Doc. 11011 10 July 2006
The image of asylum-seekers, migrants and refugees in
the media
Report Committee on Migration, Refugees
and Population Rapporteur: Mrs Tana de Zulueta, Italy,
Socialist Group
Summary
The media has an important impact on the
lives of migrants, asylum seekers and refugees and their level
of integration into society and their acceptance by society.
While no undue restrictions should be placed on freedom of
expression, the media has a responsibility to portray
accurately the situation of migrants, asylum seekers and
refugees and reflect the positive contribution they make to
the society in which they live. The media also has a
responsibility to avoid stereotyping these persons, which can
contribute to discrimination, racism, xenophobia and other
forms of intolerance in society, including anti-Semitism,
Islamophobia and Romanophobia.
An effective legislative framework protecting
against incitement to hatred, discrimination and intolerance
is a prerequisite. There is also a need to tackle hate speech
by politicians and its propagation in the media.
The media itself has a responsibility to
adopt its own codes of conduct and ethics, and media
professionals should benefit in their contracts from a
conscience clause allowing them to refuse to produce materials
that they feel would be in breach of their ethical
commitments.
Scruting of the image of migrants, refugees
and asylum seekers in the media needs to take place at a
national level and also at European level. Effective
complaints procedures to investigate complaints about
intolerant, racist or xenophobic attitudes in the media are
required.
Further training for media professional on
asylum and migration issues, as well as reporting in a
multicultural environment, is to be encouraged. The views of
asylum seekers, refugees and migrants need to be reflected in
media programmes, and migrants and refugees should be
represented amongst media professionals. Programmes should be
produced catering for the needs, including linguistic needs,
and interests of migrants, asylum seekers and refugees.
A.
Draft recommendation
1.
European history is strongly characterised by both emigration
and immigration within and outside of Europe. According to the
International Organization for Migration, there are
approximately 33 million migrants in Europe. This figure will
rise further as Europe continues to be a principal choice of
destination for migrants, asylum seekers and refugees, and
increasingly needs migrants to fill empty jobs and
counterbalance declining fertility rates.
2. Many
of these migrants, asylum seekers and refugees, coming from
within and outside of Europe, will remain in Europe,
contributing to the diversity of culture enjoyed and making an
important economic contribution to European society.
3. Their
integration poses a challenge, both for the individuals
concerned and also for society as a whole. One of the
obstacles to this integration is hostility and xenophobia in
certain parts of society, arising from fears fed by populist
beliefs that Europe is being overwhelmed by migrants, asylum
seekers and refugees. Other common fears are that migrants,
asylum seekers and refugees take jobs away from nationals,
contribute to rising criminality and pose a terrorist threat.
Another obstacle to integration is the lack of information on
the integration process for migrants, asylum seekers and
refugees, as well as a misreading or misunderstanding of the
process and what it entails.
4. The
Parliamentary Assembly recognises the essential role of
freedom of expression in a democratic society and reaffirms
its profound commitment to this right outlined in Article 10
of the European Convention on Human Rights.
5. The
media plays an essential role in ensuring that issues linked
to migration, refugees and asylum are portrayed in a fair and
balanced way. It is therefore the mediaâs responsibility to
reflect also the positive contribution to society made by
these persons, and to protect them from negative stereotyping.
It is also important that migrants and asylum seekers are
themselves represented in the media as media professionals and
that their views, and issues of interest to them and
concerning them, are reflected in the media.
6. The
Parliamentary Assembly has already expressed concern about the
portrayal of migrants and ethnic minorities in the media in
its
Recommendation 1277 (1995) on migrants, ethnic minorities
and media. Since this was adopted, the Council of Europe has
taken major steps to tackle issues of racism and intolerance,
including in the media. Noteworthy in this respect has been
the ongoing work of the European Commission against Racism and
Intolerance (ECRI) and the adoption of two important
Recommendations by the Committee of Ministers, namely
Recommendation R (97) 20 on ãHate Speechä and Recommendation
R (97) 21 on the media and the promotion of a culture of
tolerance.
7. The
Assembly considers that the fight against racism,
discrimination and every form of intolerance requires the
constant vigil of the Council of Europe and that the media,
supported by member states, plays an essential role in this
fight.
8. The
Assembly therefore recommends that the Committee of
Ministers:
8.1
invites the Steering Committee on the Media and New
Communication Services (CDMC) to examine and make
recommendations on the operation and functioning of media
complaints procedures and media complaints bodies established
in member states, taking into account any difficulties faced
by individuals and groups affected by statements in the media
to obtain redress through these mechanisms;
8.2.
provides full support and adequate resources for ECRI to carry
out its important monitoring work on racism and intolerance,
and invites it to:
8.2.1.
pay particular attention to the legislation and policy in
member states impacting on racism and intolerance in the
media;
8.2.2.
carry out a media watch study, reporting on xenophobia,
racism and intolerance in the media;
8.2.3.
prepare a report on the effectiveness of legislation
prohibiting incitement to hatred;
8.3.
promotes though the Eurimage Fund and the European Convention
on Cinematographic Co-Production, the production of films
dealing with issues relevant to migrants, refugees and asylum
seekers and produced by persons coming from these groups;
8.4.
invites the member states of the Council of Europe to:
8.4.1.
adopt and implement legislation prohibiting incitement to
hatred, violence or discrimination where this is lacking,
and enforce such legislation where it exists;
8.4.2.
adopt and implement penal legislation against, inter
alia, the public dissemination or public distribution,
or the production or storage of material with a racist
content or purpose, and also to adopt and implement
legislation penalising leaders of groups promoting racism,
and suppress public financing of organisations carrying out
or supporting such activities;
8.4.3.
ensure that legislation is adopted and implemented in member
states to prevent excessive media concentrations which pose
a threat to quality, pluralism and diversity in the
media;
8.4.4.
sign and ratify, where this has not already been done, the
European Convention on Transfrontier Television;
8.4.5.
sign and ratify, where this has not already been done, the
European Convention on Cybercrime and the Additional
Protocol concerning the criminalisation of acts of a racist
and xenophobic nature committed through computer
systems;
8.4.6.
urge all democratic political parties to adopt or reaffirm
the Charter of European Political Parties for a non-racist
society;
8.5.
invites the media to:
8.5.1.
adopt, insofar as they have not already done so, codes of
conduct laying down the ethical principles that should guide
the work of these professionals;
8.5.2.
supplement media codes of conduct, by drawing up guidelines
to tackle particular challenges for the media, such as
avoiding stereotyping of migrants, asylum seekers and
refugees, and avoiding anti-Semitism, anti-Christianism,
Islamophobia, Romanophobia and other forms of
intolerance;
8.5.3.
negotiate conscience clauses in contracts for media
professionals, allowing reporters and journalists to refuse
to produce reports on materials that they feel would be in
breach of ethical commitments;
8.5.4.
establish national complaints procedures to investigate,
inter alia, complaints about media materials that
foster intolerant, racist or xenophobic attitudes towards
migrants, asylum seekers or refugees, and provide effective
remedies where complaints are upheld;
8.5.5.
obtain consent from refugees or asylum seekers prior to
using information or images which may identify their status
as refugees or asylum seekers;
8.5.6.
refrain from revealing the ethnic origin or nationality of
migrants, asylum seekers or refugees when arrested or
convicted of crimes where such information is irrelevant to
the story;
8.6.
invites member states of the Council of Europe and the media
to:
8.6.1.
encourage the employment of migrants and refugees in the
media, including through the provision of specialised
training programmes for persons belonging to these
groups;
8.6.2..
facilitate, fund and encourage the training and
sensitisation of media professionals to issues linked with
multiculturalism, pluralism and the importance of tolerance,
integration and equality for all;
8.6.3.
provide backing and support, including financial support,
for national and European competitions and prizes for media
professionals who contribute to the fight against racism and
intolerance and promote a fair and balanced portrayal of
migrants, asylum seekers and refugees in the media;
8.6.4.
promote and fund the production and broadcasting of
programmes for and by migrants and refugees, including in
their own languages, as well as promote the visibility of
migrants and refugees in society by their inclusion in
mainstream television programmes and at peak viewing
times;
8.6.5.
enhance the role of local media as a means of promoting the
integration and acceptance of migrants, refugees and asylum
seekers in the communities in which they live;
8.6.6.
encourage youth and media to work together to promote
awareness of the multicultural and pluralistic dimension of
European societies, as well as the importance of tolerance,
integration and equality for all.
B.
Explanatory memorandum, by Mrs de Zulueta, Rapporteur
I.
Introduction
1.
European history is strongly characterised by both emigration
and immigration within and outside of Europe, and although
large-scale immigration to Europe is a relatively recent
phenomenon, it is undoubtedly one which many Europeans have
grown well accustomed to over the past 50 years. Following the
1973 oil crisis, immigration policies in Europe became
increasingly restrictive: first in relation to primary
migration, then family reunification, and later, asylum
procedures, particularly since the mid-1980s. Concomitantly,
there has been a resurgence of xenophobia, racism and
intolerance in European society. Contrary to popular belief,
however, xenophobic reactions to foreign immigrants in
post-war Europe do not correlate with either economic crisis
or large levels of immigration.1 The key determinant relates
instead to the popular perception of threat or crisis, which
is why the media can and do play such an instrumental role in
influencing and shaping our perceptions of migrants, refugees
and asylum seekers.
2. It was
in a climate of increasing xenophobia, racism and intolerance,
therefore, that the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of
Europe adopted
Recommendation 1277 (1995) on Migrants, Ethnic Minorities
and the Media. The recommendation not only expressed concern
over media representations of migrants, but also examined the
question of how to develop a responsible media that would
guarantee fair and accurate reporting of migrant issues. More
than 10 years have elapsed since the adoption of
Recommendation 1277 (1995). Unfair and inaccurate
representations stereotyping migrants, refugees and
asylum-seekers are still prevalent in certain media. Since
1995, important developments have taken place affecting the
way in which migrants are portrayed by the media: asylum and
refugee policy have become central political debates shaping
the election campaigns of certain countries; ãhate speechä has
become problematic in certain countries in political
discourse, and is increasingly reported on by the media.
Migrants, asylum seekers and refugees are therefore dependent
primarily on national legislation, media complaints bodies and
international monitoring and complaints bodies to remedy
problems they experience in their portrayal in the media.
3. The
starting point for this report then is to illustrate the
extent to which migrants, refugees and asylum-seekers form an
integral part of our societies, by presenting a brief survey
of global and European statistics on international migration
and refugees. Next, the report provides an overview of the
multilateral instruments in place to protect migrants against
discrimination and racism (UN, Council of Europe and EU
levels). The report also lists international/European
organisations and NGOs whose activities include those
connected with the image of migrants, refugees and
asylum-seekers in the media. The report goes on to analyse how
stereotyping operates in the media before conducting a survey
of the ways in which migrants, refugees and asylum-seekers are
typically represented by the media. Moreover, the report
examines the particular question of responsibility of media
and political elites in relation to the racial or religious
hatred through so-called ãhate speechä and reporting on the
same. The report also considers good practices that have been
developed in response to negative portrayals of migrants.
