The
National Council for Human Rights (La Commission Nationale des droits de
l’Homme – CNDH) published on Monday, May 2nd its annual report on
racism in France.
According
to the committee, an upturn in the index of tolerance was recorded in 2015,
following four years characterized by a downturn. One out of two Frenchmen
confirms that he is “not at all” racist, while in 2014 only 43% gave this kind
of answer – this according to a survey conducted by the BVA institute for the
National Council for Human Rights (CNDH).
33%
of the French also think there is no such thing as “race” (an increase of 5
points from 2014) compared to “only” 8% who continue to declare there are
“races” that are superior to other races (a decrease of 6 points from 2014).
These
are paradoxical numbers in a time in which this year there has been a
significant increase in violent racially‑motivated incidents.
“In
2014 there were 1,662 recorded incidents characterized as racial, Antisemitic
and anti‑Islamic, whereas in 2015 2,034 such incidents were recorded, a peak
never before recorded since the beginning of statistical recording of such
incidents” was said in the report.
First
and foremost are the Islamic minority groups. “Incidents against Moslems have increased
more than 3 times (+223%) and involved 429 criminal offenses,
compared to 133 in 2014”, is noted in the report, which details that “it seems
that these recorded incidents point to a rise in the scale of violence:
shooting of live bullets, throwing of hand grenades, assaults, arsons or
attempted arsons…”
