerp ruled that the elections be held to fully renew the mem- Belgian anti-discrimination law did not pro- bership of the Muslim General Assembly hibit school bans for headscarves. The and the Executive, despite the fact that the court acknowledged the right of public members of these bodies were duly elect- school students to wear headscarves, but ed for a ten-year period in December concluded that this right is not absolute. 1998. The government-imposed decision The court stated that public schools can was strongly criticized by the Muslim rep- limit this right in cases where such a meas- resentative bodies, which viewed it as in- ure is considered necessary to ensure terference in the internal affairs of the proper organization of school work and/or Muslim community. A number of com- to guarantee the safety or the rights of oth- plaints were lodged, but they were turned er students. down both by the Council of the State and The CELCR issued a statement stress- the Court of Arbitration. The elections were ing the importance of a constructive dia- held on 20 March 2005, and some logue between all sides, in particular be- 69,500 voters registered. The elections tween students concerned and school au- brought about a major shift in the compo- thorities. The center tried to act as a medi- sition of the 68-member General Assem- ator between the parties at the school in bly as Muslims of Turkish descent won the Hasselt, albeit unsuccessfully. absolute majority. Muslims of Moroccan Also, the wearing of the burqa14 in descent, who had held the majority in the public has gained momentum in recent

HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE OSCE REGION IHF REPORT 2006 BELGIUM 77 years. Since 2003, several communes three of its directors a symbolic amount of have introduced a ban on wearing the one euro in damages and to publish the burqa, as well as the niqab15, in public court decision in the leading newspapers places into their police regulations. By the De Standaard and Le Soir. The Belgian end of 2005, the number of communes parliament announced plans to appeal to where such ban applied reached a total of the Cassation Court. more than 20, including the towns of N Antwerp, Ghent, Lebbeke, and Maaseik. A Belgian citizenship was denied to two fine of EUR 150 was foreseen for viola- persons who were considered potentially tions of these bans. dangerous solely because they belonged Members of the Sikh community were to one of the 189 movements listed as also affected by changing policies regard- sects by the parliamentary inquiry com- ing conspicuous religious insignia. mission on sects. One of them was a Romanian Raelian who had been living in N In the course of the year, two Sikh Belgium for 13 years, and the other one boys, Pawandeep Singh (aged 15) and was an Indian Sahaja Yoga member who Jaswant Singh (aged 16), were given a had been married to a Belgian citizen for choice either to remove their turbans or to 14 years and lived in Belgium since 1993. be expelled from a public professional Both cases were brought to court. While school in Sint-Truiden. the Raelian applicant was finally granted Belgian citizenship, the other case was still The “Sect” Issue pending at the end of the year.17 The state had in place mechanisms and agencies – the Center for Information and Advice on Harmful Sectarian Organiza- National Minorities tions (the Sect Observatory) and the Inter- Linguistic Issues Ministerial Coordination Agency for the Belgium signed the Council of Eu- Fight against Harmful Sectarian Organiza- rope’s Framework Convention on National tions – to identify so-called “harmful cults,” Minorities in 2001. However, the conven- warn the public and fight against them. In tion was not ratified due to the fact that the October, the Sect Observatory published federated entities were not in a position to its bi-annual report. agree on the concept of “national minority.” N In an unprecedented move, on 28 Ju- Belgium as a federal state comprises ne,16 the Brussels Appeals Court condem- of three regions – the Walloon region, the ned the Belgian House of Representatives Flemish region, and the Brussels Capital for damaging the image of an organization region, three linguistic communities, and blacklisted in a 1997 report published by four linguistic regions (three monolingual the parliamentary inquiry commission on and one bilingual). The 1962-1963 lan- “sects.” The plaintiff was the Universal guage laws set out the language bound- Church of God’s Kingdom, a small reli- aries, which were still valid as of the end of gious group mainly active in Antwerp. The 2005. court found that the parliamentary investi- According to the language laws, the gation commission acted carelessly when language of the region was to be used in compiling the report and ruled that the the public administration in monolingual parliament could not escape responsibility regions. The inhabitants of 27 linguistically under article 58 of the constitution, which mixed communes, however, had the right, protects parliamentary immunity. The par- in their dealings with public authorities, to liament was ordered to pay the church and request to use a language other than that

