The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europeand Co-operation in Europe

Concerns about racism and other forms of intolerance were incorporated in OSCE documents later than concerns for national minorities. The first explicit remarks on the former are found in the 1990 Copenhagen Document, i.e. the document which, not coincidentally, is also the OSCE instrument containing the most important and far-reaching OSCE commitments on minorities. These two sets of commitments were laid down in successive paragraphs of the Document.⁶⁸⁹

Pursuant to the 1990 Copenhagen Document, the participating states condemn totalitarianism, racial and ethnic hatred, anti-Semitism, xenophobia and discrimi-nation against anyone as well as persecution on religious and ideological grounds.

Among other things, the participating states commit themselves to taking measures to protect persons or groups who may become subject to threats or acts of discrimi-nation, hostility or violence as a result of their racial, ethnic, cultural, linguistic or religious identity as well as to promoting understanding and tolerance. The Docu-ment underlines the role of education in addressing the problem of racial prejudice

For the activities and documents of the ILO, see the ILO website at http://www.ilo.org.

See also the remarks in McCrudden (2001), pp. 261–266, and in Boyle and Baldaccini (2001), p. 147.

685. The Convention refers to ensuring that members of indigenous peoples benefit on an equal footing from rights and opportunities and to non-discrimination in general terms. See e.g.

arts 2.2 and 3.1. It also refers to possible prejudices harboured against indigenous peoples in the provisions on education. See also the remarks supra in chapter 2.1.2.1.

686. See the inclusion of this instrument among the international documents mentioned in the Durban Document, at the European Conference against Racism, and by ECRI. See the references supra (n. 684).

687. See also the remarks infra in chapter 2.3.1.

688. See particularly the ILO Action Plan on Migrant Workers adopted in 2004. See the re-marks on this document supra in chapter 2.1.3.1.1.

689. National minorities are considered in paras 30–39 and discrimination, racism and other forms of intolerance in para. 40.

and hatred and in the development of respect for different civilizations and cul-tures.⁶⁹⁰

The OSCE states reiterated their determination to combat all forms of racial and ethnic hatred, anti-Semitism, xenophobia and discrimination at the highest politi-cal level at the 1990 Paris Summit.⁶⁹¹ In the 1991 Moscow Document the participating states voiced (for the first time) their concern over discrimination, intolerance and xenophobia against migrant workers.⁶⁹²

The OSCE commitments adopted in the course of the 1990s reflect the par-ticipating states’ preoccupation with war and post-war situations, particularly in the former Yugoslavia. In this vein, the 1992 Helsinki Document draws attention to gross violations of CSCE commitments in the field of human rights and fundamental freedoms, including those related to national minorities, and to the special threat posed by such violations to the peaceful development of society. The full protection of and respect for diversity is proclaimed to characterise democratic and pluralis-tic societies.⁶⁹³ The Document links tolerance, understanding and co-operation to stable democratic societies and stresses the importance of adhering to the ICERD and taking appropriate measures at the national level, including legal ones, to assure protection against discrimination on racial, ethnic and religious grounds. The role of human rights education is highlighted.⁶⁹⁴

The participating states’ concern about and condemnation of manifestations of intolerance, including aggressive nationalism, racism, chauvinism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism, have been reiterated in the documents adopted at a number of sub-sequent OSCE meetings.⁶⁹⁵ The documents link these phenomena to ethnic, politi-cal and social tensions within and between states and endangering peace, security, stability and democracy in the OSCE area.⁶⁹⁶

In the course of the 2000s the OSCE has continued to address questions relat-ing to anti-racism, and the OSCE states have reaffirmed their commitment to pro-mote tolerance and non-discrimination. It is also noteworthy that the more recent OSCE documents pay increasing attention to various groups of migrants, including

690. Para. 40.1–4. Subparas 5–7 of para. 40 concern effective remedies and complaints against acts of discrimination, including racist and xenophobic acts, adhering to the international instruments addressing the problem of discrimination, and accepting international mecha-nisms allowing states and individuals to bring communications relating to discrimination before international bodies.

691. Paris Document, under “Human Dimension”, para. 4.

692. Para. 38.1.

693. Helsinki Document, Declaration, para. 12.

694. Ibid., Decisions, Chapter VI, paras 30–35.

695. See e.g. the 1994 Budapest Document, Decisions, Chapter VIII, paras 1, 25 and 26; the 1996 Lisbon Document, paras 9 and 10; and the 1999 Charter for European Security, para. 19.

