High Commissioner takes part in ECRI’s 2018 seminar

As it has done every year since it was established, the Office of the High Commissioner for the Protection of Rights, Liberties and for Mediation took part in the annual seminar organised by the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), aimed at national bodies which specialise in combatting discrimination in the 47 member states of the Council of Europe.

The 2018 seminar, held on 24 May in Strasbourg, was primarily dedicated to the launch of the ECRI’s General Policy Recommendation No. 2 (amended), which was adopted in December 2017. The Recommendation calls on member states to establish equality bodies (the new name for national bodies which specialise in combatting discrimination) with a wide range of competences, and will now become the benchmark for the ECRI’s country monitoring.

The seminar also covered best practices for equality bodies in tackling hate speech in the social media era. Participants particularly highlighted the importance of collecting statistics to better guide the fight against this scourge.