IHF REPORT 2006 HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE OSCE REGION 78 BELGIUM of the region where their communes were the vicinity of Brussels lodged another located. Six of the 27 communes with so- (“counter”) petition with the Council of called linguistic facilities located on Europe, in which they complained of “real Flemish territory in the Brussels periphery health discrimination against French- had a large share – sometimes a majority speaking citizens by the Flemish region.” – of French-speaking inhabitants. Though The PACE bureau joined this petition with the official language in these communes the one from 2002 and referred both to was Dutch, the inhabitants had the right to the Social, Health and Family Affairs request to use French in their dealings with Committee. Minodora Cliveti (Romania, public authorities. This right, however, has Socialist Group) was appointed as rappor- repeatedly been challenged by Flemish teur. During her visit to Belgium on 13-15 politicians. Brussels is officially a bilingual April 2005, the rapporteur held meetings region, with a majority of French-speaking with the authors of both petitions, repre- inhabitants. sentatives of the authorities responsible for In 2002, PACE adopted a resolution public hospital administration in the (1301(2002)) stating that Belgium is a Brussels Capital region, the relevant Dutch- country with “significant minorities who speaking and French-speaking ministers need to be protected and whose rights are within the government of the Brussels- not officially recognized.”18 The assembly Capital region, and the president of the spelled out their proposals for groups in Commission for Language Supervision. Belgium that should be considered nation- The rapporteur’s report on Language al minorities under the Framework Con- problems in access to public health care vention: at the federal level, German- in the Brussels-Capital region in Belgium speakers should be considered a minority; was submitted to PACE in July.19 at local and regional levels, French-speak- The debates during the autumn PACE ers should be considered a minority in the plenary session in October led to the Dutch-language and German-language re- adoption of Resolution 1469 (2005), gions; while Dutch-speakers and German- which concluded that the solution of the speakers should be considered minorities linguistic problem did not lie in modifica- in the French-language region. tion of legislation, but rather in its applica- In October 2002, five Dutch-speaking tion in practice. To this end, the resolution members of the parliament of the Brussels recommended, inter alia, the increase of Capital region and local councillors peti- administrative and judicial measures to en- tioned the Council of Europe concerning sure bi-lingual services in Brussels hospi- the right to health care of Dutch-speakers tals as well as to improve the language in Brussels. The petition was referred to skills of medical students. The resolution the Committee on Legal Affairs and Hu- called on Belgian authorities to encourage man Rights, which appointed Boriss Cile- communication and cultural cooperation vics (Latvia, Socialist Group) as rapporteur. across linguistic borders as well as the rat- In the Opinion (doc. 10009) issued by the ification of the Framework Convention. committee on 3 December 2003, Cilevics Negotiations about language rights in noted that the problem posed in Brussels the electoral district of Brussels-Halle- was not one of legislation guaranteeing Vilvoorde, close to Brussels, led to heated Dutch-speakers’ rights, but rather the ap- debates in parliament and even to a par- plication of already recognized rights. liamentary vote of confidence in the gov- On 20 January 2004, 12 persons liv- ernment. The electoral district of Vilvoorde ing in communes with linguistic facilities in includes parts of the Flemish region and

HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE OSCE REGION IHF REPORT 2006 BELGIUM 79 parts of the Brussels Capital region, and The report noted that the number of peo- the issue at stake was whether to retain ple ready to report experiences of discrim- the current borders of the district or to di- ination – either their own or those of oth- vide it. Negotiations failed and the issue ers - had increased from previous years. was deferred for two years. The cases registered by the CELCR can be broken down as follows: employment – Racism, Intolerance and Xenophobia 17%, social life – 14%, public services – Belgium has ratified the International 13%, housing – 9%, police services – 8%, Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (IC- education – 8%, private services – 8%, CPR) and the International Convention on media/internet/propaganda – 7%, justice/ the Elimination of All Forms of Racial nationality/residence – 7%, and others – Discrimination (ICERD). Belgium has, how- 9%.21 With regard to employment, housing ever, yet to ratify Protocol No. 12 to the and public services, a majority of the com- ECHR, which establishes general prohibi- plaints reported discrimination