In 2019, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, together with ODIHR and FRA, organized a workshop for police and other criminal justice agencies involved in recording hate crimes. The workshop produced a set of recommendations on improving hate crime registration, which were provided to the Ministry to be conveyed to the Bulgarian authorities for implementation.
A training on the "Investigation of hate crimes on homophobic and transphobic motives", organized by the LGBT youth organization Action, was held as part of a project funded by the American Bar Asssociation. The aim of the project was to increase sensitivity to the problems of the LGBTI community in Bulgaria and to improve the investigation of crimes committed against LGBTI people. Forty-seven officers (including investigative police officers, security police officers and criminal police operatives) from various District Police Directorates in the country were trained.
The Office of the Grand Mufti reported seven cases of graffiti, including four against mosques and three against the offices of the Grand Mufti; five cases of property damage, including four against mosques and one against graves; and nine physical assaults, three of which resulted in serious injury.
During the Universal Periodic Review, the Human Rights Council encouraged increased efforts to combat violence and discrimination against Roma in Bulgaria.
The Human Rights Committee, overseeing implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, noted recent manifestations of intolerance against religious minorities, especially Muslims, in Bulgaria. The Committee further recommended that Bulgaria take measures to promote the prevention, prosecution and punishment of hate crimes, including against Muslims, and to conduct awareness-raising campaigns targeting both affected communities and society at large.
UNHCR, the Office of the Grand Mufti and the NGO A World Without Nazism all reported a series of physical assaults against worshippers and damage to the Sofia Mosque, connected to the demonstrations staged by the Ataka party, and one case of threats at a mosque.
Bulgarian legislation was amended to increase the applicable penalty range for the specific crimes of homicide and bodily harm when committed due to racist or xenophobic motives. The criminal code already contains some hate crime provisions that prohibit the use of violence against a person or his or her property, as well as participating in a group attack against a person, because of his or her “race”, nationality, ethnic origin, religion or political conviction. These provisions were also amended to increase the applicable penalty range.
The Prosecutor General issued guidelines on investigation and prosecution of crimes against the equality of citizens.
Official figures record one case of incitement to violence.
Links
[1] https://hatecrime.osce.org/node/7/csv
[2] https://hatecrime.osce.org/ngo/office-grand-mufti
[3] https://hatecrime.osce.org/what-hate-crime/bias-against-muslims
[4] https://hatecrime.osce.org/igo/united-nations-office-high-commisioner-human-rights
[5] https://hatecrime.osce.org/what-hate-crime/bias-against-roma-and-sinti
[6] https://hatecrime.osce.org/igo/unhcr
[7] https://hatecrime.osce.org/what-hate-crime/racism-and-xenophobia