Washington - Leading civil rights groups Monday denounced the rise in hate crimes taking place in the United States, especially against Hispanics, and called for passage of the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crime Prevention Act (LLEHCP) to ensure federal jurisdiction when local officials fail to act.

    Hate crimes against Hispanics have risen steadily for the last four years, and crimes against African-American, Asian-American and Jewish people, as well as gays and lesbians, all increased last year, according to FBI statistics gathered for the Uniform Crime Reporting Programme.

    In recent weeks alone several incidents have taken place, including the murder of 37-year-old Ecuadorian citizen Marcello Lucero by a group of Long Island teenagers, cross-burnings in New Jersey, and the timely arrest of skinheads planning to assassinate President-elect Barack Obama in Tennessee.

    "The wave of hate that is seeping through our communities threatens the fabric of our nation and is costing lives. Americans will not be cowed by those trying to advance intolerance - we must stand up to the presence of hate groups and extremists in our communities and speak with one voice to say we will not be dehumanised," argued Janet Murguía, director of the National Council of La Raza, the oldest and largest Hispanic American civil rights organisation.

    Murghía was joined by representatives of African-American, Asian-American and Jewish groups concerned about the rise in hate crimes, especially in the context of the election of Barack Obama as president and the deteriorating economic situation.

    Speakers at the Washington press conference included Mark Moriel of the National Urban League, who stressed the importance of enforcing laws currently on the books.

    "We fought long and hard" for these laws; they are not "ornaments" but rather "tools to be used" to prosecute those responsible for hate crimes, said Moriel, adding: "We will not remain silent" in the face of attacks on people due to their ethnic origin, religion, or gender.

    Wade Henderson, CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, urged passage, "early on", of the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crime Prevention Act to expanding the federal reach in the case of hate crimes, strengthen enforcement and improve reporting of such crimes.

    At present, local officials have wide latitude in defining what constitutes a hate crime, and depending on the local environment, may ignore many crimes meant to be covered under existing legislation.

    The bill passed last year in the House but was dropped during negotiations in the Senate. Civil rights leaders are "optimistic" that the LLEHCP Act will be taken on early by the incoming Congress and administration, according to Henderson.

    Need for new legislation, the panelists agreed, stems in part from the fact that local officials may be the very figures encouraging hate crimes; for example, speaking out against those perceived as taking jobs or using or abusing services -a major argument in the ongoing debate over immigration.

    According to Peter Zamora of the Mexican American Legal Defence Fund, some leaders in Suffolk Country, where Lucero was killed, "have made a career of promoting hate".

    Media hate-mongers such as Fox News host Bill O'Reilly and CNN's Lou Dobbs, and a rise in Internet-based sites promoting hate, also play a key role in spurring individuals to commit racially or ethnically motivated crimes, according to the speakers.

    The boys arrested for stabbing Marcelo Lutero to death, all under 18, had simply decided to "go beat up a Mexican", according to media reports.

    "That hate has trickled down to a new generation is very disturbing," said La Raza's Murguía at the time, noting that the growing climate of hate surrounding the immigration debate was partly responsible.

    "Words have consequences," she said, "and hateful words have hateful consequences."

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    This story was produced in collaboration with OneWorld (http://us.oneworld.net/).