Finally, the report makes recommendations as how the Council
of Europe and member states can further their work to ensure
that migrants, refugees and asylum seekers are fairly,
accurately and responsibly portrayed in the media.
4. The
Rapporteur would like to acknowledge and thank Dr Simon Towle
for his assistance in the research and preparation of this
report.
II.
Statistical survey on migrants, refugees and asylum-seekers in
Europe
5. By
2000, the International Organisation for Migration
estimated that the world international migrant population
stood at 175 million, in other words, one out of every 35
persons in the world were international migrants (with
international migrants in Europe estimated at 33
million),2 and that this figure continued to
increase at a steady rate since the 1970s (compared with 10
million 1970).3 However, according to United
Nationsâ world population projections, by 2050, the
overall population of Europe will have fallen back from the
2000 estimate of 727 million to 632 million (-13%). In other
words, whereas Europe currently represents 12% of the world
population, by 2050 it will only represent 7.1%.4
6. At the
end of 2004, the global number of refugees reached an
estimated 9.2 million persons.5 UNHCR statistics for the
twenty-year period 1982-2002,6 state that approximately 6.3
million asylum applications were lodged in the 15 European
Union States. In 1982 (15 EU States) approximately 100,000
asylum applications were lodged, and this reached an all time
peak in 1992 (25 EU States with 675,000 applications) mainly
due to Balkans wars. However, the annual rate of asylum
applications in the 25 EU States has tended to fall back since
1999, (396,737 asylum applications), to 282,480 applications
in 2004. Despite this trend, the overall application rate for
the five-year period in question remains high (1.9 million
applications).
7.
Irregular migration (or undocumented migration) is also a
considerable factor of migration, and according to the IOM
World Migration Report 2000, there were up to 3 million
ãunauthorised migrantsä in Europe by 1998. These figures have
certainly increased with some estimates going as high as 4 to
8 million irregular migrants in the European Union alone
although the numbers have to a certain extent been mitigated
by amnesties, regularisation and naturalisation programmes.
8.
Although statistics confirm the extent to which European
societies are made up of migrant populations (an estimated
6-8.5% in major industrialised European countries),7 immigration on the whole continues
to increase at a stable rate. It certainly cannot be said that
migration is out of control or that we are besieged by
immigrants.8 Moreover, certain European
countries such as Austria, Germany, Italy and Sweden are
currently experiencing a negative rate of natural population
growth, and that any net increase in population is therefore
due to the arrival of migrants. Further still, according to
the European Commissionâs Green Paper on Economic
Migration, between 2010 and 2030, at current immigration
flows, the EU working-age population (25 States) will fall by
some 20 million, and the European Commission therefore sees
managed economic migration as a way of keeping Europeâs labour
market afloat.9 Kofi Annan has also stated that:
ãEurope simply needs migrantsä.10
III.
International standards
i.
International Treaties
9. At a
general level, the image of migrants, refugees and asylum
seekers in the media are protected through the multiple
commitments undertaken by States within the framework of
different international human rights law obligations, for
example, within the context of human rights treaties,
conventions and covenants adopted under the auspices of the
United Nations, or at regional level through the Council or
Europe, and the European Union.11 As such, these instruments
constitute an important matrix of international human rights
law prohibiting discrimination, racism, xenophobia and
intolerance.
10. At an
international level, mention should be made first and foremost
of The Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Racial
Discrimination, signed 21 December 1965, which is the most
ratified of all the UN Treaties.12 Other international standards
that have contributed to the body of law prohibiting
discrimination include:
- Universal Declaration of Human Rights
(Article 7) GA Res. 217 A, 10 December 1948;
- The International Covenant of Civil and
Political Rights GA Res. 2200A (XXI) 999 UNTS 171;
- International Covenant on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights GA Res. 2200A (XXI) 993 UNTS 3;
- Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), GA Res. 34/180;
- Convention against Torture and other Cruel,
Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment GA. Res.
39/46;
- Convention on the Rights of the Child, GA Res.
44/25;
- International Convention on the Protection of the
Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their
Families, GA. Res. 45/158.
ii.
Council of Europe
a. The
European Convention on Human Rights13
11. At
the level of the Council of Europe, central to guaranteeing
the rights of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers in the
media is Article 10 of the European Convention on Human
Rights which concerns freedom of expression and the
limitations that can be put on this right. Article 10 requires
under its second paragraph that freedom of expression must be
reconciled with respect for human dignity and the protection
of the reputation or the rights of others. It is in this
context that migrants, refugees and asylum seekers may be able
to protect their image in the media.
12.
Article 14 of the Convention is also relevant. It provides
that: ãThe enjoyment of the rights and freedoms set forth
in this Convention shall be secured without discrimination on
any ground such as sex, race, colour, language, religion,
political or other opinion, national or social origin,
association with a national minority, property, birth or other
status.ä
13.
However, Article 14 was not conceived as a freestanding bar on
all forms of discrimination, and was limited in purview to the
extent that it ãcouldä only be relied upon in
connection with the violation of other identified rights and
freedoms protected by the ECHR. At least, that was the case
until the entry into force of Protocol 12 to the Convention,
on 1 April 2005,14 which now applies to 13 member
states and which provided for a
free-standing non-discrimination clause.
b. The
European Commission against Racism and Intolerance
14. The
European Commission against Racism and Intolerance
(ECRI) 15 is an independent human rights
monitoring body on racism and racial discrimination, which has
the task of combating racism, xenophobia, anti-Semitism and
intolerance. Its action covers all measures to combat,
violence, discrimination and prejudice faced by persons or
groups of persons on grounds of ãraceä, colour, language,
religion, nationality and national or ethnic origin. ECRIâs
activities relate to country-by-country analyses, general
themes and activities with civil society.
15. In
relation to its country-by country analysis, ECRI is now in
its third cycle of country reports dealing with all
member states of the Council of Europe on an equal footing.
The third round of reports focus on implementation, evaluating
to what extent the recommendations from the earlier rounds
have been implemented, as well as on the degree of success any
such measures have had. The reports constitute an important
step in encouraging dialogue between ECRI and the authorities
in member states, to identify solution to the reporting on how
the media deal with the question of immigrants, recommending
which measures can be taken to improve reporting, cultural
awareness of immigrant issues and representation of minority
groups in the media.
c. The
Framework Convention for the Protection of National
Minorities
16. The
Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities
(FCNM) was adopted on the basis of the mandate accorded by the
Vienna Summit, and as such, it is first legally binding
multilateral instrument to protect national minorities in
general.16 The FCNM is
important because it establishes a monitoring mechanism
requiring state parties to report to an Advisory Committee on
the measures taken to promote integration, and the latter may
recommend future actions to be taken by state parties to
improve their situation. In particular, Article 6.1
provides a specific legal basis with which to take measures in
relation to the media to ensure that tolerance, dialogue and
understanding and mutual respect are fostered regardless of a
personâs ethnic, cultural or linguistic identity.17 Article 6.1 has a wide scope of
application that includes, ãamong others, asylum seekers and
persons belonging to other groups that have not traditionally
inhabited the country concernedä.18
17. To
date, states parties to the FCNM are in the second cycle of
reporting. This reporting describes, inter alia, how
national minorities are treated in the media, as well as
progress achieved to improve the situation as regards media
and national minorities.
d. The
European Convention on Transfrontier Television
18.
The European Convention on Transfrontier Television
(ECTT),19 which entered into force on 1 May
1993, has currently been ratified by 31 States, and is the
first international treaty to create a legal framework for the
free circulation of transfrontier television programmes in
Europe. It lays down minimum standards in relation to
programming, advertising, sponsorship and the protection of
certain individual rights.20
e. The
Additional Protocol to the Convention on Cybercrime
19. The
fight against racism has also to face the development of new
technologies. An Additional Protocol to the Convention on
Cybercrime was adopted in November 2002.21 The Protocol requires States to
criminalise the dissemination of racist and xenophobic
material through computer systems. It aims at harmonising
criminal law in the fight against racism and xenophobia on the
Internet, and improving international co-operation in this
area.
f.
Committee of Ministers Recommendations
20. In
1997, the Committee of Ministers adopted two important
Recommendations to member states that are of particular
relevance to the subject of the image of migrants in the
media, Recommendation R (97) 20 on ãHate Speechä, and
Recommendation R (97) 21 on the media and the promotion of
a culture of tolerance, respectively.
21. The
ãhate speechä Recommendation expressly condemned all
forms of expression which ãincite to racial hatred,
xenophobia, anti-Semitism and all forms of intoleranceä.
As such, the Committee of Ministers invited member states to
take appropriate steps to comprehensively combat hate speech,
including by reviewing their domestic legislation. The
ãmedia and toleranceä Recommendation, on the other
hand, focuses on the positive contributions to be made by the
media professions taking measures to promote a culture of
tolerance and understanding.
g.
PACE Resolutions and Recommendations
22. On
the specific question of the media, the work of the
Parliamentary Assembly has developed principally in two
directions: on the one hand, it has sought to ensure that
mediaâs right to freedom of expression is protected22, including through a professional
standard of ethics for journalists,23 and on the other hand, the
Parliamentary Assembly has increasingly acknowledged the
important strategic role of the media in the fight against
racism, xenophobia, and intolerance.24
23. In
1995, the Parliamentary Assembly examined the question of the
image of migrants in the media in Recommendation 1277
(1995) on Migrants, Ethnic Minorities and Media. The
Recommendation recognised the importance of the mediaâs role
in combating ãracist and xenophobic viewsä, and therefore made
a series of recommendations to the Committee of Ministers and
member states to ensure that migrants are represented
comprehensively and impartially by the media.
24. More
recently, the Assembly has been particularly concerned about
the intensification ãhate speechä reporting in the media,
within the context of inflationist rhetoric about immigration,
refugees, asylum issues25.
25. In
Recommendation 1555 (2002) on the image of women in the
media, the Parliamentary Assembly specifically examined
the image of women in the media, calling for measures to be
stepped up to ensure greater respect for gender equality, to
avoid stereotyping and grant wider access and representation
of women in decision-making positions in media management.
These issues should apply equally to migrant women in the
media.
