ODIHR event explores ways to address racism, intolerance and violence against Roma and Sinti

Ongoing racism, intolerance and hate-motivated violence against Roma and Sinti and the negative impact these have on their inclusion in society, as well as good practices in addressing these issues, were the topics of an event in Warsaw on 26 September 2019. It was organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) as part of its annual human rights conference, the Human Dimension Implementation Meeting.

Representatives of OSCE participating States as well as Roma and Sinti experts and activists discussed the measures undertaken to eliminate such violence and its root causes. There were also presentations of good practices and concrete recommendations to help participating States, OSCE institutions and other stakeholders effectively ensure the safety and security of Roma and Sinti.

“Good laws and policies alone cannot succeed in tackling anti-Roma discrimination and racism,” said Dan Pavel Doghi, Chief of the ODIHR Contact Point for Roma and Sinti Issues. “To be truly effective in ensuring that Roma and Sinti can enjoy their rights and equality within their societies, legislation needs to be coupled with effective monitoring mechanisms guaranteeing its thorough implementation.”

Ismael Cortés, member of the Spanish Parliament, said: “This event provided an important opportunity to review the progress and challenges in fighting bias against Roma and Sinti. We need to mainstream the fight against racism, intolerance and hate-motivated violence, and shift from individual efforts to an interdisciplinary and multi-stakeholder collaboration.”

ODIHR is mandated by the participating States to assist in their efforts to combat racism and discrimination against Roma and Sinti. The commitment, initially established in the 1990 Copenhagen Document, was later reiterated in the 2003 OSCE Action Plan on Improving the Situation of Roma and Sinti.