On 19 July 2010, the APPG Against Antisemitism met with the special representatives to the Chairman-in-Office of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). For details of the visit, continue reading.
CiO Representatives to promote tolerance
(Personal Representatives of the Chairman-in-Office to promote greater tolerance and combat racism, xenophobia and discrimination)
On 22 January 2009, OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis appointed three new personal representatives on tolerance and non-discrimination.
The first three representatives were appointed by the Bulgarian OSCE Chairmanship in December 2004 and their mandates extended by subsequent Chairmanships from 2005 to 2008.
Rabbi Andrew Baker
Personal Representative on Combating Anti-Semitism
Rabbi Andrew Baker is director of International Jewish Affairs at the American Jewish Committee (AJC), which he joined in 1979. A leading expert on anti-Semitism in Europe, he travels extensively to strengthen relations between the AJC and Jewish communities worldwide. Throughout most of the 1990s, as director of European Affairs, Rabbi Baker promoted tolerance in the emerging democracies of Central and Eastern Europe. He is active in Holocaust restitution issues and in 2003 was awarded the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Merit by Germany for his work in German-Jewish relations.
Ambassador Adil Akhmetov
Personal Representative on Combating Intolerance and Discrimination against Muslims
Following a decision by the Chairperson-in-Office, Ambassador Adil Akhmetov of Kazakhstan was appointed as Personal Representative on Combating Intolerance and Discrimination against Muslims in April 2009. Ambassador Akhmetov is Secretary of the Committee on International Relations, Defence and Security, and a Member of the Senate of the Parliament of Kazakhstan. His previous positions include First Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs, Chairman of the Committee on Education of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Healthcare, and Envoy Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Kazakhstan to the UK.
Mario Mauro
Personal Representative on Combating Racism, Xenophobia and Discrimination, also focusing on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians and Members of Other Religions
Mario Mauro is a member of the European Parliament’s High Level Group on gender equality and diversity, and works to ensure the equal treatment regarding working conditions in the European institutions. He is a member of the Foreign Affairs Parliamentary Committee, where he has successfully promoted 35 motions on cases of discrimination, racism and other breaches of human rights, as well as on promoting democracy and the rule of law. He is also the Parliament’s Vice-President responsible for relations with churches and religious communities.
Objectives of their forthcoming Visit to London are as follows.
- Identify best practice in terms of policy development and the implementation of policy on non discrimination.
- Assess the nature of discrimination across Europe
- Look at the particular problems that the UK faces
- How we collect and data on hate crimes and what we do with this information
- Editorial guidelines and standards in relation to the reporting on discrimination.
