In 2022, amendments were made to the Criminal Code to include skin colour and ethnic origin among other protected characteristics.
In 2022, 140 police officers participated in the five training sessions on "Strengthening of Intercultural Competences in the Fight Against Hate Crimes", organized by the Human Rights Monitoring Institute with the support of Lithuanian and international experts and representatives of victimized communities. During the training, attention was paid to learning about different communities (Muslim, Roma, and Jewish communities, and communities of immigrants from the Middle East and Africa), linking this knowledge to the recognition and investigation of hate crimes.
Also in 2022, 31 judges participated in an eight-hour training event on "Hate crimes: legal and psychological aspects". Training topics included the concept and recognition of hate crimes; recognizing and distinguishing between hate speech and hate crime; court practice in dealing with hate crime and hate speech offences; the practice of the European Court of Human Rights and national courts; the criminal process for these types of criminal cases; the impact of hate crimes and hate speech on victims and victimized communities; the needs of hate crime victims; and communicating with hate crime victims.
This category only includes hate crimes committed with a bias based on sexual orientation.
ODIHR recognizes Lithuania's efforts to improve the hate crime data recording and collection system. However, based on the available information, it observes the low numbers of officially recorded hate crimes. In addition, Lithuania would benefit from building the capacity of prosecutors and judges to address hate crime.
ODIHR recalls that in Ministerial Council Decisions 9/09 and 12/04, OSCE participating States committed to collect reliable data and statistics, take appropriate measures to encourage victims to report hate crimes – including through co-operation with civil society – and to make use of all reliable information available. To that end, a robust system for recording hate crime and initiatives to encourage victims to report such crimes must be introduced. Participating States have also committed to introducing or further developing professional training and capacity-building activities for law enforcement, prosecution, and judicial officials dealing with hate crimes.
ODIHR stands ready to support Lithuania 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 by providing further tailored capacity-building assistance for the prosecution and judiciary.
🛈 ODIHR no longer presents descriptions of property attacks in the incident tables below. Data on property attacks are presented in the breakdown charts above. One property attack may target multiple properties or involve multiple types of attack.