Facebook page shut for Down's bashing
Source: Agencies |
February 24, 2010, Wednesday
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AN Italian Facebook group proposing that children with Down's syndrome be used for target practice has been shut down and Italy's equality minister threatened the "thousands of idiots" involved with legal action yesterday.
The page showed a photo of a baby with Down's with the word "imbecile" written on its forehead. It said an "easy and amusing solution" for ridding the world of "these foul creatures" was to use them as target practice.
"Italy will not tolerate incidents of discrimination of any sort, let alone against the disabled," Equality Minister Mara Carfagna said. "Those responsible for creating this madness will be prosecuted by the law."
Down's is the most common genetic cause of mental retardation, occurring in 1 out of 700 live births.
Police are trying to track down those who set up the page. If caught, they could face up to 4-1/2 years imprisonment for incitement to committing a crime, the minister said.
The page drew protest and condemnation from politicians and disability support groups. Manuela Colombo, the president of the Down's syndrome support group Capirsi Down, condemned the offending Website, saying: "People's ignorance has no limits."
"Those responsible should be made an example of," said Luca Zaia, Italy's agricultural minister. "The first punishment could be to put them at the service of families with children with Down's syndrome whose dignity has been affronted."
Outrage over the anti-Down's site comes as four executives of the Italian branch of Google are on trial in Milan. They were charged with defamation and failure to protect the privacy of a teenager with Down's who appeared in a video on a Google site in 2006.
The page showed a photo of a baby with Down's with the word "imbecile" written on its forehead. It said an "easy and amusing solution" for ridding the world of "these foul creatures" was to use them as target practice.
"Italy will not tolerate incidents of discrimination of any sort, let alone against the disabled," Equality Minister Mara Carfagna said. "Those responsible for creating this madness will be prosecuted by the law."
Down's is the most common genetic cause of mental retardation, occurring in 1 out of 700 live births.
Police are trying to track down those who set up the page. If caught, they could face up to 4-1/2 years imprisonment for incitement to committing a crime, the minister said.
The page drew protest and condemnation from politicians and disability support groups. Manuela Colombo, the president of the Down's syndrome support group Capirsi Down, condemned the offending Website, saying: "People's ignorance has no limits."
"Those responsible should be made an example of," said Luca Zaia, Italy's agricultural minister. "The first punishment could be to put them at the service of families with children with Down's syndrome whose dignity has been affronted."
Outrage over the anti-Down's site comes as four executives of the Italian branch of Google are on trial in Milan. They were charged with defamation and failure to protect the privacy of a teenager with Down's who appeared in a video on a Google site in 2006.
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