26. In
Recommendation 1706 (2005) on Media and Terrorism, the
Assembly addressed the issue of not sensationalising reports
on terrorism, as this conflated a ãfeeling of terror, fear or
chaos amongst the publicä.26 It therefore invited journalists
and politicians to refrain from making sensationalist reports
about terrorism.
h. The
European Union and non-discrimination
27. The
European Union has a long history and institutional role in
combating discrimination. For many years, its focus was on
preventing discrimination on the grounds of nationality and
sex. In 1997, however, a major development took place in
relation to non-discrimination with the inclusion of Article
6A Amsterdam Treaty,27 now Article 13, EC Treaty, which
granted the Union new powers of intervention to take action to
combat discrimination on the grounds of ãracial or ethnic
origin, religion or belief, disability, age and sexual
orientationä, and widened the power to combat sexual
discrimination.28 Clearly, this is a broader
definition of discrimination than the one provided in Article
14 ECHR, and by its inclusion in the Treaty, the
anti-discrimination principle is now anchored as a fundamental
principle of the Union.
28. On
the basis of Article 13, two European Council Directives were
unanimously adopted in 2000, the Racial Equality
Directive and the Employment Equality
Directive,29 proposing minimum standards of
legal protection against discrimination, as well as a
Community Action Programme to support practical efforts
to combat discrimination (2001-2006).30 The package is important,
because, despite the fact that many member states already have
laws prohibiting discrimination on grounds of racial or ethnic
origin, the scope and enforceability of such measures vary
considerably throughout the Union. The two Directives under
Article 13 provide, for the first time, a common legal
framework for minimum protection against all forms of
discrimination in the member states of the European Union.
29.
Within the specific context of media, little has been done as
yet to outlaw discrimination against migrants, although the
Television without Frontiers Directive (TWFD)31 does
at least afford some protection to migrants by prohibiting
discrimination in advertising. 32
30. On 21
December 2001, the Commission presented its proposal for a
Framework Decision on combating racism and
xenophobia.33 Notwithstanding a number of
alternative proposals, no agreement has yet been reached on a
text. The most recent proposal in May 2005, lists a number of
offences concerning racism and xenophobia on which member
states should ensure punishment, including publicly inciting
to discrimination, violence or hatred including by public
dissemination or distribution of tracts, pictures or other
materials. While there is agreement between member states that
racism and xenophobia go against the fundamental values of
Europe, the failure to agree a text is an indication that
there are different ideas in Europe about freedom of
expression and its boundaries34.
i
Self-regulatory codes for journalists
31. The
International Federation of Journalists, established in
1926, currently represents more than half a million
journalists covering more than 100 countries present in all
continents. In 1954, the IFJ adopted its own self-regulatory
code of conduct laying down the fundamental principle that a
journalistâs primary responsibility is to tell the
truth.35 Moreover, ãrespect for truth
and ... the right to public truthä,36 requires not only being,
ãaware of the danger of discrimination being furthered by
the mediaä but also that journalists ãshall do their
utmost to avoid facilitating such discriminations based on,
among other things, race, sex, sexual orientation, language,
religion, political or other opinions, and national and social
originsä.37 This obligation therefore imposes
a high moral obligation on journalists not only to tell the
truth but also to be aware of the issues surrounding
discrimination and avoid any acts that could facilitate
discrimination on any grounds.
32. As
already mentioned, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council
of Europe has also placed the issue of ethics of journalist
high on its agenda, including for example in its
Resolution 1003 (1993) and
Recommendation 1215 (1993) on the ethics of journalism. In
this respect it has called on the media to establish
self-regulatory bodies or mechanisms to deal with ethical
issues in journalism.
IV.
International/European
bodies and organisations combating discrimination, racism,
xenophobia, anti-Semitism and intolerance
i.
Organisations
33. In
addition to ECRI, there are several other important actors on
the global and European level in the field of combating
racism, xenophobia, anti-Semitism and intolerance, including:
(i) The Committee on the Elimination of
Racial Discrimination (CERD) established under the
International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Racial Discrimination, 1965; 38
(ii) The European Monitoring Centre on
Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC) 39 within the European Union;
(iii) The Office for Democratic
Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR)âs handling of
Tolerance and Non-Discrimination within the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and the OSCE
Representative on Media Freedom;40
(iv) The International Organization for
Migration (IOM)41
(v) The United Nations High Commissioner
for Refugees (UNHCR)42
ii.
European NGOs
34. In
addition to the anti-discrimination mandates of the
above-mentioned international organisations, several networks
exist at European level that are of particular importance in
combating racism, xenophobia , anti-Semitism and intolerance
including against migrants, asylum seekers and refugees. These
include:
(i) The European Network Against Racism
(ENAR); 43
(ii) The European Council on Refugees
and Exiles (ECRE); 44
(iii) Online/More Colour in the
Media;45
(iv) United for Intercultural
Action;46
(v) The European Roma Information Office
(ERIO) .47
V.
How stereotyping works in the media
35. The
question of examining the representation of migrants in the
media is a particularly sensitive and complex issue. On the
one hand, this is because the sources are multiple (TV, radio,
press and internet, even mobile phones) and the media types
vary (tabloid and quality press, private and public
broadcasts, local and national inputs, a conservative or
liberal press, etc.), and on the other, because of the images
may vary enormously depending on the sources in question.
36. When
comparing migrant portrayals at European level, we are
additionally confronted by the considerable divergences
amongst media systems themselves. As such, media forms may be
more or less commercialised, more or less under political
influence, and follow different journalistic styles or
cultural traditions. What is considered to be racist in one
country may pass as acceptable in another.
37.
Moreover, the presentation of ãnews itemsä themselves is
determined by entrenched institutionalised and routine
procedures, as well as institutionalised professional
imperatives and ideologies, which mean that the news events we
are exposed to are based on a predetermined set of socially
constructed categories. From this perspective, the news we
see, read or listen to has to be ãnewsworthyä, unusual or
original, in other words, it must contain elements that take
it beyond the realms of the everyday experiences of most
people, and it should also have an emotional dimension
(humour, sentimentality or sadness), or a negative consequence
and future potential.48
38.
Following these imperatives, it is easy to understand why
disasters, dramas, extraordinary and emotive events tend to
demand our attention. Understandably, the mediaâs task is not
only to present information but also to contextualise it into
a comprehensible social order of events, otherwise news would
be presented as a bewildering world of raw and unconnected
fragments.
39. One
of the major problems of such a contextualisation process is,
however, that it tends to polarise the various groups
(economic migrants, illegal entrants, asylum-seekers,
refugees, displaced persons, family reunification applicants,
and displaced persons) towards the collective perceptions,
i.e. that they are all immigrants, where the term ãimmigrantä
is an all-inclusive definition. According to this collective
perception, the fact that, asylum-seekers or refugees have
fled from persecution, or for that matter that economic
migrants seeking a better way of life have escaped poverty
that has left them destitute, is irrelevant. In similar
fashion, the media may foster the misconception that all
Muslims are Islamic fundamentalists.
40. If we
take the analysis of the ãimpact imagesä of migrants a stage
further, and lay bare the messages underlying negative
stereotypes, whether we are referring to illegal entrants
(avoiding border controls) and illegal workers, the plight and
fate of asylum-seekers, the vulnerability of women migrants
and their children, or anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and
terrorism or Romanophobia, then it becomes apparent that
certain media sources are informing the public that migrants
are a reason to panic, and such persons constitute a threat to
our society, which is being ãbesiegedä, ãinvadedä and
ãoverwhelmedä by ãtides of immigrantsä, a phenomenon which is
out of control.
41. When
the media place a strong emphasis on arousing suspicion, fear,
and threat of diversity, or terrorism or criminality,
generally distorting the effective contribution made by
migrants to society, in favour of ãnews-makingä and
ãheadline-breakingä stories, then this will undoubtedly
encourage a divisive climate that feeds racism, xenophobia and
intolerance, leading to discrimination and social exclusion.
Worse still, negative stereotyping sets in place a
self-perpetuating mechanism that lowers the expectations of
migrants themselves, creates isolationism whilst serving to
legitimate the creation of a sub-class of people in society
whose rights and entitlements are less than those afforded to
society generally.
42. If,
on the contrary, the media portrays migrants accurately and
represents their diversity, as well as focusing on the
humanitarian and social circumstances, it can make a major
contribution to encouraging integration, and creating
dialogue, respect, cooperation and mutual understanding, as
well as tolerance of diversity, and ultimately social
inclusion.
43. Your
Rapporteur notes that there are still unfortunately many
instances where the media reveal the ethnic origin or
nationality of persons arrested or convicted of crimes even
when such information is irrelevant to the story, thus
enhancing the stereotype of migrants, asylum seekers and
refugees all being criminals. Your Rapporteur considers that
the media has a responsibility to avoid such practices.
VI.
Common stereotypes of migrants, refugees and asylum-seekers in
European media
i.
Migrants
44. In
relation to migrants generally, a social construct has been
forged between alarm and consensus. Media tend to create panic
by relying heavily on covering emergency situations, such as
mass boat arrivals at the Italian island of Lampedusa and the
Canary Islands or the attempts to breach the Spanish enclaves
of Ceuta and Melilla, which accommodates distortion and biased
representations of immigrants or asylum-seekers. In fact, in
Italy, the media often refers to such people as ãclandestiniä
(clandestine and not legal) and ãextracommunitariä (ãnot-ECä,
which acquires a strongly negative connotation in most
contexts). Other cases of alarm relate to numbers, ãfear of
being besiegedä or ãoverwhelmedä by ãtides of immigrantsä,
again fomenting the misconception of being threatened by
people who are different from ourselves. Conversely, there is
also an issue about what the media fails to report on, or the
ãreality-gapä between media representation of migrants and the
contributions made economically,49 socially and culturally, or a
total lack of plurality in representations50 in portrayals or opinions of
ethnic or national minorities in the media. Of ninety articles
reporting on asylum, immigration, refugee issues in the UK
press, Matthew Randall observed that not one article bore a
references to contextual social or humanitarian issues: no
mention of the effects of immigration on UK population
figures, no reference to poverty/income disparity in sending
countries, nor comparisons with refugee intakes of third world
countries.51 Again in the same articles,
opinions quoted are in 80% of cases those of government or
opposition, in other words, politicians, and the opinions of
asylum-seekers, refugees or immigrants are only represented in
6% of cases, and those of NGOs are reported in less than one
third of reports analysed.
ii.
Asylum-seekers
45. One
of the principal general criticisms levelled at the media is
that it often fails to draw a distinction amongst the specific
groups that fall within the collective term migrants. Regular
and irregular immigration may be treated indiscriminately, and
an association is often made between the arrival of asylum
applicants as would-be illegal immigrants or economic
migrants: examples of such allegations are made in relation to
students in Cyprus, who allegedly attempt to overstay by
applying for asylum, or, so-called ãclandestineä boat arrivals
of economic migrants in Lampedusa, Italy or Malta, Spain, etc.). In both cases, the fact
that there may be ãgenuineä asylum-seekers is swept aside and
ignored. In such cases, media emphasis is on connections with
criminal activities, such as smuggling and trafficking,
illegal crossing of borders or illegal entry, cheating the
system, etc.. On the contrary, very little information is
given about the background issues underlying an individualâs
departure (political or other persecution in the case of
asylum-seekers), or the humanitarian and social issues
underlying economic migration (people driven by poverty to
search for a job in ãrichä countries, as well as the abuses
such people may be subject to by smugglers / traffickers).
