Poland

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.

Poland has implemented ODIHR's Training Against Hate Crime for Law Enforcement (TAHCLE) programme since 2012. 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. Poland also developed and piloted a methodology for conducting victimization surveys as part of ODIHR's project on "Building a Comprehensive Criminal Justice Response to Hate Crime". 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.

SELECT YEAR

OFFICIAL DATA

Year	Hate crimes recorded by police	Prosecuted	Sentenced
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 2015 Data

The drop in the total amount of cases recorded by the police is due to the capacity of Poland to disaggregate hate crime cases from offenses related to hate speech or discrimination, which was not the case in previous years. Prosecutors and sentencing figure include cases of hate speech and discrimination.

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National developments

A working group on countering hate crimes was created. The main objectives of the group are to facilitate communication between relevant actors and design tailored reactions to hate crimes. The working group is composed of representatives from groups that experience hate crimes, civil society groups working on hate crime issues, representatives of the Ministry of the Interior, the administration and the police, as well as representatives of other institutions as necessary (e.g., the Ombudsman, Boarder Guard and other ministries).

On 1 July 2015, a modified electronic statistical charter was introduced that obliges courts to provide information on the motivation of hate crime perpetrators. These changes were aimed at enhancing the hate crime data-collection process and ensuring more effective monitoring of perpetrators' motivation.

On 16 September 2015 the National Jurisdiction and Prosecution School of Poland and ODIHR signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the implementation of the Prosecutors and Hate Crime Training (PAHCT) programme. Training began in December 2015.

KEY OBSERVATION

ODIHR observes that Poland has met most OSCE commitments on hate crime data collection and reporting. ODIHR further observes that recording of bias motivations by police should be further strengthened and such data reported to ODIHR.

INCIDENTS REPORTED BY OTHER SOURCES

Total Incidents
Targeted properties
Type of property attacks

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

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Reports

Disability hate crime

The Never Again Association reported two physical assaults resulting in serious injuries.

Hate crime against Christians and members of other religions

The Holy See reported two physical assaults on Catholic priests, one of which involved the theft of parish property. The Holy See also reported one burglary in a church, one incident of vandalism and two incidents of the desecration of places of worship. The Polish authorities reported back that in one of the desecration cases, a perpetrator was charged with a hate crime, whereas no bias motivation could be confirmed in the other incidents.

The Ordo Iuris Institute for Legal Culture, the Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians in Europe and the European Centre for Democracy Development reported an incident in which a Catholic church was vandalized with graffiti. The Ordo Iuris Institute for Legal Culture reported ten additional cases of vandalism, one of which involved graffiti on a church; five thefts, and four incidents of the desecration of churches. The Never Again Association reported one additional incident of vandalism.

Jehovah's Witnesses – Poland reported two incidents in which graffiti were sprayed on places of worship.

Racist and xenophobic hate crime

The Open Dialog Foundation reported an incident of vandalism targeting Ukrainians. ILGA-Europe and Lambda Warsaw reported a physical attack on a foreigner. ILGA-Europe and the Antidiscrimination Education Society (TEA) reported a physical assault on a 12-year old boy.

Anti-Semitic hate crime

The Never Again Association, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the European Centre for Democracy Development reported the desecration of a Jewish cemetery. The ADL and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported the desecration of a grave in a Jewish cemetery.

Anti-Muslim hate crime

The Never Again Association, SETA and the European Centre for Democracy Development reported one incident of vandalism against a mosque. SETA and the Never Again Association reported one incident of the desecration of a mosque and one incident of damage to property incident in which a Muslim-owned store was fired-upon and stoned.

Anti-LGBTI hate crime

ILGA-Europe and the Campaign Against Homophobia (KPH) reported five physical assaults, including one carried out by a group, and one threat against a lesbian woman and her partner. ILGA-Europe, Lambda Warsaw, and the Never Again Association reported two physical assaults, and one incident in which two groups clashed during the Equality Parade.

ILGA-Europe and Lambda Warsaw also reported seven physical assaults, two of which were carried out by groups; and one incident of damage to property. The Never Again Association reported one additional incident of physical assault carried out by a group that caused serious injuries, one incident of threats and one homophobic graffiti.