on grounds tion against discrimination. A new Anti-Dis- of origin (36%) and race (7%) as well as crimination Act adopted in February 2003 religion/culture (10%) and nationality provides for legal protection against racial (10%). discrimination as well as discrimination ba- For a number of years, discrimination sed on sexual orientation, disability, state has been particularly widespread in the of health, religious and philosophical be- field of employment. Several studies have 20 liefs and age. shown that job candidates with “foreign The new law complemented the 1981 sounding” names have more difficulties in Anti-Racism Act, which is limited by sever- finding a job than those with typical Bel- al deficiencies, in particular its narrow def- gian names. A 2005 study by the Free Uni- inition of discrimination as a criminal act, versity of Brussels (ULB) and the Catholic with the burden of proof placed on the vic- University of Louvain (UCL), which was tim. The 2003 Anti-Discrimination Act es- commissioned by the Regional Brussels tablished a broad definition of discrimina- Labour Office (ORBEM), documented that tion and introduced a new civil procedure people of Moroccan and Turkish origin are aimed at enabling claimants to have their most disadvantaged in recruitment, fol- damages redressed and compensated in lowed by people from sub-Saharan Africa. the quickest way possible. Unemployment statistics from the Brussels However, despite the progress achie- ved by the new law, it was necessary to re- region showed that unemployment was vise and reinforce certain parts of it, in- particularly high among these groups, cluding those related to protection against which seemed to substantiate the findings discrimination in the areas of access to of the study. housing, social services, health care and In June, the UN Working group of education. Experts on People of African Descent paid Since 1993, the CELCR has been en- an official visit to Belgium. After hearing trusted with overseeing the implementation testimonies from people of African de- of the Anti-Racism Act. With the adoption of scent, the working group noted that em- the Anti-Discrimination Act, the center was ployment and housing remain areas in empowered to deal with the expanded which most complaints of discrimination scope of grounds of discrimination as pre- against people of African origin are record- scribed by the new law. ed and where they feel most disadvan- In June, the CELCR published its an- taged. The working group was due to pres- nual report covering the events of 2004. ent its findings and recommendations to

IHF REPORT 2006 HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE OSCE REGION 80 BELGIUM the sixty-second session of the UN Com- During the year, there was some prog- mission on Human Rights in 2006. ress concerning the issue of public funding N In April, the First Instance Tribunal of of political parties that incite racial hatred. Nivelles found a house owner guilty of dis- In 2001, the Council of Ministers adopted crimination on grounds of sexual orienta- a decree to implement a 1999 amend- tion. In November 2004, a same-sex cou- ment of the 1989 Law on Financing of Po- ple expressed interest in renting his house litical Parties, which states that public fund- through a real estate agency. The owner, ing may be limited or terminated if political however, told the agency that he wished to parties manifest “hostility towards human rent it to a “traditional couple.” The tribunal rights.” In February 2004, the Chamber of stipulated that the house owner will have Representatives adopted a draft law to fa- to pay EUR 100 in compensation in any cilitate the implementation of the 2001 future case of discrimination. This was the decree. This draft was transferred to the first decision issued by a French-speaking Senate for further debate and approval civil tribunal in a discrimination case, and and was adopted on 21 January, 2005. was considered to establish an important The law provides for a mechanism in precedent. which a complaint about a particular polit- ical party can be adopted and submitted to N In March and April, the Youth Tribunal the Council of State by one third of the of Leuven found three youngsters guilty of members of the Committee for Financial attacking and injuring two homosexuals in Control of Political Parties within the ad- 2003. The CELCR acted as civil party for ministrative section of the Council of State. the victims. Each one of the youngsters The Council of State, which has to consid- had to pay EUR 100 to the victims for in- er a complaint within six months, can sub- flicting moral damage, while the CELCR re- sequently decide to withdraw funding to a ceived a symbolic one euro. political party for a period of three to N In November, the Appeals Court of twelve months. In June, the Commission Liege upheld a lower court decision, which of Control of Election Expenses, which is found a landlady guilty of violating the pro- made up of members of both the Senate visions of the 1981 Anti-Racism Act by re- and the Chamber of Representatives, de- fusing to rent her apartment to a married