Governments must confront religious intolerance vigorously, Chair’s representatives say

Intolerance against religious groups remains a challenge to stability, democracy and human rights in the OSCE region and governments need to develop clear strategies to prevent its spread, the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office’s personal representatives for confronting religious intolerance told delegations at the Permanent Council in Vienna on Thursday 6 November.  All three underlined the urgent need for reliable and disaggregated data on hate crimes.   

Hate crimes against Muslims are often under-reported because of a basic lack of trust in law enforcement, said Adil Akhmetiv, Personal Representative on Combating Intolerance and Discrimination against Muslims. He called for comprehensive long-term policies by governments to deconstruct stereotypes against Muslims and protect freedom of religious practice.

Rabbi Andrew Baker, Personal Representative on Combating Anti-Semitism called on governments to forcefully confront anti-Semitism in public discourse and the racist agendas of right-wing, extremist parties. He regretted the anti-Semitic sentiment generated by campaigns in some countries to restrict ritual circumcision and ritual slaughter.

Tetiana Izhevska, Personal Representative on Combating Racism, Xenophobia and Discrimination, also focusing on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians and Members of Other Religions, pointed to economic migration as an issue closely connected to discrimination, and recommended paying more attention to the situation of people of African descent.