In 2020, specific criminal liability was introduced for the destruction or damage of military graves, as well as monuments to the "defenders of the country", memorial museums, or memorial signs at the sites of hostilities, as well as monuments, other memorial structures or objects dedicated to persons who defended "the Fatherland" or its interests, in order to damage the historical and cultural significance of such objects. At the same time, these acts were exempt from Article 244 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (Desecration of corpses and burial places); the mentioned offences are covered by Article 243.4 of the Criminal Code.
The "Unspecified" section includes extremist crimes of a non-violent nature, which may fall outside of the OSCE's definition of hate crime
The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) published relevant recommendations in its "Concluding observations on the tenth periodic report of the Russian Federation".
ODIHR recognizes the Russian Federation's efforts in reporting on hate crimes to ODIHR regularly. However, based on the available information, it observes that the law enforcement agencies of the Russian Federation have not been recording the bias motivations behind hate crimes. In addition, ODIHR observes that the Russian Federation 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 committed to promptly investigating hate crimes and ensuring that the motives of those convicted of hate crimes are acknowledged. To that end, the law enforcement agencies must, first of all, record the bias motivations behind hate crimes. In the same Ministerial Council Decision 9/09, participating States have 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 the Russian Federation 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 17 hate incidents reported by SOVA as statistics.