cided to place the funding of the far-right couple where the husband was a Muslim Front National (FN) party under monitor- of Sudanese origin. The plaintiffs received ing. It was decided that the commission a symbolic compensation of one euro. would verify on a monthly basis whether This was the first guilty verdict issued by a the party respects the conditions for using Liege court on charges of racist behavior in the funds. The public funding of the far- the field of housing. right parties Vlaams Belang and FN, both The Movement against Racism, Anti- of which have repeatedly made racist Semitism and Xenophobia (MRAX) sound- statements, amounted to EUR 3 million ed alarm over the increase in racially moti- and EUR 640,000 respectively. vated violence committed by police offi- In March, the European Commission cers. In the period 2000-2005, MRAX re- against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) ceived more than 60 complaints about published a report on the use of racist, such cases. Following two cases of police anti-Semitic, and xenophobic arguments in violence towards people of foreign origin political discourse, which dealt with the sit- in the summer of 2005, MRAX called for uation in Belgium until the end of 2004.22 an investigation into police practices. The report discussed the role of Vlaams

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Bloc in national politics in Belgium and writing within 48 hours upon request, be- showed how the law on financing was fore proceeding to circulate the brochure. used to restrict political exploitation of The CELCR, the League for Human Rights xenophobic discourse in this particular and the MRAX had earlier, as civil parties, case. In November 2004, long-running le- initiated a court case against FN President gal proceedings against three non-profit Daniel Féret because of the racist charac- associations linked to Vlaams Blok came ter of the party’s propaganda and parts of to an end as the Court of Cassation upheld its political program. At the end of the year, a lower court decision that found the par- court proceedings were still ongoing. ty guilty of using racist and xenophobic A 1995 law provides for the punish- propaganda in its activities. As a result of ment of acts of denying, belittling, justify- this decision, Vlaams Blok was no longer ing or approving the genocide committed eligible for state funding and its members by the Nazis. would commit an offense if they contin- N In April, the Appeal Court of Antwer- ued to work for the party. pen sentenced Siegfried Verbeke to a one- Following the ruling, the party was re- year suspended prison term and fined him named to Vlaams Belang and continued EUR 2,500 for distributing pamphlets its existence under the new banner. The denying the Holocaust. He was stripped of party altered its program, dropping its pre- his political rights and the right to be em- vious demand that “large groups of non- ployed in public administration for a period European immigrants” be returned to their of ten years. The CELCR and the Founda- countries to instead require the deporta- tion Auschwitz, which acted as civil parties tion of immigrants “who reject, deny or in the proceedings, received a symbolic combat our culture and certain European compensation of one euro.24 values such as separation of the Church In 2004, the government proposed and State, freedom of expression and amendments to the 2000 law on cyber equality between men and women.”23 crimes, the 1994 law on author’s rights, Overall, however, the party retained its pre- and the 1995 law against negationism25 to vious racist agenda. In June, Filip Dewinter, align Belgian legislation with the 2001 one of the leaders of Vlaams Belang and Council of Europe Convention on Cyber a member of the federal parliament, de- Crime and the 2003 Additional Protocol to clared in an interview for the daily Metro the Convention, which concerns the crimi- that “multiculturalism leads to multi-crimi- nalisation of acts of a racist and xenopho- nality.” The CELCR criticized him for abus- bic nature committed through computer ing his position to invoke the so-called systems.26 In the framework of the debates “scapegoat mechanism.” on the proposed amendments, MRAX, N In June, the postal services distributed supported by a group of 11 other organi- a brochure by FN with racist content. sations, proposed two additional amend- According to a 1998 agreement between ments to extend the scope of negationism the CELCR and the postal services, the lat- to include the Armenian genocide and the ter should consult the center in cases Rwandan genocide. In June 2005, a vote where it is questionable whether materials on the proposed amendments fell through due to be distributed are in conformity in the Senate Commission of Justice. The with the Anti-Racist Act. In this case, how- period leading up to the vote was marked ever, the postal services did not wait for by heated debates, in which senators of the opinion of the CELCR, which according Turkish origin expressed strong opposition to the agreement should be submitted in to the amendments proposed by MRAX.

