Malta must embark on a 'soul-searching' exercise after racial murder, says equality commission

Maltese society has to embark on a "soul-searching" exercise to find out where it failed and take the necessary action to treat all social groups equally, the equality commission said.

The National Commission for the Promotion of Equality (NCPE) was reacting to the case in which two soldiers were charged with the murder of an Ivorian man and the attempted murder of three others. The murder last April of Lassana Cisse Souleymane was racially motivated.

“We envisage that the planned strengthening of the NCPE through the establishment of a Human Rights and Equality Commission (HREC) will enhance its ability to address cases of racism and discrimination, including hate-speech,” the commission said.

The NCPE said it considered Cisse’s murder as “a most heinous crime" that instilled fear in communities in Malta.

The commission said that most cases of “murderous racism” wherever they happen, were never isolated incidents but always connected to a context of inequality and normalised behaviour of hatred.

“We should also bear in mind that the potential victims of this hatred are numerous, including Maltese citizens of different skin colour and all those viewed as different and inferior by people harbouring such dangerous sentiments,” the commission said.

They argued that the widespread sadness and alarm surrounding the murder endangers “a transformative process” towards a better and more inclusive country “by everyone for everyone”.