Anti-Roma hate crime

The UN Human Rights Council, in its Universal Periodic Review, encouraged Austria to establish a comprehensive system for recording and monitoring racist crimes. It also encouraged increased efforts to combat violence and discrimination against Roma.

During the Universal Periodic Review, the Human Rights Council encouraged increased efforts to combat violence and discrimination against Roma in Bulgaria.

UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) recommended that the Czech Republic conduct effective investigation and prosecutions of hate crimes. It also encouraged the investigation of anti-Roma violence in the Czech Republic, ensuring that the perpetrators are identified, prosecuted and appropriately punished, and recommended the active recruitment of Roma to law enforcement.

The UN Human Rights Council, during its Universal Periodic Review, encouraged Hungary to take measures to prevent and combat hate crime; to ensure training for police, prosecutors and judges; and to effectively investigate and prosecute racially motivated violence and other hate crimes. It encouraged increased efforts to combat violence and discrimination against Roma and recommended that Hungary strengthen hate crimes laws to prevent violence committed on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity.

The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) recommended that Italy intensify efforts to monitor hate crimes and adopt a broader definition of racist incidents that would include any incident that is perceived as such by the victim or any other person, noting that the current approach, in which official figures are recorded according to the perception of law enforcement, most likely under-represents the number of actual hate crimes. ECRI also noted cases of violence against Roma and migrants, especially those from Africa, Asia and Romania, in its fourth periodic report on Italy.

The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights visited Italy, noting that violent attacks against Roma reflect a need for the government to improve its responses to racially motivated violence in general.

The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) recommended that Latvia strengthen training on hate crimes for police, judges and prosecutors. In its adopted reports for 2011, ECRI noted cases of violence against Roma and of damage to property and a monument in Latvia.

The Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe expressed concern about the use of anti-Roma rhetoric by public figures.

The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights visited Slovakia, where he expressed concern about hate crimes targeting the Roma population. His recommendations included adopting a broad definition of “racist incident” so that police are required to investigate potential racist motivation as soon as such incidents are reported and having authorities unequivocally and publicly condemn attacks against Roma as unacceptable in Slovak society, whenever they occur.  He aslo called on the authorities to address shortcomings in the implementation of the criminal law against racially-motivated violence, notably the provision that establishes racial motivation as an aggravating circumstance in respect of all crimes.

The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) recommended that Ukraine ensure that racist offences are consistently reported and recorded in the criminal justice system as a means to improve tracking of cases across the criminal justice system; intensify its efforts to combat bias-motivated violence through effective punishment; and deliver training for all criminal justice system agencies on implementing criminal provisions. In its adopted reports for 2011, ECRI noted cases of violence against Roma in Ukraine.