Judar som vill förinta yttrandefriheten

EU aims to criminalise Holocaust denial
By Tobias Buck in Brussels

Quote:
Published: April 17 2007 19:56 | Last updated: April 17 2007 19:56

Laws that make denying or trivialising the Holocaust a criminal offence punishable by jail sentences will be introduced across the European Union, according to a proposal expecting to win backing from ministers Thursday.

Offenders will face up to three years in jail under the proposed legislation, which will also apply to inciting violence against ethnic, religious or national groups.

Diplomats in Brussels voiced confidence on Tuesday that the controversial plan, which has been the subject of heated debate for six years, will be endorsed by member states. However, the Baltic countries and Poland are still holding out for an inclusion of “Stalinist crimes” alongside the Holocaust in the text – a move that is being resisted by the majority of other EU countries.

The latest draft, seen by the Financial Times, will make it mandatory for all Union member states to punish public incitement “to violence or hatred directed against a group of persons or a member of such a group defined by reference to race, colour, religion, descent or national or ethnic origin”.

They will also have to criminalise “publicly condoning, denying or grossly trivialising crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes” when such statements incite hatred or violence against minorities.

Diplomats stressed the provision had been carefully worded to include only denial of the Holocaust – the Nazi mass murder of Jews during the second world war – and the genocide in Rwanda in 1994.

They also stressed that the wording was designed to avoid criminalising comical plays or films about the Holocaust such as the Italian comedian Roberto Benigni’s prize-winning Life is Beautiful . The text expressly upholds countries’ constitutional traditions relating to the freedom of expression.

Holocaust denial is already a criminal offence in several European countries, including Germany and Austria. It is not a specific crime in Britain, though UK officials said it could already be tackled under existing legislation.

In an attempt to assuage Turkish fears, several EU diplomats said the provisions would not penalise the denial of mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman troops in the aftermath of the 1915 collapse of the Ottoman empire. Turkey strongly rejects claims that this episode amounted to genocide.

The proposal draws what is likely to be a controversial distinction between inciting violence against racial or ethnic groups and against religious groups. Attacks against Muslims, Jews or other faiths will only be penalised if they go on to incite violence against ethnic or racial groups, the draft text states.

LUXEMBOURG: The three Baltic nations on Thursday demanded that major Stalinist atrocities should be included in plans for a European Union law to make incitement of racist violence and Holocaust denial a crime.

Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia demanded that a meeting of EU justice and interior ministers agree to make it illegal for people to publicly condone, deny or trivialize crimes against humanity committed under the Soviet regime led by Joseph Stalin.

"Stalinism and Nazism should be treated equally," said Jurgita Apanaviciute, a spokeswoman for Lithuania's delegation to the EU.

The EU ministers were close to agreeing on the contentious anti-racist package after six years of negotiations on how to combat racism and hate crimes.

But other EU nations were loathe to agree to the demand by the Baltic states because they do not legally recognize crimes committed under Stalin as hate crimes or equate them with the genocide perpetrated under the Nazis in Germany during World War II.

Although seen in the West and by many Russians as a tyrant responsible for the deaths of tens of millions of his own people, Stalin is also revered as a powerful leader who made the country a 20th century industrial giant and led it to victory over the Nazis.

Diplomats said the EU-wide rules, which will set only minimum standards to fight racism and xenophobia, would only recognize officially recognized genocides under statutes of the International Criminal Court.

Memories of repression under Stalin in the Baltics, remain fresh there, and heavy public pressure exists pushing the three nations to make crimes committed under Stalin's rule there a crime.

Anti-racist groups fear EU ministers will agree to a watered down agreement, which will do little to address racism and xenophobia in Europe.

They claim vague terms in the proposal and weak jail terms [vad vill de ha? 10 ars fangelse? dodsstraff?] will do little to take a firm stand against anti-Semitism [ett allvarligt brott i Sovjetunionen...] and other racist incitement.

[...]

Agreement on a deal has been difficult amid vastly different legal and cultural traditions in each of the 27 EU member states of how they combat racism and xenophobia, and notably on whether all EU nations should impose criminal penalties against those denying [newspeak alert!] the Holocaust or other genocides.

The proposed rules calls for EU governments to impose up to three-year prison sentences for those convicted of denying genocide such as the mass killing of Jews during World War II and the massacre in Rwanda in the 1994.

Efforts two years ago to set minimum jail terms ended in failure. Several countries, including Britain, Italy and Denmark, were reluctant to sign up to the measures because they feared the EU measures could overstep the right to expression protected under their countries' laws.

The latest plan however was watered down, offering numerous opt-outs of certain aspects of the EU-wide rules.

The proposal calls on EU nations to punish those who publicly incite violence or hatred based on a person or group's race, color, religion, descent or ethnic origin.

More contentious aspects of the draft rules require member states to criminalize those "publicly condoning, denying or grossly trivializing ... crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes," as listed and defined by the International Criminal Court.

However, member states may opt out of the requirement to criminalize those who deny the Holocaust or other genocide if such rules do not exist under their national laws, according to the EU proposals. [en ljusning, om an troligen tillfalligt... har de hallit pa och lobbat i 6 ar lar de inte ge med sig sa latt]

Opt-outs also are foreseen for racist remarks based on religious grounds and on Nazi symbols, like the swastika.

Many EU nations already ban denials of the Holocaust, including Germany, France, Spain, Austria and Belgium.

EU ministers open talks on plans to criminalize racism, xenophobia

Luxembourg (dpa) - European Union justice ministers on Thursday opened talks on plans to establish common rules to criminalize racism and xenophobia for the first time in the 27-member bloc.

German Justice Minister Brigitte Zypries said that the EU needed common minimum standards on combatting racism and xenophobia.

Germany currently holds the rotating EU presidency.

"We protect people because of their race or ethnic origin, and we don't tolerate their being discriminated against or that violence is used against them," Zypries told reporters in German when arriving for the meeting in Luxembourg.

"We don't want incitement to violence or hatred," she added.

EU Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini urged national governments to agree on ambitious rules, arguing that the fight against racism and xenophobia was a "basic pillar of the European democracy." [Jag antar att yttrande- och forskningsfrihet inte hor till "grundpelarna"...]

EU ministers open talks on plans to criminalize racism, xenophobia

Sverige har under förhandlingarna gjort klart att det aldrig, med hänvisning till grundlagen om yttrandefrihet, kan bli tal om att förbjuda förnekelse av förintelsen.

Det har lösts genom att det i förslaget till beslut sägs att inget lands lagar om grundläggande rättigheter, som yttrandefrihet, tryckfrihet eller föreningsrätt, ska påverkas av beslutet.

Den svenska regeringen hävdar att inga lagändringar behövs i Sverige om beslutet klubbas. De svenska lagreglerna om hets mot folkgrupp täcker redan i rambeslutet, är motiveringen.

Yttrandefrihet är en mänsklig rättighet formulerad av FN. Trots det sitter tusentals människor i fängelse världen över för sina åsikter. På onsdagen uppmärksammades de på en temadag om yttrandefrihet på Världskulturmuseet.

(...)

- Sverige gör alldeles för lite för yttrandefriheten i världen. Vi har bjudit in representanter från UD för att vara här i dag men de har avböjt med motiveringen att de inte vill yttra sig offentligt i Isaak-frågan, säger Rakel Heed från Amnesty i Göteborg.