RACIST VIOLENCE IN 15 EU MEMBER STATES - Cospe

RACIST VIOLENCE IN 15 EU MEMBER STATES - A Comparative Overview of Findings from the RAXEN NFP Reports 2001-2004
severely beaten by bouncers, after which he was thrown into the sea and drowned.
These events were captured on video and made public. However, at the trial the
perpetrators were not found to have been motivated by racist or xenophobic
feelings.
The media, which forms the main source of information on racist violence for
RAXEN 3, 4 and 5, also refers to violent clashes involving extreme right-wing
groups and minority communities and, on occasion, left-wing protestors. One such
example involved a debate about the building of a mosque, which lasted several
years, and which resulted in violent clashes between the right-wing groups, under
the banner of ‘Plataforma por Cataluña’, and left-wing groups under ‘Acción
Antifascista’.
In sum, the RAXEN reports suggest that there is evidence of increased numbers of
racist attacks organised by the extreme right, with most of these incidents taking
place in large urban areas and also in towns on the outskirts of Madrid, Barcelona
and Valencia. At the same time, RAXEN also points to evidence of increased
numbers of ‘spontaneous’ racist attacks that cannot be attributed to organised
groups. However, the actual extent of racist violence in Spain is difficult to gauge
in the absence of official and unofficial data.
9. France
9.1. CONTEXT
The French Republican ideal is founded on the principle of equality of treatment
before the law for individual citizens. This ideal extends to a reluctance to
categorise people into groups, which includes ethnic categorisation. As a reflection
of this, ‘racial violence’ has not, until recently, been part of public discourse, and
criminal justice data collection on ‘racist violence’ has not been made
commonplace.
At the same time, France has seen an upsurge in racist violence in recent years, and
there has been a particular problem with antisemitic crime and violence. In 2000
antisemitic violence increased with the start of the second Israel/Palestine Intifada,
and after 9/11 there was a brief increase in antisemitic violence and threats. 78
According to the EUMC report on antisemitism in the EU in 2002-03, 79 there was a
significant increase in antisemitic violence and threats in 2002 when compared
with 2001, with a peak in April 2002 in line with heightened Israel-Palestine
tensions. While, according to RAXEN 4, the number of reported racist, xenophobic
78
79
France – RAXEN 3 report on ‘Racist Violence’, p.10.
EUMC, Manifestations of Anti-Semitism in the EU 2002-2003: Based on information
by the National Focal Points of the RAXEN Information Network, p.113.
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