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Cases of discrimination. Conclusions and recommendations
The cases recorded show a wide range of actions
demonstrating the social rejection of the Roma com-
munity; acts of discrimination, hate speech and hate
crimes that are detrimental to the guiding principles of
our social, democratic state and rule of law. They are all
a direct attack on the equality and dignity of the Roma
people and violate the very human rights and public
freedoms enshrined in the Spanish Constitution and in-
ternational treaties ratified by Spain.
Within the regulatory sphere, we should highlight the
progress made through the most recent reform of
the Spanish criminal code in this area. The new Spanish
regulation transposes the provisions of Council Frame-
work Decision 2008/913/JHA of 28 November 2008 on
combating certain forms and expressions of racism and
xenophobia by means of criminal law. Among other new
developments, Article 510 will enable more effective
pursuit of
“those who publicly encourage, promote or
incite, directly or indirectly, hatred, hostility, discrimi-
nation or violence”
.
Among the different situations that infringe the Roma
Community’s right to equality are the reality television
programmes that broadcast a negative, prejudiced,
perverted and deplorable image of the Roma commu-
nity and which are an affront to the dignity of an entire
people.
We also encounter hate crimes resulting in the burn-
ing of the homes of Roma families and anti-Roma hate
speech where expressions such as
“Gypsy shit” “you
are our misfortune” “you look like a gypsy: all you know
how to do is sell and steal” “we don’t want any Gypsies
in Castellar...”
can be heard. Discriminatory speech is not
only offensive but also violates fundamental rights and
we therefore feel that it should never be protected un-
der the guise of freedom of expression.
We believe that the new reform of the criminal code
(Article 510.[2]) will contribute to making freedom of
expression, which we consider as one of the fundamen-
tal principles of our democratic system, compatible
with respect for human dignity. In this regard, we be-
lieve that there is a proportional limit to such freedom
as established by Constitutional Court case law in Judg-
ment 214/1991 (Violeta case) and Judgment 176/1995
(Makoki case) which establish that:
“[...] Neither ideolog-
ical freedom (Art. 16 Spanish Constitution) nor freedom
of expression (Art. 20[1] Spanish Constitution) include
the right to make statements, use expressions or im-
plement campaigns that are racist or xenophobic since,
as provided in Art. 20(4), there is no such thing as un-
limited rights and this is an affront not only to the right
to honour of the person or persons directly affected
but also other constitutionally protected rights such as
the right to human dignity (Art. 10 Spanish Constitution”
.
3. Discrimination, hate speech and hate crimes
violate the right to equality and dignity
of the Roma community
In light of the foregoing, the judiciary must protect fundamental rights and prevent the
breach of the essential right to dignity, to which Roma and all others are entitled, by enforc-
ing the law. Additionally, our government, the media and the civil society must help raise the
awareness of our society with regard to the social image of the Roma community. When
we realise that the prejudice and stereotypes that continue to prevail in the social psyche
are the principal motive for the social rejection of this group, we see just how much work
still lies ahead.