International commitments promoting tolerance must be implemented say four international institutions

CORDOBA, 9 June 2005 - Four international institutions promoting tolerance and non-discrimination today said that implementation of commitments in the fight against racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and intolerance must move ahead. The institutions have increased their co-operation in order to assist governments and civil society, while urging those in return to double their efforts to move from commitments to action.

Representatives of the four institutions, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance of the Council of Europe (ECRI), the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC), and the United Nations' Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCHR), made this plea during the two-day OSCE conference on Anti-Semitism and other forms of Intolerance, which ends today in Cordoba, Spain.

The four co-operate on a regular basis in order to continue efforts to reinforce implementation of commitments to fight intolerance and to avoid duplication. This includes co-operation on issues such as responses to hate-motivated crimes.

Two agencies, the ODIHR and the EUMC have recently issued thematic reports on hate crimes and racial violence. The ECRI, in its country monitoring reports and general policy recommendations, has elaborated substantive standards in this field.

The OHCHR submits an annual report to the UN Commission on Human Rights, on combating defamation of religious groups. This is based on information received from member states, civil society and other international organizations.

In their recommendations, the institutions stressed the need for improved data collection on incidents of intolerance, legislation and good practices by individual governments, some of which have not offered any such information. In return the institutions pledged their support to national authorities and civil society to develop the capacity to collect this information.

The four institutions will jointly assess progress in implementation as well as pursuing their own co-operation and meet regularly to this end.