The numbers presented here refer to police investigations that were initiated as hate crimes. Incidents of hate speech, which fall outside of the OSCE's definition of hate crime, were not taken into account.
32 hate crimes in this category were motivated by bias against sexual orientation, and 10 cases of incitement to violence were committed with a bias against gender identity.
ODIHR recognizes Poland's past efforts in training police on hate crimes through ODIHR's TAHCLE programme and in reporting annual hate crime data to ODIHR. However, based on the available information, it observes that Poland's hate crime recording and statistics do not sufficiently distinguish hate crimes from other crimes. In addition, ODIHR observes that Poland would benefit from reviewing its existing legal framework in order to ensure that bias motivations can be effectively acknowledged and appropriate penalties can be imposed on the perpetrators.
ODIHR recalls that in the Ministerial Council Decision 9/09, participating States have agreed to a definition of hate crime shared by all OSCE participating States. They have also committed to collecting reliable data and statistics on hate crimes. To that end, hate crimes need to be distinguished throughout the recording and data collection process from crimes of incitement to hatred and other hate speech offences. In the Ministerial Council Decision 9/09, participating States have also committed to enacting specific, tailored legislation to combat hate crimes, providing for effective penalties that take into account the gravity of such crimes. ODIHR stands ready to support Poland in meeting its relevant commitments through the provision of comprehensive resources and tailored assistance in the area of hate crime recording and data collection as well as further resources and tailored legislative advice.
In addition to incidents summarized below, this graph includes 2 hate incidents reported by Kantor Center as statistics.