E/CN.4/1996/72/Add.2 page 18 Annex II DECLARATION OF SAARBRÜCKEN, ADOPTED BY THE STANDING CONFERENCE OF MINISTERS OF EDUCATION AND CULTURAL AFFAIRS, ON TOLERANCE AND SOLIDARITY Considering the new escalation of violence in Germany, the Standing Conference of Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs hereby declares: Human dignity is inviolable. Nothing can justify acts of violence. Recently such acts have been directed against foreigners, minorities and the weak within our society; they thus strike at the heart of our State, committed to democracy and the rule of law. Whoever sets fire to hostels for asylum-seekers, whoever applauds, openly or in secret, wreckers and arsonists, thereby turns his back on the community of democrats. No unsolved problem and no abuse can justify recourse to brutal violence. The recent violent excesses bid defiance to the police and the law, but also to culture and education. The ministers and senators responsible for education and cultural affairs are therefore resolved to encourage and support any initiative calculated to encourage socially cohesive behaviour at school and in society. That implies, in particular, that we: Conduct a credible policy of respect for other cultures and responsibility towards this one and only world; Create and preserve living environments that will give young people and adolescents a feeling of well-being and something to look forward to; and Reinforce the values of tolerance and solidarity within the younger generation. Already by 29 November 1985 the Standing Conference of Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs had drawn up recommendations concerning cultural understanding with our fellow citizens from abroad. At its plenary session of 10 and 11 October 1991, in Dresden, it forcefully condemned all tendencies to xenophobia and all its implications in terms of acts of violence. The Standing Conference again invites all teachers, in Germany to intensify their commitment to coexistence based on understanding between foreign and German children and adolescents in order to overcome hatred of foreigners and the violence it engenders. What are most needed in this regard are measures that will bring people together and deepen their mutual understanding. Here are some examples of such measures: Class and school celebrations that focus on the culture of fellow pupils from other countries; Twinnings and exchanges of letters with schools and pupils abroad; School neighbourhood aid for our fellow citizens from abroad;