Brussels, 18/03/2008 (Agence Europe) - In a joint statement published just before the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on 21 March 2008, the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) call upon political leaders to continue their fight against intolerance and discrimination.
In their statement, the three organisations: - “call on political parties to deal responsibly with sensitive issues related to race, ethnic and national origin and religion; - encourage political parties to adopt concrete policies against all forms of racism and xenophobia in their party programmes; - encourage political parties to strive for the fair representation of racial, ethnic, national and religious minorities within and at all levels of their party system; - urge political representatives to act responsibly and refrain from providing simplistic explanations with racist, anti-Semitic and xenophobic connotations to complex social, political and economic problems or phenomena; - and recommend political parties to work closer with civil society to combat racism and xenophobia and form partnerships in order to reach this goal”.
The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is observed each year on 21 March in memory of the tragic events that took place in Sharpeville (South Africa) in 1960 when the police opened fire and killed 69 people at a peaceful demonstration against the apartheid “pass laws”, a joint press release from the three organisations recalls. The Charter of European Political parties for a Non-Racist Society was signed on 25 September 2003 by the president of the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly and the president of the European Parliament. For further information see: http: //http://www.fra.europa.eu (G.B.)