Stjórnlagaráð

Ágæta Stjórnlagaráð!

Mér finnst rétt að vekja athygli ráðsins á þriðju skýrslu ECRI um Ísland frá 13. febrúar 2007. Hún er á slóðinni http://hudoc.ecri.coe.int/XMLEcri/ENGLISH/Cycle_03/03_CbC_eng/ISL-CbC-III-2007-3-ENG.pdf
ECRI er nefnd innan Evrópuráðsins skipuð einum sérfræðingi frá hverju hinna 47 ríkja Evrópuráðsins (sem telur sig útvörð mannréttinda í Evrópu). Hlutverk ECRI er að finna leiðir til að berjast gegn kynþáttahyggju, umburðarleysi, útlendingaótta, gyðingahatri, múslimafóbíu og mismunun er stafar af framangreindu í ríkjum Evrópu. Niðurstöður nefndarinnar fara til ríkisstjórna Evrópuráðsríkja í krafti ráðherranefndar Evrópuráðsins.
Ég leyfi mér að vekja athygli Stjórnlagaráðs á eftirfarandi ráðleggingum til íslenskra stjórnvalda sem mörg hver hafa verið margendurtekin og endurspegla ráðleggingar ECRI til annarra ríkja.

Það er svo vitaskuld Stjórnlagaráðs að ákvarða hvað úr skýrslunni kynni að eiga erindi í ykkar vinnu en mér sýnist að í stjórnarskrá eigi heima ákvæði sem styrki eða ýti undir framtíðarlöggjöf á þessu mikilvæga sviði og þá sérstaklega um þá þætti hér í framhaldi sem ég vek sérstaka athygli á.
Í ráðleggingu númer 11 þar sem sérstaklega er vísað í stjórnarskrá.

Ráðlegging númer 7:
ECRI strongly recommends that the Icelandic authorities ratify Protocol No. 12
to the ECHR without delay. It reiterates its recommendation that the Icelandic
authorities ratify the European Social Charter (Revised), the UNESCO
Convention against Discrimination in Education, the Framework Convention for
the Protection of National Minorities and the European Charter for Regional or
Minority Languages. ECRI also urges the Icelandic authorities to start work with
a view to ratifying the European Convention on the Legal Status of Migrant
Workers and the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All
Migrant Workers and Members of their Families. ECRI furthermore recommends
that the Icelandic authorities ratify the Additional Protocol to the Convention on
Cybercrime without delay.

Númer 11:
ECRI encourages the Icelandic authorities to strengthen the protection provided
by the Icelandic Constitution against racism and racial discrimination. To this
end, it draws the attention of the Icelandic authorities to its General Policy
Recommendation No.7 on national legislation to combat racism and racial
discrimination2, notably as concerns the need for constitutions to enshrine "the
principle of equal treatment, the commitment of the State to promote equality as
well as the right of individuals to be free from discrimination on grounds such as
race, colour, language, religion, nationality or national or ethnic origin"3.

Númer 19:
ECRI strongly recommends that the Icelandic authorities introduce a criminal
law provision that expressly considers the racist motivation of an offence as a
specific aggravating circumstance. More generally, ECRI recommends that the
Icelandic authorities keep the criminal law provisions in force against racism and
racial discrimination under review and fine-tune them as necessary. To this end,
ECRI draws the attention of the Icelandic authorities to its General Policy
Recommendation No.7, and particularly to the recommendations concerning the
criminalisation of certain forms of racist expression9 and the prohibition of racist
organisations10.

Númer 22:
ECRI urges the Icelandic authorities to adopt a body of civil and administrative
antidiscrimination provisions that would cover racial discrimination across all
fields of life and provide victims with effective means of redress. It recommends
that, in examining the different options, the need to grant the highest level of
protection to victims of racial discrimination is taken into consideration. To this
end, ECRI strongly recommends that the Icelandic authorities take into account
its General Policy Recommendation No. 7, including in terms of the areas to
which anti-discrimination legislation should apply15, the grounds of discrimination
in respect of which protection should be afforded,16 and the need to place public
authorities under a duty to promote equality and prevent discrimination17.

Númer 25:
ECRI strongly recommends that the Icelandic authorities establish a specialised
body to combat racism and racial discrimination at national level. It recommends
that, in so doing, they duly take into account the guidance provided by ECRI in
its General Policy Recommendations No. 219 and No. 7 concerning the status,
role and functions that should be attributed to these bodies. In particular, ECRI
draws the attention of the Icelandic authorities to the need for such a body to be
independent and accountable20 and to the need for the following functions and
powers to be included in its competence: assistance to victims; investigation
powers; the right to initiate and participate in court proceedings; monitoring
legislation and advice to legislative and executive authorities; awareness-raising
of issues of racism and racial discrimination among society; promotion of
policies and practices to ensure equal treatment21.

Þá vil ég hvetja Stjórnlagaráð að kynna sér Ráðleggingarit númer 7 (Recommendation N° 7:
National legislation to combat racism and racial discrimination). Slóðin er : http://www.coe.int/t/dghl/monitoring/ecri/library/publications_en.asp

Ég hef vakið athygli einstakra nefndarmanna á skýrslum ECRI en tel rétt að gera það hér með formlega.

Undirritaður starfar sem sérfræðingur í ECRI tilnefndur af íslenskum stjórnvöldum en er sjálfstæður gagnvart þeim.
Ég rita þetta sem einstaklingur en það er hlutverk nefndarmanna að vekja athygli á niðurstöðum ECRI.

Svo bið ég ykkur lengstra orða að íhuga vel hvort að brottfelling „kynþátta“ úr stjórnarskrá geti hugsanlega veikt baráttuna gegn kynþáttahyggju/kynþáttafordómum. Umræðan sem þið tókuð hefur oft verið tekin innan ECRI en ávallt með þeirri einróma niðurstöðu að ekki bæri að afgreiða hugtakið sem úrelt en í flestu samhengi er hugtakið „race“ notað í gæsalöppum.

Með vinsemd og virðingu og góðum óskum.
30. maí 2011

Bestu kveðjur /Best regards
*******************
Baldur Kristjánsson Th.M. Cand Theol B.A.Soc
Sóknarprestur/parish priest og/and Member of ECRI