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	Human rights must be pursued with determination everywhere by Council of Europe   Strasbourg, 16/11/10   Yesterday in New York, at their third meeting this autumn, Council of Europe Secretary General, Thorbjørn Jagland and United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon recognised the ongoing and pressing need for close cooperation between the two organisations.   “Human rights are indivisible – we have to make sure that our member countries continue to take their obligations seriously,” Secretary General Jagland said.   “The UN and the Council of Europe are complementary bodies, with key legal texts, monitoring and complaints mechanisms at their disposal. We must make better use of these instruments in defence of human rights everywhere,” he said.   Regretting the recent rise in intolerance towards Roma in Europe, Jagland and Ban Ki-moon expressed full support for the measures detailed in the Strasbourg Declaration -continued return of Roma people to Kosovo should be avoided in view of the unacceptable conditions faced by many there.   Mr Jagland reiterated the Council of Europe’s unequivoqual support for abolition of the death penalty.   Jagland and Ban Ki-moon also welcomed the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, but also underlined the need for her release to be real and unconditional.   During his visit to the US, Secretary General Jagland will also meet with UN General Assembly President Joseph Deiss, as well as with representatives of the international non-governmental organisations Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. Visit the related web page
	Hate crimes remain a serious problem in Europe & North America by Tandis / Human Rights First & agencies Poland   Nov. 2010   The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has released its annual report for 2009 "Hate Crimes in the OSCE Region; “Incidents and Responses," concluding that hate crime continued to be a serious problem in many of the 56 countries in North America, Europe, and the former Soviet Union.   This is the first study since the passage of the notable 2009 Ministerial Council Decision 9/09, in which participating countries upheld unanimously their commitment to collect and publicize detailed statistics on hate crime. To compliment the intergovernmental report, rights groups Human Rights First (HRF) and Anti-Defamation League (ADL) issued a reaction paper that highlights the failure of many of the OSCE states to fulfill commitments to combat the problem.   "While the OSCE member states have adopted meaningful political commitments to combat hate crime, this report reveals that most states still have a long way to go in turning those words into action," stated Human Rights First"s Paul LeGendre. "We are calling on States to reaffirm these commitments and their will to act at the highest level when they meet on December 1-2 at the first OSCE Summit meeting since 1999."   According to the report of the OSCE"s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), 2009 saw instances of intimidation, threats, vandalism, arson, assault, and murder targeted against persons or groups because of their race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation or other status.   The scarcely available official government figures tracking such crimes underscore the importance of strengthening state responses to hate crimes, including through enactment of legislation, data collection, and sharing of best practices.   Human Rights First maintains that authorities continue to underreport the true number of incidents, although the group acknowledges that more countries are taking steps to improve their legislative frameworks and systems of data collection, while requesting international cooperation to train police and prosecutors.   "Bulgaria, for example, amended its hate crime provision and submitted data to ODIHR for the first time this year, while also agreeing to participate in the Law Enforcement Training Program coordinated by the OSCE," noted Paul LeGendre.   "We hope the ODIHR"s report serves as an annual reminder to more governments about the vast resources available to them, as the overall across-the-board response to hate crime remains feeble."   The analysis produced by Human Rights First offers specific recommendations tailored to states varying levels of adherence to commitments to combat hate crimes.   "The ODIHR"s annual report confirms nongovernmental and media reports suggesting that hate crime continues to be a serious challenge for governments throughout the region in 2009." noted LeGendre.   The beheading of a Kyrgyz man in the Russian Federation, the brutal murder of a Romani man and his 5-year-old son in Hungary, the stabbing of a gay couple in the United Kingdom, the wave of antisemitic violence across many countries in Europe that followed Israeli attacks in Gaza, and the stabbing of a Muslim cab driver in the United States, are among the long list of violent hate crimes that generated shock waves through entire communities.   "Governments must step up their efforts to combat hate violence and enlist the help of ODIHR"s experts to improve their legislative frameworks, institute sound data collection mechanisms, and train law enforcement officials." concluded LeGendre.   Nov 2010   Education officials stress need to combat anti-Semitism in schools.   Schools across the OSCE region must step up efforts to combat anti-Semitism through education, said participants in an OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) meeting for education ministry officials and experts held in Vienna.   The meeting, which takes place ahead of the anniversary of the November pogrom in Nazi Germany in 1938, aims to identify successful approaches, share good practices, and discuss challenges in the field of combating anti-Semitism through education.   Rabbi Baker, the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairmanship on Combating Anti-Semitism, said education was a fitting tool to combat racism and intolerance.   "Prejudice, xenophobia, and anti-Semitism are surely bred from ignorance. Consider that anti-Semitism is present and even at distressingly high levels in some countries which today have very few Jews," he said, adding that education to combat anti-Semitism should include, in addition to Holocaust education, Jewish history and lessons for the present generation that encompasses the current problems of anti-Semitism.   Austria"s Education Minister, Claudia Schmied, who opened the meeting, said no country could fight anti-Semitism effectively by itself.   "Violations of human rights, of the rule of law and of democratic processes are not just issues of the internal politics of one state, but have international repercussions, which demand international monitoring," she said.   "This is particularly true of anti-Semitism with its long unfortunate tradition in Western civilization. If we want to win the fight against anti-Semitism we have to co-operate on an international level."   ODIHR has worked with governments in 10 OSCE participating States on educational programmes to address anti-Semitism, including through the development of customized teaching materials for secondary schools. In a further four countries - Austria, Latvia, Hungary and Sweden - customized teaching tools are currently under preparation*   (Below is a link to TANDIS: Tolerance and Non-Discrimination Information System offering educational resources on Hate crimes, Intolerance against Muslims, Intolerance against Christians, Racism & xenophobia, Roma, Sinti & Travellers, Anti-Semitism, Diversity education, Freedom of religion or belief, Gender-based discrimination) Visit the related web page
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