Moldova

Moldova regularly reports hate crime data to ODIHR. Moldova’s hate crime laws consist of a combination of general and specific penalty-enhancement provisions. Hate crime data are collected by the Information Centre of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the police, the General Prosecutor’s Office and the National Bureau of Statistics.

SELECT YEAR

OFFICIAL DATA

Year	Hate crimes recorded by police	Prosecuted	Sentenced
2020	8	2	2
2019	Not available	Not available	Not available
2018	10	5	41
2017	17	5	10
2016	5	5	5
2015	0	0	1
2014	1	1	Not available
2013	4	Not available	0
2012	3	Not available	Not available
2011	Not available	Not available	Not available
2010	Not available	Not available	Not available
2009	2	0	0

National developments

In 2015, the Ministry of Justice continued a consultation process, through an inter-institutional working group, to revise and improve Moldova's criminal code provisions addressing hate crimes.

Incidents reported by civil society, international organizations and the Holy See

Download incident data

Reports

Anti-Semitic hate crime

The Jewish Community of the Republic of Moldova and the OSCE Mission to Moldova reported an incident of vandalism, in which a swastika and other insulting inscriptions were drawn on the wall of a Jewish school.

Anti-LGBTI hate crime

The Information Center "GenderDoc-M" and the OSCE Mission to Moldova reported a physical assault carried out by a group targeting a transgender woman and her husband, and a physical assault that involved a robbery. "GenderDoc-M" also reported an additional five physical assaults, including one carried out by a group and one that caused serious injury; two attempted assaults; two incidents in which rainbow flags were stolen from an LGBT-rights organization; one incident of vandalism; and four threats.

INTERNATIONAL REPORTS

Racist and xenophobic hate crime

The OSCE Mission to Moldova participated in the work of an inter-institutional working group established by the Ministry of Justice to revise and improve the existing legal framework for combating hate crimes. The Mission also facilitated the Ministry of Justice's request to ODIHR to review the draft law prepared by this working group.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) supported a number of training initiatives related to refugees and hate crimes, organized in co-operation with the European Asylum Support Office (EASO), the Bureau for Migration and Asylum (BMA), judicial officials and civil society.

KEY OBSERVATION

ODIHR observes – in the context of the disparity between reported official and IGO/NGO information – that reliable data can only be collected through mechanisms that capture all cases reported to law enforcement, and that the victims should be encouraged to report hate crimes.