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

The UN Human Rights Committee encouraged Belgium to intensify its efforts to prosecute and punish racist crimes as well as anti-Semitic crimes and “Islamophobic” crimes.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) encouraged endeavours to combat ethnic prejudice, and the application of criminal provisions to hate crimes in Bosnia and Herzegovina. 

The UN Human Rights Council, in its Universal Periodic Review, encouraged Bosnia and Herzegovina to apply criminal provisions on hate crimes.

The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) noted that attackers continued to damage religious sites in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It also recommended that all “incidents of alleged racist violence be thoroughly and promptly investigated” and that the authorities “introduce systematic and comprehensive monitoring of all incidents which may constitute racist violence.”

Croatia

The UN Human Rights Council, in its Universal Periodic Review, encouraged Croatia to continue the establishment of a systematic process for monitoring and responding to hate crimes.

Estonia

The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) encouraged endeavours to include ethnic, racial or religious motivation as an aggravating circumstance in the criminal code.

The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) noted that police need an increased awareness of the problem of racist crimes and recommended that “police thoroughly investigate racist crime” and that the “authorities establish and operate a system for recording and monitoring racist incidents.”

France

The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) encouraged France to continue its training for police, prosecutors and judges on criminal-law provisions to combat racism, to improve systematic responses to complainants in racist acts, and to improve recording of racist incidents.

Georgia

The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) recommended the implementation of publicawareness campaigns about the existence of hate crime laws, as well as encouragement of victim reporting. It also urged authorities to “reinforce their efforts to combat violent manifestations of religious intolerance involving physical assault and/or attacks on property”.

Hungary

The UN Human Rights Committee recommended that Hungary should ensure proper training for judges, prosecutors and police to recognize hate crimes.

Kazakhstan

The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) noted its concern on the limited information and low numbers from Kazakhstan on prosecutions and convictions for ethnically/racially motivated offences.

Netherlands

The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) noted its concern about the limited information and low numbers from Netherlands on prosecutions and convictions for ethnically/racially motivated offences.

North Macedonia

The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) discussed the inadequacy of data-collection methods and suggested that authorities had not been attentive to the problem of racist violence.

Poland

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”.

Slovakia

The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) noted with concern the number of racially motivated attacks in Slovakia, encouraging investigation, prosecution and increased punishment for racially motivated violence. CERD also expressed its concern over the reported increase in anti-Semitic violence and urged authorities to intensify their efforts to combat and prevent such crimes.

Slovenia

The UN Human Rights Council, in its Universal Periodic Review, encouraged Slovenia to apply criminal provisions on hate crimes.

Spain

The UN Human Rights Council, in its Universal Periodic Review, encouraged Spain to record and publish statistics on hate crimes.

The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) commented on the need to better address racist crime in Spain.

Sweden

The UN Human Rights Council, in its Universal Periodic Review, encouraged Sweden to continue efforts to prevent, combat and prosecute hate crimes.

Turkey

The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) made several recommendations to the government of Turkey, including encouraging the enactment of legislation that ensures racist motivation is considered an aggravating circumstance of criminal acts, the thorough investigation of alleged racist incidents, and the introduction of a “systematic and comprehensive monitoring of all incidents that might constitute racist violence.”

OSCE Region

The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) commented on the need to better address racist crime in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Estonia, France, Georgia, Poland, Spain, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Turkey.

The UN Human Rights Council, in its Universal Periodic Review, noted the need for states to strengthen measures to prevent, investigate and punish hate crimes, especially acts of violence against migrants.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) continued to examine cases that involved the obligation of states to take reasonable steps to investigate bias motivation where there is an indication that it has played a role in the commission of violent crime. In several cases in  2010, the Court declined to rule that states had failed to properly investigate possible bias motivation, noting that in these cases either the applicant had not raised the issue properly before domestic courts or before the ECHR, or that there was insufficient indication that racial bias motivated the violations.