Racist and xenophobic hate crime

In its fifth report on Albania, the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) recommended that police consult civil society regularly on hate crimes and investigate these crimes thoroughly, fully considering bias motivation.

The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) recommended strengthening existing training programmes for police officers and judges in Belgium. It also noted concerns with racially motivated violence committed by police officers. CERD recommends that Belgium strengthen its mechanisms for reporting bias-motivated incidents committed by officials, notably ensuring that undocumented migrants have access to this mechanism without fearing reprisals, and that any allegations are properly investigated.

The OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina reported that it continued its activities with law enforcement, the judiciary and civil society organizations, including organizing four training events for 52 prosecutors and judges, and the establishment of five local civil society coalitions that aim to work together to improve monitoring and prevention of hate crime. The Mission continued to support its online “Super Citizens” reporting tool and to publish reports in its Hate Monitor, a monthly visualization of the Mission’s hate crimes monitoring information, which presents the latest data on all known bias-motivated incidents and responses to these incidents by judicial agencies, local authorities and civil society throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Mission also continued its co-operation with the project “Fighting Hate Crime in BiH”, funded by the Dutch OSCE Delegation. The Mission also reported that the Federal Ministry of Interior and the Police Academy adopted a hate crime training programme for the police, and that five municipalities adopted Community Cohesion Action Plans.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Bulgaria implemented a television, print and online media campaign against xenophobic attitudes.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights recommended the investigation of all racially motivated attacks and the prosecution of those responsible.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported that the governmental Agency for Social Inclusion launched the Hate Free campaign against hate violence and intolerance, which targets youth and consists of the Hate Free social media campaign, local educational projects, advocacy and research.

In his annual report, the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe called on local authorities to take measures to prevent the recurrence of hate crimes against members of minority groups.

In his country visit report, the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe expressed concern at rising racist, anti-Semitic, anti-Muslim and homophobic rhetoric and acts. He stressed that the existing, solid legal framework needs to be complemented by more preventive and awareness-raising measures.

In his country visit report, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights welcomed improvements in the legal framework against hate crimes and hate speech and urged the authorities to better investigate the possible racial motivation of offences and take appropriate sanctions against those who commit hate crimes.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported that the Working Group Against Hate Crimes, a coalition made up of Amnesty International Hungary, the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, the Háttér Society, the Legal Defence Bureau for National and Ethnic Minorities and the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union, published "Hate Crimes in Hungary: Problems, recommendations, good practices." The report covers key issues in improving responses to hate crime, such as addressing under reporting, proving legal representation, improving official recording mechanisms and ensuring effective state action.

It its fifth report on Hungary, the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) recommended that the National Crime Prevention Strategy be revised to include measures against hate crime.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported that the Minister of State for Equality, New Communities and Culture chaired a roundtable event hosted by the University of Limerick and involving NGOs, to discuss new approaches to addressing hate crime in Ireland, including the need for legislation to address hate crime through criminal law. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) also reported the publication of "’A Life Free From Fear’ Legislating for Hate Crime in Ireland: An NGO Perspective," which highlights the absence of hate crime legislation in Ireland.

The UN Universal Periodic Review Working Group recommended in its report that authorities reinforce measures to combat attacks against minority groups, by emphasizing prevention of and follow-up on these acts.

The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) reiterated its recommendation to introduce aggravating circumstances for racially motivated crimes into criminal legislation.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) conducted several seminars for border police, prosecutors and lawyers that addressed aspects of hate crime investigation and responses.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported that the civil society group Juventas conducted training on hate crime for the police.

The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) recommended strengthening training for police officers, prosecutors and judges on dealing with hate crime; and establishing a mechanism to recognize, record, analyze and report on hate crimes. CERD also recommends that the criminal code include racial, national, ethnic or ethno-religious motivation as an aggravating circumstance when determining the punishment for crimes.

The UN High Commissioner on Human Rights noted the creation of a dedicated hate crime unit by the Oslo police in his annual report on intolerance.

