[WCAR] ECRI releases four new reports on racism in Estonia, Lithuania, Romania and Spain

Strasbourg, 21.02.2006 – The Council of Europe’s expert body on combating
racism, the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI),
today released four new reports examining racism, xenophobia, antisemitism
and intolerance in Estonia, Lithuania, Romania and Spain. ECRI recognises
that positive developments have occurred in all four of these Council of
Europe member countries. At the same time, however, the reports detail
continuing grounds for concern for the Commission:

In Estonia, the number of stateless people who have obtained Estonian
citizenship has been steadily increasing. But Estonia has not developed a
consistent policy aimed at bringing the Estonian-speaking and
Russian-speaking communities together. Estonia has yet to examine the full
extent of the Holocaust in Estonia and to give it its rightful place in
the national debate. The Roma community in Estonia is still
disproportionately affected by unemployment and discrimination in the
field of education.

In Lithuania, the legal framework against racial discrimination has been
strengthened by the adoption of the Law on Equal Opportunities. But the
provisions in force to counter racist expression, including incitement to
racial hatred, which has notably targeted the Jewish, Roma and Chechen
communities, have not been adequately applied. Asylum legislation and
practice has undergone an important reform which, in spite of positive
elements introduced, has diminished refugee protection in several areas.
Instances of antisemitism continue to be a cause of concern to ECRI in
Lithuania.

In Romania, the authorities have adopted an anti-discrimination law and
set up the National Council Against Discrimination, which is the body
responsible for applying this law. However, ECRI notes that this
legislation has hardly been applied at all as neither public officials nor
the general public are aware of its existence. The Roma community
continues to be discriminated against in all areas, including the labour
market and access to education, public places and decent housing.

In Spain, there has been a recent willingness on the part of the
authorities to move from an aliens policy to an immigration and
integration policy. However, lack of awareness of issues of racism and
racial discrimination across Spanish society affects the institutional
response to these phenomena in a negative way. Racial discrimination in a
wide range of areas, including employment, housing and access to public
places still affects the daily lives of members of ethnic minority groups,
including Roma, North Africans, people from sub-Saharan Africa and South
Americans. Racial and xenophobic violence still needs to be adequately
recognised and countered.

These new reports form part of a third monitoring cycle of Council of
Europe member states’ laws, policies and practices aimed at combating
racism. ECRI’s country-specific reports are available in English, French
and the national language of the country concerned at
http://www.coe.int/ecri. They cover all member states on an equal footing,
from the perspective of protecting human rights. They examine whether
ECRI’s main recommendations from previous reports have been followed and,
if so, to what degree of success and effectiveness.

Council of Europe Press Division 
Tel: +33 (0)3 88 41 25 60 
Fax:+33 (0)3 88 41 39 11