In Europe, minorities are more often than others stopped by the police, asked for identity papers, questioned and searched. They are victims of 'ethnic profiling', a form of discrimination which is widespread in Europe today.
ACCORDING TO Thomas Hammarberg, Commissioner, Human Rights Council of Europe, "Members of minorities are more often than others stopped by the police, asked for identity papers, questioned and searched. They are victims of 'ethnic profiling', a form of discrimination which is widespread in Europe today. Such methods clash with agreed human rights standards."
Acclaimed Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement from Nevada, said that it was unbelievable and unacceptable that 'ethnic profiling' was widespread in 2009, in Europe which made tall claims of good governance. He said that the world expected better standards from Europe as compared to 'banana republics'.
Rajan Zed, who is president of the Universal Society of Hinduism, argued that the European Union jumped at every opportunity to teach morality lessons to the world but chose to ignore its own backyard and forgot its own moral obligation to take care of its minorities. Commissioner Hammarberg recently wrote on the Commission website, "Stop and searches are a serious problem in several European countries… Ethnic or religious profiling is all too prevalent in Europe...Stop and searches on ethnic or religious grounds are not effective…"
"There should be an objective reason why a certain individual is stopped and searched, a reasonable and individualised suspicion of criminal activity. The colour of your skin, your dress or visible religious attributes are not objective reasons," commissioner Hammarberg added.