17/03/2017
United Nations dedicates the 2017 International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, held on 21st March, to calling attention to the pending challenges but also to the achievements since its Durban Declaration and Programme of Action in 2009. This Declaration is an example of real commitment to fight against racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and other related forms of intolerance at national and international level.
As far as the Roma community is concerned, it is still a group highly rejected by society both in Spain and in many other countries. The perpetuation of the negative image of Roma people is one of the main causes of this rejection. In this context, it is vital to recognise the heterogeneity and the diverse realities of this ethnic minority. Moreover, it should be stressed that the cases of discrimination daily registered by the Fundación Secretariado Gitano (FSG) are examples not only of violations of the right to equality but also of threats to human dignity and negation to the exercise of other fundamental and social rights that prevent from the development of a dignified life.
The FSG believes that it is necessary, particularly in a day like today, to put ourselves in the place of the others, especially in Roma people’s place, and consider how people feel when they are denied access to a job interview, to a housing for rent or to a pub, when police stops them in the streets just because of the way they look, or when surfing on the Internet they find web pages like “death to gypsy people”.
Against this background, it is crucial to reflect about what discrimination implies for those who suffer it and the different forms it takes, which can lead to a different and unfair treatment, to discriminatory acts and to hate offences. In addition, the so-called hate speech has a serious impact in the spreading of hostility and prejudice against minorities, among them Roma, in society. Even if these acts are legally different, all of them are violations of the fundamental right to equality and dignity of Roma people and in the end, they all have one element in common: the specific rejection of Roma people.
Our rule of law has to provide an appropriate response to these illegal acts, ensuring the compliance of legal actors with the international and national legal framework that promote the defence of non-discrimination and hate offences. In our opinion, progress has been made in this matter: the reform of the Spanish Criminal Code, the creation of specialised prosecutors’ offices, the police protocols and the support to entities that provide assistance to victims of discrimination, etc. Nonetheless, progress must continue.
In this context, on the 2017 International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the Fundación Secretariado Gitano would like to highlight the need to count on an Integral Equality Law that sets a common framework for the defence of the right to equality and foresees actions related to prevention, awareness-raising and sanctions complementing our penal legislation in this matter. On the other hand, due to the low levels of submission of complaints by victims of discrimination, it is fundamental to be close to them, to inform, support, accompany and compensate them and, in the end, to empower them to trust the mechanisms of defence of their rights.
Effective and real equality is a right of all people and therefore, the mechanisms to guarantee this equality should be coordinated and provide response to the existing social rejection and discrimination in order to promote a fair and cohesive society in which fundamental rights are guaranteed for all, including Roma people.
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