Incitement to Hatred Infringes Human Rights and Needs to Be Condemned

During a Press Conference in Geneva on 29 August 2018, Zeid Ra‘ad Al Hussein, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, clearly condemned the right-wing violence that occurred in Chemnitz last Monday. The High Commissioner denounced in particular the attacks by right-wing protestors on foreign bystanders. There is nothing brave about assaulting vulnerable people.

Whatever the motivations of the organisers and participants of the Chemnitz riots may have been, incitement to hatred violates human rights and cannot be tolerated: "We really need a concentration of voices now to say that when we have incitement to hatred, this is prohibited under international human rights law," the UN High Commissioner said.

The voices of human rights, of humanity, and of reason can no longer remain unheard. In this context, former UN Secretary-General Kofi A. Annan should also be remembered, who said at the UN General Assembly Special Session marking the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp on January 24th 2005 that: "all that is needed for evil to triumph is that good men do nothing ".

The UNESCO Chair in International Relations therefore strongly supports the call of the United Nations to politicians and the public throughout Europe to resolutely oppose such unlawful human rights developments. We cannot tolerate hatred and violence against others, not in the Free State of Saxony and not anywhere else.