OSCE Chairman, Spanish Foreign Minister say States need to act on commitments to fight intolerance and discrimination

CORDOBA, 8 June 2005 - A two-day OSCE conference on combating anti-Semitism and other forms of intolerance opened on Wednesday with appeals by Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos and OSCE Chairman-in-Office Dimitrij Rupel for concrete action to implement OSCE commitments.

Addressing delegates in the southern Spanish city of Cordoba, Minister Moratinos said that respect and tolerance would not flower spontaneously.

"We do not need declarations but rather specific decisions in the field of education, in the use of media or in the study of history," he said. "It makes no sense to condemn and regret if there are no further measures making it impossible to repeat criminal or shocking acts against a person's race, religion or ethnic origin."

Chairman-in-Office Rupel, the foreign minister of Slovenia, said the main responsibility lay with the OSCE's 55 participating States.

"They must have effective legislation, enforce the law, and speak out against racism, xenophobia and discrimination," he said. "The ultimate test will be whether or not communities at risk feel safer, if potential perpetrators of hate crimes are deterred by the full force of the law, and if the message "Zero tolerance for intolerance" truly takes root in our societies."

The first day of the Cordoba conference focuses on anti-Semitism, while on the second, delegates will examine the growing phenomenon of Islamophobia, as well as problems faced by Christians and other religious communities in different societies.

Minister Moratinos, who is also member of parliament for Cordoba - a city renowned for developing under three cultures, Islamic, Jewish and Christian - warned against creating a hierarchy of intolerance and discrimination. "All forms of intolerance and discrimination are to be condemned as assaults on the principle of the equality of all human beings," he said.

Chairman-in-Office Rupel highlighted some of the work done by the OSCE and other bodies since three meetings on anti-Semitism, xenophobia and discrimination in 2004, including the launching of a Programme on Tolerance and non-Discrimination by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR).

He also introduced two ODIHR reports, the first of which - Combating Hate Crimes in the OSCE Region: An Overview of Statistics, Legislation and National Initiatives - addresses violent manifestations of racism, xenophobia, anti-Semitism and other forms of discrimination and intolerance.

"Unfortunately, the findings fall short of expectations as only 29 out of the 55 OSCE States provided statistical information relevant to hate-motivated crimes," Minister Rupel said.

"Despite this information deficit, the report offers concrete recommendations and refers to specific ODIHR programmes and tools available to OSCE participating States."

The second report, Overview and Analysis of Approaches to Education on the Holocaust and on Anti-Semitism, provides background on what is already being done in this field and identifies good practices.

Other speakers on the opening day included Simone Veil, former president of the European Parliament who as a teenager was deported from France to the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz, Spain's former minister for culture and one-time Buchenwald concentration camp inmate Jorge Semprun and leaders of a number of religious bodies and groups.

The conference on Anti-Semitism and Other Forms of Intolerance, will conclude in Cordoba on 9 June with a declaration by the OSCE participants.