46.
Asylum-seekers may also be portrayed as victims, as hapless
people at the mercy of the countries hosting them. By the very
nature of their experiences prior to their arrival at a
European host country, asylum-seekers are indeed vulnerable
and often in need of special help. References to
asylum-seekers and refugees depleting the social security
benefitsâ system reinforces the prejudice that they are both
helpless and dishonest people out to defraud the system. In
the UK, there has been widespread criticism of the tabloid
press, which has fuelled hostility against asylum-seekers
portraying them as ãbogusä applicants, focussing on themes of
crime/terrorism perpetrated by asylum-seekers, and the
accommodation/detention of asylum applicants awaiting
decisions. Moreover, such reporting is not confined to the
tabloid press.52
47. In
certain countries, there may be lack of information about the
question of asylum at all. This may be the case, in
particular, in countries where asylum is a relatively recent
and new phenomenon and it is not seen as newsworthy (Slovenia,
Hungary and Poland as examples).53 Bearing in mind the lack of
information in the media in certain countries, civil society,
including NGOs, have an important role in bringing issues
concerning asylum on to the agenda and into the arena of the
media, and their access to asylum seekers should be
facilitated and encouraged.
iii.
Refugees
48. If an
asylum application is successful, the successful applicant may
be entitled to refugee status, in which case such a person is
in principle entitled to remain in a host country
indefinitely. If, however, the necessary conditions for
refugee status have not been met, but there are still grounds
for not returning an applicant to his country of origin, then
a lesser form of provisional or temporary protection may be
afforded. Whether fully-fledged refugee status or a lesser
form of protection is granted, such persons are particularly
vulnerable and are in particular need of protection.
Accommodation, subsistence and access to education to learn a
language, as well as psychological help if necessary, are very
basic necessities for such people. The reasons why refugees
want to remain in host countries are often undermined by the
media as being economic or dishonest (taking advantage of
social benefits), or they may be accused of being illegal
entrants, for example, they are at times referred to as
ãillegal refugeesä54 whose motives for wanting to
remain are essentially not genuine.
49. The
media often play an extremely important role in highlighting
the situation of refugees and contributing to their protection
and to raising public awareness of their plight and raising
funds for their protection and humanitarian needs. As one
example, the positive role of the media was witnessed during
the follow-up to events on the border of the enclaves of Ceuta
and Melilla in 2005. Thanks to media efforts it was possible
for international organisations such as UNHCR to gather
precious and detailed information after reports of persons
being abandoned in the desert were published, allowing the
organisations concerned to identify asylum seekers and
migrants and to save lives.
50. Your
Rapporteur would like to make a final comment in relation to
refugees and asylum seekers and that is that they are entitled
to protection of their identity, in particular in view of their need for ãprotectionä in relation
to the country from which they have fled persecution. Their
consent should thus be obtained prior to any image or
information being used identifying them as refugees or asylum
seekers.
iv.
Islamophobia and terrorism
51.
Islamophobia often manifests itself in the form of racist
attacks, threats and harassment, as well as religious
profiling in the form of ãstop searchesä by the police. It is
generally fed by negative portrayals of Muslims and Islam in
the media. Muslim communities have witnessed a rise in the
phenomenon of Islamophobia, particularly in the wake of the
terrorist attacks of ã9/11ä, with the mediaâs negative focus
on their communities directing suspicion towards them posing a
potential threat from terrorism. Arabic peoples are
particularly targeted in this respect. Biased reporting in the
media fuels the misconception that the Islamic faith is
fundamentalist, and that all people of Muslim/Arabic origin
are therefore potentially terrorists.
52. The
question of the media assuming the responsibility of reporting
accurately has already been raised in connection with
terrorism. At the beginning of 2005, the Parliamentary
Assembly adopted
Recommendation 1705 (2005) on Media and Terrorism warning
the media against the dangers of sensationalising reports on
terrorism, especially since terrorists themselves direct their
acts at the public by manipulating the media. Also important
to note in this context is ECRIâs General Policy
Recommendation No 8 on combating racism while fighting
terrorism which has a number of provisions concerning the role
of the media.
v. The
Danish cartoon case
53. On 30
September 2005, a right-wing Danish newspaper,
Jyllands-Posten published a series of caricatures
(referred to as cartoons) of the Muslim prophet, Mohammed,
allegedly to test the limits of free speech in multicultural
Denmark.55 The most provocative cartoon
shows the Prophet, Mohammed, wearing a turban shaped as a bomb
with a burning fuse, which extends the caricature of Muslims
as terrorists to Mohammed, which therefore generalises the
depiction of Islam, its prophets and Muslims as terrorists,
and moreover, serve to heighten the perception of fear and
hostility towards Islam and Muslims.
54. The
ambassadors of eleven Muslim countries wrote to the Danish
Prime Minister, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, to express their
concern about an ãon-going smearing campaign in Danish public
circles and media against Islam and Muslimsä, citing recent
examples of remarks made by public officials and government
ministers, as well as the cartoons, as such examples. In the
same way that terrorists should not be allowed to abuse Islam
for their crimes, the ambassadors also felt that Danish press
and public officials should not be allowed to ãabuse Islam in
the name of democracy and freedom of expressionä and therefore
requested an urgent meeting with the Danish PM to discuss the
matter.56 However, Rasmussen declined the
invitation for a meeting with the ambassadors arguing that the
Danish government did not control the media, and to interfere
would therefore be a violation of the freedom of speech and
freedom of the press. Not content with the Danish governmentâs
response, a group of Danish Imams, visited influential
religious and political leaders in the Middle East (with a
file containing the cartoons and other more offensive
references to Islam) asking for support in creating
constructive contact with the press and removing the
misconception of Muslims as backward and narrow-minded.
55. The
position of the Danish Prime Minister has caused an
international diplomatic crisis, further exacerbating public
outcry over the content of the cartoons themselves.57 The Organisation of the Islamic
Conference (OIC)58, and the Arab League have asked
the United Nations to condemn the Danish Government for its
position.
56.
Demonstrations have been held in both European and Muslim
countries worldwide, a number of which have been violent, and
some even resulting in deaths amongst demonstrators. Not all
protests have been violent, however, as for example, in London
on 12 February 2006, a peaceful demonstration, referred to as
the ãreconciliation rallyä was organised by Muslim communities
in England to distance themselves from extremist reactions to
the cartoons, as well as organising a civil protest about
their content.
57. The
debate surrounding the appropriateness of the content of the
cartoons throws up the issue of freedom of satire and also the
question of the extent to which freedom of expression might be
used as a pretext for deliberately distorting reality, or
stirring up intolerance and hostility on racial or religious
grounds (against Islam in the case in point). In order to
examine these issues it is necessary to consider the
responsibilities (as may exist) which accompany the use of
freedom of expression in democratic society, and which could
therefore legitimately influence the way in which it should be
used. Indeed, this was the approach adopted by the President
of the Council of Europeâs Parliamentary Assembly, RenŽ van
der Linden. He stated that although freedom of expression
constituted a fundamental value of democratic societies,
ãdemocratic pluralism and tolerance require that religion and
beliefs of individuals are fully respectedä.59 Moreover, the director of the
UK-based Institute for Race Relations, A. Sivanandan, has
stated that no freedom can be valued as being an absolute, and
that the freedom of life comes before freedom of speech, which
means that freedom of speech can certainly not be used to
endanger other peopleâs lives by incitement to racial, ethnic
or religious hatred.60 Moreover, it has also been
suggested that press freedom is a responsibility exercised by
journalists on behalf of the public, and that the media
corporations controlling them have a special social
responsibility.61
58. The
question, which then has to be asked however, is that if
responsibilities do indeed exist, how should they be enforced?
One possible solution lies with self-censorship or
self-regulation. Yet could self-censorship be a used
instrument by the media to avoid a
serious backlash against controversial or hasty
reporting? By its very nature, self-censorship would impinge
on the fundamental principle of freedom of expression, so what
grounds would give rise to such decisions being taken? In
democratic countries, self-censorship may be accepted as a way
of encouraging a ãmore politically correctä content, toning
down the controversial content of material. Self-censorship
may also occur as a question of taste and decency.
59. In
the case in point, self-censorship could have been a possible
way of preventing or sanctioning the publication of the
cartoons. The IFJ/EFJ self-regulatory code requires respect
for ãtruthä, and that journalists should be ãaware
of the danger of discriminationä. However, this principle
does not appear to be adequate to challenge an editorial
decision to commission and publish the cartoons in
question.
60. Under
Danish law, other courses of action were available on the
grounds of blasphemy. In fact, the Danish Criminal Code
contains two relevant provisions, section 140, which prohibits
blasphemy,62 and, section 266b, which
criminalises the dissemination of statements or other
information by which a group of people are threatened degraded
or insulted on account of their religions. Although complaints
were brought against the cartoons, in its investigation, the
Regional Public Prosecutor found that there had been no
apparent violation of the law following the balancing of
freedom of speech with respect for other human rights, which
included the right to protection against discrimination,
insult and degradation.
61. A
number of international organisations have raised concerns
about the publication of the cartoons.63 The EU Commissioner for Justice,
Freedom and Security, Franco Frattini, found the cartoons
ãthoughtless and inappropriateä and felt that such
manifestations should be avoided as they contributed to the
growing Islamophobia in Europe. In similar fashion, the UN
General-Secretary, Kofi Anna spoke critically of the
publication of such cartoons, which he found insensitive,
offensive and provocative, emphasising that ãfreedom of speech
is not a licenseä. More significantly, the High Representative
of the European Union for Common Foreign and Security Policy,
visited the OIC headquarters on 13 February 2006 to
demonstrate his regret about the caricatures. In response, the
OIC Secretary General, Ekmeleddin Ishanoglu, called for the
adoption of a number of legal and political proposals to be
adopted under the auspices of the UN and European Parliament
to prevent any future repercussions of such a crisis. These
included adopting legislative measures in the EU against
Islamophobia.
62. The
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has recognised
the importance of dealing with the issues arising from the
Danish Cartoon case. It has in this respect held a debate
during the Standing Committee in March 2006 on ãfreedom of
expression and respect for religious beliefsä. The subject has
also been taken up in a motion, and a report on the subject is
being presented for debate in the June 2006 Session of the
Parliamentary Assembly.
vi.
Romanophobia
63.
