Italy
Italy regularly reports hate crime data to ODIHR. Italy's Criminal Code contains general penalty-enhancement and substantive offence provisions. Hate crime data are collected by law enforcement authorities and the Ministry of Interior. Data are not made publicly available.
How hate crime data is collected
Italian legislation does not provide a definition of hate crime. Hate crimes, like all other crimes, are recorded by competent police officers. There is no instruction or policy document to guide police in identifying and recording hate crimes.
Initial crime reports, including victim information and information about police action and legal qualification, are entered into and stored in the Sistema di Indagine (SDI) investigation crime database. The SDI is organized according to different criminal law provisions, which are marked on every report entered into the system. For this reason, the SDI system only serves to register strands of hate crime mentioned in the law, including ethnicity, nationality, race, religion or crime against national linguistic minorities. There is no specific marker for each bias motivation in the SDI so crimes cannot be distinguished from one another in the database according to motive. Crimes committed on discriminatory grounds other than those explicitly outlined in the law (e.g., gender identity or sexual orientation) are entered in the SDI as ordinary offences.
A separate system exists for monitoring these additional strands of hate crimes. The Observatory for Security against Discriminatory Acts (OSCAD) collects reports of these crimes. Not all the reports collected by OSCAD are included in the SDI database. In 2011, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between OSCAD and the National Office against Racial Discrimination (UNAR) of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers. UNAR and OSCAD exchange information about incidents on this basis. Through this mechanism, UNAR reports to OSCAD hate crime cases reported to its contact centre.
A government unit is responsible for managing the national SDI database, including hate crimes. The Service of the Multi-Agency Information System is part of the Ministry of the Interior's Central Directorate of Criminal Police of the Department of Public Security.
As the SDI does not allow hate crime bias motivations to be distinguished, only aggregated data on all monitored strands of hate crime are available. This aggregate number includes hate crimes committed on the grounds of race/colour of skin, ethnicity, origin, minority status, citizenship, language, bias against Roma and Sinti, and bias against religion (including anti-Semitism, anti-Muslim, anti-Christian and other religions).
Official Data
National developments
The Ministry of Interior's Department of Public Security continued implementing the ODIHR-sponsored TAHCLE programme. Selected public security officials and 15 Carabinieri officers were trained as trainers and an additional 100 police superintendents and 60 Carabinieri officers were directly trained by ODIHR.
In follow-up to TAHCLE, and as part of a large-scale training campaign, a number of trainings courses for law enforcement and Carabinieri were organized, addressing issues of discrimination and hate crimes. The courses are five teaching hours long and address operational aspects of police work. About 1,850 police officers, including border police officers, were trained.
As part of the national strategy to prevent and combat discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity, covering the 2013-2015 period, National Office against Racial Discrimination (UNAR) organized two training courses (training-of-trainers) for 28 National Police and 28 Carabinieri officers.
Furthermore, a 2013-2015 national action plan against racism, xenophobia and intolerance has been developed and is pending final approval by the competent political bodies.
Incidents reported by civil society, international organizations and the Holy See
Reports
Racism and xenophobia
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Lunaria reported 37 incidents of physical assault, of which 21 caused serious injuries requiring medical attention and three were carried out by groups; six attacks by groups against groups of victims, including four incidents where residences were attacked, and one incident of robbery committed by a group, during which the victim was also stoned. Lunaria also reported two arson attacks on lodgings for immigrants, one incident in which firecrackers were thrown inside a settlement for refugees, one incident in which gunshots were fired towards a refugee centre, 11 incidents of threats, and one incident of graffiti.read more ›
Bias against Roma and Sinti
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The Association 21 July and Lunaria reported an arson attack on a Roma settlement and two incidents in which gunshots were fired at the homes of Roma families. Lunaria additionally reported two physical assaults carried out by groups and two attacks on Roma settlements by groups, one arson attack on a Roma settlement and two incidents of threats, including a series of threats made against a local official supporting Roma-friendly initiatives. The Association 21 July additionally reported a series of assaults against four Roma people carried out by a group, a bomb threat against a reception facility for Roma families housing 400 people, seven arson attacks against the homes of Roma families and two incidents in which gunshots were fired at the homes of Roma families.read more ›
Anti-Semitism
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World Without Nazism reported one incident of threats, six incidents of anti-Semitic graffiti and one incident of damage to property.read more ›
Bias against Muslims
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Lunaria reported one physical assault against an Eritrean man, during which anti-Muslim insults were used, and one incident of threats targeting a municipal official because of her faith, leading to her decision to leave Italy.read more ›
Bias against Christians and members of other religions
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The Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians reported the attempted murder of a Christian Nigerian woman, one incident of damage to a church and an arson attack on a nativity scene.read more ›
Bias against other groups - Sexual orientation or gender identity
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World Without Nazism reported one homophobic physical assault.read more ›
International reports
Racism and xenophobia
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The UN Universal Periodic Review Working Group recommended in its report that authorities reinforce measures to combat attacks against minority groups, by emphasizing prevention of and follow-up on these acts.
Holy See information
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The Holy See reported five incidents of the desecration of cemeteries, four incidents of burglaries or thefts in churches in which communion bread was stolen, and three cases of vandalism. The Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians in Europe (OIDC) also reported one of these thefts and one of the incidents of vandalism. The Holy See additionally reported two incidents of graffiti and one incident of damage to property. The Italian authorities reported that bias motivation could not be confirmed in any of the incidents.
Key observation
ODIHR observes that Italy has not reported the numbers of prosecuted and information on sentenced hate crime cases to ODIHR.