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The issue attracted further attention kill him and all other Jews. This was the when Emir Kir, member of the Socialist first conviction in Belgium of a person Party and state secretary of Brussels charged with an anti-Semitic crime. Region, lodged a complaint of defamation against two journalists, who had depicted Islamophobia him as a “negationist” because of his par- In the aftermath of September 11, the ticipation in a May 2004 demonstration or- problem of Islamophobia has aggravated ganized by Association de la pensée in Belgium. As in previous years, hostility ataturkiste de Belgique (BADD) under the toward Muslims was fuelled by extreme- slogan “Let’s reject the allegation of geno- right parties in 2005. cide.” In September, the First Instance N In February, the commune of Ber- Tribunal of Brussels, however, turned down chem-Sainte-Agathe filed a complaint as a the complaint, concluding that it was legit- civil party against the author of a pamphlet imate to qualify Kir as a “negationist” in of racist nature, which protested the con- 27 view of his activities. struction of a mosque in the commune. The pamphlet was signed by Christian Anti-Semitism Marot, who had allegedly benefited from The 35,000-strong Jewish community the help of two municipal counsellors from in Belgium continued to live in an atmos- Vlaams Belang. As of this writing, no fur- phere of insecurity. The CELCR reported ther information about the complaint was receiving an increasing number of com- available. plaints about anti-Semitic acts. N In February, a young Moroccan couple N In April, two teenagers threw a 13 year- was denied to rent an apartment. They old Jewish boy off his bicycle and beat him were also subjected to verbal harassment in Antwerp. Helped by his brother, he was by the real estate agent. The couple filed a taken to hospital and treated for bruises. At complaint with MRAX and the case was the end of the year, the police was still in- brought to court, where it was still pending vestigating the case. at the end of the year. N In May, five petrol bombs were thrown N In March, Rik Van Nieuwenhuyze, di- at a synagogue in the Anderlecht district of rector of the company Remmery, received Brussels, causing a fire that damaged the a letter, in which he was threatened with floor and furniture of the synagogue. The death for hiring a Muslim woman wearing government denounced the attack. There a headscarf, Naima Amzil. Amzil, who also were no arrests. received a death threat, tendered her res- There were some convictions for anti- ignation, which, however, was turned Semitic violence and harassment. down. She instead went on leave for an in- N In April, a former student of a school in definite period of time, which prompted Laeken was given a suspended one-year Nieuwenhuyze to seek assurances from prison term for inciting racial hatred. He Flemish Federal Minister Yves Leterme that had verbally attacked a Jewish professor. she would retain her social status as a worker during her forced leave. Amzil re- N In June, an Antwerp court sentenced a turned to work a few days later, encour- young man to six months in prison and or- aged by the support expressed from sev- dered him to pay EUR 500 in compensa- eral organizations and leading personali- tion for assaulting a Jewish man in Ant- ties, including the federal integration min- werp in June 2004 and for threatening to ister, Marino Keulen. The case gained con-

HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE OSCE REGION IHF REPORT 2006 BELGIUM 83 siderable public attention. Also after this in- of applications. Second, the new proce- cident, Remmery continued to receive dure established the functions of a specif- threat letters, which allegedly originated ic council, Conseil du contentieux des from the extreme-right organisation Nieuw étrangers (CCE), as an independent judi- Vrij Vlaanderen. cial institution made up of 32 magistrates that will examine applications in the sec- Migrants, Asylum Seekers and ond instance. According to the new rules, Refugees the decision-making process will last one year maximum, compared to a waiting pe- During the year, a total of 15,957 asy- riod of up to three or four years under the lum applications were lodged, 4% more old procedure. The UN High Commis- than in 2004. The principal countries of sioner for Refugees (UNHCR) lauded this origin were the Russian Federation, the improvement. Third, the reform introduced