RESOLUTION B3-0580/93

The European Parliament,

A.having regard to the upsurge in violent attacks against handicapped persons in Europe, for example the killing of Bruno Kappi (who was visually handicapped) by two skinheads in the middle of December 1992 in the small German town of Siegen,

B.whereas the perpetrators of such acts usually use national socialist or extreme right-wing slogans or symbols,

C.having regard to a scandalous judgment in the Federal Republic of Germany in which a travel company was ordered to pay compensation to non-disabled tourists because they had to share a holiday hotel with disabled persons,

1.Condemns in the strongest possible terms these attacks on disabled persons and calls for generous compensation for the victims;

2.Condemns all attempts to discriminate against disabled people as 'inferior' and to violate their personal integrity;

3.Calls on the Commission to set up a forum consisting of disabled persons from the Member States, charged with the task of:

-investigating the extent of attacks on disabled persons,

-drawing up an annual report on the situation of disabled persons in the Member States,

-investigating the possibility of introducing anti-discrimination laws based on the US model;

4.Instructs its President to foward this resolution to the Council and Commission.