OSCE Review Conference, Vienna, September 1999

9 September 1999

Mr. Moderator,

This year the government of the United Kingdom published the report into the police handling of the murder of a young black man, Stephen Lawrence, that occurred four years ago in London. The enquiry by Justice McPherson was as thorough as it was dramatic. It wrote about Institutional Racism (often by default), that exists in many institutions in the United Kingdom including State agencies. “We all agree that institutional racism affects the MPS [Metropolitan Police Service], and Police Services elsewhere. Furthermore our conclusions as to Police Services should not lead to complacency in other institutions and organisations. Collective failure is apparent in many of them, including the Criminal Justice system. It is incumbent upon every institution to examine their policies and the outcome of their policies and practices to guard against disadvantaging any section of our communities."

The UK Prime Minister, in the wake of this report, wrote forcefully in the minority press of the need for change, of wanting “to make Britain a beacon to the world in race equality” and of his desire “to rediscover a national identity that we can all be proud of”. The Prime Minister also stated that: “Work is in hand to examine how we can ensure that race equality is built into the delivery of government aims and programmes. New indicators to measure improvement will be developed where possible.” This is clearly a criticism of race relations in the United Kingdom, but it is an honest attempt to understand and to tackle some of the root causes of racism. These are complex issues even in well established democracies.

Minority Rights Group poses one question. Is there any OSCE participating state in which there are minorities that can show that there is no institutional racism? We hope that any state that believes this to be the case will declare it at this meeting. A further question is how should participating states tackle institutional racism and discrimination against minorities?

The rule of law is one method and the Council of Europe’s Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities is an important instrument that can be ratified by all participating States. Its Advisory Committee can play a dynamic and constructive role through visits and dialogue in identifying problems and drawing on its experience and the skills of the staff in the Council of Europe to make proposals, and seek funds for institutional change. Here a synergy with funding from the European Union could be particularly helpful.

Many states would agree with the remarks of the UK Prime Minister on race equality.

A decade ago it is likely that the media would have been hostile to the McPherson report and to the Prime Minister’s comments. However, the media in the UK was positive in supporting the Government position partly because of the position of popular newspapers, led by the Daily Mail, and partly because of changing attitudes in society often led by NGOs and ethnic minorities themselves.

The McPherson report was undoubtedly influenced by the high quality evidence of non-governmental contributors, including NGOs and minority organisations. The issues were clearly in the public domain and many constructive proposals were made to the inquiry.

However, there was a racist backlash from some. Minority Rights Group was among a number of NGOs that were anonymously threatened. There were three bombings in London, one in Brixton close to our office; in total scores of people in London were injured, some were killed. This was vehemently condemned by the press and the media in general.

This contrasts starkly with the hostile press coverage given to asylum seekers and Roma/Gypsies in Britain and in many parts of Europe.

Is it now time for a totally new approach emphasising adult and multicultural education and institutional transformation, including State institutions, television, radio, newspapers, training institutions and employers, including multinational companies and contract compliance in donor programmes?

Minority Rights Group believes that it is important to link the economic dimension and the human dimension, while ensuring the effective implementation of OSCE and Council of Europe standards through supportive visits to monitor and advise. This should be linked to the provision of new financial resources from the European Union through its PHARE and TACIS programmes.

Thank you, Mr. Moderator.