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turkcyp
Senior Villager
Joined: 10 Jan 2006
Posts: 423
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The idea of hate crime law is a concept from USA, emerged in the 90s. It basically increases the punishment given to a crime if the crime is deemed to contain some sort of racist, homophobic, gender related bias.
Discrimination based any of these has been illegal for a long time. That is a separate issue. The issue here if someone commits a crime, and if he/she commits a crime due to even partly because of his hate tendencies to some other group then the punishment he gets increases.
I know definitely the above mentality exits in north. People would like to claim that they are tolerant but when they start talking you can read it from their words and their actions, the biasness against anything other than their own kind, against Greek Cypriots, Kurds, mainland Turks, homosexuals, other gender, etc, etc.
We have a tendency to think us as above these but in reality sadly....
I think the same problem exists in south as well. I have experienced it and it seems foreigners do exist as well.
I usually do not support this kind of laws because nor do I support "affirmative action" type of laws because I think it crates reverse discrimination and cause more harm in the long run.
But what do you think?
| A Letter to Cyprus Mail wrote: |
Disturbing prevalence of racism
Sir,
I am English, and now I have retired I share my time between my house in Cyprus and my house in the UK.
On my recommendation, my doctor in England brought his family to Cyprus last summer for a holiday in Paphos. They enjoyed the island very much, but one aspect of their stay concerned him deeply.
On several occasions he was approached by Cypriots and aggressively told to “go back to the north!”
One time he was having an evening meal with his family in a restaurant, and his waiter asked, “What do you think you are doing here?”
Another time, sitting in a pavement cafe, a worker on a building site across the road came over and told him to “get out of my country!”
My doctor is of Pakistani descent. We in England are often concerned about racial discrimination in our country, and rightly so, but this Pakistani doctor has told me he very rarely experiences any antagonism in the UK.
If anyone is serious about re-unifying this island of Cyprus, a great deal of work remains to be done, and no one should underestimate the enormity of the task.
Mike Wilkinson, Paphos |
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Crash Test Dummy
Warnings : 3
Ministerial
Joined: 25 Sep 2005
Posts: 4911
Location: London(ish)
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The probablility of one person getting racial abuse on 2 seperate occassions in Cyprus is rare.
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| On several occasions he was approached by Cypriots and aggressively told to “go back to the north!” |
I doubt several Cypriots have the language ability so say this
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Another time, sitting in a pavement cafe, a worker on a building site across the road came over and told him to “get out of my country!”
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Most builders are Eastern European
Not excusing the behaviour if its true however I dont think this story is true. Tourism keeps Cyprus alive, the cypriots know better than to detter tourists |
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thebrix
Mukhtar/is
Joined: 19 Aug 2005
Posts: 526
Location: London, United Kingdom
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| turkcyp wrote: |
I usually do not support this kind of laws because nor do I support "affirmative action" type of laws because I think it crates reverse discrimination and cause more harm in the long run.
But what do you think? |
The big question is whether existing law would have been enforced. If the police had been called, would the waiter or the builder have been arrested?
They certainly would have been here, hate crime law or not; there are perfectly good statutes existing such as "threatening behaviour", and I have no doubt that similar things exist in Cyprus. Once that barrier is crossed then the law can be further refined if necessary.
All this is a rather disturbing mirror of previous conversations on animal welfare in Cyprus; there was existing law but it was not being enforced and, more importantly, was not expected to be enforced. (Thus the treatment of animals was disgraceful). |
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tcklim
Villager
Joined: 03 Mar 2006
Posts: 5
Location: Lausanne, Switzerland / Limassol, Cyprus
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Ok i think the lovely kids at Southpark explain this the best...... and I quote from the episode "Cartmans silly hate crime"....
| Southpark wrote: |
Oh, uhyeah. Hello, Mr. Governor, and thank you for taking the time to hear our presentation on hate-crime laws, entitled, "Hate Crime Laws: A Savage Hypocracy." Yes, over the past few years our great country has been developing new hate crime laws.
Token: If somebody kills somebody, it's a crime. But if someone kills somebody of a different color, it's a hate crime.
Kyle: And we think that that is a savage hypocracy, because all crimes are hate crimes. If a man beats another man because that man was sleeping with his wife, is that not a hate crime?
Stan: If a person vandalizes a government building, is it not because of his hate for the government?