696. See e.g. the 1996 Lisbon Document, para. 9, and the 1999 Charter for European Security, para. 19.

migrant workers, (im)migrants, asylum-seekers and refugees in these connections.⁶⁹⁷ Among the means of combating discrimination, racism and other forms of intoler-ance the role of legislative actions and education, including human rights education, are underscored, and the role of the media and the Internet is also mentioned.⁶⁹⁸ In recent years, increasing attention has also been drawn to inter-religious/faith and intercultural dialogue.⁶⁹⁹ The OSCE actions in the area of anti-racism have also become increasingly practically oriented, with the OSCE institutions being given concrete tasks.⁷⁰⁰ While the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) in particular has been called upon in this regard, the HCNM and the Representative on Freedom of the Media (RFoM) have also been given various roles.⁷⁰¹ The increased attention of the OSCE to the issues of racism and other forms of intolerance can also be seen in numerous OSCE conferences and meetings organised in recent years,⁷⁰² and in the special emphasis given to these phenomena in the recent Human Dimension Implementation Meetings (HDIMs).⁷⁰³ The issue of religious intolerance has also attracted special attention within the OSCE, one result of this being the appointment of three representatives to promote tolerance in this area.⁷⁰⁴

697. See particularly the decisions taken by the OSCE Ministerial Council since 2002.

698. For the pertinent commitments, see e.g. ODIHR (2005), pp. 200–208.

699. The importance of dialogue was pointed out already in the 1990 Copenhagen Document, para. 36. Of the more recent documents, see e.g. Ministerial Council Decision No. 6 on Tolerance and Non-discrimination (2002), para. 1, and Ministerial Council Decision No.

12/04 on Tolerance and Non-discrimination (2004), para. 1.

700. Pertinent decisions have been made particularly by the OSCE Ministerial Council meet-ings organised since 2001. In the Ministerial Council meeting of 2001 the OSCE states also adopted, less than three months after the terrorist attacks on the USA in September 2001, the Plan of Action for Combating Terrorism, which includes a paragraph on promot-ing human rights, tolerance and multiculturalism. See para. 11.

701. For the remarks on the roles of various OSCE institutions and actors in the area of racism, see Pentikäinen (2004b), pp. 81–91. For the HCNM’s activities in this area, see also the remarks infra in chapter 4.3.2.

702. These events include the conferences on anti-Semitism and on tolerance, racism, xenopho-bia and discrimination. Essentially at the insistence of the USA the issue of anti-Semitism has often been considered separately from other forms of intolerance.

703. See particularly the agendas of these meetings since 2002. For the HDIMs, see also the remarks supra in chapter 2.1.1.2.1.

704. These Personal Representatives of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office are: the Personal Repre-sentative to Promote Greater Tolerance and Combat Racism, Xenophobia and Discrimina-tion; the Personal Representative on Combating Racism, Xenophobia and Discrimination, also focussing on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians and Members of Other Religion; and the Personal Representative on Combating Intolerance and Discrimination against Muslims. OSCE website at http://www.osce.org/activities/13539.html (visited on 10 October 2007).

Within the OSCE the problems of the Roma⁷⁰⁵ have been openly discussed in the framework of anti-racism action rather than national minorities, an approach also reflected in the OSCE commitments.⁷⁰⁶ It is also noteworthy that whilst the OSCE documents indicate that the personal scope of application of the OSCE commitments on anti-racism is wide, extending to all individuals and thus also to foreigners,⁷⁰⁷ the commitments concerning the Roma suggest that nationality has some significance.⁷⁰⁸ The situation of the Roma has also been addressed in a separate action plan adopted by the OSCE states in 2003, the OSCE Action Plan on Improv-ing the Situation of Roma and Sinti within the OSCE Area (the OSCE Action Plan on Roma). The Action Plan recommends actions to be taken by both the participating states and OSCE institutions and structures⁷⁰⁹ and is intended to reinforce their ef-forts aimed at ensuring that the Roma are able to play a full and equal part in the societies of the OSCE states and at eradicating discrimination against them.⁷¹⁰

The OSCE commitments on anti-racism have been rather hesitant to refer to integration, inclusion or similar processes. Integration is expressly mentioned for the first time in the 1994 Budapest Document, which links in very general terms integra-tion policy and combating the phenomena stemming from intolerance, in particular aggressive nationalism, racism, chauvinism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism.⁷¹¹ So

705. Within the OSCE the expressions “Roma and Sinti” is used for the Romani people. For the use of term “Roma” in this research, see the remarks supra in chapter 1.3.

706. See e.g. the 1990 Copenhagen Document, para. 40; the 1991 Moscow Document, para.

42.2; the 1992 Helsinki Document, Decisions, Chapter VI, para. 35; the 1999 Istanbul Document, para. 31; and the 1999 Charter for European Security, para. 20.

