Following the conviction in Britain of two men for the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence in 1993, an anti-racism group has called on the Government to introduce legislation that brings harsher penalties for “racially aggravated offences”.
The European Network Against Racism (Enar) Ireland also urged the Government to complete its review of the Incitement to Hatred Act 1989, and to support a comprehensive monitoring of racist incidents across the country.
Gary Dobson (36) and David Norris (35) were last week sentenced to a minimum of 15 years and 14 years respectively for the murder of 18-year-old Stephen Lawrence in Eltham, southeast London over 18 years ago.
Handing out the sentences, Justice Treacy told Dobson and Norris that the law was too lenient on them. “In modern times an adult committing this crime would be facing a life sentence with a starting point for a minimum term of around 30 years,” he said.
Welcoming the sentence, Enar Ireland national co-ordinator Catherine Lynch said: “Our thoughts are with the Lawrence family who have fought for near two decades to find justice for their son. The case highlighted failures in the British criminal justice system to deal with racist violence and crime.”
She added that the case also highlights “weaknesses in the Irish system”.
“Government and law enforcers alike must take racist incidents seriously,” she said. “The network calls on the Government to introduce legislation that deals with racist crime now.”
Enar Ireland accused the Government of being insensitive to the plight of ethnic minorities, many of whom have been affected by racism.
Although only one in six of the people who contacted Enar Ireland had reported the incident to gardaí, the network said reports it has received so far strongly show that the issue of racism needed to be tackled head on.
“It is very worrying to see that people cannot feel safe even at home. A number of the incidents reported to us took place just outside the person’s house or on the walk home,” said Lynch.
“Public transport is also an area where we see racist incidents, with taxi drivers and bus drivers alike being the targets of racist abuse. A seemingly minor incident can escalate into a very serious one.
Lynch emphasised the “need to be vigilant and monitor all types of incident. A racist incident impacts on the individual and on the whole community, striking at the core of a person’s identity. It is an attack on who you are.”
