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The UN General Assembly adopted Resolution 65/249, as part of the follow-up to the Durban Declaration, which addressed the state’s responsibility to address hate crime, noting the need to adopt effective measures to combat criminal acts motivated by racism, xenophobia and related intolerance, including adopting measures to ensure that such motivations are considered as aggravating circumstances for sentencing purposes.

The UN Human Rights Council adopted Resolution 18/15, on the incompatibility between democracy and racism, which recognizes that groups in vulnerable situations, such as migrants, refugees, asylum-seekers and people belonging to national, ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, are subject to violence from extremist groups, and emphasizes states’ obligation to prevent crimes against migrants perpetrated with racist or xenophobic motivations, and to investigate and punish such crimes.

In a report on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance and the implementation of General Assembly Resolution 65/199, the UN Special Rapporteur on Racism made a number of recommendations with regard to combating hate crimes, including ensuring that racial motivation is considered an aggravating circumstance under law and that such crimes are properly investigated and sanctioned. He also encouraged awareness-raising about hate crimes, especially with regard to victims’ rights to judicial remedies and engagement with affected communities. In addition, the Special Rapporteur highlighted the lack of disaggregated data as an obstacle to addressing racist crimes.

In his 2011 report on the human rights of migrants, the Special Rapporteur noted with concern that migrants face increasing intolerance and are vulnerable to potential racist and xenophobic violence, especially in cases where their irregular status makes them unable or afraid to seek protection.

The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) published its General Policy Recommendation No. 13 on combating anti-Gypsyism and discrimination against Roma. The recommendation includes measures on combating intolerance against Roma in the media, while respecting the principle of media freedom, and on combating racist violence and crimes against Roma by, inter alia, training criminal justice practitioners, recording hate crimes against Roma and Sinti and encouraging victims to report these crimes to the police.

The EU Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) issued its Working Paper on Anti-Semitism, which included developments for 2010. It also announced that, due to the lack of robust and comparable data showing the extent to which Jews in the EU are subject to discrimination, hate crime and hate speech, it would launch a major survey of the Jewish population in EU Member States on issues of discrimination and experiences and perceptions of hate crime, as well as awareness of available legal remedies.

The United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 66/167 on Combating negative stereotyping, stigmatization, discrimination, incitement to violence and violence against persons based on religion or belief. The Resolution condemns acts of violence targeting persons or property based on their religious association and calls on states to protect religious sites subject to destruction and vandalism.

The UN Human Rights Council adopted Resolution 16/13, on freedom of religion or belief, which noted with concern acts of violence directed at religious minorities and condemned violence motivated by a bias against religion. The Resolution also emphasized that states should take measures to prevent, investigate and punish such acts, and that the failure to do so may constitute a human rights violation.

The Human Rights Council also adopted Resolution 17/19, which directed the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to conduct a study “documenting discriminatory laws and practices and acts of violence against individuals based on their sexual orientation and gender identity, in all regions of the world, and how international human rights law can be used to end violence and related human rights violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity”. The Resolution was adopted by a vote of 21 to 18, with three abstentions.

The High Commissioner’s report under Resolution 17/19 was issued in November 2011. It stated that international human rights law protects all rights of LGBT persons and that states have the obligation to prevent violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The report noted that typical acts of violence experienced by the LGBT community (murders, assaults with serious physical injuries and rapes) occur in all regions and outlined many types of discrimination faced by LGBT persons. The High Commissioner recommended, inter alia, that Member States investigate promptly all serious acts of violence committed against people because of their actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity; repeal all laws that criminalize homosexuality; and enact comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation that includes discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity.

The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights published the report Discrimination on Grounds of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in Europe, which included a comprehensive chapter on violence and hate crimes against LGBT persons.

The EU Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) published the report Homophobia, transphobia and discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity in the EU Member States - Summary of findings, trends, challenges and promising practices. This publication sets out a list of policy challenges, and possible initiatives on combating hate crime and addressing anti-LGBT abuse and violence.

The NGO TransInterQueer e.V. produced a toolkit of good practices for transgender activists and allies working for transgender equality, rights and inclusion, entitled And Others! Argumentation Training for Transgender Inclusion in Europe. It includes information on advocacy techniques when working with civil servants and public authorities to improve responses to hate crime.

The NGO ILGA-Europe produced a guide to legal strategies and approaches in relation to developing inclusive hate crime legislation in the EU. ILGA-Europe also produced a toolkit for European NGOs interested in developing police training on investigating and preventing hate crimes against LGBT people. It aims to support this work by presenting various methodologies and case studies that police forces and NGOs can draw from when designing and delivering their own training programmes.