The Social Action Centre implemented a legal assistance project for victims of racist crimes, funded by the German foundation Stiftung Erinnerung, Verantwortung und Zukunft. Through the project, pro bono legal assistance was offered to victims of 13 incidents in Kyiv, Lugansk, Khmelnitskiy, Kharkiv, Vinnytsa and Donetsk.
The Euro-Asian Jewish Congress reported 48 physical assaults.
The Kantor Center reported five cases of graffiti on memorials to Jewish individuals; one case of graffiti on a synagogue; two cases of graffiti on a Holocaust memorial; one case of property damage to gravestones in a cemetery; and one case in which a mass Jewish grave was uncovered and the remains scattered. The remains were re-buried by the Jewish community.
The “Our World” Gay and Lesbian Centre reported two cases of threats, one of which involved graffiti; and two physical assaults, both involving serious injury and requiring hospital treatment.
UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) recommended that Ukraine re-activate its working group on xenophobia and ethnic and racial intolerance, as well as systems for investigating and combating ethnic crimes; effectively investigate reported hate crimes and ensure that police refrain from racial profiling; prosecute and punish hate crimes; and expand human rights training for law-enforcement authorities.
The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) recommended that Ukraine ensure that racist offences are consistently reported and recorded in the criminal justice system as a means to improve tracking of cases across the criminal justice system; intensify its efforts to combat bias-motivated violence through effective punishment; and deliver training for all criminal justice system agencies on implementing criminal provisions. In its adopted reports for 2011, ECRI noted cases of violence against Roma in Ukraine.
IOM and Diversity Initiative reported 23 physical assaults, including 12 assaults by groups and four assaults resulting in serious injury. The majority of victims were migrants of African and Asian origin. The IOM and Diversity Initiative also reported two cases of property damage, including one case of arson.