Open Letter to the Chairperson and the members of the Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination of the Council of Europe

Subject: Call for the expulsion of Eleni Zaroulia, parliamentary member with the nazi “Chrysi Avgi” (“Golden Dawn”), from Committee membership

We appeal to you as members of the Antinazi Initiative, a voluntary citizens’ organization, which has been active against nazism, racism, and anti-Semitism in Greece since 1997. With the present letter we protest against the participation of Eleni Zaroulia – member of the Greek delegation at the Council of Europe and MP with the nazi “Chrysi Avgi” (1) – to the Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination and to the Sub-Committee on Gender Equality, and invite you to directly proceed to her expulsion from these committees. We believe that the participation of nazis to a Committee concerned with combating racism should not be tolerated, because this actually annuls the Committee’s objectives.
If Eleni Zaroulia was allowed to participate, the victims of racism that may resort to an anti-racist committee of Europe for protection would have to address the representative of a gang like “Chrysi Avgi” that uses racist violence in our country.

No parliamentary member with “Chrysi Avgi” should have a position in any committee of the Council of Europe. The acceptance of nazis in the Council of Europe violates bluntly the fundamental democratic principles, freedoms and human rights, that the member-states should protect.

Eleni Zaroulia, wife of the leader of “Chrysi Avgi” Nikos Michaloliakos, declared in 2010 that she had been a member of “Chrysi Avgi” for 25 years, and that she “serves it with consistency” (2). Just a few days ago, on 10/18/2012, during a speech she gave at the Greek Parliament, Eleni Zaroulia called the migrants “subhumans” and “despicable” (3).
The women’s organization of “Chrysi Avgi”, called “Women’s Front for the people and the fatherland”, at its website (4) praises the “national-socialism” and Hitler, cites texts by Goebbels and extracts from Hitler propaganda printed material. At the same website a huge swastika appears as “eternal symbol” formed with candles by two children (5).

Eleni Zaroulia found her way to the Council of Europe due to the tolerance by the leaderships of all parliamentary parties of Greece that accepted her participation in the parliamentary delegation of our country.
Since its foundation, the Antinazi Initiative has been denouncing the scandal of the nazis’ legality in Greece and calls for the outlaw of “Chrysi Avgi”.
The fact that the Greek state has allowed a nazi gang to legally function and has left its racist violence unpunished for years is an outright violation of international and European agreements that it is bound to implement.
The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) of the Council of Europe has made a series of recommendations on the fight against racist violence and anti-Semitism at its report on Greece in 2009. The Greek state not only did not complied with above recommendations but also continues to allow a racist murderous gang to participate in the political life of the country as a party such like any other political party.

We believe that the institutional bodies of Europe bear the obligation to politically condemn Greece for those violations. This stance of the Greek state is an insult to the democratic principles of the Greek people and of all the European peoples that fought against the Nazi barbarism.

For the above reasons we invite you:

- To expel immediately Eleni Zaroulia from the Committee
- Not to allow the participation of any parliamentary member with the “Chrysi Avgi” in your Committee
- To adopt a resolution of political condemnation of the Greek state for not having banned so far the “Chrysi Avgi”.

Awaiting the response of the Committee, we are at your disposal for any further contact and supplementary data.

Respectfully,
For the Antinazi Initiative

References
1. In our website you may see numerous photos from publications of Chrysi Avgi that reveal its nazi character http://www.antinazi.gr/index_eg.htm
http://www.antinazi.gr/image/web/p18eg.htm
http://www.antinazi.gr/image/web/p2eg.htm
http://www.antinazi.gr/image/web/p6eg.htm
http://www.antinazi.gr/image/web/p26eg.htm
http://www.antinazi.gr/image/web/p27eg.htm
http://www.antinazi.gr/image/web/p37eg.htm

2. Video from the meeting of the Greek Parliament http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=h3UhhqVfXk4#!
Eleni Zaroulia literally said while speaking about the voting rights of the immigrants of Greek descent before the Interior Minister: “you equate the immigrants of Greek descent with every sort of subhumans that have invaded our fatherland carrying every sort of disease... Two of our immigrants of Greek descent (...) on July 8, 2010 had won this right at the First Section of the European Court of Human Rights. “Of Human Rights”, words that you like to use when it is about anyone despicable, and not for the Greek citizen of this country”.

3. Eleni Zaroulia’s speech at the TV Channel “High Channel” on 10/19/2010 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeioPKkd9-Y&feature=related

4-5. From the website of the “Women’s Front for the people and the fatherland” (http://whitewomenfront.blogspot.gr/):
Section “Ideology Library of the Women’s’ Front”
-Under Label “National-Socialism”, among others http://ideology-studies.blogspot.gr/2010/09/blog-post_20.html
-Under Label “Symbols”
http://ideology-studies.blogspot.gr/search/label/%CE%A3%CE%A5%CE%9C%CE%92%CE%9F%CE%9B%CE%91

Notifications:
1. ?o the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
2. ?o the Members of the Bureau of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council ?f Europe
3. To the Director of Political and Legal Affairs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
4. To the Political Groups of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
5. To the Members of the Greek parliamentary Delegation to the Council of Europe
6. To Mr. Nils Muiznieks, Commissioner of Human Rights of the Council of Europe