Romanophobia or ãanti-Gypsyismä is rampant in both old and new
EU States. Romanophobia may take different forms and range
from scepticism to open rejection, discrimination and
expulsion and may include killing and even genocide.64 The mediaâs use of racist
language against the Roma has been heavily criticised as
legitimating prejudices across Europe. Following EU
enlargement, distortion and sensationalisation was
particularly prevalent in the British tabloid press which
presented scaremongering articles about the anticipated
migration to Britain of Roma (Gypsies), but similar articles
also appeared in the more intellectual newspapers such as the
Sunday Times.65 The European Roma Information
Office has issued a general statement of the categories of
historical misconceptions and prejudices about Roma in the
media, which include Roma being described as petty thieves,
itinerant people, as coming from Eastern Europe, their being
different, mentally deficient and living on other peopleâs
backs, as well as ãromanticisedä stereotypes of Roma as happy
outsiders, musicians and as persons who do not want to
integrate. All of this to the traditional stereotypes and
prejudices surrounding the Roma and justifies ongoing
discriminatory treatment.
vii.
Anti-Semitism
64.
Anti-Semitism in Europe continues to manifests itself
through an increase in crimes, including vandalism and verbal
abuse/threats. The phenomenon of ãoldä extreme right
anti-Semitism is also being supplanted by a ãnewä form of
anti-Semitism amongst young migrants of Muslim background.
Although open anti-Semitism in the media is officially frowned
upon, today it presents itself in a more subtle form, and is
conflated with rhetoric about the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian
dispute.66 Moreover, it cuts across the
entire ideological spectrum, uniting the anti-global left and
the xenophobic and Fascist right, as well as traditionalist
Catholics. The mainstream media are also guilty of using the
Israeli-Palestine dispute filter to reinforce a number of
prejudices and misconceptions about Israelis and Jews, which,
through the use of traditional anti-Jewish Christian imagery
transforms Jews into ãproverbial Christ killersä. Ottolenghi
sums up this attitude quite succinctly in his analysis of a
satirical cartoon that appeared in the Italian daily newspaper
La Stampa around Easter 2002 ö during Israelâs siege of
the Church of the Nativity of Bethlehem. ãIn the cartoon, baby
Jesus appears, sticking his head out of the manger, staring in
disbelief as a tank with a Star of David fast (and
threateningly) approaches. Jesus screams, ÎWhat, are they here
to kill me again?!âä67 Although the latter cartoon is
not a direct attack on Judaism, its draws disturbing parallels
with the publication of more recent ãblasphemousä
cartoons in published in the Jyllands-Posten in
September 2005, and therefore raises the same issues in
relation to provocation and intolerance, bad taste and common
sense, and raises the question of the responsibility of the
media.
viii.
Migrant women and children
65. The
ãstereotypedä groups of migrants considered in this report is
by no means intended to constitute an exhaustive list of the
groups singled out for prejudice by the media. On the
contrary, they have been chosen because they are
representative of patterns of stereotyping and illustrate the
extent to which inaccurate and distorted portrayals take place
in the media, and how this leads to discrimination, racism and
intolerance. Other significant groups worth mentioning
include: women migrants, who are often depicted as victims of
ãprostitutionä and the ãsex tradeä, and migrant children, who
are similarly depicted as ãlow achieversä in the education
system and associated with ãcriminality amongst the ethnic
youthä.68 Other images of migrant women
also include portrayals of them as victims of ãrestrictive
religionsä or ãcultural traditionsä, and the recently adopted
Council of Europe
Resolution 1478 (2006) on the Integration of immigrant
women in Europe, encourages the media not to stereotype
immigrant women as such.69
VII.
The media and political discourse or ãhate speechä
i.
Hate speech
66. One
of the most pertinent questions relating to the portrayal of
migrants, however, is the increasing tendency to politicise
immigration and asylum issues, to the extent that in some
cases, they have become burning issues on the agendas of
political parties, especially during election campaigns.
Particularly, since events of 11 September 2001, there has
been a resurgence of racist and xenophobic discourse not only
in the far-right parties, but also in the mainstream
parties.70
67. As
already mentioned above, the Committee of Ministers of the
Council of Europe has addressed the issue of ãhate speechä in
Recommendation R (97) 20, acknowledging that the media
were not necessarily to be blamed for forms of expression
referred to as ãhate speechä .Under the
Recommendation ãhate speechä covers all forms of expression,
which: ãspread, incite, promote or justify racial hatred,
xenophobia, anti-Semitism or other forms of hatred based on
intolerance, including: intolerance expressed by aggressive
nationalism and ethnocentrism, discrimination and hostility
against minorities, migrants and people of immigrant
originä.71 It can be noted that Principle 5
of the Recommendation calls for ãhate speechä to be prosecuted
and your Rapporteur notes, in this context, that many
countries have adopted legislation against such speech.
68. The
media do however play an instrumental role in reporting what
politicians or government officials have said, and therefore
are encouraged to avoid recourse to sensationalism or
distorting inflammatory political discourse. Principle 6 is
mindful of the fact, however, that a distinction must be
clearly drawn between ãthe responsibility of the author of
such expressions and responsibility of the media and media
professionals in contributing to their disseminationä. The
media do not operate in a political vacuum, and governments
and opposition parties have a major role to play in
contributing to an accurate and fair reporting on migrantsâ
issues.72 It would seem therefore that
there are collateral responsibilities for such forms of
expression, and the means of redress must be distinguished
between its political authors and the media reporting on
it.
69. A
number of moves have been taken to address the issue of
incitement at its origins, in other words by challenging the
legitimacy of its political authors or those organisations
supporting such forms of political discourse.
70.
Commitment to sustaining the principle of non-discrimination
and combating racist political discourse was solemnly
expressed by the democratic political parties of Europe by
their signature of the Charter of European Political
Parties for a non-racist society in February 1988, in
which they manifested their commitment to 5 specific
principles of good practice:
- defending basic human rights, thus
rejecting racist violence and incitement to racial hatred,
harassment and any form of racial discrimination.
- not publishing views or positions that
may stir up prejudices or hostility;
- dealing responsibly and fairly with
sensitive topics;
- refraining from cooperating with
political parties that incite prejudice or racial
hatred;
- striving to represent the above-mentioned
groups in their parties.
71.
Moreover, the ECRI Declaration on the use of racist,
anti-Semitic and xenophobic elements in political
discourse (adopted on 17 March 2005) condemned the use of
racist, anti-Semitic and xenophobic elements in political
discourse. In the ECRI declaration it was clearly stated that
such discourse was increasingly ãinfectingä mainstream
political parties, and appeared particularly in relation to
debates on immigration and asylum, as well as in discourse
about the distorted threat of Islam or to encourage
anti-Semitic sentiment.
72. ECRI
challenged such forms of expression by fairly squaring the
burden on political parties to combat racism suggesting it was
their responsibility to take self-regulatory measures, deliver
a clear political message in favour of diversity and for
effective political leadership; moreover, it suggested that
provisions should be effectively implemented to penalise
leaders of groups promoting racism, and suppress the public
financing of such organisation, as well as effective
implementation of criminal law provisions against racist
offences and racial discrimination for all individuals.
73. In
similar fashion, the Council of Europe Parliamentary
Assembly Resolution 1344 (2003)73 on the threat posed to democracy
by extremist parties and movements in Europe, proposed,
amongst others:
ãa. effective penalties where
cases of proven damage caused by an extremist political party
or one of its members are established;
b. proportionate and dissuasive penalties
against public incitement to violence, racial discrimination
and intolerance;
c. the suspension or withdrawal of public
funding for organisations promoting extremism;
d. the dissolution of extremist parties
and movements, which should always be regarded as an
exceptional measure.ä
74. In
order to encourage the development of an open and tolerant
society then, political discourse on migration and asylum
issues needs to be exercised with a degree of sensitivity, and
above all, a sense of social responsibility, in the knowledge
that the role as democratically elected members of governments
and parliaments is to represent the interests of the public as
a whole.
ii.
Media Concentration and conscience clauses
75. The
question of the content of news and how it is reported cannot
be treated in isolation of the elites who own and control the
media, since excessive concentration can be detrimental to the
quality, pluralism and diversity of the media. The European
branch of the IFJ, the European Federation of
Journalists is of the opinion that regulation of the
industry is required beyond the market framework of ratings,
profits and commercial objectives,74 and has advocated that a number
of measures should be adopted to protect journalists and
editorial independence at European level. These include the
adoption of a so-called ãconscience clauseä, 75 which would allow
journalists/reporters to act according to their conscience
when producing material for publication. If such clauses were
inserted in journalistsâ employment contracts, journalists
might be better able to resist pressure from their employers
to produce unethical stories about migrants. They also include
measures to safeguard the independence of journalists through
European framework legislation to ensure that, ãthere is no
censorship imposed on the editorial staff from outside,
neither through government, public authorities or private
interestsä.76
VIII.
Positive developments
76.
Despite the many negative aspects of reporting on migrant and
refugee issues dealt with until now in this report, it is
important to acknowledge the important developments that have
taken place with a view to improving the image of migrants in
the media. These actions are taking place, principally in
three directions: increased access and representation of
migrants in the media; improving redress against abuses;
improving professional standards of reporting and education
generally.
i.
Increased representation of migrants
77. In
March 1999, an executive summary of the Online/More Colour
in the Media research project into employment and Access
of ethnic minorities to the television industry was published
by the European Institute for the Media. This
comparative research (covering Germany, UK, France, the
Netherlands and Finland) concluded that ethnic minorities were
underrepresented,77 and that this situation prevented
the formation of a pluralistic and multicultural media. Lack
of access to the media profession inevitably affects the
portrayal and presentation of ethnic minority viewpoints. The
report concluded that urgent action was needed to improve the
European mediaâs track record in relation to social
intervention and multicultural pluralism. The report therefore
established a comprehensive set of recommendations at European
level for political, social and media policy institutions.
These concerned essentially the responsibilities and
commitments to be taken by broadcasting and media
institutions, including: a balanced reflection of ethnic
minorities in staffing, training, different regions and urban
centres; monitoring for recruitment that reflects equal
opportunities and anti discrimination measures; measures to
manage diversity ö intercultural management; monitoring
programme content and ensuring minority programmes are
broadcast at reasonable broadcasting times; such programmes
should also include broadcasts in original minority languages;
support for national and local initiatives to promote access
to the media.
78. In
2002, the EUMC compiled a comparative report on Racism
and Cultural Diversity in the Mass Media, which included good
examples of good media practices throughout the then 15 member
states.
79.
Within the Council of Europe, since its inception,
Eurimages78 has had a long tradition of
supporting films that deal with the very many issues at the
heart of the Council of Europeâs philosophy, which includes
addressing the particular issues of migrants, refugees and
asylum seekers, as well as supporting film directors that can
be considered as having an immigrant background. 79 Other media prizes include: the
Prix Europa Iris, awarded annually to the best
multicultural television, radio and internet productions of
the year. The competition's main concern is to promote the
trademark ãMade in Europeä, and to reflect the complete
spectrum of European productions, to show cross-border
programme developments and to be a forum for quality
programmes. It has become the most important festival of its
kind since it was founded in 1987 by the European Cultural
Foundation and the Council of Europe;80 the ARD (German broadcasting
companyâs) media prize, CIVIS, is awarded for
television (25 EU States+ Switzerland) and radio programmes
(German) that make an outstanding contribution to cultural
diversity and integration. Moreover, the prize is organised
under the aegis of Media Foundation for integration and
cultural diversity in Europe , which was founded in
2003.81 Since 2004, the foundation has
organised a Young Civis Media Prize, to sponsor young
journalists, students and graduates from film and media
colleges.