707. See e.g. a reference in the 1992 Helsinki Document, Decisions, Chapter VI, para. 33.

708. See ibid., para. 35. This provision refers to the participating states’ commitment to address

“problems of their respective nationals belonging to Roma and other groups traditionally identified as Gypsies”. The OSCE Action Plan on Roma contains a reference to citizens in connection with participation. See the remarks infra in this section (n. 716).

709. Of the OSCE institutions, particularly the ODIHR and its Contact Point for Roma and Sinti Issues (CPRSI) have been given tasks, but also the role of the HCNM and the RFoM is cited. The implementation of the Action Plan is reviewed at the pertinent OSCE meet-ings, including the HDIMs. See the Action Plan, para. 133.

710. The Action Plan addresses racial and ethnic discrimination faced by the Roma. See e.g.

para. 1. Section III of the document addresses racism and discrimination and raises the issues of prejudices, negative stereotypes and racial violence against Roma, dialogue and relations between Roma communities and authorities (including the police) as well as be-tween Roma and non-Roma communities, and the role of the media. Section IV addresses socio-economic issues such as housing and living conditions, unemployment and economic problems, and health care. Section V concerns education, Section VI deals with enhanc-ing participation, and Section VII focuses on Roma in crisis and post-crisis situations. The Action Plan recognises the special problems faced by Romani women (and girls), including multiple discrimination, in a number of paragraphs. See e.g. paras 6, 19, 51, 62, 79–80, 94, 98, 106 and 112.

711. Para. 25 of the Document states that “action to combat these phenomena should be seen as an integral part of integration policy and education”.

far the OSCE documents have been most elaborate on the questions of integration and exclusion with respect to the Roma. While OSCE commitments addressing the situation of the Roma mention the problem of their social exclusion and the need to the combat the racism and discrimination they face,⁷¹² the OSCE Action Plan on Roma makes several observations on integration. It calls for promoting the integration of the Roma into social and economic life and combating their isola-tion and poverty,⁷¹³ and stresses the importance of not allowing housing projects to foster ethnic and/or racial segregation.⁷¹⁴ The Action Plan bans school segrega-tion; while urging that the Roma be integrated into mainstream education, it states that mainstream education should be sensitive to cultural differences and take the history, culture and languages of the Roma into account.⁷¹⁵ Both integration and inclusion are also mentioned with respect to participation.⁷¹⁶ Furthermore, atten-tion is drawn to the specific needs of the Roma in the areas of health care and access to justice. The provisions on health care refer to promoting awareness about the specific needs of the Roma amongst health care personnel, as well as training health care workers to understand relevant aspects of Romani culture.⁷¹⁷ The provi-sion dealing with access to justice raises the question of providing information in the Romani language.⁷¹⁸

While the issue of migration has emerged among increasingly important agenda items within the OSCE, the concept of integration has appeared more frequently in the pertinent OSCE documents, including the decisions adopted by the OSCE Ministerial Council.⁷¹⁹ The same kinds of provisions as were incorporated into the decisions concerning migration and migrants have also been inserted in the recent decisions on tolerance and non-discrimination taken by the OSCE Ministerial

712. See the 1999 Istanbul Document, para. 31. The 1999 Charter for European Security refers to the need to take effective measures to achieve full equality of opportunity for the Roma.

See para. 20.

713. Section IV, para. 44.

714. Ibid.

715. Preambular para. to Section V and paras 67 and 73. The Preamble addresses the issue of integration into mainstream education through full and equal access at all levels. The provi-sions also address equal opportunities and the possibility to take special measures to en-hance the equality and effectiveness of education for Roma children, the inclusion of Roma history and culture in educational texts, measures to ensure respect, protection and promo-tion of the Romani language and its teaching, and of Roma culture, and developing anti-racist curricula for schools and anti-racism campaigns for the media. See paras 69–72, 76.

716. Section VI, paras 88, 97. The latter refers to empowering and integrating Romani indi-viduals into the decision-making processes of states and localities as elected representatives of their communities and as citizens of their respective countries. Equal participation of Romani women and men is also underlined. See e.g. para. 98.

717. Paras 59 and 61(b).

718. Para. 18.

719. See the remarks on the pertinent OSCE decisions/statements on migration supra in chapter 2.1.3.1.2.

Council. It may be observed that the decisions in the area of anti-racism include an increasing number of references to persons of migrant background. The pertinent decisions point to addressing the issue of migration and integration with respect for cultural and religious diversity as part of the overall efforts by the OSCE to pro-mote tolerance, mutual respect and understanding and to combat discrimination, as well as to promote respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.⁷²⁰ The Ministerial Council has referred to the value of cultural and religious diversity as a source of mutual enrichment of societies, to recognising the importance of integra-tion with respect for cultural and religious diversity, and to recognising the positive contributions that all individuals can make to a harmonious pluralistic society.⁷²¹