Government must not ignore hate crimes

Special Police Officer Stephen John’s hateful murder while he guarded the US Holocaust Memorial Museum entrance was a worrying reminder that anti-Semitism still blossoms in the US. Such incidents should compel the governments to tackle aggressively crimes which are done on grounds of intolerance and discrimination.

But the fact is that most governments have ignored the critical issue, which has resulted in an upsetting rise in violent hate crimes.

Just thirteen of the fifty-six countries that comprise of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, have proper systems in place for monitoring and reporting hate crimes. At present a disturbing number of forty countries in the OSCE, including North America and Europe, and former Soviet Republics, are not able to properly supervise and publicly report regarding violent hate crimes; as a result of which government officials are unable to get an exact picture of the critical growing problem.

Speaking of some of the violent hate crimes is extremely disturbing, but few need to be mentioned. For instance, a young boy in Paris was stabbed four times, and a gang of young anti-Semites assaulted a fifteen-year old girl. A widespread violence against synagogues and unchecked hate speeches were observed in Britain.

It is not just Europe where the phenomenon is seen, but it goes beyond its boundaries. In Venezuela, men rushed into Caracas synagogue and schools of Jew remained closed for many days in order to protect student.

These crimes can be stopped only if government leaders take positive steps to criticize such violent acts immediately and take appropriate actions as and when they occur.