Democratic Republic of Congo and Serbia- subsidiary protection in cases that do not Montenegro. A total of 3,059 asylum seek- fall under the Geneva Convention. Those ers were recognized as refugees, in com- granted this status will enjoy rights similar parison to 2,376 in 2004. to those of recognized refugees with the In December, in the wake of months only exception that their right to stay in the of political debates, the Council of Minis- country will have to be extended each year ters finally approved the long-awaited re- for the duration of five years. form of the asylum procedure proposed With regard to family reunification, the by Interior Minister Patrick Dewael in June. new reform imposed some new restric- The reform has the purpose to simplify tions. The minimum age for a person set- and accelerate the asylum procedure. It tled in Belgium to apply to be joined by took effect on 1 January 2006. his/her spouse was increased from 18 to Under the procedure applied under 21 years, and persons requesting such re- the old rules, the first decision on an asy- lum application was taken by the Aliens unification will have to prove that they Office on the basis of both formal require- have sufficient resources to support the ments (such as whether the applicant had new family member. transited through a “safe third country”) Throughout the year, however, asylum and substantive requirements (such as and immigration policies continued to be whether the claim was “manifestly unfoun- characterized by two major shortcomings: ded”). The General Commissariat for Refu- Belgium applied a restrictive interpretation gees and Stateless Persons (CGRA) func- of the criteria for refugee status, and there tioned as the second instance, where the were no legal provisions regulating the application was subject to a thorough ex- granting of subsidiary protection to per- amination. Decisions could be appealed to sons who did not meet these criteria, but the Permanent Refugee Appeals Commis- who were in need of protection for hu- sion (Commission Permanente de Re- manitarian reasons. cours des Refugiés) and the State Council. N In April, more than 30 Kurds went on The new procedure introduced sever- hunger strike in a church in Brussels after al changes to the asylum process. First, the their asylum applications were rejected. Aliens Office was stripped of its decision- They invoked the situation of Kurds in making functions in the asylum process. Turkey and asked for regularization of their Instead, the General Commissariat for status. The minister of interior stated that Refugees and Stateless Persons was en- hunger strikes should not be accepted as a trusted with the first-instance examination means of pressure. He asked the strikers

IHF REPORT 2006 HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE OSCE REGION 84 BELGIUM to suspend their action and to seek re- were released after 12 days of detention. course with the Permanent Refugee Ap- During this time NGOs and civil groups or- peals Commission. Several parliamentari- ganized several public manifestations to ans called for the appointment of a medi- protest against the measure. ator, a proposal which the minister of inte- There were six closed asylum centers, rior rejected. Almost a month later, the which were administered by the Aliens’ minister met with the strikers and prom- Office under the authority of the Ministry of ised that their asylum applications would Interior. Two of the centers were located at be re-examined and that the order for the border. One of these was the INAD cen- them to leave the territory of the country ter at the Brussels airport, where “non-ad- would be suspended for two months. missible” asylum seekers were detained be- N In April, the Correctional Tribunal of fore they were returned to their countries of Antwerp condemned the Belgian state for origin or departure, and the other one was lengthy proceedings of seven years in the the transit center 127, where foreigners who case of an asylum application filed by an lacked documents necessary to enter the Iraqi Kurd. The state was ordered to pay in- country applying for asylum were detained. demnities of EUR 6,250. The other four centers, which were located in different regions of the country, accom- N On 9 June, the first-instance tribunal of modated immigrants who were waiting for Brussels ordered the Belgian state to ur- their documents to be processed. gently issue a provisional residence permit Arrests and