EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

   2004   2009   

Session document

6.6.2006 B6-0330/2006

MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION

to wind up the debate on statements by the Council and Commission

pursuant to Rule 103(2) of the Rules of Procedure

by Francis Wurtz

on behalf of the GUE/NGL Group

on the increase in racist violence in

RE\618533EN.doc PE 374.601v01-00 EN EN B6-0330/2006

European Parliament resolution on the increase in racist violence in Europe

The European Parliament,

– having regard to Articles 2, 6, 7 and 29 of the Treaty on European Union and Article 13 of the EC Treaty, which commit the Member States to upholding the highest standards of human rights and non-discrimination, and to the European Charter of Fundamental Rights,

– having regard to its resolutions of 27 October 1994, 27 April 1995, 26 October 1995, 30 January 1997, 16 March 2000 and 27 January 2005 on , and anti- Semitism,

– having regard to the Amnesty International report 'Russian Federation: Violent racism out of control' of 4 May 2006,

– having regard to its previous written declaration on racism in football,

– having regard to Council Directive 2000/43/EC of 29 June 2000 implementing the principle of equal treatment between persons irrespective of racial or ethnic origin, which bans discrimination on grounds of race (Racial Equality Directive),

– having regard to the annual and thematic reports adopted by the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia and specifically to its annual report 2005,

– having regard to Rule 103(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas sexual, racist, xenophobic, ethnic, religious, anti-Semitic and anti-Islamic violence and discrimination have increased within the EU in recent years notwithstanding the important measures adopted by the European Union in application of Article 13 of the EC Treaty,

B. whereas racist attacks are often initiated and committed by neo-Nazi and other right-wing militant xenophobic groups and their members,

C. whereas serious incidents of racism have occurred at football matches across Europe,

D. whereas there is a relationship between the growth of racism and xenophobia and the worsening of economic and social conditions,

E. whereas there has been an increase in racially-motivated killings in some Member States, e.g. the murder of a woman of Malian nationality in Belgium, the torture and murder of Ilan Halimi in and the sectarian murder of the 15-year-old Michael McIlveen in Northern Ireland on 7 May,

F. whereas the Annual Reports of the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC) and various other reports on racism in Europe produced by the

PE 374.601v01-00 2/4 RE\618533EN.doc EN national media, the official authorities or NGOs reveal that no country in the European Union is immune from the phenomenon of racist, xenophobic, ethnic, religious, anti- Semitic and anti-Islamic violence and discrimination,

G. whereas there has been an increase in homophobic attitudes in several Member States as exemplified by the banning of gay pride or equality marches, the use of threatening language or hate speech by leading politicians and religious leaders, failure by the police to provide adequate protection or even police action to break up peaceful demonstrations, violent demonstrations by homophobic groups and amendments to constitutions explicitly to prohibit same-sex unions,

H. whereas Article 13 of the EC Treaty prohibits all forms of discrimination, particularly those based on ‘racial’ or ‘ethnic’ origin, religion, belief or sexual orientation,

I. whereas racism, anti-Semitism and xenophobia are a direct violation of the principles of freedom and democracy and the fundamental values shared by the EU Member States, as set out in Article 6 of the Treaty on European Union and in the Charter of Fundamental Rights,

J. whereas the failure of Member States' integration policies towards migrants increases racist and xenophobic attitudes in the host societies,

K. whereas four Member States – Germany, Luxembourg, Austria and Finland – have been referred to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for their failure to satisfy the requirements of Directive 2000/43/EC, the Racial Equality Directive,

L. whereas publicly available official data and statistics on incidents of racist violence and crime are essential to the fight against racial discrimination, but among the EU15 there is no publicly available official data on incidents of racist violence and crime for Greece, Spain, Italy and Portugal and among the new Member States it is only the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia that collect official data on racist violence and crime,

M. whereas violent and aggressive acts against ethnic-minority, religious and foreign groups are even sometimes committed by public officials, namely the police and immigration officers,

1. Reiterates its condemnation of all forms of xenophobic, racist and sectarian violence or discrimination;

2. Strongly condemns in particular the premeditated racist murder in Belgium of Ms Oulemata Niangadou of Malian nationality and the Belgian child whose nurse she was, by an extreme right-wing young man, this same person having a few moments before seriously wounded a woman of Turkish origin while trying to kill her; is extremely shocked by the torture and murder of Ilan Halimi last February in France and is worried about the anti-Semitic dimension of such crimes;

3. Strongly condemns all forms of racism at football matches, both on and off the field, and urges the German authorities and FIFA to fight racism at the forthcoming football world

RE\618533EN.doc 3/4 PE 374.601v01-00 EN cup tournament and to use the popularity of the event as an opportunity to tackle racism;

4. Calls on the institutions of the European Union, the Member States and all European political parties to condemn and fight all intolerance, incitement, harassment or violence and to condemn without reservation all forms of racism, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and xenophobia;

5. Calls on the Member States to step up implementation of practical measures to combat racism: the strict implementation and constant improvement of anti-racist laws, information and awareness-raising campaigns in the media and educational establishments; legal action against parties or groups which promote racism; and promotion of comprehensive and regular police training on effective responses to racist crime, based on ‘good practice’;

6. Calls on the Member States to collect and make publicly available detailed statistics on racist crime and to develop crime/victim surveys that allow quantitative and comparable data collection on victims of racist crime;

7. Urges the Council to immediately adopt the proposal for a framework decision on combating racism and xenophobia (COM(2001)664);

8. Urges all the Member States to effectively implement the Racial Equality Directive (2000/43/EC);

9. Calls on the Commission to start a review of the application of the Racial Equality Directive (2000/43/EC) aimed at strengthening European Union anti-discrimination measures;

10. Calls on opinion leaders and decision-makers to refrain from exacerbating, intentionally or otherwise, by their attitude or speech, a climate of racism, latent xenophobia, anti- Semitism, Islamophobia, sectarianism and homophobia, particularly as regards migration and asylum policies; calls for a climate of acceptance for new legislation introducing strict controls and surveillance as provided for by anti-terrorist laws;

11. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission and the governments and parliaments of the Member States and candidate countries.

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