Excerpt:
OSCE participating States' governments and other key actors must challenge intolerant public discourse against Muslims, while preserving freedom of expression, concluded participants at an OSCE high-level meeting held in Vienna today.
The conference organized by Lithuania's 2011 OSCE Chairmanship and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) gathered some 150 participants, including media professionals, civil society representatives and political representatives from across the OSCE area.
"It is possible to overcome intolerance and discrimination only when all key actors engage and pool their efforts," said Evaldas Ignatavičius, Lithuanian Deputy Foreign Minister in his opening address to the conference participants. "Unfortunately, we have seen too little leadership from the political sphere and from the media when Muslims were subject to assaults," he added. Ignatavičius stressed the need to create a continuing process of open reflection, enact necessary laws, develop sustainable educational programmes and build public awareness to eradicate "this heinous form of human rights violation".