Hate crime against Christians and members of other religions

Hate crime targeting individuals on the basis of religion can take various forms. The extent and nature of attacks motivated by bias against a particular religion are influenced by a number of factors, including the minority or majority status of that religion in a given territory. Successive ODIHR hate crime reports have indicated that graffiti and vandalism against places of worship, the desecration of cemeteries and arson attacks against churches are some of the more common types of crimes motivated by bias against Christians and members of other religions.

Beginning in 2004, a number of OSCE ministerial council decisions and declarations have included specific commitments on and references to the importance of combating prejudice, intolerance and discrimination against Christians and members of other religions.
Some participating States disaggregate data on anti-religious hate crime into sub-categories, such as "non-denominational", "Catholic", "Protestant", "other religions", or "Jehovah's witnesses". The Holy See also collects information on hate incidents based on bias against Christians through its network of regional representatives. This information is submitted by ODIHR to authorities in the respective participating States for verification and information on the status of investigation and of hate motive.
OSCE participating States collect varying types of information, which is then reported and presented under the heading of this bias motivation. For some states, the number of cases reported here may cover all hate crimes committed with an anti-religious bias (including anti-Semitic or anti-Muslim). In other cases, anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim hate crimes are reported under specific bias categories and, thus not included in the overall figure for crimes committed with an anti-religious bias. Some participating States report only crimes committed against Christians. As a consequence of these differences, the data presented under this bias category require caution, as comparison based on numbers of cases alone may not be accurate.
For these reasons, this category of hate crimes has been used until 2016, when ODIHR further disaggregated its reporting. From this year on, Anti-Christian Hate Crime and Other Hate Crime Based on Religion or Belief are presented as separate categories.

ODIHR TANDIS

International Reports

OSCE Region

The report of Heiner Bielefeldt, the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, noted the symbolic significance of acts of vandalism and desecration against places of worship, cemeteries and religious monuments towards entire religious communities, which can, in turn, trigger violence, such as expulsions or other extreme hostility. The report also encouraged states to develop policies that promote the protection of persons belonging to religious minorities from violence, threats of violence and damage to religious property, and to ensure there is no impunity for such conduct.

In June, ODIHR organized a seminar on the Role of Civil Society in Combating Hate Crimes against Christians, hosted by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 

Judge Catherine McGuinness, the OSCE Chairmanship’s Personal Representative on Combating Racism, Xenophobia and Discrimination, also focusing on Intolerance and Discrimination Against Christians and Members of Other Religions, made a number of country visits, together with the other personal representatives, to Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan and Norway. During these visits she emphasized the importance of improving the collection and accuracy of data on hate crimes.

The EU adopted Directive 2012/29/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing minimum standards on the rights, support and protection of all victims of crime. The Directive contains provisions that specifically recognize the needs of victims of hate crimes.