Racism, xenophobia still plague German society
Germany has made stilted progress in combating racism and should initiate a broader effort to crack down on xenophobia, said a report released Tuesday.
The report acknowledged that German authorities have taken preventive steps against the spread of neo-Nazism and moved to incorporate hate motive investigations into criminal proceedings.
But racism, homophobia and transphobia remain serious issues throughout the country, it said. The issue of far right-wing groups is particularly severe in the eastern part of Germany.
"The notion of racism is often interpreted too narrowly in Germany and is linked to organized groups," the ECRI said. "The racist, and particularly xenophobic, character of some public discourse is still not established clearly enough in public debates."
The authors also underscored the state of discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual people, pointing to systematic disadvantages they face in schools, employment and healthcare. "Transsexualism is classed as a 'disorder of personality and behavior'," the report said.
It recommended that Germany bolster funding for its federal anti-discrimination agency, eliminate public funding for groups and political parties that promote racism, commit to incorporating hate motive investigations into criminal proceedings and ratify a non-discrimination protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights.
- Sapa