BISHKEK, 20 March – Ambassador Janez Lenar?i?, the Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), today condemned the attack that killed four people outside a Jewish school in Toulouse, France on Monday, and welcomed actions by the French authorities to investigate this and the shootings of French soldiers last week as anti-Semitic or racially motivated crimes. “I am shocked by the shootings leading to the deaths of three children and an adult in Toulouse, and welcome the vigorous steps taken by the authorities to ensure the security of all, and of Jewish and Muslim communities in particular,” Lenar?i? said during an official visit to Kyrgyzstan. “The investigation of these and the earlier shootings of four French soldiers as hate crimes sends a strong message that crimes of this type will be addressed swiftly and resolutely.” Monday’s shooting followed an attack on 11 March, also in Toulouse, which killed one French paratrooper, and another, in a city 50 kilometres from Toulouse on 15 March, which left two paratroopers dead and a third in a coma. The French authorities said the same gun was involved in all three attacks. Rabbi Andrew Baker, the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office on Combating Anti-Semitism, said that urgent action was needed to restore the Jewish community’s sense of safety and security after the attack on the school. “The murders in Toulouse have shocked and horrified people in France and around the world,” Baker said. “The challenge of confronting the racist, xenophobic and anti-Semitic ideology that has spawned such crimes remains.” Baker joined with Judge Catherine McGuinness, the Chairmanship’s Personal Representative on Combating Racism, Xenophobia and Discrimination, also focusing on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians and Members of Other Religions, and Senator Adil Akhmetov, the Personal Representative on Combating Intolerance and Discrimination against Muslims, in issuing a statement welcoming measures announced by the French authorities to provide increased security at all Jewish and Muslim schools and places of worship in the Toulouse region. “It is vital to guarantee the security of all, including Jewish and Muslim communities or any community that might be targeted with this type of shocking hate-motivated violence,” the Personal Representatives said in the statement. “The killing of these children and a parent, and of the soldiers affects us all.” Lenar?i? joined the three Representatives in welcoming the sharp public condemnation of the attacks by the French authorities, including by President Nicolas Sarkozy and Interior Minister Claude Guéant. http://www.osce.org/odihr/89064

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