’S FIGHT AGAINST ANTI-SEMITISM March 2007

France deploys a global strategy to combat the resurgence of anti-Semitism, including prevention, repression (“zero tolerance policy”), and international actions.

After a significant decrease of anti-Semitic acts in 2005 (-47%), France experienced in 2006 the horrific murder of Ilan Halimi and a rebound of anti-Semitic acts with 371 acts (+24%). In spite of this setback, the number of acts remains below the level reached in 2004.

French authorities remain fully mobilized to fight against anti-Semitism. On the domestic front, preventive measures have been implemented since 2002 and tougher penalties mandated. At the international level, major efforts have been made to increase awareness of this serious problem among our partners in a variety of different arenas. These initiatives reflect France’s vigilance and determination to fight this terrible scourge.

1. French authorities remain fully mobilized to prevent and penalize anti- Semitic offenses:

¾ French legislation to combat anti-Semitic acts is some of the toughest worldwide. The “Lellouche Act” of 2003 imposes tougher penalties for racist, anti-Semitic or xenophobic offenses. It introduces the aggravating circumstance of or anti-Semitism for certain offenses, which has the effect of toughening the penalty and can even increase the severity of the charge. Another law passed in 2004 expands the list of offenses to which the aggravating circumstance of racism or anti-Semitism can be added, and it extends the deadline for filing a complaint from three months to one year. A law passed in July 2004 on electronic and audiovisual communications strengthened existing means to fight racism and anti-Semitism in the media. It enabled the president of the CSA [the French communications regulator] to ban the Lebanon-based TV channel Al Manar, which had broadcast anti-Semitic programs, and refer it to France’s highest administrative court, the Council of State. On December 13, 2004, the Council of State ordered Eutelsat to stop transmitting Al Manar in France.

¾ These measures have been fully and forcefully implemented. Penalties for anti-Semitic offenses have been increased. Tough prison sentences have been handed down, including crimes where property was damaged. Special prosecutors have been appointed to handle cases involving racism and anti-Semitism. Most recently, the leader of the anti-Semitic “Tribu Ka” gang has been sentenced to prison. And the leader of the gang responsible for Ilan’s murder has been arrested in and is awaiting trial in prison.

¾ High level monitoring in close coordination with the Jewish community. An Interministerial Committee to fight Racism and Anti-Semitism, chaired by the French Prime Minister, was established in November 2003, to monitor the situation. The Ministry of the Interior is also working in close cooperation with the CRIF, the umbrella body representing the organized Jewish community in France, and

1 additional measures have been taken for the protection of sensitive sites. 1,200 officers, plus local police and gendarmerie forces, are assigned exclusively to ensure the security of the Jewish community’s religious and cultural premises.

¾ Keeping the memory of the Holocaust alive. A long-term approach is being taken in French schools to teach tolerance and educate students about the dangers of anti-Semitism. There is now an annual day devoted to remembrance of the Shoah in schools. School visits are organized to the places of remembrance. And French authorities are very much involved. Most recently, at a ceremony to honor the 3000 French citizens recognized as Righteous among the nations, President Chirac called Holocaust denial a “crime against truth” and “an absolute perversion of the soul and the spirit.”

2. At the international level, France has been extensively engaged to increase public awareness of the resurgence of anti-Semitism, emphasizing the need to develop action plans to deal with it:

¾ Organization for Security and Cooperation in (OSCE). France took an active part in the Berlin conference on anti-Semitism in April 2004. This was followed by a special conference in in June 2004 to consider the spread of racist, anti-Semitic and xenophobic propaganda over the Internet. At the 2004 OSCE ministerial conference, France supported the appointment of three representatives tasked with addressing questions of tolerance, including anti- Semitism. France sent a high-level delegation and participated actively in the June 2005 conference in Cordoba, which continued to focus the OSCE’s attention on issues related to anti-Semitism and other forms of intolerance. France recognizes the specificity of anti-Semitism in regard to other forms of racism.

¾ European Union. An EU working group has been set up, consisting of representatives of the EU Commission, the European Jewish Congress and the Conference of European Rabbis. Several actions are being taken, including regular meetings of Education and Homeland Affairs Ministers and the transformation of the Vienna Observatory of Racist and Xenophobic Phenomena into an actual human rights agency. Previously, the European Council decided to step up the fight against anti-Semitism, racism and as part of its multi-year Justice/Homeland Affairs program.

¾ United Nations. France actively supported the special session of the UN General Assembly in January 2005 to commemorate the liberation of the Nazi concentration camps. France supports the principle of greater engagement on anti-Semitism, and has asked that the resolution on religious intolerance, traditionally presented by the European Union, include unequivocal references to anti-Semitism. France also co- sponsored and contributed to the adoption by the last UN General Assembly of a Holocaust remembrance resolution, which was initiated by Israel. This resolution points out the dangers of hatred, bigotry, racism and prejudice, puts an education program in place, and designates the 27th of January, the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, as an annual international day of commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust./.

2