Racist and xenophobic hate crime

Racism is prejudice or hostility towards a person's race, colour, language, nationality, or national or ethnic origin. While some communities are particularly vulnerable, any ethnic group can be the target of racism. Intolerant discourse in the media or from politicians can lead to increased racist sentiments towards migrants and other minorities, including in the form of scapegoating in times of economic crisis. ODIHR's annual reporting on hate crime in the OSCE area has demonstrated that racist attacks can take a range of forms, targeting people from diverse groups across the region. Violent attacks by groups of perpetrators against migrants and ethnic minorities, as well as damage to businesses and property owned by or associated with established ethnic communities are common features of this type of crime.

The OSCE has long recognized the threat to international security posed by racism, xenophobia and related forms of intolerance. Participating States condemned racial and ethnic hatred as early 1990. At the Ministerial Council meeting in Maastricht in 2003, participating States committed themselves to combat hate crimes fuelled by racist or xenophobic propaganda and to publicly denounce such crimes.

Most participating States reported that they record hate crime data according to at least one category related to racism and xenophobia, such as "race"/colour, nationality/ethnicity/national origin, citizenship or language. The differences in recording and reporting policies among participating States present a number of challenges for ODIHR when interpreting and verifying information received. Data from different participating States can be incomparable due, for example, to inconsistencies about which groups are legally protected and monitored. There is also a risk that the same data might be double counted in general statistics. For example, anti-Semitic hate crime might be reported separately or included under the broader category of racist hate crime, or both. While the number of NGOs reporting to ODIHR has increased, victims' negative experiences in police responses and a lack of capacity of NGOs to monitor and report on the phenomenon contribute to the problem of under-reporting.

ODIHR TANDIS

International Reports

Belgium

In the case of Cakir v. Belgium, involving a Belgian citizen of Turkish origin who brought criminal proceedings against the police for physical and racist verbal abuse by police officers during his arrest and detention, the European Court of Human Rights found that the Belgian authorities had failed to take all reasonable measures to determine whether the police officers had engaged in criminal conduct and whether the alleged criminal conduct had a racist motivation. This case reaffirms states’ duties under the European Convention of Human Rights to actively investigate and prosecute potentially racist crimes when there is a reasonable appearance of bias motivation.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

The UN Human Rights Council, in its Universal Periodic Review, made a number of recommendations related to addressing racism and xenophobia, and specifically encouraged Bosnia and Herzegovina to improve legislation to combat racist crimes.

ODIHR's police training programme on hate crime was implemented in 2009 in Bosnia and Herzegovina. 

Canada

The OSCE Chairperson in Office’s Personal Representative on Combating Racism, Xenophobia and Discrimination, also focusing on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians and Members of Other Religions went on a joint visit with the other Personal Representatives to Canada. There, he emphasized the importance of training criminal justice agencies in addressing hate crimes.

Germany

The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) strongly encouraged the German authorities to “take a more comprehensive approach to the phenomenon of racist, xenophobic and antisemitic violence”. It also raised concerns over anti-Semitism and intolerance and discrimination against Muslims.

Greece

The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) strongly encouraged the authorities in Greece to “combat racist crimes more actively”. It also expressed concern about anti-Semitism.

In Greece, in May 2009, a police officer allegedly defaced an extract of the Koran during an identity check on an Iraqi man. This led to demonstrations by the Muslim community that degenerated into violent clashes with the police. More than ten people were injured, dozens of cars were badly damaged and 46 people were arrested. In the two days following the protests, an unidentified group of people in Agios Panteleimonas set fire to a building used for prayer by the Muslim community. UNHCR reported that “members of extreme-right organizations and some local residents abused human rights activists”. The playground in Agios Panteleimonas where Afghan mothers used to go with their children was closed and immigrants have since been kept out of the square by local squads of vigilantes. A Greek flag has been raised inside the closed playground.

Hungary

ODIHR organized a workshop for government officials, aimed at increasing awareness of hate crimes and developing effective responses.

The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) recommended that the Hungarian authorities introduce systematic and comprehensive monitoring of racist incidents. It also expressed concern about anti-Semitism.

Italy

The UN Human Rights Council, in its Universal Periodic Review, made a number of recommendations related to addressing racism and xenophobia, and specifically encouraged Italy to improve legislation to combat racist crimes.

Malta

The United Nations Human Rights Council, in its periodic country review reports, made a number of recommendations related to addressing racism and xenophobia in Malta.

Monaco

The UN Human Rights Council, in its Universal Periodical Review, encouraged Monaco to improve legislation to combat racist crimes.

North Macedonia

ODIHR organized a workshop for civil society aimed at increasing awareness of hate crimes and developing effective responses.

Norway

The UN Human Rights Council, in its Universal Periodical Review,  made a number of recommendations related to addressing racism and xenophobia in Norway, including encouraging Norway to improve its data-collection systems.

