Guidelines on Promoting Tolerance in Europe “We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools…” Martin Luther King
Diversity is the most valuable treasure of human civilisation. Differences are manifold because our world is diverse. However, one look at our continent shows you how this diversity is cultivated by extremist groups in order to justify the exclusiveness of a certain race, nation, ideology or religion, and consequently the inferiority of all others. The crimes of WWII, triggered by the Nazi ideology and dissected by the Nuremberg Trials, appalled Europeans. Steps to prevent the recurrence of similar tragedies were taken at the global and continental levels. The UN and the Council of Europe were established, and a system of conventions and other international documents was created to promote unity among members and prevent the creation of any dividing lines between. What do we see now? After sixty years, people are beginning to forget the Nazis’ crimes. Political organisations fostering hatred, antiSemitism and other forms of extremism are raising their heads. Again we see Nazi symbols on the walls and sometimes in the shops of European cities. Why is a particular part of the electorate supporting such organisations? How can the successors of great European humanists allow others to plant the ideology of intolerance in their minds? One of the answers is that there is a lack of real cultural dialogue embracing all social classes, combined with a disregard for nurturing a culture of tolerance. Intolerance of all kinds segregates European society, cheapens our democratic achievements and makes the great sacrifices in the fight against Nazism useless. Responsible politicians and civil society must continue to elaborate a real “dialogue of cultures,” acknowledging the right to diversity and differences, which is the key element in promoting tolerance. As knowledge develops through understanding and acceptance of differences, the role of education in this process becomes fundamental. We must continue fighting all forms of intolerance that festers in our society like gangrene. Governments should be able to survey, examine, analyse and prevent any intolerance in all its manifestations. On the other side, positive illustrations of tolerance should be distinguished, popularized and put as an example to all European societies. Assessing the threats posed by intolerance, in 1995 the UN established November 16 as International Day for Tolerance. This year, a number of international and European public organisations have initiated several large-scale events to be held on the eve of Tolerance Day in Brussels, Prague and other European cities. Their dates (November 9-11) coincide with the 70th anniversary of the infamous die Kristallnacht that happened in Germany in 1938, demonstrating the consequence of intolerance propaganda against one ethnic group. The Holocaust was the logical end result of suppressing this event. Today, the same threat hangs over Europe. Extremism is trying to conquer people’s minds behind the mask of democratic freedoms. With the aim of preventing such developments, the European Council on Tolerance and Reconciliation, a new international organization intends to present at the special session of the European Parliament, scheduled for November 10, a number of initiatives to present a united European front against manifestations of intolerance. The session is going to be held in close cooperation with the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and the European Jewish Con-
gress under the auspices of the PACE President Lluís Maria De Puig and Ján Figeľ, European Union Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture and Youth. The invitees include President of the French Republic and acting EC President Nicolas Sarkozy, leaders of European states, foreign ministers of European communities, representatives of leading NGOs and young people. At the formal dinner following the session, the Council would award HM King Juan Carlos I of Spain with a Medal of Tolerance for lifelong dedication and devotion to the matter of tolerance and political reconciliation, which has enabled one of the most remarkable social and political transformations in Europe after the II World War. The award ceremony is planned to be held annually to distinguish individuals and organizations for active encouraging tolerance. Another initiative will propose drafting and adopting a Framework Convention on Tolerance and Fighting Various Forms of Intolerance. A number of documents have been adopted dealing with specific forms of intolerance, mainly relating to racial bias. However, there is no convention document to cover all forms of intolerance. This constitutes a deficiency in international humanitarian law. The necessity of such a document is clearly evidenced by the escalating manifestations of intolerance in the past decades and their increasing threat to society. The Framework Convention is designed to give definitions of tolerance and intolerance, reveal the dangers of religious and racial intolerance, xenophobia, anti-Semitism, nationalism and other forms of extremism, and direct the introduction of national legislation to punish every act of intolerance. The Framework Convention goes beyond calls to fight intolerance and aims to create a system for fostering tolerance based on the cultural dialogue. Another projected initiative provides for monitoring the level of tolerance in European states with periodical (once or twice a year) publication of an updated White Paper on Tolerance. This initiative envisages promoting positive experiences in European states through legislation, government and civil initiatives and the like. Current reports by the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance are generally focused on emphasising negative facts, and their publication is governmentally controlled. In contrast, the White Paper concept will emphasize the positive experiences and a spirit of competitiveness in promoting tolerance. It will provide a platform for politicians, scholars and members of society to express their attitudes to pending or eventual challenges and suggest ideas for public discussion. *** The Council on Tolerance and Reconciliation is headed by Former President of Poland Aleksander Kwasniewski. The Council’s members are: Aleksander Kwaśniewski (Chairman of the Council), former President of Poland Moshe Kantor, President of the European Jewish Congress, President of the World Holocaust Forum Jose-Maria Aznar, former Prime Minister of Spain Erhard Busek, Special Coordinator for the Stability Pact for Southeast Europe; Former Vice-Chancellor of the Republic of Austria, Vienna Vaclav Havel, former President of the Czech Republic Milan Kučan, former President of Slovenia Alfred Moisiu, former President of Albania Göran Persson, former Prime Minister of Sweden, Initiator International Forum on the Holocaust Rita Süssmuth, former Speaker of the German Bundestag Vilma Trajkovska, President of the “Boris Trajkovski” Foundation, Macedonia Vaira Vike-Freiberga, former President of Latvia
The European Council on Tolerance and Reconciliation is a new international initiative. The idea of the Council dates back to the International Stockholm Forum on the Holocaust organized by the Swedish Government on the 26-28 January 2000 and which emphasized that the whole international community shares today a solemn responsibility to fight such evils like ethnic cleansing, racism, anti-Semitism and xenophobia. The purpose of the European Council on Tolerance and Reconciliation is to provide a forum for discussion, reflection and forward thinking on matters of European human rights policy in general, and promotion of tolerance in particular. In a complex world in which interests and priorities compete across the region, where a vast number of cultures, legal systems and national priorities come together, the Association identifies issues that impede efforts to effectively protect and promote human rights, to advance the creation of culture of tolerance, and proposes approaches and strategies that will advance these purposes. The Association stimulates co-operation and exchange on tolerance-related issues across the non-governmental, governmental and intergovernmental sectors. It brings together policymakers, human rights practitioners, scholars, along with those from related disciplines and fields whose knowledge and analysis can inform discussion of tolerance advancement in Europe. In all its efforts, the Association is European in perspective, inclusive and participatory in agendasetting and collaborative in method. The Council believes that its main task is to educate people on tolerance and to promote good examples of it among European societies. It would be careless to define tolerance merely as indulgence towards those who are considered inferior. Tolerance implies maintaining a subtle and vulnerable balance between various communities’ interests. Therefore, acceptance of differences and diversity must be taught. Nowadays, tolerance can be studied using the tools of applied science, with its methodology, conceptual structure and theoretical analysis. On this basis, the Council on Tolerance and Reconciliation expects, with the assistance of European states and civil society, to launch projects on tolerance research and education.