Speech by a representative of the SOVA Center at the session "Tolerance and non-discrimination I" at the annual OSCE Human Dimension Meeting

*On September 28, 2009, the annual Human Dimension Conference opened in Warsaw and will run until October 9. The fifth working session "Tolerance and non-discrimination" was devoted to the problems of national minorities and the prevention of aggressive nationalism, racism and chauvinism.

We publish the speech of the Deputy Director of the SOVA Center Galina Kozhevnikova at this session (see also the speech of the Director of the SOVA Center Alexander Verkhovsky at the second working session "Fundamental Freedoms I").*

Information-analytical center "SOVA". Presentation at working session 5 - : Tolerance and non-discrimination I;

Dear Madam Chairman, dear participants of the conference!

In my speech, I would like to outline some of the problems that, as we can judge from the experience of Russia, arise in the field of combating racist crimes.

Years of underestimation of the problem of hate crimes inevitably leads to a feeling of impunity among groups that practice racist violence. Isolated gangs unite into organized horizontal networks capable of coordinated action. We have to talk not only about attacks on the street, but also about the sabotage and terrorist activities of the ultra-right, both individual and organized.

Accordingly, when planning to counter hate crimes, it is not enough to rely on the usual technologies and skills of the criminal police, it is necessary to develop new methods aimed not only at detaining and punishing the direct perpetrators of crimes, but also at destroying the infrastructure of the racist underground. Obviously, the positive experience of counter-terrorist activity should be used here.

Far-right activists and ideologues successfully use the existing distrust between some states, hiding from real or potential criminal prosecution for propaganda and hate crimes. Thus, in the summer of 2009, under investigation in Russia, Pyotr Khomyakov, who is asked for political asylum in Ukraine, one of the founders and ideologists of the Great Game project aimed at spreading and involving young ultra-right activists in hate crimes. One of the veterans of the neo-Nazi movement in Russia, Yuri Belyaev, also left for Ukraine. The movement of such activists and ideologues does not improve the situation in the country from which they leave, but it contributes to the spread of their activity to the host state.

Conversely, attempts by government officials to negotiate with ultra-right leaders (as happened in Moscow when the Kyrgyz embassy staff were negotiating with Slavic Union leader Dmitry Demushkin) only legalize ultra-right activists, but do not alleviate the problem.

The problem of the quality of statistics on hate crimes remains relevant. For example, in Russia, records are kept not on incidents, but on criminal cases in which the motive of hatred is already present as an accusation. There are no statistics on incidents in which this motive is suspected, nor official statistics on victims of such incidents. But the collection and recording of such information is very important even for those cases in which further investigation does not confirm the motive of hatred and/or it cannot be proved. First, the public must receive a signal that law enforcement is seriously concerned about this problem. Secondly, society should better understand the scale of the problem. Thirdly, more detailed accounting contributes to the intensification of the investigation of hate crimes.

Our recommendations:

For the OSCE

1. Summarize and disseminate the experience of comprehensive counteraction to groups practicing racist violence - from the investigation of individual crimes to the identification and destruction of the infrastructure of these groups - the isolation of funding sources, the identification of organizers and coordinators of violent actions, etc.

2. Organize a seminar for law enforcement officials from different countries, dedicated to summarizing the successful experience of collecting information and statistics on hate crimes.

For OSCE participating States

1. Make more active use of information from non-governmental organizations involved in the systematic monitoring of the activity of racist groups.

2. Establish interstate cooperation in the field of combating crimes and propaganda of hatred.

3. In the case of a request for extradition related to hate crimes, if there is doubt about the validity of such a request, consult with NGOs working on the issue of hate crimes, both in their own country and in the country requiring extradition.

4. Change the system for recording crimes so that a suspicion of a hate motive can be recorded at any stage.

5. Publish separate statistics on hate crimes, highlighting their different types, regions, and the number of victims.

See also texts of the speech on the OSCE website - Russian and English in