The European Commission against Racism and Intolernace (ECRI) recommended that the Norwegian authorities monitor the Internet activities of extreme right-wing groups and take firm action against any offences they commit through the Internet.

Poland

ODIHR's police training programme on hate crime was implemented in 2009 in Poland.

Portugal

The UN Human Rights Council, in its Universal Periodical Review, encouraged Portugal to improve legislation to combat racist crimes.

Slovakia

The UN Human Rights Council, in its Universal Periodical Review, encouraged Slovakia to improve the investigation and prosecution of racist crimes.

Slovenia

The UN Human Rights Council, in its Universal Periodical Review, encouraged Slovenia to improve legislation to combat racist crimes.

Ukraine

UNHCR reported anti-Semitic and xenophobic graffiti painted on the office of the NGO Chernihiv Civic Committee for the Protection of Human Rights. The incident was reported to the police.

United States of America

The OSCE Chairperson in Office’s Personal Representative on Combating Racism, Xenophobia and Discrimination, also focusing on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians and Members of Other Religions went on a joint visit with the other Personal Representatives to the United States. There, he emphasized the importance of training criminal justice agencies in addressing hate crimes.

OSCE Region

The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) noted concern over racial and xenophobic crimes in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Slovakia, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. The Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe mentioned racism and xenophobia in his reports on visits to Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey.

The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) and the UN Human Rights Council, in their periodic country review reports, made a number of recommendations related to addressing racism and xenophobia in OSCE participating States. The CERD recommendations were included in reports on the Netherlands, Poland and Slovakia. The Human Rights Council recommendations related to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Italy, Malta, Norway, Portugal and Slovenia.

The EU Framework Decision on combating certain forms and expressions of racism and xenophobia by means of criminal law was adopted in November 2008.69 The decision seeks to ensure harmonization across the European Union of clear and comprehensive legislation with respect to racist and xenophobic crimes. Article 4 of the decision requires that racist and xenophobic motives for criminal acts be considered as aggravating features of crimes that courts should take account of when imposing sentences.

EU Member States are required to review their legislation for compliance with the framework decision by November 2010. ODIHR followed up with the EU to obtain information on states that had harmonized their legislation in accordance with the decision but that information was still under examination by the relevant agencies at the time of writing of this report.

The OSCE Ministerial Council, meeting in Athens in December 2009, adopted a decision on “Combating Hate Crimes”, the first decision ever adopted by the OSCE dealing entirely with this issue. The decision expressed concern over hate crimes throughout the OSCE region and called on participating States to take a number of steps to address the problem, which included collecting reliable data, tailoring appropriate legislation, assisting victims and raising awareness.

In May 2009, ODIHR and the OSCE Chairmanship organized a Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting in Vienna on “Hate Crimes – Effective Implementation of Legislation”. The meeting raised awareness about the need for political leadership to combat hate crimes. It also allowed for a discussion of practices and challenges in this field and assisted participating States in taking stock of their progress in the implementation of commitments in this area.

ODIHR issued two new publications in 2009 to assist participating States and civil society organizations in addressing hate crimes more effectively. Hate Crime Laws: A Practical Guide provides guidance for lawmakers and others on effective approaches to drafting hate crime legislation. Preventing and Responding to Hate Crimes: A Resource Guide for NGOs in the OSCE Region provides practical advice on how NGOs can most effectively respond to hate crime and includes a list of useful resources.

The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) encouraged Belgium, the Czech Republic and Switzerland to improve implementation of legislation “to combat racist and xenophobic violence”. ECRI recommended that the authorities in Bulgaria and Slovakia conduct campaigns to raise awareness of the seriousness of racist crimes and of the fact that the perpetrators would be duly punished.

ODIHR organized a number of events and activities to address the problems of racism and xenophobia. In May, ODIHR and the OSCE Chairmanship organized a Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting on “Hate Crimes – Effective Implementation of Legislation”. This meeting highlighted the importance of improving legislation on hate crimes and identifying the barriers to effective implementation of such legislation. In addition, as mentioned earlier, ODIHR published two practical handbooks: Hate Crimes Laws – a Practical Guide, and Preventing and Responding to Hate Crimes, A Resource Guide for NGOs in the OSCE Region. Throughout the year, ODIHR continued to provide support to OSCE participating States in the area of police training on hate crimes.

The continuing global economic downturn in 2009 contributed to public expressions of racism and xenophobia. This issue was discussed at a roundtable meeting entitled “Racism in the OSCE region: Old issues, New Challenges”, organized by ODIHR in March 2009, at which participants explored the relationship between hate crime and the economic crisis. This issue was also reflected in the OSCE Ministerial Council Decision on Combating Hate Crimes, adopted on 2 December 2009 in Athens, in which participating States recognized “that the global economic downturn may increase incidents of hate crimes in the OSCE area”.