80. In
2000, the IFJ inaugurated the European Media Award to
Counter Racism: A Celebration of Tolerance in Journalism.
The European awards counter racial hatred and ethnic conflict
by recognising journalists who promote greater understanding
and tolerance through their coverage of multicultural issues.
The IFJ Prize is part of a programme of the International
Media Working Group against Racism and Xenophobia (IMRAX),
which brings together media professionals, publishers and
unions of journalists with the common objective of promoting
tolerance in media.
81. The
European Union has also stepped up its actions to
promote positive images of migrants in the media by creating
an award for journalism promoting diversity and fighting
discrimination, as well as having teamed up with Europeâs
biggest youth channel, Europe MTV to launch a competition to
find the best human diversity photograph.82
82. In
2002, Online /More Colour in the Media stated its aim
of creating a diverse media culture, to meet the needs of
pan-European multi-cultural societies This is essentially an
empowerment process, which on the one hand seeks to promote
intercultural awareness-raising amongst media professionals
and ethnic groups themselves, and on the other, intends to
increase the participation of socially excluded groups in the
media, such as refugees and asylum-seekers, through targeted
programming initiatives for minority groups.83
83. On 29
April 2004, Online/More Colour in the Media, in collaboration
with Innvandrer TV (Aarhus, Denmark) and COSPE (Cooperation
for the Development of Emerging Countries) presented the
European Manifesto of Minority Community Media,84 to the President of the European
Parliament, Pat Cox, signed by more that 740 multicultural and
media organisations in 49 countries. The aim of the Manifesto
is to emphasise the importance of minority community media and
ensure that they are acknowledged as a basic community
services through legislation at European and national
level.85
84. In
October 2005, the MediaWise RAM project launched, as part of
its programme to promote best practice in media representation
of refugee and asylum issues, the Exiled Journalists
Network (EJN), to advance education about exiled
journalists, provide employment, as well as provide a model of
good practice, showing a way of overcoming difficulties
between different groups and people of different
backgrounds.
85. The
European Council of Refugees and Exiles (ECRE) is currently
carrying out a ãRefugee Storiesä project to illustrate
the impact of EU asylum policies on individual asylum-seekers
and refugees who have sought protection in Europe. This
project will contribute to improving the knowledge of the
media in the asylum debate in Europe, in particular by giving
precise and detailed information about the humanitarian and
social contexts underlying the reasons for seeking protection,
which are all too often understated or ignored by todayâs
media.
ii.
Effective monitoring/ complaints procedures
86. In
many, European countries systems are in place, which allow the
public to bring complaints against media for their inaccurate,
distorted or biased coverage of migrantsâ issues. However,
such procedures may be confined to self-regulatory complaints
bodies, whose activities are limited to a particular sector of
the media, or simply monitoring their activities through
watchdog bodies, or actions may lie more generally through the
use of ombudsmen. A further problem lies in relation to the
fact that, whereas complaints procedures exist, their powers
may not be wide enough to guarantee any effective remedies,
either to prevent or to repair the detriment caused to ethnic,
racial or religious minorities or direct victims of media
abuse themselves. As was stated above, this is often the case
with ãhate speechä, where the objects of conflated or
sensationalised news reports are often groups, as the
intention of such discourse is to stir up intolerance and
racial hatred rather than target individuals.
87. The
following two examples of monitoring/complaints procedures
illustrate the strengths and weaknesses of such procedures.
The examples are taken from Denmark and the UK, precisely
because of the relevance to current debate on hate speech.
88. In
Denmark, there are few systematic mechanisms in place
to monitor the mediaâs treatment of racism and discrimination
experienced by ethnic minorities. To cover these lacunae, The
Fair Play NGO has developed a system of monitoring
(MediaWatch-DK), which documents the representation of ethnic
minorities in the media.86 In a systematic content analysis
of print articles and TV, MediaWatch has reported that racism
was reinforced through the use of negative associations in the
media (i.e. by associating crime with foreigners).
89. In
the UK, a self-regulatory Code of Practice exists for
newspapers and periodicals, which is administered and enforced
by the Press Complaints Commission (PCC).87 Clause 12 prohibits the Press
from reporting in a discriminatory manner. 88 Normally, for the Code to be
applicable, however, the complainant must have been referred
to directly in a way that is personally discriminatory towards
him, in other words, the clause applies to individuals and not
to groups.89 In the majority of cases, the
Code of Practice does not apply to discrimination complaints
relating to asylum-seekers and refugees,90 as references made generally
relate to partisan comment and campaigning rather than
individual targeting. A more general case for complaint may
still lie, however, in relation to inaccurate reporting, in
relation to which the Press in question must distinguish
between comment, conjecture and fact.91
90. The
limits of the Code of Practiceâs powers of redress, however,
are clearly illustrated by controversy surrounding the
infamous ãSwan Bakeä" story run by The Sun, 4 July
2003, against which a complaint was brought to the PCC by
Serbian Journalist (and asylum-seeker), Nick Medic.92 The story alleged, ãcallous
asylum seekers are barbecuing the Queen's swansä, opening with
ãEast European poachers lure the protected royal birds into
baited trapsä. Upon investigation, there was no evidence that
any swans actually had disappeared, and what was presented as
a factual account turned out to be conjecture. Some months
later, The Sun made a clarification, which was
published on page 41 of one of its issues, acknowledging that
conjecture had been confused with fact. This was considered as
sufficient remedy by the Press Complaints Commission, despite
the fact that a sensationalised and discriminatory story had
entered the publicâs imagination.93
iii.
Improving reporting standards in media professions
91. In
2000, ECRI published examples of ãgood practicesä to fight
against racism and intolerance in the European media.94 The publication provides examples
of good reporting in the Press, Radio and TV, as well as
giving examples of training for journalists, initiatives taken
by Trade Unions and Association, and prizes awarded at
national and European level for tolerant journalism.
92.
Several networks and NGOs have produced guidelines on the
ãdosä and ãdonâtsä of reporting migrant and ethnic issues in
the media. Some organisations, such as the IOM, offer specific
training courses, to raise awareness and sensitivity about
immigration and asylum in their respective countries. Greater
attention could also be given to encouraging an understanding
of the European dimension of immigration and asylums issues.
93. In
this respect, MediaWise has issued a set of guidelines
on how to report refugee and asylum issues, informing
reporters about precise terminology, on avoiding stereotypes,
as well as how to get facts and figures right Moreover,
MediaWise has also launched the Refugees, Asylum-Seekers
and Media Project (RAM) to promote best practice in media
representation of refugee and asylum issues, which produced an
information leaflet with support from the UNHCR and NUJ Ethics
Council on reporting asylum and refugee issues in 2004.
Similarly, in the UK the Institute of Race Relations
has produced a guide entitled ãWorking with the
Mediaä, which is intended for anti-racist campaigners and
refugee rights activists, and includes information on how to
draw up and disseminate press releases, and build a
relationship with the media, and also how to complain about
media abuse.
94.
Furthermore, the Council of Europe Resolution 1478 (2006)
on the Integration of immigrant women in Europe calls for
member states to: ãpromote information and
awareness-raising campaigns in the media and in schools to
increase the standing and the role of immigrant women in the
host societies and to overcome stereotypes confining immigrant
women to subordinate and passive roles.ä95
iv.
Youth education and the media
95. In
1995, the Council of Europe ran a European Youth Campaign
entitled ãAll Different ö All Equalä to strengthen the
fight against racism, anti-Semitism and intolerance. This
campaign will be repeated from June 2006 ö September 2007
using the same logo and slogan, and will be organised in
cooperation with the European Commission and
European Youth Forum. Activities are undertaken at a
local, national and international level, and will include: the
organisation of events in cooperation with national
committees, training courses on religious diversity from a
human rights perspective, as well as training courses for
trainers on cultural diversity and anti-racism, youth cultural
festivals and sports events.96
96. Such
campaigns need the support of the media and also have a role
in sensitising the media to migrant, refugee and asylum
issues.
97. The
internet also provides a powerful tool for sensitising the
youth to issues concerning migrants, refugees and asylum
seekers. The variety of information and images available on
the internet combined with the growing number of interactive
educational resources, including
games97, makes this media tool
increasingly important for the portrayal of the image of
migrants, refugees and asylum seekers.
IX.
Conclusions
98. It is
clear that, despite in principle being afforded protection
under anti-discrimination and anti-racism legislation,
migrants, asylum seekers and refugees remain in a situation of
potential vulnerability and are often the victims of abusive
and unfair representations in the media. Apart from the
general protection afforded under anti-discrimination and
other legislation designed to deal with racism and
intolerance, responses at national and European levels may
often be politically motivated and episodic, i.e. facing
specific issues as and when they arise, such as ãhate speechä
or ãIslamophobiaä.
99. At
grass roots level, there is however a growing awareness and
multiplication of responses to ensure that the media foster
positive images of migrants, asylum seekers and refugees. This
can be seen through projects aimed at guaranteeing greater
representation of migrants and refugees in the media, through
an increase in participation by migrants and refugees in the
media professions, and through the creation of a growing
number of educational projects for media professionals,
including on the issue of migration, asylum and refugees in
media schools. These projects merit ongoing support and
funding.
100. The
question of improving the image of migrants, refugees and
asylum seekers in the media is clearly one which attributes
important responsibilities to media professionals but also to
governments and to politicians who use the media for political
purposes. Self-regulatory mechanisms exist within associations
of media professionals that impose obligations on their
members with respect to the way in which they cover issues
relevant to migrants. A number of political parties have moved
to isolate or eradicate xenophobic expressions by political
actors and government representatives through
self-censorship/self regulation. This has contributed to a
more balanced portrayal of migrants, refugees and asylum
seekers in the media.
101. Your
Rapporteur considers that while freedom of expression is a
pillar of democracy, a vigil is nonetheless necessary to
protect the image of asylum seekers, migrants and refugees in
the media. As part of this vigil, your Rapporteur considers
that:
- an effective legislative framework
protecting against incitement to hatred, discrimination and
intolerance is required, and that it is necessary to tackle
hate speech, including by political parties and its
propagation in the media;
- the media itself has a responsibility to
adopt its own codes of conduct and ethics, and that media
professionals should benefit in their contracts from a
conscience clause allowing them to refuse to produce
materials that they feel would be in breach of their ethical
commitments;
- the monitoring of the image of asylum
seekers, refugees and asylum seekers in the media needs to
take place, both at a national level and also at a European
level;
- effective complaints procedures
concerning the negative portrayal of asylum seekers,
migrants and refugees in the media should to be put into
place at a national level;
- further training for media professionals
on issues relating to asylum and migration, as well as on
intercultural reporting has to be encouraged. The views of
asylum seekers, refugees and migrants must also be reflected
in media programmes, and migrants and refugees must be
represented amongst media professionals;
- programmes should be produced catering
for the needs, including linguistic needs, and interests of
migrants, asylum seekers and refugees.
