| |  | | | | | | | | Foreword | | Mr Momodou Malcolm Jallow (Sweden, UEL), General Rapporteur on combating racism and intolerance and Coordinator of the No Hate Parliamentary Alliance
| | Dear members of the No Hate Parliamentary Alliance, parliamentarians, civil society representatives and friends,
It is a great pleasure to introduce this newsletter to all those who are committed to countering racism, intolerance and hate speech, in Europe and beyond. I do not need to recall how widespread these scourges are on our continent, and that moreover they are on the rise: most of those who will read these lines are well aware of the situation. Instead, I will underline that the work of the Alliance in the near future will focus on finding new instruments to address these issues and to provide guidelines to various actors, ranging from political parties to police, law enforcement bodies and military forces.
Political parties are important gatekeepers to electoral mandates and they play an important role in preserving fully functioning democracies. Our Assembly has called on political parties to take an active part in preventing and combating racism and intolerance. Many of them have responded positively to this call, including by adhering to the Charter of European Political Parties for a non-racist society drafted over twenty years ago. Now it is time to strengthen this commitment and to reform the Charter, to make sure that it is adequate to the challenges that we now face, including new forms of intolerance and the booming growth of the online dimension in which hate speech and other manifestations of violence have proliferated. I invite you to go through this newsletter for more details on how the Alliance will intervene in this area.
Police forces, law enforcement bodies and the military also play a crucial role in defending our communities and democratic institutions. These forces are, however, not immune to the racism and intolerance that can be found in society. It is important to address this danger and the first step to doing so is to acknowledge it. Thanks to investigations carried out by the authorities and by the press in several Council of Europe member States, this first step is being taken. The Alliance intends to accompany this process and provide an opportunity to take stock of the situation and identify adequate countermeasures. You will find more details below.
We are living in challenging times and the Covid-19 pandemic is making our work more difficult. However, the impact of this crisis, affecting more severely groups of people who were already exposed to discrimination, including refugees, migrants and people with a migrant background, makes the action of the Alliance more necessary and timelier than ever. The support of all those who believe in human rights and fundamental freedoms is all the more needed and appreciated.
We wish you all the best in these difficult times. |
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