forcible deportation of asy- to Martin Ebale Zam, a contemporary cho- lum seekers and immigrants continued to reographer of Cameroon origin, to enable be a serious issue. In July and August, on him to travel to Germany on 11 June and demand of the Aliens’ Office, more than represent Belgium in an international 60 people were arrested at the closed dance festival. Ebale Zam’s asylum appli- centers managed by the Federal Agency cation was rejected in the first two in- for the Reception of Asylum Seekers stances. His expulsion was, however, sus- (FEDASIL) and handed over for expulsion. pended due to an appeal to the State A cooperation agreement had previously Council, where the issue has been pend- been concluded between FEDASIL and the ing for four years. In the meantime, a press Aliens’ Office concerning expulsion. NGOs campaign had been launched against him severely criticized this agreement as a in his country of origin due to his homo- breach of confidence by an agency that sexuality, a crime with six months to five was expected to provide social services to years of imprisonment according to the foreigners. For 15 days starting in mid- criminal code in Cameroon. August, some asylum-seekers, undocu- N In September, Dédé Mutumbo Kazadi, mented people and their sympathizers oc- his wife and child of three months were ar- cupied the building of the Saint-Christophe rested when they appeared at the Aliens’ Basilica in the town of Charleroi to de- Office, to which they had been summoned mand the discontinuation of these poli- because of some paper formalities. Mu- cies. Following these protests, the Aliens’ tumbo Kazadi is one of the leading figures Office promised to apply a moratorium on in the Union for Defense of People with- the agreeement concluded with FEDASIL. out Documents (Union pour la Défense N In December, a Mongolian journalist, des Sans-Papiers - UDEP). Dédé Mutum- Eredhenand (Hanà) Tesernsodnom, and bo Kazadi and his family were sent to the her son were forcibly returned to their closed asylum reception centre 127, but country of origin. The deportation took

HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE OSCE REGION IHF REPORT 2006 BELGIUM 85 place despite the fact that an appeal filed side, the CELCR noted that several of the by Tesernsodnom was still under consider- proposals made were in violation of funda- ation by the Court of Cassation. Both the mental human rights, such as the proposal Belgian Association of Professional Jour- for indefinite detention at closed centers.29 nalists and the International Federation of The detention of accompanied and Journalists voiced concerns about the safe- unaccompanied minors remained a press- ty of the journalist and her son upon return ing human rights problem. According to to their country.28 the statistics published by the Aliens’ Office, 512 unaccompanied minors asked Following the conviction in December for asylum in 2005.30 In July, FEDASIL and 2003 of four law enforcement officials who the NGO “Child Focus” published a study caused the death of a Nigerian asylum- detailing the precarious situation of unac- seeker during her forced deportation, the companied minors who requested asylum minister of interior initiated an independent during the period 1 January 2003-1 Sep- commission led by Professor Vermeersch. tember 2004.31 In the period studied, 683 The commission began its work on evalu- non-accompanied minors were registered; ating the methods used during forced de- out of them, 161 disappeared. Since May portation of foreigners in January 2004 and 2004, a new framework law provides for presented its report to the Committee of guardianship services for unaccompanied the Interior of the Senate on 2 February minors. In March 2005, the Federal 2005. The report proposed the creation of Service of Justice launched a campaign to a permanent commission in charge of ana- recruit tutors for the envisaged guardian- lyzing deportation policies on an ongoing ship services. In June, the minister of social basis. The CELCR defined the report as integration inaugurated a center in Steeno- both promising and disturbing at the same kkerzeel for unaccompanied minors. The time. On the one side, the report came up center, which can house 50 children, was with a number of concrete recommenda- the second one of its kind to be opened. tions that could lead to reducing violence The first one was opened in Neder-over- during forced deportations. On the other Heembeek in August 2004.

