Written evidence submitted by the European Council on Tolerance and Reconciliation

  1. The European Council on Tolerance and Reconciliation (ECTR) welcomes the opportunity to submit evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee’s inquiry on the Government’s new five year strategy into countering extremism.

 

  1. The ECTR is an international NGO, established in October 2008 by Aleksander Kwasniewski, former President of Poland and Moshe Kantor, President of the European Jewish Congress. The idea of the Council dates back to the International Stockholm Forum on the Holocaust organised by the Swedish Government on the 26-28 January 2000, which emphasised that the whole international community shares a solemn responsibility to fight such evils as racism, anti-Semitism and xenophobia.

 

  1. It is a non-partisan and non-governmental institution. It is envisaged to be an opinion-making and advisory body on international tolerance promotion, reconciliation and education. It fosters understanding and tolerance among peoples of various ethnic origin; educates on techniques of reconciliation; facilitates post-conflict social apprehensions; monitors chauvinistic behaviours, proposes pro-tolerance initiatives and legal solutions.

 

  1. Therefore the work done by the UK Government in countering extremism is of strong importance to the organisation. The ECTR sees the promotion of Tolerance as a key means for combatting extremism.

 

  1. It is for this reason that the Model European Statute for the Promotion of Tolerance has been adopted -  under the sponsorship of the European Council on Tolerance and Reconciliation - by a small Group of Experts, consisting of five scholars from different countries and from diverse backgrounds: Prof. Yoram Dinstein, Professor Emeritus of International Law and Human Rights, Tel Aviv University, Israel, Chair; Dr. Ugo Gensio, retired Judge, Italian Supreme Court; Prof. Rein Mullerson, Rector, University Nord, Talinn, Estonia;  Prof. Daniel Thürer, Professor Emeritus of International and European Law, University of Zurich. Switzerland; and Prof. Rȕdiger Wolfrum, Director, Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public law and International Law, Heidelberg, Germany.   

 

  1. The Model Statute is designed for adoption by the respective national legislatures of European States and the exact implementation has to fit the circumstances of each country. Its purpose is to fill a vacuum: although all European States are committed to the principle of tolerance, nowhere is this principle defined in binding legal terms. It is in this vacuum that it is possible for extremism to develop. The principal challenge in preparing the Model Statute was to go beyond rhetoric and generalities, spelling out concrete and enforceable obligations that ensure tolerance and stamp out extremism.  

 

  1. Historically, the victims of intolerance vary: sometimes they are Jews; sometimes they are Muslims; sometimes they are Roma; etc. Novel specific issues arise all the time due to changing demographics. But one commonality is that extremists usually target various groups to whip up support for their cause. It is this intolerance that fuels extremism.

 

  1. Tolerance springs from the rights of groups to be different and distinct. However, tolerance does not contradict the principle of the coexistence of groups within a single society. A compromise has to be worked out. 

 

  1. The Model Statute consists of a legislative text with accompanying explanatory notes. The text consists of a Preamble and nine substantive Sections. At present this is a living document and under development to ensure it has maximum practical use to national governments in Europe.

 

  1. We would strongly urge the UK Government to examine the Statute and draw upon its principles in shaping its approach to extremism. We have annexed the current draft statute to this document (the working group will continue to refine this over time).

 

  1. Should the Committee hold oral hearings into this issue we would very much welcome the opportunity to appear in front of the member to further explain how we think this approach could better help the Government to counter extremism.

 

  1. Declaration of interests

 

  1. The ECTR is an international NGO, established in October 2008 by Aleksander Kwasniewski, former President of Poland and Moshe Kantor, President of the European Jewish Congress. More details about the organisation can be found here: http://ectr.eu/about-us The expert group who have developed the statute are listed above with their organisations.