GRA STIFTUNG GEGEN RASSISMUS UND ANTISEMITISMUS v. SWITZERLAND JUDGMENT 7 “‘Racism’ shall mean the belief that a ground such as race, colour, language, religion, nationality or national or ethnic origin justifies contempt for a person or a group of persons, or the notion of superiority of a person or a group of persons....” The relevant part of the Explanatory Memorandum to ECRI’s General Policy Recommendation No. 7 stated as follows: “6. In the Recommendation, the term ‘racism’ should be understood in a broad sense, including phenomena such as xenophobia, antisemitism and intolerance. As regards the grounds set out in the definitions of racism ..., in addition to those grounds generally covered by the relevant legal instruments in the field of combating racism and racial discrimination, such as race, colour and national or ethnic origin, the Recommendation covers language, religion and nationality. The inclusion of these grounds ... is based on ECRI’s mandate, which is to combat racism, antisemitism, xenophobia and intolerance. ECRI considers that these concepts, which vary over time, nowadays cover manifestations targeting persons or groups of persons, on grounds such as race, colour, religion, language, nationality and national and ethnic origin. As a result, the expressions ‘racism’ and ‘racial discrimination’ used in the Recommendation encompass all the phenomena covered by ECRI’s mandate.” 19. The relevant parts of ECRI’s Fourth report on Switzerland (CRI (2009) 32), published on 15 September 2009, read as follows: “III. Racism in political discourse ... 88. ECRI is deeply concerned at the changes in the tone of political discourse in Switzerland since the publication of its previous report. These changes are very closely linked to the growth of the UDC party (Union démocratique du centre/SVP Schweizerische Volkspartei). In the latest parliamentary elections at federal level, the UDC obtained the highest score: 29% of the votes. With 62 elected members of the National Council – the second chamber of parliament – (55 during the 2003 parliamentary term), the UDC now occupies a significant position in Swiss politics. This party alone has made “foreigners” its key issue. The programme, positions, campaigns, posters and other material produced by the party are described by all anti-racism experts as xenophobic and racist.... 94. ECRI is pleased to note that the federal authorities regularly and openly oppose various parliamentary motions and requests for referenda launched or supported by the UDC, explaining that they infringe or are likely to infringe human rights, as in the case of the request for a referendum intended to ban the construction of minarets. The Swiss people themselves, although 29% voted for this party, reject some of its more extreme positions in referenda. The Federal Commission against Racism, the Federal Commission for Migration Issues and other bodies constantly warn the general public about this threat to the country’s social cohesion. 95. ECRI reiterates that unrestrained racist and xenophobic political discourse inevitably leads to a range of serious consequences – some of which can already be observed in Switzerland – including ill-conceived proposals which could disproportionately affect particular groups or their capacity for exercising their human rights in practice. Such discourse risks the undermining of social cohesion and an incitement to racial discrimination and racist violence.... V. Vulnerable / Target groups ... 119. In particular, ECRI is concerned to learn that, in recent years, some political parties, including the UDC, have considerably exploited and encouraged prejudice