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Half of EU failing to tackle hate crime: report

27 November 2012, 23:29 CET
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(VIENNA) - Half of EU countries are failing to tackle hate crime, thereby violating European conventions, by not keeping track of offences linked to race, religion or gender, a report said on Tuesday.

Thirteen out of the bloc's 27 member states could provide only "limited data" on hate crimes, said a study by EU's Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA).

This meant that few incidents were recorded, data was rarely published and the motivation behind the crime, if specified, was usually restricted to racism, the study said.

These countries included Spain, Ireland, Italy, Greece, Hungary and Bulgaria, among others.

In Romania, evidence of data collection on hate crimes was missing altogether, the report said.

Only four countries -- Britain, Finland, Sweden and the Netherlands -- had comprehensive data, consistently recording attacks on individuals due to their gender, sexual orientation, disability, religion or race, and published this information.

"EU member states with limited data collection - where few incidents are reported, recorded and therefore prosecuted - can be said to be failing in their duty to tackle hate crime," the report concluded.

"If the criminal justice system overlooks the bias motivation behind a crime, then this amounts to a violation... of the European Convention of Human Rights," it went on, noting that hate crime was "a daily reality throughout the European Union."

The tendency to focus only on extremists also meant "'everyday' forms of prejudice and abuse - such as the bullying of persons with disabilities -... remain unnoticed and therefore unaddressed," said FRA director Morten Kjaerum.

To remedy that, EU states should make sure hate crimes were clearly defined in their legislation.

Brussels should also pass new laws forcing its members to more accurately report on crimes motivated by racism and prejudice, to bring the problem further into the open, FRA urged.

Making hate crime visible in the 
European Union: acknowledging 
victims' rights

European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights


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