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Ombudsman: "The Problem Is Hate Speech among Politicians"


While there were no massive violations of human rights in Slovenia last year, what Ombudsman Matjaz Hanzek considers the most problematic is the hate speech which was used by politicians especially during the election campaign.
"This is one of the worst problems, particularly because hate speech was often used by members of some parties which used to be perceived as moderate," Hanzek said in an interview for STA.
"Instead of competing who would advocate human rights, the parties competed to prove they would be the ones to disregard Constitutional Court rulings or different groups of citizens," the ombudsman stressed.

"Intolerant statements by politicians encourage the media to be intolerant... and what we get is a public opinion which wants scandals...", he stressed, adding that this systemic problem is also known abroad.

Moreover, by electing Saso Pece of the National Party (SNS) a deputy speaker of parliament, Slovenian politicians have shown to the voters and the world what they think about instances of intolerance, said Hanzek.

"When Pece said he would never go for a drink with a black person, he proved himself to be a racist. And when he called people "scum" in the parliament, he showed how intolerant he is," Hanzek quoted one of the most problematic cases of hate speech.

Another such example is a poster with a "no" to a mosque. The poster was used by a member of the right-leaning People's Party (SLS) in the election campaign. The SLS argues it is opposed to the mosque the Muslim community would like to build because the mosque would serve political purposes. This is an argument Hanzek cannot accept.

"Every citizen has the right to be religious and to be involved in politics, so I cannot see why Muslims would be denied this." Muslims have the right to a building serving political purposes as long as it is all in line with the law, he stressed.

"Everything was fine until the Slovenian Muslims had oratories in private buildings, because they were invisible and were not integrated into the Slovenian society," said Hanzek, who believes that Muslims in Slovenia are currently faced with the same situation as Muslims in Western Europe two decades ago.

Hanzek, who was appointed on 21 February 2001 for six years, expects to work well with the new government of Janez Jansa. "There may be some difficulties with individual ministries, but that was the case also before".

What he expects from the new government is the settlement of the issue of "erased citizens", something he said he was promised also by the new interior minister, and hopes would be done this year. "The erased" were another topic that fuelled intolerance and hate speech on the political scene last year.

The ombudsman's office is currently compiling the annual report for 2004, which will be sent to parliament. Compared to the previous reports, this year's will contain less "traditional" cases of human rights violations (citizenship, foreigners, the erased, denationalisation), which means that "certain things have come to an end", he believes.

Hanzek has no intention of seeking re-election when his term expires in early 2007. "Six years is enough to do something, and then it is good if your work is carried on by younger people with fresh ideas and a different way of doing things," he told STA.

Moreover, he believes he would be unable to muster the support he would need for re-election in parliament. Asked by STA whether he has lost his favour with politicians because of his work and unambiguous statements, he said: "I hope so." When he was elected back in 2001, he said an ombudsman should be "a terrible pain in the neck, particularly for the state".

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