Endnotes 1 See also the section on “Freedom of Expression, Free Media and Information.” 2 Projet de loi apportant des modifications diverses au code d’instruction criminelle et au code judiciaire en vue d’améliorer les modes d’investigation dans la lutte contre le terrorisme et la criminalité grave organisée (Doc. Parl. Chambre 2055/001), at www.lachambre.be. 3 The text of the law was published in Moniteur Belge on 30 December 2005. 4 Ligue des droits de l’homme, Méthodes particulières d’enquête: un projet de loi dan- gereux pour les droits fondamentaux, of 1 December 2005, at www.liguedh.be. 5 Ibid. 6 The introduction to the first bill (Proposition de loi visant à accorder aux journalistes le droit au secret de leurs sources d’information, at www.lachambre.be) referred to a case from 2002, in which the Tribunal of First Instance of Brussels ordered two journalists to

IHF REPORT 2006 HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE OSCE REGION 86 BELGIUM

pay EUR 25 for every hour they continued to refuse to disclose their sources for an ar- ticle published in the Flemish-language newspaper De Morgen. The draft was analyzed within the Justice Committee but was not taken up for further debate. 7 Projet de loi relatif à la protection des sources journalistiques. The timeline of the law adoption, amendments and final text can be found at www.lachambre.be. 8 Rapport fait au nom de la Commission de la Justice par Tony Van Parys, 10 March 2005, at www.lachambre.be. 9 Article 4, Loi relative à la protection des sources journalistiques. 10 International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), “European Journalists Welcome ’Landmark Victory’ in Belgium for Protection of Sources,“ 21 March 2005, at www.ifj.org. 11 Press release by Reporters without Borders (RSF), “Police question two journalists in new attack on confidentiality of sources,” 27 January 2005, at www.rsf.org. 12 Proposition de résolution relative aux statuts des journalistes et de rédactions perme- ttant de garantir l’exercice optimal de leur liberté d’information et de leurs autres mis- sions démocratiques de service public, at www.lachambre.be. 13 Letter of 12 December 2005 to the members of Senate from the Association Générale des Journalistes Professionnels de Belgique (AGJPB), at www.agjpb.be. 14 Burqa covers the woman’s face except for a small region about the eyes. 15 A veil, which covers the face except for the region about the eyes. 16 The ruling took effect in August 2005. 17 Sect Observatory, at www.ciaosn.be. 18 Council of Europe Resolution 1492 (2001) as quoted in Resolution 1301 (2002), at http://assembly.coe.int. 19 Council of Europe Doc. 10648 dated 8 July 2005, Language problems in access to public health care in the Brussels-Capital region in Belgium. 20 Act of 20 January 2003 reinforcing the legislation against racism published in Moniteur Belge, 12 February 2003. 21 Rapport Annuel 2004 du CELCR, June 2005, at www.antiracisme.be. 22 ECRI (Jean-Yves Camus), The use of racist, anti-Semitic, and xenophobic arguments in political discourse, March 2005. 23 Quotation from ECRI’s report, March 2005. 24 CELCR, Négationiste condamné, press release, 14 April 2005, at www.antiracisme. be/fr/cadre_fr.htm 25 The full name of the law is: Law to punish the negation, minimization, justification or approbation of genocide committed by the national-socialist German regime during the Second World War of the Holocaust. 26 Project de loi modifiant la loi du 28 novembre 2000 relative à la criminalité informa- tique, la loi du 30 juin 1994 relative aux droits d’auteur et aux droits voisins, et la loi du 23 mars 1995 tendant à réprimer la négation, la minimisation, la justification ou l’approbation du génocide commis par le régime national-socialiste allemand pen- dant la seconde guerre mondiale, at www.lachambre.be. 27 The full text of the judgement can be found at http://users.skynet.be/suffrage-uni- versel/be/kirjugement.htm. 28 IFJ press release, 13 December 2005. 29 CELCR, press release of 2 February 2005, at www.antiracisme.be. 30 Office des Etrangers, statistics at www.dofi.fgov.be/fr/1024/frame.htm. 31 Le profil et le trajet des demandeurs d’asile mineurs d’âge non accompagnés en Belgique, FEDASIL and Child Focus, at www.fedasil.be/home/attachment/i/6313.

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