Anti-Roma hate crime

In its fifth report on Croatia, the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) observed that many cases of hate crime, especially those targeting Serbs, LGBT people and Roma, are only classified as misdemeanours. ECRI recommended that the bias motive be incorporated from the very beginning in investigations and training for police officers and judicial officials.

In its "Fifth report on Moldova", the Council of Europe's European Commission against Racism and Intolerance recommended that the authorities put in place a system to record hate crimes, collect and publish hate crime data, and ensure that hate crimes are effectively investigated. To these ends, ECRI recommended that the authorities increase its training efforts for police officers and justice officials, and implement confidence-building measures to enhance the relationship between the police and vulnerable groups, in particular, the Roma and the LGBT community.

In its "Concluding observations on the combined fourth to sixth periodic reports of Montenegro", the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) expressed concern at violence against Roma people and at the absence of updated and comprehensive disaggregated data on hate crimes. The Committee recommended that the authorities firmly counter acts of racist violence against any ethnic group, in particular Roma, and punish perpetrators with sanctions commensurate to their acts.

In its "Resolution on the 2018 Commission Report on the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia", the European Parliament urged the authorities to effectively address hate crime against minorities, in particular, the Roma and the LGBT communities, and to ensure the effective protection of affected communities and dissuasive sanctions for these hate crimes.