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	Neo-Nazism and nationalist populism fuel hatred and intolerance, says UN expert by Tendayi Achiume UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism   Nov. 2018   Social media and other digital platforms are being used to disseminate hate speech and incite violence, as well as to recruit, network and fundraise for Neo-Nazi and other extremist groups, a UN expert on racism said.   In a report to the General Assembly, UN Special Rapporteur Tendayi Achiume cited the dramatic rise of racist websites to more than 14,000 in 2011, from only three in 1995 and a 600 percent increase of white nationalist movements espousing their views on Twitter since 2012.   'At the core of neo-Nazism ideologies lies a hatred of Jews, as well as many other racial, ethnic, and religious groups. These ideologies also vilify lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people, and persons with disabilities, and in some cases women', Achiume said.   'This growing climate of intolerance has tangible, horrific impacts on human lives as witnessed during the anti-Semitic attack in Pittsburg on 27 October 2018', she added.   The expert said the largely unregulated, decentralised, cheap and anonymous nature of the Internet had allowed extremist groups to form networks across borders and amplify their hate-filled messages. Technology companies such as YouTube, Twitter and Facebook needed to ensure their platforms did not continue to provide a safe haven for extremist mobilisations.   Condemning the spread of extremist, sensationalist, conspiratorial news on all forms of social media against targeted groups, the Special Rapporteur urged the implementation of the principles of international and regional human rights frameworks to tackle racist hate speech, racist organisations and the promotion of racist ideologies and propaganda.   Achiume also observed that populist political parties and their elected officials had mainstreamed incitement to discrimination and hatred. 'Nationalist populism operates on an exclusionary and racialised vision of who qualifies as a nation's rightful people, and stokes societal fury against all those who do not meet this narrow definition', she said.   'Nationalist populism marginalises and discriminates against individuals and communities on the basis of their actual or perceived race, ethnicity, descent, national origin, social origin, and even their disability or migration status'.   The Special Rapporteur said populist-led policies also have racially discriminatory structural and long-term effects. 'Ascendant nationalist populist ideologies and strategies not only fuel hatred but also threaten racial equality by creating institutions and structures that will have enduring legacies of racial exclusion.   It often affects racial equality across numerous human rights, including rights to vote, to participate in political processes, to bodily security, to health care, to education, and to access public goods and social services', she said.   The rights to equality and freedom of expression should be seen as symbiotic and mutually reinforcing, she said, and should not be pitted against each other in a competitive or zero-sum manner.   'Action is required by more States to implement anti-hate speech laws and ensure equality and non-discrimination including online, in accordance with international human rights law', Achiume said.   The Special Rapporteur called on Member States and technology companies to work collaboratively to combat incitement to hatred and discrimination with a particular focus on the digital sphere.   'Criminal and civil penalties alone will not put an end to racial and xenophobic intolerance', she said. 'A State's first step must be explicit recognition that the proliferation of nationalist populist mobilisations and Neo-Nazi groups threaten racial equality'.   * Tendayi Achiume is the UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance.   # Aug. 2018   In this report, the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance analyses the threat posed by nationalist populism to the fundamental human rights principles of non-discrimination and equality. The focus of the report is ascendant nationalist populist ideologies and strategies that pose a sobering threat to racial equality by fuelling discrimination, intolerance and the creation of institutions and structures that will have enduring legacies of racial exclusion.   The report condemns nationalist populism that advances exclusionary or repressive practices and policies that harm individuals or groups on the basis of their race, ethnicity, national origin and religion, including in combination with gender,sexual orientation, disability status, migratory status or other related social categories.   The objectives of the present report are: (a) to contribute a measure of analytical clarity to human rights debates regarding nationalist populism; (b) to map the most pressing of the dangers it poses from a racial equality perspective; and (c) to recall the international human rights equality and non-discrimination standards that apply in this context: http://undocs.org/en/A/73/305 Visit the related web page
	Mauritania: Where 18% of the Country is Enslaved by Freedom United, agencies   Oct. 2018   An estimated 600,000 people - nearly 18% of the country's population are thought to be enslaved in Mauritania according to anti-slavery NGO SOS-Esclaves.   Habi Mutraba is one of them: 'I have been hit, tortured, humiliated.. I'm always the first to wake up and the last to go to sleep', she says. Born into slavery, she has been forced to take care of her master's livestock or perform domestic work, fetching water and preparing food.   'None of us ever went to school', she added, 'none of us had identity or civil papers'.   Although Mauritania officially outlawed slavery in 1981, it did not introduce criminal laws to enforce it until 2007. Despite the laws, hereditary slavery is still entrenched in society, divided clearly along racial lines.   Slave owners in Mauritania are largely from the light-skinned beydan Berber group, who make up 30 percent of the population and dominate the political and economic sphere of the country.   Meanwhile, those who are enslaved come from the haratine ethnic group, black sub-Saharan Africans who have for generations tended to the herds of livestock owned by beydans.   The Telegraph reports:   It is rare for slave owners, who include government officials and even judges to free a slave and slaves are reportedly traded between families like livestock.   They are put to work either in their master's home, carrying out mundane tasks such as cooking and cleaning, or sent out to the scrub and desert to herd animals such as goats or camels in arid, remote areas of the country for months on end.   Despite the horrors that she has endured, Miss Mutraba classes herself as one of the lucky ones. She managed to escape her masters when local anti-slavery advocate Mr Biram Dah Abeid helped to organise her rescue after she had a chance encounter with her brother, who had already been freed.   Mr Abeid is currently imprisoned in the country's Nouakchott Central Prison without charge, his sixth time behind bars and last week smuggled a powerful letter from prison to the Telegraph, detailing his abuse behind bars. In the letter, Mr Abeid alleges he has been denied sleep, regular showers and a mosquito net as well as visits from family and friends, medical care and legal counsel.   Abeid says his arrest was clearly political as a means to prevent him from taking his seat in the newly elected parliament.   'It was necessary to prevent me from entering the National Assembly and, better still, to invalidate my claim to run for the Presidency of the Republic in 2019', Abeid detailed.   Mauritania has largely avoided criticism from the West as it is seen as an ally against terrorism in the Sahel. The EU has given the country millions to stem irregular migration.   'The only solution to ending slavery in Mauritania is that Europe and the United States, as well as donors, stop giving money to the Mauritanian regime', stressed Abeid.   http://minorityrights.org/2019/07/30/mrg-and-its-partners-welcome-the-human-rights-committees-recommendations-against-mauritania/ http://minorityrights.org/2019/07/15/mauritania-crackdown-activists/ Visit the related web page
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