***
Reporting committee : Committee
on Migration, Refugees and Population
Reference to committee: Doc.
10280, Ref. 3002, 8.10.2004
Draft Recommendation unanimously
adopted by the Committee, on 27 June 2006
Members of the Committee: Mr MevlŸt
‚avuşoğlu (Chairperson), Mrs Tana de
Zulueta (1st Vice-Chairperson), ZZ
····.. 2nd Vice-Chairperson), Mr Jean-Guy
Branger (3rd Vice-Chairperson), Mr Pedro
Agramunt, Mr KŸllo Arjakas, Mr HŸseyin-Kenan Aydin, Mr
Ryszard Bender, Mr Akhmed Bilalov, Mrs Mimount
Bousakla, Mr M‡rton Braun, Lord Burlison, Mr
Christopher Chope (alternate: Mr Michael Hancock), Mr
Boriss Cilevičs, Mrs Minodora Cliveti, Mr Ivica
Dačić, Mr Franco Danieli, Mr Joseph Debono Grech, Mr
Taulant Dedja, Mr Nikolaos Dendias, Mr Abilio Dias
Fernandes, Mr Karl Donabauer, Mr Mats Einarsson, Mrs Lydie
Err, Mr Valeriy Fedorov, Mrs Daniela Filipiov‡, Mrs
MargrŽt Frimannsd—ttir, Mrs Gunn Karin Gjul, Mrs
Angelika Graf, Mr John Greenway, Mr Andrzej Grzyb
(alternate: Mr Piotr Gadzinowski), Mr Ali Riza
GŸl?i?ek, Mr Michael Hagberg, Mr Holger Haibach, Mrs
Gultakin Hajiyeva, Mr Doug Henderson, Mr JŸrgen
Herrmann, Mr Ilie Ilaşcu, Mr Tadeusz Iwiński, Mrs
Corien W.A. Jonker (alternate: Mr Ed van Thijn),
Mr Oleksandr Karpov, Mrs Eleonora Katseli, Mr Dimitrij
Kovačič, Mr Andros Kyprianou, Mr Petr Lachnit, Mr Geert
Lambert, Mr Jean-Marie Le Guen, Mr Younal Loutfi, Mr
Jean-Pierre Masseret, Mrs Ana Catarina Mendon?a, Mr
Morten Messerschmidt, Mr Paschal Mooney, Mr Giuseppe Naro, Mr
Xhevdet Nasufi, Mr Gebhard Negele, Mr Pasquale Nessa, Mrs
Annette Nijs (alternate: Mr Leo Platvoet), Mr Kalevi
Olin, Mr İbrahim …zal, Mrs Maria Josefa
Porteiro Garcia, Mr Cezar Florin Preda, Mr Alojz
Přidal, Mr Duûan Proroković, Mr Gabino Puche, Mr Milorad
Pupovac, Mr Martin Raguõ, Mr Anatoliy Rakhansky, Mr Marc
Reymann, Mr Samad Seyidov (alternate: Mr Aydin
Mirzazada), Mr Luzi Stamm, Mr Sergiu Stati, Mrs
Terezija Stoisits, Mr Vilmos Szab—, Mrs Elene
Tevdoradze, Mr Tigran Torosyan, Mrs Ruth-Gaby
Vermot-Mangold, Mrs Iliana Yotova, Mr Akhmar Zavgayev, Mr
Vladimir Zhirinovsky (alternate: Mrs Vera Oskina), Mr
Serhiy Zhyzhko, Mr Emanuelis Zingeris.
NB: The names of the members who took part in
the meeting are printed in bold.
Secretaries of the Committee: Mr Halvor
Lervik, Mr Mark Neville, Ms Dana Karanjac
1 Historical Perspectives on
Immigrants and Host Societies in Post War Europe, Humboldt
University, Berlin, Pertti Ahonen and Phil Triadafilopoulos,
October 2000,
2 World Migration Report 2005,
Section 3 International Migration and Statistics, p. 379.
3 Op cit. page 381, The European
figures exclude former Communist States. For an in depth
analysis of international migration trends, see Current Trends
in International Migration in Europe, by John Salt,
Consultantâs Report to the Council of Europe, December
2004
4 Source, UN Population division,
World Population Prospects: the 2002 Revision.
5 This figure does not include some
4 million Palestinian refugees protected by the UNWRA
programme.
6 Source, Population Data Unit,
UNHCR, which can be consulted on ECRE website at
www.ecre.org.
7 Population Data Unit, UNHCR, op.
cit., for countries of origin of persons of concern to the
UNHCR, p. 381 et seq.
8 In fact, the Eurostat
Yearbook 2001 estimated the net migration rate for the
European Union at 1.8 persons per 1000 for the year 2000,
falling back considerably from its 1992 peak of 3.7/1000.
9 Commission Green Paper on an EU
Approach to Managed Economic Migration, COM (2004) 811 final.
10 Cf. Kofi Annanâs address to
European Union during his visit to Belgium on 28-30 January
2004.
11 Cf. Article 13 EC Treaty,
discussed below.
12 International Convention on the
Elimination of all Forms of racial Discrimination, GA Res.
2106 (XX) 660 UNTS 195, entered into force on 4 January 1965.
As of 20 August 2004, the Convention had been signed by 169
States.
13 The Convention for the Protection
of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, as amended by
Protocol 11, signed Rome, 4 November 1950, ETS no. 5. Cf.
Article 14. The Convention for the Protection of Human Rights
and Fundamental Freedoms (commonly referred to as the European
Convention on Human Rights (ECHR)) was adopted in 1950 and
came into force in 1953. It was designed to give binding
effect to the guarantee of various rights and freedoms in the
UN Declaration on Human Rights, adopted in December 1948.
14 Protocol No. 12, 4 November
2000.
15 At the Second European Conference
against racism held in Strasbourg, October 2000, member states
called for the strengthening of ECRIâs action, and in June
2002, the Committee of Ministers adopted a new Statute
consolidating its monitoring role. At the Third Summit, held
in Warsaw in May 2005, member states decided to step up their
fight against racism, discrimination and every form of
intolerance, by giving ECRI the means to carry out its work in
close cooperation with national authorities and institutions
as well as civil society.
16 Framework Convention for the
Protection of National Minorities, ETS No 157, adopted by
Council of Europe Committee of Ministers on 10 November 1994,
entered into force on 1 February 1998.
17 Article 6.1 FCNM provides: ãThe
Parties shall encourage a spirit of tolerance and
intercultural dialogue and take effective measures to promote
mutual respect and understanding and co-operation among all
persons living on their territory, irrespective of those
personsâ ethnic cultural, or linguistic identity, in
particular in the fields of education, culture and the
media.ä
18 Cf. Advisory Committee Report for
Denmark, at para. 76; also Advisory Committee Report for
Austria at para. 32; See also Policy Paper, The Framework
Convention for the Protection of National Minorities: a Policy
Analysis, by Alan Philips, Minority Rights Group
International.
19 The European Convention on
Transfrontier Television, signed 5 May 1989, ETS No. 132.
20 In particular, in relation to the
responsibilities of the broadcaster, Article 7.1 provides
that:
ãall items of programme services, as
concerns their presentation and content, shall respect the
dignity of the human being and the fundamental rights of
othersä ·. and in particular that ãb) give undue prominence to
violence or be likely to incite racial hatred.ä
21 Additional Protocol to the
Convention on Cybercrime, concerning the criminalisation of
acts of a racist and xenophobic nature committed through
computer systems, CETS No.: 189. The Additional Protocol
came into force on 1 March 2006. Article 2 provides that
ãracist and xenophobic materialä means: ãany
written material, any image or any other representation of
ideas or theories, which advocates, promotes or incites
hatred, discrimination or violence, against any individual or
group of individuals, based on race, colour, descent or
national or ethnic origin, as well as religion if used as a
pretext for any of these factors.ä
22 See most recently
Recommendation 1589 (2003) on freedom of expression in the
media in Europe.
23 Cf. PA
Resolution 428 (1970) containing a declaration on Mass
Communication Media and Human Rights. This declaration called
attention to the issue of standards of media reporting and
invited member states to adopt a professional code of ethics
for journalists to guarantee, amongst others, ãaccurate
reporting, rectification of inaccurate information, avoidance
of calumny, respect for privacy, also taking into account all
other relevant work on this subject·ä; cf. also
PA
Recommendation 582 (1970) on Mass Communication Media and
Human Rights;
Recommendation 963 (1983) on cultural and educational
means of reducing violence, and more recently
Recommendation 1215 (1993) on the ethics of journalism
and
Resolution 1003 (1993) on the ethics of journalism.
24 C.f. PA
Recommendation 1222 (1993) on the fight against, racism
xenophobia and intolerance, the Parliamentary Assembly
extended this principle to the media, emphasising, ãthe
crucial role that the media could play in presenting an open
and tolerant society and in countering prejudice and
hatredä. It therefore invited the media to inform the
public of the dangers of racism, xenophobia and intolerance,
paragraph 7.
25 See in this respect the press
statement on 21 March 2006, on Anti-Racism Day, of the
Committee on Migration, Refugees and Population.
26 PA Recommendation No. 1706 (2005)
at para. 2.
27 The Amsterdam Treaty, 19
September 1997, entered into force on 1 May 1999.
28 Article 6a Amsterdam Treaty (now
Article 13 EC Treaty) states: ãWithout prejudice to the other
provisions of this Treaty and within the limits of the powers
conferred by it upon the Community, the Council, acting
unanimously on a proposal from the Commission and after
consulting the European Parliament, may take appropriate
action to combat discrimination based on sex, racial or ethnic
origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual
orientation.ä
29 These are notably, the Racial
Equality Directive 2000/43/EC, and the Employment Equality
Directive 2000/78/EC.
30 Council Decision 27 November
2000, Community Action Programme to combat discrimination
(2001-2006), European Union, 2000/750/EC.
31 This is a parallel instrument to
the European Convention on Transfrontier Television.
32 See Article 12 TWFD.
33 Commission Proposal for a Council
Framework Decision on combating racism and xenophobia,
COM(2001) 664 final., OJ C75 26 March 2002.
Framework Decisions oblige member states to
take the necessary national measures to meet the degree of
approximation of laws and regulations as provided for by a
specific instrument. Unlike directives, framework decisions
cannot have direct effect, and they do not create rights for
individuals. Cf. ENAR Fact sheet No.17.
