Amnesty Head asks Council to act on Roma deportations

Secretary General of Amnesty International

Interview with: Salil Shetty in October 2010

You’re touring the important capitals, how important is Brussels for Amnesty?

Brussels is at the centre of global policy making because of the EU, it’s one of the top three in the world. But there are new capitals, such as Delhi, Beijing and Sao Paulo, who are gaining in importance.

You said you’re going to put more effort into these places, how are countries like Brazil doing on human rights?

I think things, from a global level, are improving. Issues like the death penalty, where we have 135 countries now that do not use the death penalty, either by taking it off the statute book or simply by not using it, so there is some cause for hope and celebration.

If you take economic, social and cultural rights, Brazil has been a leader with some very innovative things, such as the Balsa Escola program which is the largest cash transfer programme in the world. Very significant chunks of the population have been lifted out of poverty and Brazil is one of the few countries where inequality has been reduced in the last few years.

There are issues on security and present conditions are atrocious, land rights are still tenuous and there are evictions, slum conditions are dreadful, but that’s why we want to be there, because there are big challenges.

How would you characterize the EU’s response to the Roma evictions?

The response has been mixed, we were pleased that Commissioner Reding made a clear statement about it, OK, it was a little bit colourful in the way she said it, but it helped push back on what the French did, loud and clear.

But the problem is not restricted to France. It’s there in many countries and it really weakens Europe’s credibility, to talk about these issues if they don’t address the Roma question, because it’s an old question.

We have been highlighting it, but this feeble and fragmented response we are seeing right now is unacceptable. Our call is for the European Council, when they next meet, to issue a clear and powerful statement that this is in violation of several European laws and human rights standards We need them to come clean and firstly, acknowledge that there is a violation, secondly, to come up with a clear plan of action on how to deal with it. It’s very doable, it’s a question of political will.

You met with Van Rompuy, what did he have to say?

He completely acknowledges that this is a big issue and it was discussed at the last council meeting, that he chaired. Technically, they are waiting for the investigation results, but I think they can not ignore it and I expect him to take a leadership role in this.

Death to the intolerant!

Sign of the times / Dave Riggs

It's up to all of us to make a more inclusive world

A week ago, there was a march for peace and tolerance in Brussels, organised by the leading religious and secular organisations got together to counter a growing atmosphere of division and mistrust in the city and more so throughout Europe.

From the Golden Dawn in Greece – who may benefit from a regime change Berlin seems determined to engineer, Pegida in Dresden staging their 30s revival marches to UKIP pledging to rip up equality legislation and mainstream parties pledging to banish the curse of the poor migrant, eradicating the curse of Islamic terrorism from our pure shores, the mood in Europe is ugly.

It’s better to be in a crowd of people from all faiths and none, getting along with each other, than in an angry mob, screaming for murder.

This view is more controversial than you may think.

The next day I attended a meeting which showed the value of peace and tolerance, by its absence. A ‘citizen group’ was complaining about violence from their nation’s opposition party. Certainly they have a dubious record and alliances that seem highly unwise, but I’ve never seen a situation where one side was entirely right and the other entirely wrong.

This was of no concern and amid disaster porn photos of burns victims, there was a propaganda video full of outrageous accusations and inflammatory statements, emotive music over dramatic edits of a burning vehicles.

The fact that children were seriously injured was presented as proof their entire argument was right, and their enemy was entirely wrong.

The hyperbole continued and the opposition leader was accused of personally ordering murders ‘in every corner of the country every day’ of being so evil that ISIS took inspiration from them and that they were trained agents of the Taliban, ISIS and the claims, never backed by anything that could pass as evidence, continued.

No solution was offered, no answer to the problem and no indication that the situation was more complex than we good, they bad.

I was permitted one of only two questions accepted by the speakers, a request for evidence that produced nothing. My follow-up would have been how the government felt having seen their nation portrayed in such a way how they could possibly attract any investment at all, for if they were right, only a lunatic would risk a cent there.

Outside the opposition had gathered, demanding democracy, justice and the release of some people, explanations of some they said had ‘disappeared’ and so on.

There is a problem with violence around the edge of a lot of politics in many places at the moment and I’m using one example – and there is no point naming them – to make a wider point.

When faced with a fire, many of us would have the instinct to look for a fire extinguisher or water or something. These guys thought pouring petrol was the best move.

There are so many inflammatory fires burning across Europe that it needs to be tackled, but how?

With peace and tolerance. By accepting things might be ever so slightly more complicated than the petty demagogues suggest, more nuanced than the ‘line to take.’

By realizing your opponent can also be a decent person, that disagreement is not the sign on inherent evil in another.

By listening and trying to understand rather than shout down.

Sadly, it seems that our political systems are just not set up for this. So, it’s up to us, the people.