Token: And motivation for a crime shouldn't affect the sentencing.
Stan: Mayor, it is time to stop splitting people into groups. All hate crimes do is support the idea that blacks are different from whites, that homosexuals need to be treated differently from non-homos, that we aren't the same.
Kyle: But instead, we should all be treated the same, with the same laws and the same punishments for the same crimes. For in that way Cartman can be freed from prison, and we will have a chance to win the sledding race on Thursday. |
Couldn't have said it better myself  |
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Crash Test Dummy
Warnings : 3
Ministerial
Joined: 25 Sep 2005
Posts: 4911
Location: London(ish)
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just talking to somebody about southapark, scary  |
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repulsewarrior
Deputy
Joined: 06 Jan 2006
Posts: 1734
Location: Canada
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tcklim, truer words could not be found anywhere from the 'real world'. I love those writers at Southpark.
Mostly, the racism I have encountered is within the workplace, where the 'coloureds' in Cyprus are treated with the most demeaning attitude, by some bosses, hidden in warehouses, and at the most menial tasks. And this is true in any country around the world. However, it is because the experience of having 'foreign' labour is still at its advent, for most of these enterprises. In the longer run it will be understood from an economic point of view, that good workers will not stay in an environment where their integrity must be compromised with such poor treatment.
My personal encounters with English expats is spotty to say the least. It is personal, and it hurts alot, to be in your own country, spotted as a Cypriot, and labelled a Greek because of my skin colour and my features. Treated with disdain, without the consideration of who I am, it seems as though these particular people have taken to thinking of "Greeks" as lesser kind of individual to themselves, untrustworthy, losers, having botched the paradise, and that the "Turks" are a better people, because they are more understanding, very kind, and accomodating to their needs.
Let us not forget that these are most likely, of the people who served their country dutifully, perhaps in Belfast, or in another imbroglio, much like our own, in the sixties.
Except for my will toward a betterment of humanity, I remain calm, respectful but wary, because, this too will pass. There are always only few among many who enjoy such vile, in ignorance demeaning their own honour. Racism is nothing new to me. I have learned that the best reaction is to have grace and be humble at all times. Venting this rage somewhere else is all too easy, and I am afraid you have seen or heard examples of this. |
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brother
Warnings : 3
Site Admin
Joined: 15 Aug 2005
Posts: 8920
Location: London/Cyprus
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| turkcyp wrote: |
The idea of hate crime law is a concept from USA, emerged in the 90s. It basically increases the punishment given to a crime if the crime is deemed to contain some sort of racist, homophobic, gender related bias.
Discrimination based any of these has been illegal for a long time. That is a separate issue. The issue here if someone commits a crime, and if he/she commits a crime due to even partly because of his hate tendencies to some other group then the punishment he gets increases.
I know definitely the above mentality exits in north. People would like to claim that they are tolerant but when they start talking you can read it from their words and their actions, the biasness against anything other than their own kind, against Greek Cypriots, Kurds, mainland Turks, homosexuals, other gender, etc, etc.
We have a tendency to think us as above these but in reality sadly....
I think the same problem exists in south as well. I have experienced it and it seems foreigners do exist as well.
I usually do not support this kind of laws because nor do I support "affirmative action" type of laws because I think it crates reverse discrimination and cause more harm in the long run.
But what do you think?
| A Letter to Cyprus Mail wrote: |
Disturbing prevalence of racism
Sir,
I am English, and now I have retired I share my time between my house in Cyprus and my house in the UK.
On my recommendation, my doctor in England brought his family to Cyprus last summer for a holiday in Paphos. They enjoyed the island very much, but one aspect of their stay concerned him deeply.
On several occasions he was approached by Cypriots and aggressively told to “go back to the north!”
One time he was having an evening meal with his family in a restaurant, and his waiter asked, “What do you think you are doing here?”
Another time, sitting in a pavement cafe, a worker on a building site across the road came over and told him to “get out of my country!”
My doctor is of Pakistani descent. We in England are often concerned about racial discrimination in our country, and rightly so, but this Pakistani doctor has told me he very rarely experiences any antagonism in the UK.
If anyone is serious about re-unifying this island of Cyprus, a great deal of work remains to be done, and no one should underestimate the enormity of the task.
Mike Wilkinson, Paphos |
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That is really disturbing and if the Greek Cypriot are doing this then they are truely cutting off their noses to spite their faces. |
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