The Council of Europe beats Italy, "Racist law enforcement and politicians"

The European Commission against racism and intolerance (Ecroi) del Council of Europe in a report asks Italy to create a fully independent and effective equality body and to strengthen the path of the National Anti-Discrimination Office to make it a full-fledged official coordination body. In particular, “Italy should adopt a National Action Plan to combat racism, organize an awareness campaign to promote equality, diversity and intercultural and interreligious dialogue and take further measures to combat racist hate speech broadcast by public figures”.

Compared to the previous ECRI report, published in 2016, progress has been made in several areas, the Council highlights. Thus, the data collection system on cases of school harassment was developed, based in particular on ethnicity and sexual orientation. Furthermore, online courses on combating harassment were made available to teachers. Progress has been made in the field of LGBTI equality: for example, the recognition of same-sex unions, the adoption of the national LGBT+ strategy and the provision of quality health information to transgender patients. The authorities have also established a system of subsidies for centers that combat discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, in particular for centers that welcome victims of anti-LGBTI violence.

However, despite the progress made some aspects continue to cause concern. Therefore, the legal status of the National Anti-Racial Discrimination Office (UNAR) and its important role in the development and coordination of government policies remain incompatible with the requirement of independence of an organization promoting equality, the report highlights. LGBT people continue to experience prejudice and discrimination in their daily lives. Furthermore, the legal procedure for gender recognition remains complicated, long and excessively medicalised.

The xenophobia is increasingly present in public discourse while political discourse has taken on extremely divisive and hostile connotations, targeting in particular refugees, asylum seekers and migrants as well as Italian citizens coming from immigration, i rom e le persone Lgbt. The ability of law enforcement agencies to combat hate-motivated violence is reduced by underreporting and a lack of trust among people belonging to groups within the ECRI’s mandate.

Migrant children are more exposed to school bullying and leave the education system earlier than Italian children. Many Roma still live on the outskirts of cities, with limited access to public transport and, according to available information, forced evictions of Roma have continued in violation of international standards. There are also numerous reports of racial profiling by members of law enforcement, particularly targeting Roma and people of African descent.

For this reason, ECRI recommends that Italy create a fully independent and effective body for the promotion of equality, in consultation with civil society organisations, while strengthening the role of Unar as an official coordination body fully title, responsible for, among other things, designing, implementing and monitoring the implementation of policies and other measures aimed at combating racism and intolerance. The authorities should also finalize and adopt a new national action plan to combat racism and organize an awareness campaign.

Council of Europe, too much criticism of Italian judges on migrants

“Excessive criticism of individual judges dealing with migration cases puts their independence at risk,” the Commission writes in its report on Italy. “Ecri noted that many interlocutors met by its delegation during the visit to Italy were deeply concerned about conventional political narratives that promote a culture of exclusion rather than integration and inclusion of migrants,” the report states. Examples include “verbal attacks against members of civil society who provide support to migrants and undue criticism aimed at undermining the authority of individual judges who decide on immigration-related cases”.

An atmosphere that “undermines the independence of the judiciary when dealing with immigration cases”, according to Ecri. The report also dedicates a section to racism and intolerance towards migrants within the police force. “There are numerous testimonies of racial profiling by the police, who mainly target Roma and people of African origin“, it states. “However, the authorities do not collect adequately disaggregated data on police stop and control activities, nor do they appear to be aware of the scale of the problem, and do not consider racial profiling as a form of potential institutional racism,” it said. to which is added the recommendation of “a comprehensive and independent study with the aim of identifying and addressing any practice” of this type.

Meloni asks for “respect, not insults”

“Does the Ecri, body of the Council of Europe, accuse the Italian police forces of racism? Our police forces are made up of men and women who, every day, work with dedication and self-sacrifice to guarantee the safety of all citizens, without distinction. They deserve respect, not similar insults”, commented Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in a post on