OSCE Parliamentary Assembly - 07.09.2004

Edinburgh Declaration of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and Resolutions Adopted At the Thirteenth Annual Session

Edinburgh, 5 to 9 July 2004


Read the full Edinburgh Declaration (pdf)

RESOLUTION ON FULFILLING OSCE COMMITMENTS REGARDING THE FIGHT AGAINST RACISM, ANTI-SEMITISM AND XENOPHOBIA 

1. Recalling the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Resolutions on anti-Semitism adopted unanimously at the Annual Sessions in Berlin in 2002 and in Rotterdam in 2003, 

2. Welcoming the decisions of the OSCE Ministerial Council in Porto in 2002 and in Maastricht in 2003, 

3. Welcoming also the convening of the successful OSCE Conferences on Anti-Semitism in Vienna and in Berlin, and the Vienna and Brussels Conferences on Racism, Xenophobia and Discrimination, and the OSCE Meeting on the Relationship between Racist, Xenophobic and anti-Semitic propaganda on the Internet and hate crimes in Paris, 

4. Recognizing the fact that the above mentioned conferences are indicative of the participating States’ determination to face the current challenges caused by racism, anti-Semitism and xenophobia, 

5. Emphasizing paragraph 11 of the Resolution on Fighting Anti-Semitism, which is included in the Rotterdam Declaration, urging all participating States “to ensure effective law enforcement by local and national authorities against criminal acts stemming from anti-Semitism, xenophobia, or racial ethnic or hatred, whether directed at individuals, communities, or property, including thorough investigation and prosecution of such acts”, 

6. Considering that providing appropriate legislation in these matters require co-operation and co-ordination between the participating States and also the participation of civil society, 

The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly: 

7. Calls upon the participating States to ensure that the appropriate government agencies have the legal authority and resources to fulfill the commitments highlighted in the Berlin Declaration of tracking anti-Semitic crimes and hate crimes; 

8. Insists that governments will forward information concerning anti-Semitic crimes and hate crimes in a timely fashion to the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) for compilation; 

9. Calls upon participating States to ensure that the necessary resources are provided to the ODIHR to enable it to successfully fulfil its tasks under the Maastricht Ministerial Council decision and the Berlin Declaration; 

10. Suggests that governments take effective measures, such as oversight hearings, to strengthen the implementation of commitments contained in the Maastricht Ministerial Council decision and highlighted in the Berlin Declaration, and to ensure that laws are in place to prosecute those who engage in anti-Semitic crimes and hate crimes; 

11. Encourages local and national governments to co-operate with non-governmental organizations when gathering information and data on anti-Semitic crimes and hate crimes; 

12. Requests that the Bulgarian Chairmanship, in consultation with the incoming Slovenian Chairmanship, designate a personal envoy of the Chairman-in-Office to ensure sustained attention in fulfilling the OSCE commitments highlighted in the Berlin Declaration; 

13. Calls upon governments to create mechanisms to help ensure education and training for educators, military forces, and law enforcement and judicial officers concerning racism, anti-Semitism and the Holocaust, xenophobia and intolerance, as well as to initiate efforts to join the Task Force for International Co-operation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance and Research; 

14. Invites participating States to create appropriate institutions to implement the commitments of the Maastricht Ministerial Council decision and the Berlin Declaration concerning the fight against racism and anti-Semitism; 

15. Suggests that these institutions should have, inter alia, the following responsibilities: - to co-ordinate between relevant governmental bodies, - to follow up, record and keep statistics on anti-Semitic and racist incidents, - to follow up the action taken against persons guilty of anti-Semitic and racist acts, - to propose measures to protect places of worship and communitarian institutions, - to propose measures that promote tolerance in society, in particular, in schools and in the media, - to initiate dialogue with organizations representing communities which are, or may be, affected by anti-Semitic and racist acts and to evaluate together such incidents and to consider useful measures, - to liaise with the ODIHR in the implementation of the tasks assigned to it in the Maastricht Ministerial Council decision and the Berlin Declaration; 

16. Invites participating States to establish an institution to pursue dialogue between the relevant governmental institutions, local authorities and non-governmental organizations involved in these issues in order to gather information on the diffusion of racist and anti-Semitic material on the internet and to discuss conceivable measures to counter this phenomenon; 

17. Asks the members of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly to speak out against and oppose racist, anti-Semitic and xenophobic propaganda, wherever they find such; 

18. Asks also the leadership of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly to present this resolution to the OSCE Conference on Tolerance and the Fight against Racism, Xenophobia and Discrimination in Brussels on 13-14 September 2004.