Gardaí urged to tackle racial discrimination in new report

An Garda Síochána needs to do more to address racial discrimination by staff in order to win back trust among people of African descent, a new report says.

Dr Anastasia Crickley, vice-chair of the UN Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, launched the Afrophobia in Ireland report, written by Dr Lucy Michael of Ulster University, at an event in Dublin this morning.

Published by ENAR Ireland to mark the beginning of the UN Decade for People of African Descent, the report sets out information about reported racist incidents, including hate speech, racist violence, intimidation and harassment.

Data was collected over two years through iReport.ie, an online reporting system where people in Ireland can confidentially report racist incidents to ENAR Ireland.

The report criticises An Garda Síochána for failing “to investigate and to prosecute in incidents of harassment and violence which is clearly motivated by racism, despite the presence and willingness of victims to corroborate accounts”.

It said this “suggests that the introduction of hate crime laws is a single step in a range of actions that need to be taken to properly address the victimisation of people in Ireland on the basis of their racialised identity or ethnicity”.

ENAR Ireland said the report makes “informed, practical recommendations for improving Garda responses to racism”.

In particular, it says that “appropriate sanctions” must be applied against law enforcement officials who act on the basis of racial profiling and that human rights violations, including those by state officials, must be prevented and punished.

It also calls for the creation of a National Action Plan Against Racism, encompassing hate crime legislation as well as wide reform of the State’s policies, its agencies and their practices.