"Open your mind and speak out against racism" - European-wide Action Week against Racism is on

The European-wide Action Week against Racism began on 17 March around Europe and will run until 25 March. This year the slogan is "Open your mind and speak out against racism". The Czech Helsinki Committee has issued a press release on this event, which is organized by the international UNITED network and supported by the various organizations around Europe conducting the anti-racism campaign. A video clip promoting the week in the Czech Republic can be seen here: http://www.romea.cz/romeatv/index.php?id=detail&source=t&vid=YZJgtcMmvB8&detail=YZJgtcMmvB8

21 March was established as the International Day for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination by the General Assembly of the United Nations in response to the murder of 69 anti-apartheid demonstrators in Sharpeville, South Africa, in 1960. Ever since, thousands of people in Europe and around the world have been actively engaged on that day every year on behalf of equality, tolerance, and the celebration of diversity. The aim of the campaign is to draw attention to the issue of racism from an NGO perspective at local, national, and European level.

The Czech Helsinki Committee joined this year's campaign against racism in order to draw attention to the rise in hatred and intolerance in the Czech Republic. "We will hold a press conference on 21 March at which we will release the ENAR (European Network against Racism) Shadow Report on the state of racism in the Czech Republic and in Europe. The report on the Czech Republic was researched by the Czech Helsinki Committee and authored by Selma Muhič Dizdarevič and František Valeš," said Monika Bunžová, Second Vice-Chair of the ENAR Foundation (see http://www.enarfoundation.eu/about/article/board).

ENAR publishes a national Shadow Report on each EU Member State every year, as well as an EU-wide report reflecting on the phenomenon of racism. The new report will map the period between January 2010 and March 2011.

The director of the Czech Helsinki Committee, Markéta Kovaříková, said: "We have designed an exhibition of photographs taken at neo-Nazi demonstrations throughout the Czech Republic. The photographs were provided to us by the Tolerance a občanská společnost (Tolerance and Civil Society) civic association, which has long been involved in monitoring neo-Nazi activities in the Czech Republic. The exhibition will run from 19 – 20 April at the Sicily café on Senovážné nám. 2, Prague 1. We are also planning to disseminate an anti-racist video clip through social networks that was produced by our partner organization, ROMEA, and can be seen on our website and on Facebook."

Part of the International Day against Racism will include the LUCERNA PROTI RASISMU (LUCERNA AGAINST RACISM) program at the Lucerna complex in Prague. The program was designed by the OPONA public benefit company.

You will not be able to avoid the topic of racism at the Lucerna on Wednesday. In the afternoon there will be a screening of the film "The Last Flight of Peter Ginz", which reminds viewers of where social engineering has led us in the past and how it has blemished people's life stories. The screening is connected with an exhibition, entitled "Exhibition against Racism", which links the past to the present through the history of the Jewish and Romani minorities on Czech territory and investigates the media image of Romani people in detail. The texts on the media section of the exhibition were authored by František Kostlán of the ROMEA civic association.

The day will end with a concert against racism. Ester Kočičková and her "Aryan folk music" - with the catchy refrain "It's good they always pour us blondes a drink" ("Ještěže nám blondýnám vždycky nalejou") - will perform with the Tap Tap band. Tonya Graves will also sing. The evening will be closed by Radio 1's Gadjo.cz and a live show by Jam Sound System. For more information please see www.lucernaprotirasismu.cz