In a report published on 15 May, the Council of Europe Anti-racism Commission (ECRI) calls on the Liechtenstein authorities to adopt a new integration strategy with a special focus on education, and to better prevent and combat hate speech and abolish any discriminatory practice with regard to religious communities. At the same time, the report welcomes the establishment of an Equality Body, the Liechtenstein Association for Human Rights.

ECRI also positively emphasized that this Equality Body has the mandate to examine complaints on discrimination and to participate in judicial proceedings. Furthermore, politicians and the press almost never use hate speech and only one violent racist incident was reported over the last five years. The authorities have reinforced their activities to improve the German language skills of migrant children, and foreigners are allowed to participate in certain state and local committees. Attitudes towards LGBT people have significantly improved and registered same-sex and married heterosexual couples have equal rights.

ECRI, however, regrets that there is no comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation, that the Equality Body does not have the right to bring discrimination cases before the courts in its own name and that this body’s funding and staffing is tight. Hate speech against migrants, Muslims, foreigners and LGBT is present in Internet fora and published in readers’ letters.