As on every 27 January, the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz camp 77 years ago, all the statutory bodies of the Council of Europe spoke out to honour the memory of the victims of the Holocaust.
“What became the Shoah did not start with physical attacks. It began... with hateful words, slander and conspiracy theories that fed on anti-Jewish sentiment that had long existed in parts of Europe”, recalled Secretary General Marija Pejčinović Burić, while Luigi Di Maio, Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs and representative of the current rotating presidency of the Committee of Ministers, stressed in his statement the importance of “understanding and knowledge of the Shoah”. “The fight against all forms of denial and distortion of this tragedy” is essential, in his view.
The same rejection of Holocaust denial was made by Dunja Mijatović, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights: “It lies at the core of our duty to protect the truth”. “The protection of freedom of speech does not extend to Holocaust denial, which is an act that runs counter to the values of the European Convention on Human Rights itself”, she warned, calling on Council of Europe member states to improve their legislation where necessary.
“Antisemitism did not end after the Second World War”, said Tiny Kox, the new president of the parliamentary assembly. “Today, starting from the dark corners of the Internet, xenophobia and antisemitism are once again on the rise. We need urgent action to tackle it now”. (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)