Germany criticised as intolerant and violent society by rights watchdog

A leading human rights body castigated Germany yesterday for not doing enough to fight racism. The Council of Europe report criticised Turkey, Croatia and Cyprus, but singled out Germany as "a society in which serious incidents of racially motivated violence occur".

The German authorities failed to "acknowledge and confront racism, intolerance and anti-Semitism". The authors visited the countries concerned last autumn, at a time when Germany was submerged in a wave of far-right violence.

Although the attacks have eased, the authors remain "deeply concerned" about German society's attitudes "towards those who are con- sidered 'foreigners'". That is a reference to the fact that even the children and grandchildren of immigrants have difficulty being accepted as equals.

Intolerance is endemic in German society, says the report, which urges officials to make greater efforts to root it out, beginning at schools. It also lambasts the government for doing too little to help newcomers integrate, and calls for tougher anti-racism laws.

In particular, the council targets Friedrich Merz, parliamentary leader of the opp- osition Christian Democrats, who last year urged immigrants to submit to German Leitkultur – "defining culture".

It says the term strengthened negative clichés about other cultures and ignored the valuable contribution of minorities to Germany.

Mr Merz's comments provoked a vehement debate, highlighting the rift between advocates of a multicultural society and those urging immigrants to shed their foreign habits.

Although the word itself was quietly dropped, the discussion over immigrants' "obligations" goes on as the government prepares to open the door to thousands of highly skilled workers and business people.