The Council of Europe’s anti-discrimination commission, European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) has published today new reports on Ukraine, Montenegro, as well as conclusions on Slovenia.
In Ukraine, the ECRI commended new legal provisions to combat discrimination, progress in investigating hate crimes, steps towards integrating Roma and solidarity towards internally displaced persons (IDPs). However, racist violence against LGBT and Roma and hate speech dominating public discourse remain a problem and the conditions of IDPs must be improved. Over the past three years, the report says, political discourse has been dominated by anti-Russia rhetoric; the ongoing conflict in Ukraine has had a negative effect on vulnerable groups, in general. The report (2011-23.03.2017) does not take into account the situation in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, as well as certain areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
In Montenegro, the ECRI praised the authorities’ efforts to strengthen protection against hate crimes, empower the Ombudsman and improve the situation of Roma. However, LGBT persons are still targets of violence, Roma remain at risk of social exclusion and segregation, and no reliable data on hate crimes exists.
As for Slovenia, the authorities satisfactorily implemented two ECRI’s priority recommendations on setting up a body to combat discrimination, as well as on a compensation scheme for the “erased” persons and the regulation of their legal status. Nevertheless, Slovenia didn’t implement the recommendation on ensuring access to water for all Roma.
