Poland | HCRW

Poland regularly reports hate crime data to ODIHR. Several public bodies are involved in monitoring and/or collecting data on hate crimes, primarily the police and the Prosecutor's Office. Hate crime data are regularly published.

There is a high degree of hate crime specialization in both police and prosecutor structures. More than 100 specialist hate crime prosecutors have been appointed, and a network of hate crime co-ordinators was established in the police in 2014. In 2015, following a request by the lower house of parliament, ODIHR provided a legislative review of proposed changes to the Criminal Code of Poland, including on hate crime provisions.

In 2023, Polish police participated in a three-day train-the-trainer workshop as part of ODIHR's Training Against Hate Crime for Law Enforcement (TAHCLE). In 2018, the Ministry of the Interior, ODIHR and the EU Fundamental Rights Agency co-organized a workshop on understanding and improving hate crime recording and data collection based on ODIHR's Information Against Hate Crimes Toolkit (INFAHCT) programme. In 2019, ODIHR co-operated with the Commissioner for Human Rights in Poland to issue a report on the nature and scale of unreported hate crimes against members of selected communities in Poland.

A draft bill is being developed to amend the Penal Code to strengthen criminal law protection against criminal discriminatory grounds for conduct on the basis of disability, age, gender, sexual orientation, and gender identity.

SELECT YEAR

Download the 2010 hate crime report for Poland

OFFICIAL DATA REPORTED BY STATES

Year	Hate crimes recorded by police	Prosecuted	Sentenced
2023	893	386	296
2022	1,180	440	312
2021	997	466	339
2020	826	374	266
2019	972	432	597
2018	1117	397	315
2017	886	320	260
2016	874	281	236
2015	263	229	195
2014	778	179	127
2013	757	116	53
2012	266	76	39
2011	222	43	24
2010	251	30	28
2009	194	29	27

About 2010 Data

Figures include crimes of incitement to hatred.

Download official data

National developments

Poland continued implementing ODIHR’s police training programme on hate crimes, training 50 individuals at the national level. Approximately 21,000 police officers at the local level were also trained in addressing hate crimes. The Ministry of Interior and Administration, together with the police, produced an auxiliary training manual on hate crimes to support the police, in collaboration with the General Prosecutor’s Officer, ODIHR and the Never Again Association, an NGO. During an expert seminar in December 2010, the Ministry of Interior and Administration delivered the results of a mapping exercise of hate crimes, including types of crimes, locations and common targets, based on information from public institutions and NGOs.

KEY OBSERVATION

No information is available.

Incidents reported by civil society, international organizations and the Holy See

Reports

Anti-Semitic hate crime

The Never Again Association reported a series of anti-Semitic attacks on property, three cases of damage to property (one targeted a non-Jewish man associated with promoting Polish-Jewish relations), four cases of graffiti on property, one case of damage to a place of worship and four incidents of graffiti on places of worship. The Stephen Roth Institute reported seven hate incidents.

Anti-LGBTI hate crime

The Campaign against Homophobia (KPH) reported one physical assault during the Warsaw Independence Day parade, 31 attacks involving weapons, 103 physical assaults and 28 cases involving graffiti or destruction of property.

Hate crime against Christians and members of other religions

The Holy See reported three cases of damage to Church property, the desecration of a cemetery and two cases of vandalism of Christian sites.

Racist and xenophobic hate crime

Never Again Association and the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights both reported one physical assault. Never Again Association reported additional incidents, including eight physical assaults, four of which involved serious bodily injury, one case of threats, two cases of graffiti on property, one case of graffiti on a place of worship, and one attack involving arson and damage to and graffiti on property. The Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights reported one additional physical assault.

Anti-Roma hate crime

The Never Again Association reported one attack by a group against a Roma family. The incident was reported to be part of a repeated series of attacks beginning in 2009.

Developments

Anti-Semitic hate crime

The Never Again Association reported that in March 2010, prison sentences ranging from 18 months to two-and-a-half years were handed down to those convicted of stealing the historic sign at the entrance gate to the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. In December 2010, a former member of the National Socialist Front (Nationalsocialistisk Front), a Swedish neo-Nazi organization, was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison for instigating the theft.

Racist and xenophobic hate crime

In Poland and Ukraine, the Never Again Association, in conjunction with the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), organized training for officials and stewards about racism and football ahead of the 2012 European football championship. The Never Again Association also prepared information booklets about monitoring football- related racist crime.

INTERNATIONAL REPORTS

Racist and xenophobic hate crime, Anti-Semitic hate crime

The UN Human Rights Committee expressed concern about Poland’s reportedly low rate of investigation and prosecution of crimes potentially motivated by racial hatred. It also noted with concern “persistent manifestations of anti-Semitism, including physical attacks and desecration of Jewish cemeteries”.