Anti-Roma hate crime

OSCE participating States recognized the danger of ethnic hatred targeting Roma and Sinti as early as 1990. Anti-Roma rhetoric, including that focusing on "Gypsy criminality", can be perpetuated in the media and by political actors. EU enlargement, coupled with Roma marginalization, have led many Roma individuals and families to seek better conditions and opportunities elsewhere through migration, often encountering negative reactions in destination countries or areas. ODIHR's annual reporting on hate crime has presented a range of hate crimes targeting Roma. Assault, property damage and murder, involving the use of explosives, firearms or Molotov cocktails have featured in these reports. Among the particularly worrying incidents reported to ODIHR have been arson attacks against Roma homes.

More recently, Ministerial Council decisions in Maastricht (2003), Athens (2009) and Kiev (2013), as well as the Astana declaration (2010) have reconfirmed the need to combat violence against Roma and Sinti and urged participating States to step up their efforts in this regard.

A number of factors suggest that the reported data provide only a fragment of the overall picture of hate crimes against Roma and Sinti. While some participating States record anti-Roma hate crimes, these may not be disaggregated in their statistics and, instead, be included under the heading of racist and xenophobic hate crimes. In addition excessive force against or ill-treatment of Roma, including, for example, in the course of evictions or during stop-and-search actions by the police, can contribute to a lack of trust in the authorities. This, combined with a lack of means and knowledge on the part of Roma communities to monitor and report hate crimes means that these are likely significantly under-reported.

ODIHR TANDIS

International Reports

OSCE Region

In its Decision No. 4/13 on “Enhancing OSCE Efforts to Implement the Action Plan on Improving the Situation of Roma and Sinti within the OSCE Region, with a Particular Focus on Roma and Sinti Women, Youth and Children”, the OSCE Ministerial Council called on participating States to publicly condemn violence against Roma and Sinti; build police capacity to identify, collect data on, investigate and prosecute hate crimes against Roma and Sinti; and support civil society in representing and assisting Roma and Sinti victims of hate crimes.

The Final Report of the OSCE Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting on Implementation of the Action Plan on Improving the Situation of Roma and Sinti included suggestions made by some participants that a new Action Plan be drafted to better address racist and violent attacks on Roma and Sinti.