E.U. agrees to law on genocide denial

The European Union ratified a law banning incitement to or denial of genocide. The 27-nation bloc reached a compromise deal Thursday after six years of negotiations.Those who deny or trivialize atrocities defined as genocide by the International Criminal Court can be sentenced to up to three years in jail. The same sentence can be meted out to those who incite hatred or violence against a group or person based on color, race, nationality or ethnic origin. The European Jewish Congress criticized the “Framework Decision on Racism and Xenophobia” because it did not specifically refer to the Holocaust or anti-Semitism.