A/50/476 English Page 42 165. Belgium has adopted a law which provides that persons denying that the gas chambers existed will be liable to a heavy fine and a sentence of up to one year’s imprisonment. 94/ 166. Italy has also strengthened its legislation, inter alia in relation to the dissemination of racist ideas. 95/ 167. The Portuguese Government indicates that the new Penal Code, which will enter into force on 15 October 1995, contains a number of provisions to punish homicide aggravated by racial, religious or political hatred, slavery, genocide, racial discrimination, insulting behaviour for reasons of religious belief, desecration of a corpse or place of burial, public incitement to a crime, public expression of approval of a crime, and criminal association, or to prohibit terrorist organizations and terrorism. 96/ In addition, the dissemination or transmission of messages or programmes constituting an incitement to violence or contrary to the criminal legislation may be penalized under the legislation relating to the press, radio and television. Lastly, the law on fascist organizations prohibits violence and the upholding or dissemination of values, principles, institutions or methods such as war-mongering, violence as a form of political struggle, colonialism, and racism. Other reflections of this concern are to be found in the regulations on the status of deputies and the Political Parties Act, with regard to exercise of the right to air time. In the former case, being sentenced by a court for membership in an organization with a fascist ideology constitutes grounds for loss of the status of deputy. 97/ 168. It must be noted that knowledge that the courts are ready to impose strict penalties constitutes a very persuasive deterrent factor. Nevertheless, non-application of the laws or imposition of inadequate or inappropriate penalties by the criminal courts may deter victims of racist behaviour from seeking redress in the courts. In a number of countries, an increase in the rigour of the legislation has led simply to the acquittal of accused persons guilty of committing racist acts on whom judges or juries did not feel that they should impose the exemplary penalties provided for by the law. 98/ Moreover, very often it appears difficult to prove the racist nature of an action or of the motivation which led to a given act. 99/ It would seem that the victims of racist acts seek redress in the courts only when the behaviour directed against them is sufficiently condemned by public opinion. The courts themselves tend to find the accused guilty only when they consider that the law, and hence the unlawful status of an action, is not out of line with the state of awareness of society as a whole. E. Ratifications of and accessions to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination 169. The recent ratifications of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, in 1993 by Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Czech Republic, the Republic of Moldova, and Slovakia, in 1994 by Albania, Switzerland, Turkmenistan and the United States of America, and lastly by Tajikistan in 1995, reflect the will of the international community to /...