Chris Burford
Sun, 6 Feb 2000 17:13:27 -0800
This was sent by JS to
>To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,
> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
but there may still be some people on PEN-L who did not get it.
I am forwarding it to PEN-L and to marxism-thaxis
It is in the name of
Platform for a world without racism
Vienna, 1.2.2000
***************************************.
WE ARE CONCERNED ABOUT WHAT IS DONE TO HUMAN RIGHTS AND HUMAN DIGNITY IN
OUR COUNTRY.
We do not feel obliged to claim Austria's "innocence". The to-be government
is in support of the majority of Austria's population. We have no reason to
claim Haider is "just another" populist. He is not. He is a populist that
operates with xenophobia, racism and the denial of the Holocaust.
The major threat is not the increase of direct violence against minorities.
The major threat is the signal that far right agitation and action is not
only ok but earns you a place in government. As opportunism is one of the
most prominent features of the "Austrian mentality", this is a severe
political danger.
We have reason to be afraid of * the final end of refugee or integration
policies * increasing xenophobia, racism and even antisemitism, because
Austia has never faced its past and now people have governmental
legitimation for such attitudes * law and order policies instead of
co-operative strategies to deal with crime and conflict * abolition of
progressive women's policies (e.g. the post of the minister for women's
affairs will be cancelled and replaced by an extended family ministery) *
severe restrictions to freedom of art, especially where it puts a finger on
the state of the Austrian society (already, in Carinthia, artists are faced
with political limitations to their work) * restrictions to the freedom of
press, because subsidies for critical media products will most certainly be
cut down
we don't know yet what to do about it. we need both your solidarity and
your ongoing critisism. don't stop looking at our country.
To the international community
Declaration of the Austrian antiracist movement
In this moment of Austrian history we are deeply concerned with the
political developments in our country. For more than 10 years, many NGOs,
initiatives and smaller parties have tried to change the austrian racist
reality without success.
In the new millenium, Austria still is not a democracy but a national
democracy. More than 10 % of our population is systematically denied all
political rights and participation, often even for decades, they are kept
in the status of "foreigners". Even in the trade-unions, there are no equal
voting rights for all workers and employees. This system, guaranteeing
equality not to human beeings but to citizens only, is unique in Europe.
Since a democratic system has been imposed on Austria after World War II,
not only the conservatives and the right wing, but also the governing
social democrats fortified this system of nationalistic and racist
segregation and exclusion. This lack of balance in the political system led
to the uprising of a party that is openly promoting a revision of Nazi
history, using racism as an effective political tool due to the lack of a
counterveilling power.
Even the killing of Marcus Omofuma during his deportation on May 1st 1999
did not lead to any antiracist measures. On the contrary, police action,
especially against people with African background, increased drastically.
Charles O., major activist, writer and poet from Nigeria, was even accused
of being a drug-boss and imprisoned for 3 months, before he had to be
released due to complete lack of evidence and major charges were dropped.
Nevertheless these practices led to significant intimidation of the Black
communities in their political campaigning.
Under such unfair conditions of criminalisation and the lack of democratic
rights, we welcome initiatives from the side of the international community
that put pressure on Austrian representatives. Austria is facing a drastic
swing to the right. With a right-conservative government things will even
get worse for people discriminated on grounds of racism, including the
Jewish minority, as well as for people discriminated on the grounds of
sexual orientation, sexual identity or on the grounds of being physically
handicaped.
For some years now, Austria is known in the European Union for its attempts
to radically alter the politics towards a demontage of the Geneva
Convention and the denial of asylum for refugees. Austria has become the
home-base for right-wing policies, threatening emancipatory movements all
over Europe. Therefore it is in the self-interest of all democratic powers
in Europe to try to reverse the political currents in Austria. We want to
encourage all international steps in this direction, hoping that the
European Union at least has learned from history, while the official
Austria has not.
Under any government to come, Austria should finally change towards a fair
democratic system which includes the right to vote for all permanent
inhabitants, in which there is an anti-discrimination-law with respective
enforcement, in which immigrants are not treated as enemies and in which
human rights are really respected.
Platform for a world without racism
Vienna, 1.2.2000
(Please distribute this declaration to your regional and national media as
well as to politicians).
--- from list [EMAIL PROTECTED] ---