Nils Muiznieks

ATHENS, Greece Dept: Nils Muiznieks told The Associated Press in an interview that Greece must take tougher measures to combat a surge in racist violence that many link to the rise in popularity for the ultra-rightist group. The council describes Golden Dawn as a neo-Nazi party, while the group itself denies that it supports Hitler's ideology or violent actions, according to Calgary Herald. The commissioner, who visited Greece from Jan. 28 to Feb. 1, said in a 32-page report published by the Strasbourg, France-based organization Tuesday that he was "seriously concerned" by the increase in hate crimes targeting immigrants in Greece and ATHENS, Greece - The Council of Europe's commissioner for human rights said Tuesday that Greece has the legal right to ban the far-right Golden Dawn party, the first time an international rights organization has raised the prospect of a ban. Muiznieks said that Greece would be "fully within its rights under international human rights law" to ban the party from public office, but stopped short of saying that it should do so. The Council of Europe a separate entity from the EU runs the European Court of Human Rights, which enforces the rights code signed by the council's 47 member states. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.