Official figures record 194 racist and xenophobic crimes, including 60 physical assaults, 12 property damage crimes, four cases of vandalism, 100 cases of threats and 18 other crimes, including nine crimes involving weapons and drug possession, and nine unspecified crimes.
Italian authorities committed themselves to implementing ODIHR’s TAHCLE programme. Co-operation was institutionalized by signing a Memorandum of Understanding between ODIHR and the Ministry of Interior’s Department of Public Security - Central Directorate of Criminal Police. The first training sessions are scheduled to take place in 2014. The implementation will include training 100 National Police cadets and 60 Carabinieri cadets, as well as a training of trainers for Police chief executives and Carabinieri officials.
The Observatory for Security against Acts of Discrimination (OSCAD) officials and experts from the National Office against Racial Discrimination (UNAR) conducted interactive workshops on preventing and countering hate crimes. Two thousand eight hundred National Police Officers were trained to: better understand the concepts of “stereotype”, “bias” and “discrimination”; improve attitude towards victims of violence; internalize best practices in dealing with discriminatory crime based on bias against sexual orientation, race/ethnicity, and gender.
Italian authorities adopted a national strategy to prevent and combat discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity. As a result, courses and workshops for National Police and Carabinieri on recognizing and preventing hate crime against LGBT are scheduled for 2014. Furthermore, a 2013-2015 National action plan against racism, xenophobia and intolerance is being developed.
This category includes crimes registered as committed with a bias against “Race/color”, “Ethnicity/national origin/minority”, “Citizenship”, “Language” and “Roma and Sinti”.
Official figures record 226 anti-religious crimes, including 13 physical assaults, 90 property damage crimes, four cases of vandalism, 39 of threats and 80 other crimes, including three committed online and 77 unspecified.
This category includes anti-Semitic, anti-Muslim, anti-Christian and all other anti-religious hate crimes.
Official figures record 52 crimes against LGBT persons, including one homicide, 22 physical assaults, three cases of incitement to violence, three property damage crimes, 22 of threats and one other crime.
The Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians and the Italian Observatory on Christianophobia reported 23 incidents of the desecration of places of worship, one of which was also reported by the Holy See. The Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians recorded one additional desecration incident. Both observatories reported three incidents of damage to property and four incidents of arson, with the Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians reporting an additional arson. This organization also reported one incident of graffiti. World Without Nazism reported two incident of the desecration of a place of worship and two incidents of damage to property.
The LGBTI Centre reported 24 assaults, including 12 physical assaults resulting in serious injuries, in which the perpetrators used knives and guns, and two attacks carried by groups. The organization also reported one incident of graffiti and 42 cases of threats.
Association 21 July, World Without Nazism and Lunaria reported one physical assault, in which acid was thrown at a Roma woman and her child, resulting in serious injuries. Lunaria reported a further two physical assaults, including one carried out by a group against a ten-year-old boy, and one attempted arson attack against a Roma settlement. Association 21 July also reported two attacks in the space of two days against a Roma settlement, causing serious injuries.
Lunaria reported two murders, one in which the victim was stabbed and one in which the victim was beaten. Both victims were of Bangladeshi origin. Lunaria reported 56 physical assaults, including 25 that caused serious injuries, 20 that were carried out by groups and six that also involved theft. The above-mentioned attacks often caused injuries to multiple victims and involved the use of metal bars or bottles as weapons. World Without Nazism reported an attack involving physical assaults against four people.
World Without Nazism reported fifteen incidents of graffiti, two incidents of the desecration of Jewish cemeteries and two incident of threats.
The Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson‑in‑Office on combating anti-Semitism conducted a country visit to Italy. Following the visit, the Personal Representative presented his recommendations, which included preventative educational and awareness‑raising efforts and training for police and prosecutors.
The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) published findings from a survey on experiences and perceptions of anti-Semitism conducted in Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Sweden and the United Kingdom. The survey showed that many respondents have been victims of anti-Semitic violence and harassment, and feared becoming hate crime victims in the future. The survey also mapped the extent of unreported anti-Semitic hate crime. FRA recommended that EU Member States consider taking a number of steps to improve the reporting, recording, investigating and prosecuting of hate crimes.
The Holy See reported nine cases of the desecration of cemeteries, ten cases of church burglaries or thefts during which the hosts were stolen and two cases of vandalism motivated by bias against Christians. Italian authorities reported back that religious bias motivation was not registered in those cases.
ODIHR observes that Italy has not reported on hate crimes separately from cases of hate speech and/or discrimination.