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Making Holocaust denial a criminal offence across the EU
January 18, 2007 5:07 PM
By Sarah Ludford MEP - letter to The Guardian (as yet unpublished)
By Sarah Ludford MEP - letter to The Guardian (as yet unpublished)
Ian Traynor reports (Jan 16th) that the incoming German Presidency of the EU wants to make Holocaust denial a criminal offence across Europe.
Unfortunately the controversy over this will just keep on the back burner where it has been for the last 5 years the essential European law against race hate crime into which Germany wishes to incorporate this offence.
Instead of seeking to project onto the European level the national laws of some EU countries which criminalise Holocaust denial and arguably make martyrs of David Irving and his ilk, Germany should ensure the EU cracks down on those who make the daily lives of Jewish, black, Asian and Roma Europeans a misery through harassment and violence.
I understand and respect the reason why countries like Germany and Austria felt they needed Holocaust denial laws after 1945, and it is up to them whether to perpetuate those laws. But the mad fringe of Holocaust deniers, who have no historical leg to stand on, are best fought through the war of words based on incontrovertible fact. Their freedom of speech must be matched by our vigorous refutation and ridicule.
If criminalisation of Holocaust denial is made the priority, the sufferings of those who frequently endure violent hate crime such as vicious verbal abuse or beatings, arson on synagogues or desecration of Jewish cemeteries, risk not getting the urgent attention and action they deserve at EU level.
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