Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2011

U.S. Department of State published yesterday the "Country Reports on Human Rights for 2011". 

http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/humanrightsreport/index.htm?dynamic_load_id=186408#wrapper

This document mentions "RAXEN Report" from Movement Against Intolerance as one of the principal information sources about the situation in Spain:

'On March 31, the NGO Movement against Intolerance reported 4,000 racist incidents per year in the country, of which 400 were clearly anti-Semitic.'

'The 2010 Raxen Report by the Movement against Intolerance estimated that there are approximately 4,000 racially motivated crimes in the country each year as well as over 200 xenophobic Web sites. The Office of the Spanish Ombudsman reported 48 complaints of racism and xenophobia in 2010.'

'In March the Raxen report by the Movement against Intolerance estimated there are over 200 Spanish Web sites promoting hate on an international level, and even more on social networks, which especially affect the Spanish-speaking world. At year’s end, the Barcelona court had several open investigations involving hate crimes on the Internet'

25/05/2012

Hate crime cases increase in Scotland

Hate crime cases rose by 14% over the last 12 months in Scotland, with just over 6,000 charges being reported.

The official figures published showed there were 4,518 race crime charges in 2011/12, a rise of 8% on the previous 12 month period.

Religiously aggravated charges rose by 29% to 897.

The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal said greater awareness, reporting and recording of hate crimes partly accounted for the increased figures.

The statistics relate directly to race crimes, and on crimes motivated by prejudice related to religion, disability, sexual orientation and transgender identity.

Community Safety Minister Roseanna Cunningham said: "Hatred of any kind, whether it is on the basis of religion, race or sexual orientation, is unacceptable in modern Scotland and those responsible are being punished with the full force of the law.

"The Lord Advocate sent out strong warning last year that this kind of behaviour would be met with a zero tolerance response and our police and prosecutors are responding, tackling the actions of these individuals head on.

"The small minority who think that this kind of behaviour is somehow acceptable are finding out the hard way that it isn't, and never will be. Their actions shame Scotland and they are being swiftly punished by Scotland's prosecutors."

The figures do not include 42 charges reported to the Crown linked to a new law on religious sectarian hate crime at football matches, which came into force on 1 March.

BBC News - 17/05/2012

INTERNATIONAL DAY AGAINST HOMOPHOBIA AND TRANSPHOBIA MARKED GLOBALLY

Governments, organisations and individuals around the world have been marking this year’s International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia today. 

1.5 billion people globally still live under regimes which criminalise gay relationships. Rainbow balloons are being released today in Russia, Estonia, Ukraine, Germany and Iran. Last year, events taking a stand against homophobia were held in seventy countries. This year, IDAHO coordinators say activists in 95 countries around the world have planned some form of event. Equalities Minister Lynne Featherstone said: “Today is an opportunity to celebrate how much progress has been made in changing attitudes towards LGB&T people. “In the UK, we are continuing to remove barriers and tackle prejudice – by toughening hate crime laws, campaigning to eradicate homophobia and transphobia in sport, supporting action against bullying in schools, and through our current consultation on how to implement equal civil marriage. “However, today it is also important to reflect on the challenges we still face, at home and abroad. We are continuing to drive change across government through our LGB&T action plan as well as pushing for more action from partners overseas.” 

Location-sensitive networking app Grindr said it was sending a message to its global user database asking them to add the word IDAHO to their profile. Jessica Stern, Acting Executive Director of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission said it was marking three key advances in South America. The Commission wanted to mark to Argentina’s “ground-breaking” new law on gender identity, the Inter-American Court’s decision to overturn a Chilean court decision which removed Karen Atala’s children from her because she was gay and Chile’s advances on hate crime legislation, spurred on by the murder of young gay man Daniel Zamudio. The Australian Capital Territory’s Deputy Chief Minister and Sports Minister, Andrew Barr announced the creation of a two-year programme to tackle homophobia in sporting clubs. In the UK, local councils around the country were hoisting rainbow flags. Energy company E.ON, which employs 85,000 globally, was displaying them at five offices in the Midlands. Manchester Airport was welcoming guests to the UK with the multi-coloured standard, and Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust said it would be flying the rainbow flag at its headquarters in Norwich as a show of solidarity with those suffering homophobic abuse. 

Akoro Joseph Sewedo- Executive Director of The Initiative for Equal Rights in Lagos, Nigeria said: “It is quite depressing that secular states in this century will still base governance on religion rather than the constitution, which supersedes and emphasizes the secularity of modern state and their obligations to protect and promote human rights regardless of sex, age, creed, tribe and other status [sexual orientation and gender identity/expression] as stated in the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights”. The Gay and Lesbian Equality Network in Ireland met with the Oireachtas Committee on Justice and Equality and called for access to civil marriage for gay couples. Kieran Rose, GLEN Chair said: “Ireland has made significant progress in tackling the legacy of discrimination towards LGBT people. In 1993 we achieved decriminalisation of gay men based on equality, followed by powerful equality legislation, comprehensive civil partnership based on marriage, and now progress towards civil marriage. Civil marriage, building on the comprehensive civil partnership legislation, is the next incremental step in achieving equality.” 

British Foreign Office Minister Jeremy Browne and International Development Minister Stephen O’Brien said: “It is sadly the case that in many countries Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender people continue to suffer brutal violence and discrimination. These people are not making a political statement, or asking for special treatment, they just want to be free to be who they are and to love who they choose. “These simple demands are not Western impositions but universal human rights we should all be able to take for granted. Yet in over 70 countries consensual same-sex relations continue to be criminalised. In some, sexual relations between consenting adults are a crime punishable by the death penalty. We strongly oppose any criminalisation of same-sex relations.”

17/05/2012