Historical context
The first Belgian law proposal against racism was introduced in the wake of the signature by Belgium of the 1965 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination at the Chamber of deputies by the Socialist MP Ernest Glinne on December 1, 1966, at the request of the MRAX (Movement against racism, antisemitism and xenophobia, Belgian equivalent of the French MRAP) which had prepared the proposal. [1] The law proposal was introduced twice in 1966–1967 and again twice in 1968–1969. [2] [3] [4]
On July 20, 1980, a terrorist attack against Jewish children took place in Antwerp (Lamorinièrestraat), [5] then a French-Algerian man was killed on December 4 in Brussels by members of the extreme right wing Front de la jeunesse, [6] and a large antiracist demonstration took place in Brussels. The Justice Minister took the opportunity of this public mood to introduce the law project before the Parliament without consulting the prime minister, and only a few right-wing MPs opposed it, according to him "the far right, some right-wing liberals and a group of Flemish Christian Democrats MPs who had closed links with the South African apartheid regime". [7]
Content of the law
Among others, the following acts were made illegal by the Anti-Racism Law:
- Incitement to discrimination, hatred or violence against a person on account of race, colour, origin or national or ethnic descent, in the circumstances given in Article 444 of the Belgian Penal Code;
- Incitement to discrimination, segregation, hatred or violence against a group, community or its members on account of race, colour, origin or national or ethnic descent, in the circumstances given in Article 444 of the Belgian Penal Code; and
- Announcing the intention to commit any of the aforementioned offences, in the circumstances given in Article 444 of the Belgian Penal Code.
The circumstances given in Article 444 of the Belgian Penal Code are as follows: either in public meetings or places; or in the presence of several people, in a place that is not public but accessible to a number of people who are entitled to meet or visit there; or in any place in the presence of the offended person and in front of witnesses; or through documents, printed or otherwise, illustrations or symbols that have been displayed, distributed, sold, offered for sale, or publicly exhibited; or finally by documents that have not been made public but which have been sent or communicated to several people.
Condemnations based on the Law of July 30, 1981
Wim Elbers, a higher police officer who was also a municipal councillor for the far-right Vlaams Blok since 1994 in Brussels, was condemned on December 22, 1999, to a 2,500 Euro fine and a six-month suspended sentence for propagating hate mail on usenet. [9]
The Vlaams Blok itself, through three of its linked associations (Nationalistische Omroep Stichting, Nationalistisch Vormingsinstituut and Vlaamse Concentratie), was condemned on April 21, 2004, by the Ghent court of appeal. Each association was condemned to a fine of 12,394,67 Euro. The civil parties were the Centre for Equal Opportunities and Opposition to Racism and the Human Rights League. The judgment was confirmed on November 9, 2004, by the Court of Cassation, and the party shortly after reorganised itself as the Vlaams Belang. [10]
A hate crime is a prejudice-motivated crime which occurs when a perpetrator targets a victim because of their membership of a certain social group or racial demographic.
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