34 See Luxembourg Presidency of the
Council of the European Union 2005, Press Release, 2, June
2005. No agreement on the framework decision on combating
racism and xenophobia at the Justice and Home Affairs
Council
35 Declaration of Principles on the
Conduct of Journalists 1954 (as amended by World Congress
1986).
36 op cit. Principle 1.
37 op cit. Principle 7.
38 See CERD at
www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cerd/.
39 The Racism and Cultural Diversity
in the Mass Media Report can be downloaded from the
publications available on the EUMC website at
http://eumc.eu.int/eumc.
40 The full comments of the current
Representative on Freedom of the Media can be seen on the OCSE
website at: www.ocse.org/fom/item_1_17926.html.
41 See IOM website at
www.iom.int.org.
42 See UNHCR website at
www.unhcr.org
43 The ENAR website can be consulted
at http://www.enar-eu.org.
44 For in-depth description of
ECREâs work, consult its website at: http://www.ecre.org.
45 See http://assembly.coe.int//Main.asp?link=http://www.olmcm.org/;
46 See United for Intercultural
Action website, at www.united.non-profit.nl.; see also
collaboration with AMARC-Europe (the European branch of the
World Association of Community Broadcasters) to develop
relations with non-governmental and anti-discrimination
organisations.
47 See European Romani Information
Office website can be consulted at: www.erionet.org.
48 MarkŽta Moore-Mzlikov‡,
Constructing the image of Asian immigrants in the Czech
media.
49 This is particularly considered
to be the case of Italy, particularly as regards the enormous
gap between the participation and contribution of foreign
workers to the economy and labour market in Italy, ENAR Shadow
Report Italy, page 54; See also EUMC, Racism and
Cultural diversity in the Mass Media, Italy Report 2002.
50 In November 2003, the IFJ/EFJ
sent a mission to Italy to investigate the situation of the
Italian media over concerns the conflict of interests of the
Italian Prime Minster, Silvio Berlusconi in relation to his
media ownership (3 TV networks ö Canale 5, Italia 1, and Rete
Quattro, as well as his magazine publishing house - Mondadori
and advertising agency Publitalia). Crisis in the Italian
Media: How Poor Politics and Flawed Legislation put Journalism
under Pressure, Report EFJ/EFJ, 6-8 November 2003.
51 Guest Media Alert: Asylum and
Immigration, comparing the Daily Telegraph, the Guardian and
the Independent, by Matthew Randall, Media Lens Media Alert 8
December 2003, p 3.
52 Matthew Randall, Media Lens Media
Alert, op cit. p. 3.
53 See FCNM Advisory Committee
Opinions on Slovenia, Hungary and Poland, respectively.
54 There is no basis for referring
to a refugee as an ãillegal refugeeä. For a description of the
incorrect and correct terminology used in the UK media in
relation to refugees and asylum-seekers, see the Refugee
Council website, http://assembly.coe.int//Main.asp?link=http://www.refugeecouncil.org.uk/
under press myths.
55 Events have been widely commented
and reported upon by major international news associations,
such as BBC, Guardian, New York Times, Washington Post,
Reuters, Economist, etc.
56 Letter, 12 October 2005, can be
consulted on Wikipedia website, www.wikipedia.org, at
Jyllands-Posten_Muhammed cartoons.
57 However, the conduct of the
Danish Prime Minister is not the only political figure to have
been criticised in relation to publication of the cartoons. In
fact, in Italy, Mr Roberto Calderoli, Italian Reforms Minister
was forced to resign from office on 17 February 2006, after
have provocatively demonstrated that he was wearing a T-shirt
depicting one of the cartoons during a RAI television
broadcast on February 14. Protests in Libya lead to the death
of at least 10 Libyan citizens as police opened fire on
protesters besieging the Italian Consulate in Benghazi (See
Bloomberg.com 18 February 2006). Subsequently the Libyan
Interior Minister, Nasr al-Mabrouk, was also suspended for his
actions and referred for investigations. Meanwhile, in France,
on 2 February 2006, the editor of France Soir was sacked over
his decision to re-print the cartoons.
58 On 7 December 2005, the OIC (57
Member countries) unanimously condemned Denmark for its
refusal to act against the alleged ãIslamophobiaä in the
press.
59 PACE President visit to Greek
Parliament, 9/02/2006,
60 Interview with A. Sivanandan,
Freedom is not an absolute, 13 February 2006, by Yohan
Shanmugaratnam, see www.irr.org.uk.
61 ãJournalists are the eyes and
ears of civil society and the means by which the many
different voices of the public are able to express themselves
to those who develop and manage our social, cultural political
and physical environment.ä, Cf. Social Responsibility and the
Media, Mike Jempson, Director, MediaWise, January 2006.
62 Section 140 provides that
prohibits any person from publicly ridiculing or insulting the
dogmas of worship of any lawfully existing religious community
in Denmark - although it has not been applied since 1938.
63 For a different conclusion, see
the opinion of OCSE Media Representative. The current
Representative, Miklos Haraszti, recently defended the
traditional right of the press to publish satirical cartoons,
even if they depict figures in established religions. He
further added that ãOCSE stands by responsible journalism,
but· that governments are not agents in this business..ä. In
his opinion: ãpublications that are offensive to certain
sections of society should be dealt with by self-regulatory
ethics bodiesä· ãfor example press councilsä.
64 ENAR, European op. cit. at p.
35.
65 The Sun claimed that ãtens
of thousandsä would arrive. The Sunday Times predicted
100,000, and the Express announced that 1.6 million were
ãready to flood inä. See IRR comment, The media war against
migrants: a new front, by Arun Kundnani. 21 January 2004.
66 Antisemitism and the media in
Italy, Emanuel Ottolenghi, first published in Antisemitism
and Xenophobia Today (http://assembly.coe.int//Main.asp?link=http://www.axt.org.uk/).
Amongst the extreme right in Italy, holocaust denial is a
favourite theme, see Ottolenghi at p. 4.
67 Cf. Ottolenghi, op cit. p. 8
68 ENAR Shadow Report Europe at p.
48, Shadow Report Denmark, p. 42.
69 Resolution
1478 (2006) adopted 23 January 2006, at pt. 7.12.
70 For an in-depth discussion of the
introduction of racist and xenophobic discourse in mainstream
parties, see The use of racist, anti-Semitic and xenophobic
arguments in political discourse, ECRI March 2005, Report by
Jean-Yves Camus, at p. 10 et seq.
71 Definition given in scope of
appendix.
72 Principle 1 states that:
ãgovernments of the member states, public authorities and
public institutions at the national, regional and local
levels, as well as officials, have a special responsibility to
refrain from statements in particular to the media, which may
reasonably be understood as hate speech·ä.
73 PACE
Resolution 1344 (2003), point 13 (ii); cf. also PACE
Resolution 1308 (2002) on restrictions on political
parties in Council of Europe member states.
74 Legislating for a Democratic
Media in Europe, Policy document of the European Federation of
Journalists (EFJ) (2003), Point 8.
75 Accordingly: ãno journalist
should be directed by an employer or any person acting on
behalf of the employer to commit any act or thing that the
journalist believes would breach his or her professional
ethics, whether defined by a code of ethics adopted by
journalists collected at national level or that would infringe
the international Code of Principles for the Conduct of
Journalism as adopted by the EFJ/IFJ. No journalist can be
disciplined in any way for asserting his or her rights to act
according their conscience.ä Policy document from the European
Federation of Journalists, 15 January 2003, pt. 9.2.
76 Op cit. Policy document EFJ, pt.
5.1.
77 The reports points out that
whereas the average migrant population of the countries under
investigation was 8.5%, representation in the broadcasting
industry was merely 2-3%, cf. recommendation 10.
78 Eurimages is the Council of
Europe fund for the co-production, distribution and exhibition
of European cinematographic works. Set up in 1988 as a Partial
Agreement it currently has 32 state parties. See website at
http://www.coe.int/t/e/cultural_co-operation/eurimages/.
79 Letter dated 8 February 2006, to
Committee on Migration, Refugees and Population, Eurimages
listed 18 out of last 100 films supported that can be
considered as relating to migrants, refugees and asylum
seekers.
80 See
http://www.prix-europa.de/publish/.
81 CIVIS is supported by the
Association of German Savings Banks (DSGV) and the German
Federal Government Commissioner for Migration, Refugees and
Integration, the European Parliament, the European Monitoring
Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC), the European
Broadcasting Union (EBU) and the Hungarian Auton—mia
Foundation;
http://www.wdr.de/tv/civis/index_en.phtml?flash=1.
82 See EU Campaign ãFor Diversity
against Discriminationä
83 Survey ãMedia and Minoritiesä
Report by Jessika ter Wal, European Research Centre on
Migration and Ethnic Relations, Utrecht University,
commissioned by On line/More Colour in the Media, Utrecht,
March 2002.
84 The Manifesto can be consulted at
the http://assembly.coe.int//Main.asp?link=http://www.antirasistik-senter.no/
website.
85 European Manifesto of Minority
Community Media 2004.
86 ENAR Shadow Report 2004, Denmark,
p. 48.
87 The Code was ratified by the PCC
on 13th June 2005. Its aim is to set benchmarks to ensure that
its members maintain the highest professional and ethical
standards in reporting, the cornerstone of which is the
protection of the rights of the individual and the right to
know in the public interest.
88 Clause 12 provides that: ãi)
The Press must avoid prejudicial or pejorative reference to an
individualâs race, colour, religion, gender, sexual
orientation or to any physical or mental illness or
disability.
ii) Details of an individualâs race,
colour, religion, sexual orientation, physical or mental
illness or disability must be avoided unless genuinely
relevant to the story.ä
89 ECRI Report on UK (3rd
Report), 14 June 2005.
90 Cf. Letter of Guidance, Refugees
and Asylum-seekers, 23 October 2003.
91 Code of Practice, Clause 1(i)
provides that ãthe Press must take care not to publish,
inaccurate, misleading or distorted information, including
picturesä, also 1(iv) ãThe Press, whilst free to be
partisan, must distinguish clearly between comment, conjecture
and factä.
92 See, Daily Telegraph News, 15
July 2004, www.telegraph.co.uk.
93 The original story had been
front-page news, and also followed up by a later story about
fish supplies in lakes being depleted due to poaching by
Eastern Europeans. The complaint had requested that the
retraction also be given front-page prominence and include a
statement that asylum-seekers were never responsible for such
acts. This did not occur.
94 CRI (2000) 19, Report compiled by
external media consultant, Isabel Melis.
95 PACE
Resolution 1478 (2006), op. cit. at point 7.11.
96 The website is currently under
preparation: see
http://alldifferent-allequal.info/node/52.
97 For one example of a game
concerning the plight of a refugee see the interactive
web-based game ãAgainst all oddsä http://assembly.coe.int//Main.asp?link=http://www.motalleodds.org/againstallodds/ |