EU declares trivialising genocide a crime
by David Charter, Luxembourg
Weekend Australian
April 21, 2007 Saturday
NSW Country Edition
CONDONING or "grossly trivialising" genocide will become a crime
punishable by up to three years’ prison across Europe after justice
ministers agreed on a new law yesterday.
But they failed to agree on a specific ban on denying the Holocaust.
Germany used its presidency of the European Union to push through the
first Europe-wide race hate laws, seen by Berlin as a historic
obligation in the 50th anniversary year of the union, created to
preserve peace and prosperity after World War II.
Under pressure from nations worried about freedom of speech, led by
Britain, Germany scaled back ambitions to replicate its strict laws
of Holocaust denial and dropped plans to outlaw the display of Nazi
symbols at an EU level. Holocaust denial was outlawed in Germany in
1985 and Nazi insignia are forbidden.
All 27 EU nations will be obliged to criminalise "publicly
condoning, denying or grossly trivialising crimes of genocide, crimes
against humanity and war crimes" but the test for prosecution was
set deliberately high to secure agreement in Luxembourg. Cases will
succeed only where "the conduct is carried out in a manner likely to
incite violence or hatred".
German Justice Minister Brigitte Zypries hailed the decision as "an
important political signal" following failures in 2003 and 2005 to
reach such a deal.
The definition of genocide will be that set at the Nuremberg trials
and by the International Criminal Court, meaning it will include Nazi
crimes and those in Rwanda and Yugoslavia but not the Armenian
genocide — a definition disputed by Turkey.
Poland, Slovenia and the Baltic states lobbied hard for — but failed
to win — the inclusion of a crime of denying, condoning or
trivialising atrocities committed in the name of Joseph Stalin.
But they secured a pledge that the commission would prepare a green
paper on 20th-century genocidal crimes and carry out a review within
two years on whether denying these should come under the race hate
law.
Britain pushed successfully to ensure religious attacks would be
covered only if they were of a racist or xenophobic nature, so that
criticism of Islam or other faiths would not automatically fall under
the new measures.