The UN Human Rights Council, in its Universal Periodic Review (UPR),​ recommended improving the collection of data and addressing the under-reporting of hate crimes. It also recommended providing additional resources to the Office of the Equality and Anti-Discrimination Ombudsperson in order to combat discrimination and hate crime against migrant Roma.

It its fifth report on Norway, the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) praised the Oslo police for creating a specialized hate crime unit, involving civil society organizations in police officer training and conducting regular dialogue with civil society. ECRI recommended the creation of an electronic system for recording and monitoring racist and homophobic/transphobic incidents and processing them through the judicial system.

The International Office for Migration (IOM) reported that the Oslo police established a specialist hate crime unit.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported several initiatives in Poland related to hate crime. The Polish police created a Police Platform against Hatred, which includes Police Human Rights Plenipotentiaries from all regions, representatives from the ombudsperson’s office, UNHCR, civil society groups and the Plenipotentiary for Equal Treatment from the Ministry of Interior. The platform holds quarterly meetings to discuss current challenges related to hate crime and ways to address them.

UNHCR also reported that the Ministry of the Interior published a report on the state of combatting racism and xenophobia in Białystok, the Afryka Connect Foundation organized regular meetings on hate crime and intolerance involving migrants, and the municipality of Białystok organized the "Tolerance is OK" open conference.

The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) recommended changes to the Polish criminal code, specifically making the racial motivation of a crime an aggravating circumstance and allowing for enhanced punishment to combat the occurrence of such acts. It also noted its concern that victims may not be willing to report incidents through official channels, recommending as a result that Poland continue its training programmes for police officers, prosecutors and judges.

It its fifth report on Poland, the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) commended the guidance on prosecuting hate crimes issued by the Prosecutor General and encouraged its effective implementation. ECRI also recommended that Polish authorities improve their system for collecting hate crime data.

In his report following a country visit to Romania, the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe urged the authorities to properly record hate crimes and ensure that law enforcement officials and legal professionals are adequately and systematically trained to recognise, investigate and sanction crimes committed with a racist motive, which primarily affect Roma communities.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported that the civil society group Civic Assistance produced and released over 2,000 leaflets to raise awareness about their hotline for hate crime victims.

The OSCE Mission to Serbia and the Government Office for Human and Minority Rights (OHMR) continued to support regular meetings of the informal inter-governmental group on hate crimes. This group provides a forum for dialogue on hate crimes among civil society and government representatives. The Mission and OHMR also hosted a regional conference focusing on the prosecution of hate crimes, attended by some 40 government and civil society representatives. Further, the Mission worked with the Judicial Academy to pilot a training seminar on hate crimes for members of the judiciary.

In his report following the country visit to Serbia, the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe praised the country’s efforts in the field of hate crime training for judicial officials and the adoption of the "Action Plan for the Improvement of Work and Co-operation of the Police with Representatives and Associations of Persons of Different Sexual Orientation." He expressed concern over the large number of hate crimes targeting Roma and Sinti, and noted the persistent violence against LGBT people.

In its fifth report on Slovakia, the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) noted the amendments to aggravating circumstances provisions in the criminal code and reiterated the need for detailed statistical data on racist and homophobic/transphobic hate crime.

The UN Human Rights Council, in its Universal Periodic Review (UPR), recommended in its report that authorities take concrete measures to prevent racially motivated crimes and increase efforts to counter racist attacks, particularly against Roma.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported that the Council for Victims of Hate Crimes and Discrimination (COVIDOD) was established at the national level. It is a network of 20 civil society groups advocating for a law that guarantees legal and humanitarian assistance and protection for victims of hate crime.

In its fifth report on Switzerland, the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) recommended that the Swiss authorities improve their system for recording and monitoring violent incidents in order to obtain more reliable statistics on the racist, homophobic or transphobic motivations of offences.

The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) recommended the incorporation of a criminal code provision ensuring that racist motivation constitute an aggravating circumstance allowing for more severe punishment.

The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) recommended that authorities improve their data-collection system for statistics on complaints of hate crimes and ensure that all law-enforcement officials and all new recruits are provided with initial and ongoing in-service training on the investigation and reporting of complaints of hate crimes.

The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) recommended that racist motives be recognized as general aggravating circumstances for all offences and crimes in legislation.